“What does that mean?” Someone asks over the line but I don’t know, or care, or worry about who it is.
That’s a care for another time. Right now I have something to do and no one but Saylor and I need to hear it.
“We’ll be right back,” I announce to the masses. I lift her up in my arms and walk out the door. I make my way down the hall, meander through the house, past a giggling Nola who is now in the kitchen, and out into the garage.
CHAPTER NINE
SAYLOR
With one arm around my back, and the other under my knees, Corrin carries me through the most beautiful house I have ever seen. Wood paneling adorns the walls, sparkling chandeliershang from the ceiling every few feet, sending prisms of light across almost every surface. There is artwork in large frames showing pictures of various landscapes and horses and even one jaw dropping photograph that looks like it was shot a hayloft that shows Fergus wrapped behind and around a woman who I am guessing is his fiancée.
We pass through the kitchen and a woman with long brown hair with light pink peekabooing from underneath waves to me as she rubs her cute baby bump.
I don’t think Corrin even notices her, but I lose all track of thought when he sets my butt of the hood of what I know is his SUV, at least I think it is because it is the same vehicle he drop me here in last night. With my legs spread, and his hands holding the side of my hips tight, I can’t focus on anything but Corrin.
“What are we doing in the garage?” I ask as I rest my hands on his forearms.
“This place is kind of like a maze and it was the closest, quietest place I could think to bring you to give us some privacy without trekking all the way upstairs.”
“Who all lives here?”
“This is Fergus and Nola’s house. My apartment above the garage.” He points up.
I pretty much had that figured out because of the staircase that runs along the back wall, where he led me up, then I also came down that way just a few short minutes ago when I wanted to find him. I saw that there was a second set of stairs as well, which I’m guessing lead directly into the house somewhere, but I didn’t want to use those and get lost.
“Easy commute to work,” I comment with a chuckle.
“I also have a condo downtown, but hardly ever stay there because I’m almost always needed to be close to where Fergus is. But I'll take you there later if you’d like.”
“If that’s what you want.” Frankly, I think I would walk to Timbuktu with Corrin if he asked me to. I’ve quickly come to realize he is someone I want to be around as much as possible. I want to learn everything about him.
“Did you sleep okay after I left?”
I know he is trying to keep the conversation light, but there is a huge elephant in the room and I think we need to discuss it sooner rather than later.
“Why were you on the phone with my brother?”
Corrin leans in to wrap his arms tighter around me and presses his forehead to mine. “I had to call the Kings because of your connection.”
“But—”
“Saylor,” Corrin lifts his hands to cup my face and separates us just a few inches. “I understand that you’re not directly linked to the club, but this is still the way things need to be done. It was the right thing to do. If someone in the MC knew that there was someone from our family in their territory, especially someone important like you, they would be calling us. It’s just the way things are done when families respect each other and do things the right way. Open communication is very important, even in lawless families like ours, especially when the two parties are connected.”
I have no doubts what his answer will be, but I can’t help but ask. “Does that mean you do business with the Kings Wisconsin chapter?”
“You know I can't tell you that, Saylor.”
I look down at my lap. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“It’s okay.” He tips my chin back up. “You may know some things because of who your brother is and him being involved in the club, and you may learn other things because you are with me, but there will always be more you will never know . . . and that’s just the way it has to be.”
“You can never tell me anything?” I don’t like the sound of that. I hate secrets.
“I may share certain information with you, if I feel that it is something you need to know, or if it has to do with your safety,but you also need to be okay with the fact that most things I do on a day to day basis, I can’t share.
“Okay.”
“It’s my job to watch out for Fergus, and he is the head of the O’Carroll Mafia and everything that falls under that umbrella. Not everything I know or do is safe for you to know about. I won’t lie and say everything I do is safe, or above board, or even legal, but I also won’t burden you with anything that would hurt you or make you sad. I just can’t do that. I want you to be my safe space. Somewhere I can come and be away from the stress and the madness and the bad.”
