Ally nudges her elbow into my ribs, drawing my attention back to the present. I raise my eyebrow at her when she leans her head towards the door. Pulling my gaze from her, I glance at the front of the bar as I hand the flight over to the group of women waiting in front of me.
What the Hell.
My Papa, –who, I’ll just put on the record, never comes here– walks through the room of tightly pressed bodies. He’s walking with urgency to get to me, which puts me on high alert. The hairs on the back of my neck stand and my stomach drops out from under me. Before he can fully make it over to me, I press my hands on my bar and launch myself over the thick wood, landing on my feet in front of him.
“What’s wrong?” I look behind him to ensure he’s alone, which he is.
“It’s the girls. You have to come, quick. I called but couldn’t get you on the phone.”
Now that I’m directly in front of him, I can see the panic in his eyes and the way he’s fighting back tears. Turning behind me, I motion to Liam and Ally who are both watching me.
“Shut it down. Ally closes up, and Liam, if you don’t wait for her and walk her to her car, I’ll fire you. Do you understand?”
They both call out their understanding and begin to close tabs. Turning back to my Papa, I motion for him to lead the way while staying on his heels. He leads us to an SUV with a driver waiting outside for us. He’d never take me in a ‘business’ vehicle any other time, so this must be serious. We climb in the car and I turn to him, waiting for his explanation. He doesn’t keep me waiting.
“You know how your Mama likes to have those girly nights with Annie and Lelonie? The ones she kicks us all out for?”
What is he talking about?
“Girl’s night? Yeah, they’ve had them forever.”
“Well, she makes me leave like normal. Then a couple of hours later the alarms go off. Someone has broken into the house, Jakob.”
I’m going to fucking vomit, and my dad looks like he’s going to pass out.
“Where are they? Are they okay? Why are you here? Why aren’t you with them?” Panic roars in my veins and the rush of adrenaline is enough to make stars burst behind my eyelids.
“I have guards covering every square inch of that house. The man ran after shooting at the panic room door didn’t work. Jakob, I can’t comfort them all at once, and I don’t want them being held by men we don’t know.”
I understand what he means. He needs his son to help him with this. It dawns on me that Hannah does these nights with them sometimes, and a fresh wave of panic washes over me.
“Hannah.” I’m barely able to choke out.
“Is safe at home with her Papa. I will call him after we get to them, but I will not worry him about this when he has to stay home with her.”
“Mac?”
He curses under his breath, “No, I forgot.”
“I’ll do it. It’s okay.” Snatching my phone from my pocket, I see the flood of texts and calls from my Papa that I either didn’t feel go off or thought were from Declan. Ignoring themall, I brace myself for what I know is coming and press Mac’s contact name. He picks up on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?” He answers on high alert. I’m not looking forward to telling him this. He’d set fire to the world because she was slightly uncomfortable, and now she’s in a panic room, scared.
“No time for the meltdown, Byrne. Long story short, you need to get to my parents house now.”
I can hear him frantically yelling at someone to ‘come on’ before I hear footsteps running.
“You need to talk to me, Jakob. Where’s my fiance at right now?”
“In a panic room inside my parents house.”
“You better start talking before I start shooting, Fischer.” As we turn on my parents’ street, I give him the rundown then quickly get off the phone to focus.
Men are surrounding our house and I don’t know any of them, but my dad seems to, as he nods his acknowledgment to them and we move inside.
“My son-in-law will be here any second; let him in.” He barks as we stalk through the house until we get to the panic room.
No sooner do we walk through the door where the keypad is to unlock the panic room, we hear multiple sets of feet running up the stairs. In the next moment, Mac, Declan, and one of the twins burst into the room.
