“Sometimes we have to run away to protect the ones who stay.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes you need to tell the ones who stay why you’re going at all, otherwise you’re just keeping them out of one prison and putting them in another they can never get out of.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you, son.”
Son.
That one word. The word Harry had said with truth and respect—like he meant it.
It felt strange coming from another man’s mouth, but I found myself falling back onto flat feet and collecting my breaths anyway.
“Give me something, Dad.”
Eric scratched his eyebrow before he dropped his hands into his jean pockets and held my gaze. “The biggest problem I ever had was with The Navarro Rifles. I worked my whole life to keep this club away from them. I knew the power they had… have. They’re not to be messed with. Something happened all those years ago. Something I can’t explain to you right now, but I will, I promise. Trust me, the less you know, the more protected you will be while I’m here. Especially with everything going on.” His eyes drifted to Ayda before he looked back at me. “Harry has always kept in touch with me, but it’s been loosely. Birthdays. Christmas. Times when Iwished I could have been here with you all, sharing a beer with my brothers and smelling the sweet smell of home.”
“Home?”
“I never wanted to leave, Drew. I did it because I had to.”
“Why are you back now?”
“Because Harry told me what was going on. He told me about the way you’d imitated The Navs to bury The Emp. I couldn’t stay away. I made the decision that I’d rather be dead, or among you all, trying to fight, than be hidden away in a world without the heart of this place with me. As soon as Harry called me and told me about you playing with fire, I heard his voice. I heard the deterioration of it all. I heard the cancer before he even told me he had it. That’s when I knew…”
“Knew…?”
“You were about to lose a father. I needed to come back and be there for you. You’ve already lost too much.”
Ayda’s lips twitched. It was so hard for her to restrain herself when she wanted to protect me. Her hand balled at her side as she glared at my father.
“You thought it would be that easy?” she asked. “You’ve been gone for ten years, and Harry has been there for Drew at every single turn in his life, every hard decision he had to make, every change the club had to make so they could survive, and you think that Harry being gone just leaves an opening for you to walk into? It doesn’t work like that. Harry can’t be replaced.”
“With all due respect, Miss Hanagan, you’re not qualified to make that assessment.” He tilted his head to one side and studied her.
“You watch your mouth when speaking to her, youunderstand me?” I growled, my finger aimed at his chest as my own rose hard and fast. “You don’t get to come back in here and play king. Not today. You want back? You earn the right.”
“I’m not here to make waves,” he said calmly, glancing down at my finger. “I’m here because I think you’re under attack, and this time, I want to be fighting alongside you. If you’ll let me, I want to work together to secure the safety and the future of this entire club for the rest of your lives.” Eric looked up at me carefully, lowering his voice as he spoke. “Marriage is the best thing you’ll ever do when you do it with the right woman. I know she’s right for you. I can see it in everything you now are. Everything you weren’t ten years ago. It’s because of her, right?”
My teeth were grinding together and my nostrils flared as I stared at him, unable to speak.
“Let’s give her the good life, Drew,” he whispered as he leaned in. “Let’s give her and your future kids what we never had. What your mom never had. Let’s end all these pointless wars based upon power, greed, and envy. Let me help you give Ayda what I know you desperately want to give her… a future where everyone is safe, and you never have to look over your shoulder again.”
“How do you know that’s what I want?” I breathed back at him.
“Because it’s what every man wants to give the woman he’s in love with.”
“And Harry?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer.
“He wants the same for you. Harry wants you to live a good life. When he dies, he wants you to remember him like a hero, a friend, a father, and with a shit-eating smile on your face, Drew. His words, not mine. The biggest gift you can givehim is this one last act of bravery.”
“You say it like it’s easy.”
“Nothing about this life is easy. Nothing worth having ever is.”
Chapter Forty-Four
AYDA
There was a new kind of normal that had settled over the club since the announcement of Harry’s cancer and the appearance of Eric. None of the guys were taking Harry’s illness well. Every single one of them had a healthy respect for their road captain, and knowing that he was going out spending his last days incarcerated for the club only made that respect grow, which in turn made the pain of losing him even harder. Walking into the bar and finding someone staring into the bottom of a shot glass looking lost and in pain wasn’t unusual those days.
