“I need this,” I begged Jeanette. “Otherwise she’s going to spend her entire sentence fucking with me, just because she can.”
At this point, I’d pretty much resigned myself to having to plead my case to a judge, accepting the possibility that I might lose. But this letter... if it held up, it was fucking golden. “I don’t understand. How did you get this?”
Orla drew me away from the car. In my peripheral, I saw Folk move closer to Ivy, reading me better than I could read myself. But as Orla led me to a quieter spot, she had my full attention.
“Juana and I went to see her,” she explained. “A few days ago, and this was delivered to the clubhouse yesterday morning.”
“You went to see her? How? You’d need a visiting order.”
Orla’s smile turned lethal. “You’re a sweet man, Decoy, so let me tell you how it is for the rest of us. My brother owns every men’s prison in the South West, but Eastwood Park is mine, and I had a lot of fun letting Lauren know that when we paid her a visit.”
I didn’t like any of the emotions that vied for dominance in my heart. “Orla, you can’t kill her—”
“Pfft.” Orla let out a throaty chuckle. “Who said anything about killing her? You boys always go for the obvious things, don’t you? But—” She held up a finger, delaying my response “—I can promise you this, my friend. That bitch is never getting out.”
“How do you figure that?”
“It’s simple. My dad taught us that if you’re near trouble, you’re in trouble, and your delightful ex-wife is about to learn that lesson the hard way.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue with me. It’s my birthday.” Orla kissed my cheek and walked away, hips swaying, heels clicking on the concrete.
I was stunned enough to feel immobile. But I sensed Folk’s approach before I saw him. Then his warm hands slid over my ribs, his arms wrapping around me from behind.
Happier than I’d ever been, I rubbed his forearms, letting my gaze drift back to Locke and Rocco’s boys. “Okay?”
Folk hummed. “I wasn’t sure this day would ever come. For Locke, I mean. It killed me letting him believe we’d lost them forever.”
Lots of things had nearly killed Folk. Too many to contemplate. “Did you get word to Ranger? Bo was talking about him yesterday.”
Faint tension rattled Folk’s frame, noticeable because his baseline was languid calm. “Not yet. He’s in the wind, looking for Viktor.”
“With Jakov?”
“Maybe.” Folk kissed my neck. “I’m trying not to think about it too hard.”
I had the perfect distraction.
Wordlessly, I held up the letter so he could read it.
Felt him smile. Then laugh, mellow and deep as he nuzzled the spot where he’d bitten my throat. “You want me to take the baton?”
“Of parental responsibility?”
“Yeah, I mean, you’re gonna live forever so there’s nothing to worry about, but on the off chance that I’m wrong, you need something in place for Ivy, and I want that place to be me.”
I didn’t hesitate. “I’ll get Jeanette to figure it out on Monday.”
Folk squeezed me. “Maybe we should get married too. So we’re set up for all the other kids we’re gonna have.”
“Where are we getting all these children from?” I queried, not disagreeing with the rest of it.
I felt Folk shrug. “They’ll find us.”
“Like you found me?”
Folk joined our hands, lacing our fingers together. “Seth, it was the other way round.”
* * *
