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Me
Gas main in the field just outside the neighborhood.
Vinny and his brother were waiting for me.
Kieran took care of them but we have company...
My phone rang seconds after I sent the last message, and I hurried to accept the call as Kieran and Jentry continued fighting their sides.
“Jessica’s brother,” I said in way of answering, already knowing that would be what Maverick and Dare wanted to know. “He’s seen things.”
“Understood,” Maverick muttered. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Lily?” Dare asked, voice strained and sounding in a way I hadn’t heard from him in so damn long—taking me back to that time when his fiancée had been ripped from their bed and murdered right in front of him.
“Nothing,” I said softly. “From what Vinny said and his reaction, Lily was supposed to be in the house. Shocked the hell out of him when I told him she was alive.”
The silence that filtered through the call was all deep relief and unrestrained rage. “Find her.”
“We will,” I assured Dare before ending the call and taking the few steps back to where Kieran and Jentry were still clearly at a standoff. “If you aren’t gone in the next minute, you’re gonna be introduced to a dark world that thrives on chaos and fear. Your family will be introduced to it.”
“I’m not changing anything. Not my world or who I am,” he said with a stubborn lift of his chin. “But I won’t blindly continue through life when my family is at risk simply for being related to some of you.”
“Jent—”
“Fine,” I said over Kieran. “Dare and Mav are—no.” The last word came out on a strained whisper when I saw Dare and Maverick clearing the line of houses and heading for the field...with Willow right behind them.
Beautiful and worried and so clearly out of her element...and about to walk up on a scene with two dead men, a worked-up assassin, and a cop who wanted in.
WILLOW
He was pushing me away.
Minutes after whispering I love you against my lips, Diggs placed a metaphorical wall between us. Only this time, I wasn’t sure he realized it was there. This time, he was close enough for me to see the internal battle in his gray eyes. This time, I understood that look and so much more.
Any outsider to their world could understand the grief, rage, and fear moving through the people connected to Diggs. A family house had been destroyed. A mother had been murdered. A wife had been taken.
After having seen even a glimpse into their world? I knew it went deeper than that.
This was unanticipated retaliation. This was an act of war.
The urgency in the mansion they were using as temporary housing had been palpable. Nearly everyone had been gathered in the conference room since we’d returned, endlessly theorizing and working to find where they could’ve taken Lily.
The devastation, the rage, the determination...I’d understood it all.
But the difference in twenty-four hours had been staggering.
One night, Diggs had kept me close to him throughout their speculations and planning. His eyes repeatedly searching me out as if to assure himself I was still there, even though I’d never left his arms. The next, his hands had curled into fists and crossed over his chest whenever he reached for me. His stare catching on me for long moments before tearing away as if it was hard to look at me, even though he’d remained by my side.
From our conversation the night before, I knew where the battle was coming from—knew why a part of him was subconsciously pushing me away. Still, the last thing I’d wanted was to become a distraction to Diggs or his family when they were drowning in their pain.
So, I’d left.
Quietly slipped from the conference room with Diggs’ powerful gaze on me and wandered the mansion instead. I’d gotten lost in the different halls, multiple kitchens, and even stumbled upon Henley memorabilia before finding the large theater room where the babies and toddlers were gathered for the afternoon.
I’d spent hours there, feeding and playing with them and getting to know Sutton and Alexis better while Libby sat off to the side, never saying a word until I started leaving.
“You’ve been around Keane Street before?” she asked, voice hoarse, her bloodshot eyes wild as they pinned me in place near the door.
