She leans in and kisses my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now, go get laid or something.”
“Effa!” she gasps, scandalized, and I burst into laughter. Her innocence is the best thing ever.
Chuckling, I grab her hand, and we walk down the stairs onto the tarmac. Luke and Mercs are waiting beside the cars.
I lean in and hug Alana once more. “Don’t let Luke give you crap. He’s a douche, remember? And we can fire him if he gets too full of himself.”
She giggles, and the sound settles my nerves.
Luke watches us, brows creased like he knows exactly what we’ve been talking about. I purse my lips at him, just enough to let him know I’m not impressed. He swallows and shifts hisattention to Alana, placing a hand on her back before he ushers her to the car like the world’s most stressed-out event planner.
“Have a good break, you two. Don’t do anything stupid,” Luke calls.
Mercs chuckles beside me as I walk toward him. “Depends on your definition of stupid, Luke,” I fire back. He blinks, slightly thrown by my tone, then climbs into the Hummer.
Mercs raises a brow, smirking. “Something going on with Luke?”
I sigh as he opens the back door, and we climb in together. “Not just Luke. I think Alana’s feeling left out. It’s all of us. I hate leaving her when she’s hurting.”
He takes my hand and squeezes. “You can stay, Effa. Gran and Kiera will understand.”
I nod. “I know, but Alana won’t. I tried. She practically guilt-tripped me into going. So I’ll be checking in constantly. I hope that doesn’t bother you.”
He slides close until our legs are pressed together and he wraps an arm around me, tucking my head to his shoulder. “Wouldn’t want it any other way. Kristy’ll keep an eye on her, and I’ll ask Tank and Jay to check in too.”
Smiling, I melt into him. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”
The car starts moving, taking us toward Ligonier, toward the next part of this wild ride.
Mercs strokes my arm gently, and the motion calms me. Then he leans in close. “Have you had much to do with Jett lately?”
My ears perk up.
I sit straighter.
That’s…random.
“Why do you ask?” I tilt my head.
He shrugs. “Just noticed you guys were talking a lot, and then not at all.”
I narrow my eyes, my brain ticking. “Funny, I was wondering the same thing. Thought that was Raoul’s influence, under Luke’s instruction.”
Mercs looks away just a fraction too quickly.
I jab a finger at him. “You! What did you do?”
He winces. “Okay, yes. But I honestly didn’t think he’d drop it that easily. I expected more of a fight.”
“Mercs…”
“He saw us. On the rafters.Everything. And he made it clear he wasn’t happy. Said he was gonna cause trouble, so I told him to back off. That you weren’t available, and I wasn’t going to roll over. Then I talked to Luke and asked him to watch Jett around you.”
I blink. “Wait, so that’s why Luke and Raoul were talking about security? I overheard them, and we had a quick chat about Raoul watching over me. But I didn’t think that included Jett not talking to me… at all.”
He nods. “Yeah. Because I asked.”
