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“Yeah, well that happens when you watch your girlfriend walk out without as much as a hello.” I knew it was partly my fault that we were in this situation, but it didn’t stop me from feeling salty, and it didn’t numb the heartache either.
“Maybe if you apologized, she might be a little more receptive.” It wasn’t hard to miss the I told you so tone in her voice. Ever since Jonah had come clean, Paige had been taking pleasure in rubbing it in. My gaze dropped to my arm when she placed her small hand on it, as she continued. “Why’d you ask me to hang back?”
“How is she?” I needed to know. There was so much going on, and after the visit with Max Ducane, things weren’t sitting right. My trigger finger itched every time I tried to analyze every aspect of that encounter. The older Ducane brothers were up to something, I just couldn’t figure out what.
“How do you think she is, Stryker?” It was a loaded question, and Paige had a judgy condescending tone as she studied me. Paige was good at making you feel bad, she had perfected the artform a few years before, after her own attack, and frequently used it on our family members, and she was doing it now. “I warned you she wouldn’t take it well. You didn’t listen.”
“Geeze, Paige, give it up already. I get it, I fucked up.” Running my hand through my hair, I started to pace the room. I’d started to wonder if it had been a smart idea, bringing Paige into the fold. I could see that she had been helping my Firecracker, and for that I was grateful, but the more time Phee spent with Paige, the more she started acting like her. “We all fucked up, and yes, she has every right to be angry, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying, or from thinking it was still the right call.”
“She’s doing okay. Dealing with it in her own way.” Paige sighed, and her features softened, but there was something in her eyes that told me there was more to what she’d just confessed. But in true Paige style, she flipped the switch, gesturing wildly at Damon before she continued. “It doesn’t help that this overbearing A-hole decided to try locking her up like some kind of Princess needing her Prince Charming to come to the rescue. You all handled this wrong. She thinks she’s a burden on all of you.”
“I don’t lock her up,” Damon growled as he stared down my cousin. He wasn’t fooling anyone though. There was a fine line between love and hate, and both he and my cousin were dancing around on both sides of it. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really, big boy? You want to go with that?” Paige focused in on Damon with a saccharine smile plastered on her face. As she turned back to me, it didn’t go unnoticed the way she surveyed Damon. Logan had mentioned he thought there may have been something going on between the two of them, but like usual, I’d dismissed it. Now, however, I had started to second guess myself. When all this was over, I’d have to keep an eye on those two.
It hurt to hear, but at the same time, I knew that Paige was right. But you know what they say about hindsight and all that shit. It hadn’t been our intention to make Phee feel like a burden. I’d never felt more like a dick than I did in that moment. Every so often, I had caught glimpses of the Phoenix I had come to love, but they were few and far between.
“Just look out for her, please.” My order came out more like a request as Jonah made his way over to us and patted me on the shoulder, before he made his way into the kitchen. He had alerted us to the online chatter that surrounded Kyle’s disappearance. Coupled with what we had overheard at Logan’s parents’ house, it was clear that Alexander Ducane would stop at nothing to find his son, even offering a hefty reward for information.
“Don’t worry those pretty little heads of yours, she is safe with me.” My cousin threw Damon another smile, this time full of mischief that made me laugh a little, because the look he gave her in return said anything but. If there was something going on between them, he had his hands full.
“Give him a break, Paige,” I warned her, coming to Damon’s rescue. I took Paige by the arm and walked her to the door, hyper aware that Phee and the girls were waiting for her.
As she opened the door, Paige paused. Her brow pinched as if she were deep in thought.
“Hey, Stryker, she asked me about feeling safe, and how she could go about it.” She glanced down at her shoes, then back up at me. For the first time in a long time, Paige appeared kinda nervous, unsure if she should share what she knew. “I want to convince her to come to the range with me.”
It would have been a lie if I said that didn’t throw me, though I had to admit that I was kinda kicking myself for not thinking about it first. Maybe if she learned to shoot a gun, it could help her to take back the power she felt like she had lost. Just knowing she could take care of herself would be beneficial for Phee. At least she’d be able to defend herself if anything were to happen while we weren’t around to help. Plus, when I stepped up into the family ranks, I’d have peace of mind.
“How’s that going?” I was curious, as I started to make plans in my head.
“It’s slow. Maybe after you guys take your heads out of your arses and apologize, you could help convince her to at least give it a try,” Paige responded, as she looked down at her phone, then back up. “There anything else?”
“Nah, just keep her safe please.” I watched as she hopped into her car, before heading back inside to the others. I nodded, giving them the signal to get ready. As soon as we heard the car pull out of the drive, it was Jonah who said what we were all thinking.
“So, who’s up for a little road trip?”
I knew what he was referring to, and I knew it was a bad idea, but the need to make sure she was safe was too strong. Grabbing the keys to my Escalade, I nodded at the door. “Come on, guys. Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirty Two – Phoenix
Pulling the bat back, I steadied myself, before I took a swing at the shelf full of tacky little ceramic cats. While Cami and Luca had decided to sit this one out, choosing to relax at the bar they had onsite, Paige and I took on the second room at the Rage Cage. The garish pink walls made it look like a unicorn had come in and vomited all over the place. I found it quite cathartic taking a bat to it.
“Arrgh,” I yelled as I brought the bat down on the desk that was under the shelves.
“Should have brought you here sooner, Phee Phee,” Paige stated, before she destroyed the wall full of picture frames.
“I have to admit, I am having quite a bit of fun, aside from seeing something similar to this on a Bones episode,” I replied, as I set my sights on the old stereo that was sitting on top of a beat up old dresser. “I actually never thought places like this existed.”
“I guess we’re lucky that they do, though,” Paige giggled as she placed her bat on the bed, before turning towards me. “So, Stryker asked me about you tonight. ”
Just hearing his name sent butterflies swarming throughout my body. I had been well aware of his eyes on me as we’d left. Out of all the guys, he was the most stubborn. Logan and Jonah had both apologized several times since everything came out, but my Grey Eyes, he had to be brought[5] kicking and screaming like a two year old, and even then, it was more of a deflected apology. The type you gave when you didn’t think you were actually in the wrong.
“Thought this was a guy free night,” I shrugged her comment off. We were there to let go, and I didn’t think they’d have enough things for me to break if we opened that can of worms again.
“It is a guy free night, but I also thought you’d like to know, Phee,” she sighed as she walked over to me. Once you cracked Paige’s hard exterior, it was clear to see she had a kind heart. “I’m gonna level with you, Boo, you’re both as stubborn as each other. But I really think you both need to sit down and actually listen to one another. As much as it grosses me out to say this, you two are made for each other.”
Dropping the bat on the floor, I sat on the edge of the battered desk, mulling over what Paige had disclosed. “I do kinda miss spending time with him.”
