“I knew she would be; that’s why I called her. Do you want to tell me what you talked about?”
“Yeah, I do, particularly because one suggestion she made involves you,” I said and told him what Harper said about going to see Ian.
“I’ve already been to see him, but I’ll go with you if that’s what you want.”
“You what? When?” I asked in disbelief.
“When I realized Grace from the bar was really Avery Parker. I left your house, grabbed some whiskey from the clubhouse, and went to his grave to apologize.”
I sat there staring at him at a complete loss for words. “I, you, um,” I stammered.
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know that I understand.”
“You’re a good man,” I told him for the hundredth time. And he was. He was kind, caring, honest, noble—just to name a few.
He bowed his head. “I’m not a good man. Especially not after what I did today.”
“What was that?” I asked cautiously.
He kept his eyes focused on the sheets and shook his head. “I can’t tell you. It’s not that I don’t want to, but it’s club business, and in this instance, it’s better if you don’t know any details.”
I couldn’t contain my gasp. What could he have possibly done that he couldn’t tell me about? “Was it something illegal?” I asked.
He rolled to his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me ask you this. If you found out the person who ran over your mother was actually trying to run over you in an attempt to kill Sienna and said person was right in front of you, what would you do?”
“I’d kill them!” I said without giving it a single thought.
He reached over and took my hand in his, giving it a soft squeeze. “So would I,” he whispered.
I slapped my hands on the bed and sat straight up. “What?”
“Shhh!” he scolded and urged me to lay back down. “It was a hypothetical question.”
“No the hell it wasn’t. I’m not stupid, Kellan. Now, who the fuck tried to kill me and my unborn child and almost killed my mother by mistake?” I demanded. His so-called hypothetical question was far too detailed to be anything other than the truth.
“Don’t ask me, because I won’t answer, but if you think about it for just a minute, I’m sure you can figure this out,” he said and gave me a pointed look.
I relaxed back into the bed and closed my eyes while I started going through names of who he could possibly be referring to, but couldn’t come up with anyone.
“Who’s the one person who wanted you and Sienna out of the way?” he prompted.
Once again, I slapped my palms down and pushed to a sitting position. “Kelly!” I exclaimed. “How did you find out?”
He shook his head and grimaced. “Sorry, sweetness.”
“Is that what you were doing today?”
“Baby, I can’t answer anything you ask. Just know that I made sure those responsible for hurting our family will never be able to do it again.”
“Those? As in more than just her?”
“I love you and the kids, Avery. I would do anything to protect you. Anything. And that’s what it was—making sure our family was safe, not for vengeance. Part of keeping you safe is not sharing any information that could put you in any kind of jeopardy.”
“But what about you? Doesn’t it put you in jeopardy?” I asked.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he said and pulled me against his chest.
49
