I wandered back to the window, glancing at the chapel as I went, gaze searching out Orla, expecting to find Locke close by or at least near Folk. But he sat alone in a seat that had been Mateo’s before Alexei had taught us not to care about shit that didn’t matter. He was drinking tea (white, one sugar) with his favourite breakfast in front of him (dry granola straight from the bag) and talking on FaceTime to one of his brother’s boys, his lazy, crooked grin firmly in place. But even from here, I could tell my big fat mouth had upset him.
Course it has. You shoved his literal torture in his face.Years of it if I took Ranger’s words at face value.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Me and Orla weren’t telepathic, but sometimes I truly believed she knew my mind better than I did.
I threw a leg in the window at the same moment she rose from her seat and breezed to Locke’s side, ruffling his hair and making him grin while she waved at the kid on screen. It felt good to see them together—it feltright. The only thing wrong with it was that I wasn’t there too.
The need to fix that drove me away from the window and to the drainpipe Embry and Saint seemed to think was a ladder. I began to slither down it with the grace of a drunk rhino, scraping my arm on the brick, with every intention of heading straight for the chapel.
Halfway down, an unknown force drew my gaze to the driveway, the stretch of private road that led to the sales building and the compound gates. It was no longer early. The sales desk had been open since before I woke up, welcoming a steady stream of dude-vans and DIYers. The road was busy withvehicles, and the lone figure on foot stood out. The youngfemalefigure, tall and slim, with long blonde hair and a guitar on her back.
I noticed her at the same moment River’s creepy mechanic emerged from the side entrance of the garage and started towards her, wiping his hands on a rag.
Fuck no.
I leapt from the pipe and darted across the yard, blazing through the garage where River was working, intercepting Bear a split second before he made contact. “Inside. Now.”
Still walking, Bear opened his mouth.
In the next second, my fist imprinted on his face. “I ain’t asking.”
Bear went down hard, and the commotion brought River outside.
I blanked him and crossed the road to reach the teenage girl, keeping my hands to myself as I steered her away from the traffic. “Are you lost? The bus stop is down the road.”
The girl wide-eyed the mess I’d left behind me. “Who are you?”
“Nash. Who are you?”
“Did you punch that dude?”
“Only a little bit. Answer the question or I can get my missus and you can talk to her.”
The girl tore her gaze from Bear and fixed me with a stare that was amused and nervous all rolled into one. A familiarsea-greenstare as the girl held out her slender hand. “It’s okay. I’m not scared of you, Nash. My dad told me all about you.”
9
ORLA
River barged into the chapel first, kicking the door open the way he always did when he was about to blow his top. “Anyone want to tell me why Nash just decked my mechanic?”
Saint moved so fast it was hard to believe he’d been in the room at all.
He darted outside.
Mateo followed, but Cam raised a hand before anyone else could join them, still eating—with Rubi, he’d spent the last half hour making sure everyone else got fed first. “If Nash thumped Bear, he deserved it.”
“Why? All he does is show up and work for me while the rest of you treat him like a cunt.”
“Maybe he is a cunt.”
I braced myself, gripping Locke’s broad shoulders, grateful for his solid warmth beneath my palms even though my irritation thatBear, of all people, was distracting me from finding out why Locke had trudged into breakfast in a mood that didn’t fit waking up in bed with a very naked Nash.
But... I wasn’t giving my baby brother enough credit. He’d worked hard on himself in the last year, and his habit of hitting the nuclear button had been replaced by a new one.
