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FIVE YEARS LATER
Ihadn’t been home in five years. Not to visit. Not for club get-togethers. Not for a single goddamn thing because I was terrified to step foot back in this town.
The clubhouse looked the same as it always had. Plain brick. Bulletproof windows, courtesy of Alejandro to better protect Elaina, Antonio, and their newest addition to the family, Dahlia. Iron bars still surrounded the property with high chain link fencing behind it. Barbwire curled at the top of the chain link fence to deter anyone from trying to climb over. Gravel covered the lot, and the same playground that had been there for years was off to the side, where Elaina was sitting, reading a book.
Antonio was swinging on the swings, and I stared at the kid for a moment, my chest tightening at the sight of him as I remembered Helena. Goddamn, that boy grew up fast as hell. He was a lot taller now, and it was uncanny how much he looked like Alejandro. Elaina and Joey’s baby—now almost six damn years old—was sliding down a slide, her blonde curls flying out behind her. Dahlia was the spitting image of her gorgeous mother.
Elaina glanced up at me, and a small smile tilted her lips. As if sensing I wasn’t in the mood for her warm welcome, she stayed where she was. I nodded once at her before I made my way across the lot and into the clubhouse, pushing open the doors. I’d warned Joey I was coming back home today. Permanently. But I was still nervous he wouldn’t be welcoming. I’d been gone five years. Hadn’t stepped foot in this damn clubhouse in all of that time, despite him trying over and over to get me to come back home, at least for a visit.
I’d been trying to outrun my ghosts, though that had proven to be impossible. Took me five years to realize that but I’d finally figured it out.
Helena was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. I just had to learn to deal with it. Live with it.
She wasn’t going anywhere. My little angel followed me wherever I went.
“Well, look what the fucking cat dragged in,” Ink drawled, looking up from his phone. He grinned at me. “Good to have you back, fucker. Joey said you were here for good.”
I nodded and took a seat beside him, knowing one of the girls would bring me a beer in a minute. Thankfully, Joey had made sure no one made a big deal out of me coming back, so there was no welcome home party or bullshit along those lines. I didn’t have the energy for it.
The old me would have been the first one to suggest a party. Now…
Tragedy had changed me. And not for the best.
I was a mere shell of the man I used to be. I looked the same, but the man these men knew was gone.
A new girl with fire-red hair and icy blue eyes walked up, handing me a beer. She popped the top off and shoved it into her pocket before eyeing me, a smirk curving her lips. She was pretty as fuck, her body covered in freckles. I had the sudden, insane urge to taste her skin and trace every single one of them.
Fuck. I’d obviously been too long without a woman because I wasn’t the kind of man who cared about prolonging shit. But I had sudden visions of this woman writhing beneath me as I pinned her to the mattress and lavished attention on her curvy body.
“Whiler, right?” she asked me. I grunted in response. She trailed a finger over my chest. I gave her hand a pointed look, wanting her to remove it, but she just shot me a saucy smirk. “If you need some relief, baby, I’m available.”
Yeah, I needed some fucking relief. But preferably with a woman who didn’t make me feel all strange inside like this one. Someone I could just dip into, get off, and send on their way. This woman was raising all kinds of alarms in my head. They were blaring, and red flags were flapping in the breeze.
I might have been sort of looking for love and to get tied down before I lost my little sister, but now…
Love and relationships were off the table. I didn’t deserve happiness. Not after I hadn’t been able to save Helena.
“Not interested,” I told her.
She shrugged, not seeming the least bit bothered. She trailed her fingers through my dark hair with a small hum. “If you want me, come find me. My name’s Cannon.”
With that, she strutted off. I frowned after her, watching the way her hips swayed and that ass jiggled in the leggings she was wearing.
“What’s her story?” I asked Ink once I managed to tear my eyes off her backside.
He shrugged at me, his eyes focused on his game. “Only Joey knows.”
I sighed. Of fucking course. Which meant she was here for protection. Which also meant I couldn’t somehow drive her away and make her leave.
Fuck my life.
She was going to be trouble. And judging by how she’d just toyed with me, she was enjoying it.
* * *
Vern wipedhis towel down his face after he stepped off the treadmill. “How the fuck are you still running?” he wheezed, dropping onto a metal chair against the wall. He guzzled down some water, his chest heaving.
“I went running every morning and evening while on the road,” I told him, barely breaking a sweat though I’d run almost three straight miles now. “You telling me you can’t hang, brother?” The teasing came off dry, but fuck, I was trying at least.
