“You good?”
“Yeah, my bathroom flooded. Gonna take days to fix it.”
He headed past me, his phone ringing, and looking like he was gonna murder someone. Chaos was finally starting to look better after his black eye had receded.
“Any word on Wiley?”
He shook his head, looking passed me to Brianna and back at me. “Is she okay?”
“Rowan thinks so. She’s not leaving her side, having girl nights and shit. She’s softening, so I’ll take it.”
Chaos nodded. “Nothing new. Trojan is working with his contacts to see if he can track Raf, but he’s gone underground. Nothing new happening at The Pit, and nothing new on Wiley or Darian. Everything seems quiet.”
“For now,” I said. “I don’t like it. It’s my gut feeling that something's coming.”
“We’ve got it covered. Go build a relationship with your daughter.”
That was different, coming from the man who never thought he’d ever want kids. I saw him when we had family days at theclubhouse in Yarramundi. He was the one all the kids flocked to, because he was the one with the water guns, and the one who got down on their level and played.
One day…a woman was going to blow him away, just like Rowan had for me. I couldn’t wait to see it.
Chaos was heading toward the lounge where Shadow sat, buried in his phone, like he normally was. The door to the clubhouse was opened, and all attention turned to the newcomer.
Frankie stood in the doorway, an excited look on her face, before she squealed excitedly and rushed over to Rowan.
“You’ll never guess!” she cried out. “Manny is taking me to Portugal…and he has a private jet!”
Rowan
Frankie’s announcement came with so much shock that I almost flipped the glass we’d been flipping coins into onto the ground. She squealed excitedly, running over to me. Movement out of the corner of my eye had my head turning in time to see Chaos leaving the clubhouse in a hurry.
Poor guy.
Turning my attention back to Brianna, I noticed she had moved to allow Frankie to sit down. She smiled at me, as if she found Frankie funny, before she settled in to look at her phone.
“What do you mean?”
“I just told him how I wished I could go back, I haven’t been since I was a kid, you know, and he said he’s always wanted to see it.”
“You barely know him, Frankie.”
“So…you barely knew Reaper before you practically jumped on his dick and moved in.”
Brianna made a spluttering noise as if she were choking before she all but ran out of the clubhouse, holding in her disgust.Turning back to Frankie, who seemed oblivious to what had just occurred, I couldn’t help but see the brightness in her cheeks, the way her mouth was in a huge giddy grin, and her eyes were so much lighter.
She was happy.
Happier than I’ve seen in a very long time.
What kind of friend would I be if I were to dampen that with logic and turn her smile upside down?
The only kind of friend you need, that’s what.
“Babe. Just please be careful. He knows you’re linked to the Sons, and technically that’s the enemy.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, her smile dipping. “Why aren’t you happy for me?”
“Frankie, if you’re happy with this guy, then I am totally down for that, but let’s all go out. Let’s have a double date. How about tomorrow night?”
