“It’s always chaos. Each day, I never know what I’m going to walk in on or what drunk asshole I’m going to have to deal with.”
Zara shifts, giving me her full attention. “What about you? What do you do for work?”
I don’t even have to look at Kane to know he has a stupid, smug grin. When I glance at him, I see I’m right. He raises a brow, as if curious to know how I’m going to answer her.
“I don’t have a day job. I’m sergeant at arms in the MC.”
She squints at me. “But how do you earn a wage?”
I pause. “I can’t divulge that information. It’s club business.”
Kane doesn’t even know what we do, but he’s not stupid. He knows we earn money by doing something illegal.
An awkward silence hangs heavy in the air. I can’t tell her. She would have to be my ol’ lady before I can give her details, and even though I’ve been saying to everyone that she is, she’s really not. No civilian can be half in and half out. We can’t afford for anyone to let slip that we grow and distribute weed.
“Are your cousins still living here?” Zara asks us.
Our cousins hung out with us during the holidays when they came home from private school, but then we all grew up and did our own thing.
“Yeah,” I answer Zara. “Alec, Lawson, and Harrison are still here. Sophie moved away a while ago.”
“Are they coming tonight?” she asks.
“They are. I’m not sure about Sophie, though,” Kane replies.
The waitress brings our drinks and sets them in front of us on the table. “Food won’t be long.”
Zara raises her glass. “To Misty.” We pick up our glasses and clink them.
“To Misty,” we say in unison.
Shortly after, our food arrives. There’s a comfortable silence as we eat. I glance at Zara every so often to check that she’s eating. When we finish the food, we chat among ourselves.
As we leave, I pull out my wallet and open it. Kane gives me a weird look. “We aren’t paying.”
Shelly smiles. “Yes, family is free.”
Zara steps up next to me and gasps when she sees the photo section of my wallet. I watch her closely as she takes my wallet from me, bringing it closer to her face to get a better look.
“Can I take this out?”
I slowly nod, watching her expression. She slips her finger in, pinching the photos and sliding them out. There’s two of them. Two of Zara, one recently and one before Misty left—before the pain tainted her.
Her brows pinch. “How long ago was this one?”
I look away, thinking. “Six months.”
Her eyes widen. “You really came to see me.” She frowns. “I wish you would have actually spoken to me.” Her voice conveys her longing, underlined with sadness.
I clench my teeth as guilt churns my stomach. “You were better off.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Her voice breaks.
My shoulders fall and my chest is heavy.Did I make a mistake? Should I have gone to see her and spoken to her?
As we walk out, my phone rings in my pocket. I pull it out to see Reaper’s name. I answer it immediately. “Is everything all right?”
He lets out a deep chuckle. “Everything is fine. I was calling to tell you we just arrived.”
