I smile at his description of Kaylie. He couldn’t be more accurate.
“I found Sharon at home. We talked. I offered to help her out with no strings attached. I pulled some strings with my parents and got her mortgage paid off. Promised her that if she stayed in rehab and got better, and cut off all ties to the Devils, I’d work on the house and get it ready for the baby when she arrived. But she had to stay in the hospital and finish treatment, and steer clear of Torch or the deal was off.” I sigh. “And she had to never say anything to Everly about me helping her.”
“So, there was a cost.” Jake snickers.
“Her health and that of the baby. I don’t see a downside in the cost to her,” I growl.
“Not for her.” Jake shakes his head. “For you.”
“You helped her mom and Kaylie and kept it a secret. You knew if you told her, Everly might come home, which would’ve been perfect for you. She’d feel guilty about you taking care of her mom when she’s always been the one responsible for her. You would’ve been able to work your charm and win your woman back, but you stayed silent.”
“I didn’t want Ever to give up the life she worked so hard to create for herself. Not after what this town did to her as a kid. She was happy in Baron’s Edge. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.”
“Bullshit,” Gabe huffs. “You wanted that girl before you went into the military. I remember seeing you two around towntogether like two fucking annoying peas in a pod. You wanted her happy, but you thought she would choose to make that happy life with you. Don’t sit here and pretend all you wanted was for her to be happy because we can all see how much you want her to be yours.”
“Sheismine,” I firmly declare.
“Yeah?” Gabe taunts. “You officially claim her?”
“Fuck yes.” I don’t have to think twice about it. And now that I’ve said it at the table, my brothers will have to accept it as law.
A round of “hell yeahs” and “congratulations” fills the air. Gabe taps the gavel a few times, getting us back on track.
“What would make someone fall back into drugs after being clean for so long? I’ve never understood the pull of an addiction like that, especially with having a young child around. I’m not judging, I just don’t get it,” Hawk says.
“She didn’t go back to it. Someone helped her over that edge,” I state firmly. “The memory of that night is still burned into my head. Sharon’s lifeless body lying on the floor of her bathroom. Her nightgown lifted above her bare ass with small bruises on her hips like fingertips and a thick rubber band tied around her upper arm. Deputy Jones was on the scene and called me after he reported everything. I only had a few minutes, but I had seen enough to know she didn’t do it to herself. But that’s not what the report reads.”
“She was murdered?” Gabe asks. I can feel Pres’s glare on me from across the table without having to look at him. I nod.
“Yeah.” The low rumble of voices tells me they’re as pissed as I am about it. No one in town gave a shit the night she died. Most went on about their day.
“That’s what happens when you sell yourself for drugs.”
“That poor child is going to be alone in this world now because of her mother’s wayward lifestyle.”
“That little girl will be better off in foster care with people who can actually take care of her.”
I love Oakridge, but some of the townsfolk can be unfeeling, judgmental assholes.
“Ever doesn’t know. She thinks her mom fell off the wagon and left Kaylie orphaned. It’s what the police wrote in their report and what the caseworker who’s handling Kaylie’s placement is going by,” I explain, hoping my brothers understand what I’m asking of them. “I’ll tell her, but we need to figure out what the Devils are doing in town, and I need to get some more security on her place and the salon.”
“You think they’re here for her?” Gabe asks, leaning back in his chair, arms folded over his chest.
“Ever told me a few things when she got wasted at Christmas time. She felt like she was being watched. She swears she saw someone snooping around her house, but he took off when she turned the porch light on.” I scrub my hands down my face, fighting back the frustration I still feel every time I think about how she kept that shit from me. “Hawk helped me get a security system set up for both the house and salon, and I haven’t seen anything suspicious so far. I don’t know if she really saw anything or was maybe just feeling paranoid with all the shit the feds stirred up in town when they were here. But knowing her mom had a history with Torch, and now with Ghost confirming he’s in town, it's too coincidental for me.”
“Agreed. Get Colt to keep watch over your girls. In the meantime, I want you running security detail at the strip club in case these fuckers come back,” Gabe commands. “If they show up at the strip club, do not engage. You call me first and then wait for backup. You got me?”
“Got you.”
3
EVERLY
“Come on, Kaylie! We need to be leaving here in ten minutes, and you still haven’t eaten your breakfast.” I shout down the hallway as I stumble around our small living room trying to put my shoes on. There’s a trail of toys all over the carpet where Kaylie left them this morning when she woke up early and played in here instead of in her room. I want to be grateful for her allowing me to sleep an extra thirty minutes, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra hour it’s going to take to vacuum up the glittery mess her toys have left all over my living room floor.
Whose idea was it to make all her doll accessories sparkly with glitter anyway? Either they don’t have children themselves, or they have a maid who cleans for them because everyone knows glitter is of the devil!
“I’m coming!” Kaylie’s little voice sings down the hall as she rolls into the kitchen on her newHeelysthat Santa brought her for Christmas. She grabs the edge of the kitchen table in an attempt to stop herself, making her little legs fly past her, nearly causing her to fall on her butt. It takes a couple of tries for her to right herself and lock the wheels back into the bottom of hershoes. While I watch on and silently pray she breaks nothing in the process.
