That’s when he told her.
And oh, how she wished he hadn’t.
Chapter Five
Peyton - One Week Ago
Peyton and Aisling emerged from the customs area with their bags as they headed for the monorail to the main terminal. He’d already texted Badger that they were on the ground in Tampa. Badger responded they were awaiting Peyton in the main terminal.
“Let me handle the talking,” Peyton said.
“Yes, sir.”
He hated how subdued Aisling had acted since the revelations he and Trevor dropped on her the first night he’d met her, but it hadn’t impacted her skills in the slightest. Without using his Prime powers on her, she’d damned near kicked his ass in the combat evaluation. He didn’t doubt that if she’d spent a few days completely resting before the evaluation—and hadn’t chugged a full bottle of scotch just before—she likely could and would have beaten him in a fair fight.
Dewi would hand him his balls for this, but there were things he didn’t want Dewi knowing yet, and that meant he couldn’t tell Ken.
Aisling was a trained warrior, used to making life-or-death decisions for the greater good that sometimes meant sacrificing people to save others. Aisling was nearly twice as old as Dewi and with battlefield experience.
And while Dewi could kick Aisling’s ass in a fair fight—probably—what he didn’t know was if Dewi could make those kinds of decisions in a split second while in a combat situation. If she’d divert from the mission because of personal entanglements.
If she’d hesitate.
They were decisions he prayed they’d never need to make, but as his father had once told him, if he couldn’t make them then he had no business being Pack Alpha.
The man standing next to Badger resembled Faegan, but not as much as Peyton feared he might.
Turned out he wasn’t the only one to think that.
Next to him, Aisling blew out a breath. “Please Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, don’t let ’im smell like the feckin’ areshole, too,” she muttered.
“Steady,” he whispered back.
Peyton watched as Badger’s eyebrow arched when he realized Aisling was with Peyton. They stepped over to an empty corner for the introductions, keeping their voices down.
“Badger Williams, this is Aisling Walsh,” Peyton said, watching Hamish Lewis’ reaction.
Badger grimly smiled and offered his hand to Aisling, which she shook. “Glad to meet ye,” Badger said. “And apologies in advance for Dewi pitchin’ an unholy fit when she meets ye under the circumstances.”
“I already warned her,” Peyton said. “Aisling, I mean. About Dewi. For obvious reasons, I haven’t told Dewi yet.”
“Ah, right. Okay, then. This, sir, is Hamish Lewis.”
The man didn’t drop to his knees, but he subtly tipped his head back, partially exposing his throat, the gesture unmistakable.
“Glad to meet you, sir,” Hamish said. “Like I told Badger, I’ll do whatever you need me to. I swear allegiance to the Targhee Pack, and to you, sir.”
Peyton reached out, touched a finger to the man’s throat, then offered his hand. “Welcome to the family, then.”
They shook, and Peyton’s initial impression of Hamish was his sincerity… and his regret that he’d missed out on his daughter’s life. “Badger told me a lot of it,” Hamish said. “On the drive down.”
“Let’s take this out to the vehicle,” Peyton said. “We can talk on the way to the house.” He raised an eyebrow at Hamish. “But first, we can do the other thing out there.” No way would he let this guy anywhere near Dewi—or any other members of their pack—until Hamish had formally taken a knee to him. Even though Peyton knew Badger had already confirmed the other man’s loyalties with his own Prime powers.
Hamish nodded and dipped his head in submission. “Yes, sir.”
Good. Peyton had suspected from what Badger told him that Hamish would be all-in and trusted, but it was still good to see, in light of circumstances threatening to spin apart around them and shatter like an out-of-control centrifuge that could rain deadly shrapnel on all of them.
Out in the parking garage, Peyton didn’t drag things out when they reached the vehicle. Hamish dropped to one knee, repeated his oath, and once again offered his throat.
