“D.C? Fancy. The Walsh takedown really did help with the promotion, I see.”
“And I couldn’t have got him without Jedd.”
Jedd. So, this was about my brother, and the look in her eyes suddenly made sense.
“No. You couldn’t. But we couldn’t have gotten out of that warehouse without you, so the gratitude needs to work both ways, even if you were late to the party.”
“Right.” She swallowed lightly and glanced down at her arm resting on the window ledge before looking back up at me. “But I don’t think Jedd sees it that way.”
“What do you care how he sees it? You got what you wanted in the end, didn’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed again, the words she wanted to say seeming to get stuck on the tip of her tongue.
“Mostly,” she eventually whispered. “I don’t make a habit of visiting those I’ve had under investigation before, Drew.”
“We’re flattered.”
“You should be. He should be. Just…” Winnie sucked in a breath, releasing it like it hurt to do so. “Tell him I’m sorry, okay? Tell him thank you, and I’m sorry.”
I stared at her for far too long, the memories of the awkwardness between Ayda and me at the beginning of our relationship coming back to the forefront of my mind. I couldn’t be a hundred percent certain of what I was seeing, but if it was what I thought it was, I felt sorry for the poor woman. There wasn’t a chance in hell of Jedd ever returning any kind of admiration or mutual feelings for Winnie. If anyone so much as whispered her name in The Hut, he would growl and storm off, unable to listen to the six letters that made up her moniker.
“Sure. I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you.”
Winnie turned to stare out of the front windshield, looking at the road ahead of her with apprehension.
“It’s a long way to D.C,” I said quietly.
“There’s a whole world waiting for us outside of Babylon, Drew,” she said, turning back to me and dropping her arm from the ledge to hold onto the wheel with both hands. “Maybe you should think about exploring it one day.”
“I’ve got my whole world inside these gates. No need to go searching for things I’ve already found.”
“Congrats on the baby,” she offered with a soft smile.
“Congrats on the new life.”
“Congrats on getting away with murder over and overagain.”
“Congrats on reminding me why I really don’t like you.” I huffed out a laugh, and Winnie nodded once in acknowledgment before she started up the engine of the Torino, offered me one last glance, and drove down a road that would lead her out of Babylon.
When I turned back to look over the yard, I saw Jedd walking out onto the porch like a lump of dark hair and tattooed muscle. His arms were stretched up to the sky, his body reaching up before he dropped a hand to his eye and rubbed at it wildly.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him.
My brother. My VP. The man who saved the club in ways I’d never have considered doing.
Walking over to him, I laughed to myself when he shook his head and pretended to check an imaginary watch on his wrist.
“Don’t you ever fucking sleep anymore?” he asked roughly, his voice still not awake yet.
“Nah. It’s a waste of life,” I said, hitting the bottom step of The Hut and coming to a stop.
“Who was that?” he asked, nodding to where Winnie had disappeared.
“The Torino?”
“Yeah.”
