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I place my hand on my belly for just a split second. I can’t help but think about this unborn life I’m carrying. I should tell her about the baby right now. But I know that she would not beg me to come back. She would demand it.
So, I don’t.
I think about him. Taking him back there would be pure chaos. I won’t do that to the people I love most in the world. I cannot put them through that. He is too much, too harmful, too cruel, and the men of the Devil’s Hellions would fight for me.
I can’t let them get hurt.
Then I think about the girls, and I know without a doubt that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to them. They are beautiful and kind. I cannot lethimhurt them—ever.
“I can’t do that to you,” I say. “It’s not just that I can’t. I won’t.”
“It doesn’t matter, Reese. Whatever it is, we can work it out. We can figure it out—together. Just come home. I miss you so much. Piper and Henli miss you, too. Not to mention Agony.”
Just hearing his name causes my entire body to jerk and my heart to squeeze. I suck in a deep breath, then let it out slowly before I apologize one last time. Then I end the call. I power down my phone, toss it on the passenger seat, and continue to drive.
ChapterThree
AGONY
“I can’t believeyou did that,” Kiplyn gasps, her eyes wide and her lips parted slightly as she stares at me in awe.
Laughing, I shrug a shoulder, my gaze searching hers before I respond, “I wanted to make sure everyone still had a place to work. She’s not here now, but I think she’ll be back.”
Kiplyn’s gaze flicks down to the baby in her arms, then she slowly lifts it back to meet my own. “You know, she called me,” she whispers. “Said that her leaving wasn’t about us at all. That she wishes she could come back. It was cryptic, but I have the number she called me from if you want it.”
“I want it,” I growl.
“I’ll text it to you,” Kiplyn murmurs. “And Agony?” she calls.
Clearing my throat, I wait for her to continue. She watches me for a silent moment, then she dips her chin in a nod. “I have to know. Do you love her?”
Admitting that makes me look like a pussy. But at this point, I’m not above admitting my feelings to this woman about Reese. She would never judge me for how I feel about her best friend. I might not be the exact person she would want Reese with, but I hope she will be happy about it.
“I do,” I confess.
“Then bring her home.”
Her words are fierce, her gaze holding mine. She is serious, and I can’t deny that I really fucking like that about her. My lips twitch into a smile as I shift in my seat slightly before I speak. Jerking my chin up, I stand from my seat.
“When you’re ready to go back to work, the shop is yours.”
“Agony, I couldn’t,” she rasps.
I shake my head once, then reach out and tug gently on a strand of her hair as I walk past her. “You can and you will. Hell, get another stylist in there for a while if you want. It’s there for Reese when she returns, but it should not stay empty. You got a fucking business to run. You got clients. You worked hard for that shit, babe.”
Without another word, I walk past her and straight to the backyard, where Roadkill is grilling up some steaks. He’s got a beer in one hand and a grilling fork in the other. I smirk at the sight of him. He looks like a real fucking dad now.
“You look like a true suburban father out here. Only thing you’re missing are those white shoes that all dads seem to wear,” I say on a laugh.
He rolls his eyes while flipping the meat, then closes the lid of the grill before he turns to me. “You bought that fucking salon,” he states. Obviously, he wants to get straight to talking.
“The building,” I clarify. “Not the salon.”
“What happens if she never comes back?” he asks.
I want to tell him that isn’t possible, but I know the reality of it. She could disappear, never to be heard from again. She’s obviously damn good at it.
“Then Kiplyn’s got herself a whole-ass salon to do with as she pleases, run it however she wants with Piper. Building is mine, bought and paid for completely. Kiplyn doesn’t want to use it anymore, and the club can’t put something legit in there, I’ll sell it, and that’s that.”
