Ellie knew my uncle was controlling. She even knew he was the head of an illegal operation. I’m sure she assumed drugs were involved. He was in Mexico after all. I just never told her he took over the cartel.
I never went into detail about exactly what my uncle did. Or who he worked with. Who he killed. I shared that once in high school, and the friend I confided in stopped talking to me. She acted as if I didn’t exist. That taught me to keep my mouth shut.
“What happened after you talked to your uncle?”
“I went back to see him. He had woken up, and everyone was gathered around his bed. King and I at his feet. He looked up at me; no, it was more like he looked through me and said I should go.” I shrugged, and the baby fidgeted in my arms. I stood up and brought him to Ellie, letting her take him from me, not trusting myself to handle him too much on my own.
“I guess he got tired of chasing after me. I knew he would eventually.”
“Jessie.”
“Don’t.” I shook my head. “It’s better this way. I can move around town now without worrying about running into him and making more excuses.” I leaned over and kissed her forehead, then walked to the door. “I’m gonna let you rest. Ryder should be back any minute.” I held the door open and looked back at the best friend I ever had. “You did great. I am so in awe of you.”
“Jessie—”
“I love you. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
I pulled the door closed before she could say anything more. Walking down the hall toward the elevator, I thought about Grayson. I told myself the same thing I told Ellie. It was better this way.
I had gotten really good at lying to myself.
Chapter Five
Grayson
“What the fuck was that?” Carson asked. I could hear the anger in his voice. He was the one I talked to about Jessie. He knew how I felt about her. How much I loved her, despite barely knowing anything about her.
“She doesn’t need to be here.”
It was all I could say. When they learned what the doctor had told me, they would understand.
“Grayson, I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re okay. And how sorry I am that our shit might have knocked on your back door.”
King, the president of the Silver Shadows MC, a club my baby brother was a part of, stood at the foot of my bed. I swear he’d aged years in the last few months.
“I’ve had Banshee and Aspen move back to the clubhouse.”
“That wasn’t necessary, King.” I shook my head. I didn’t know my accident wasn’t a result of the MC in Wyoming, but something inside me told me this was different.
“It was. I can’t continue to put your family at risk. This just proves it.”
“We don’t even know what happened yet,” Hudson remarked.
“Can you tell us what happened, Gray?” Carson asked.
“Thunder and I were doing rounds.” I looked up at Emerson. “Where is Thunder?”
“He’s wandering around the yard. Tonight, we’ll leave the paddock open and his gate. I’ve already put food in his stall, and I’ll sit out there tonight until he wanders in. But he’ll have to wait to be brushed down.”
“He needs to be put down,” Carson mumbled, and I glared athim.
“Don’t fucking shoot my horse; it wasn’t his fucking fault.”
“Gray, tell us what happened.” My baby sister was the peacekeeper. She was always the first to step in when our tempers flared and douse us with her loving manner, like a bucket of ice water.
“Everything was fine. We were patrolling the grounds as we do every day. Thunder became unsettled. He gets like that sometimes when he wants to run, but it was more than that. He was snorting and refusing to move forward. That was when I called Tyson.” I paused and looked at King. “It’s been nice having him home.”
King nodded. He didn’t say much. I knew he told me more than most people outside the club. It was a requirement when he wanted to hide someone on the ranch.
