“Yeah. That night, he called me. I guess Eirian was at the club,” Mila informed them.
“He was,” Minx recalled. “He hit on me at the bar, and Gannon intervened.” Rose’s nostrils flared, and his trigger finger twitched.“Gannon is the reason they are here to begin with. I’m almost sure of that,” Mila spoke up. “Max met with Eirian in the office that night. He told him to tell his wife that the Lynch family says hello. I never imagined that my past would come around like this. Not like this,” Mila whispered, pain submersing her tone. “I killed Derrien. It was never proven, and I ran away with your father. I never looked back, until now. None of them existed to me. I built this life with you, your sister, and your father.”
“You lied all these years, and now Daddy is dead.” Angry, Minx shot to her feet.
“Minx,” Jonah chimed in, his tone calm but warning.
She whipped her head in his direction.
“No! Don’t try to take up for her! This is her fault!” Rage fleeted behind her eyes, and Jonah narrowed his eyes.
“She is still your mother,” Jonah responded. “And you will respect her as such.”
Minx choked back the tears, stinging her throat, as she cut her eyes toward the woman that birthed her. She never thought she could feel anything but love for her, but in that particular moment, she hated her. The daddy’s girl in her was pissed the hell off. Mila stared back helplessly at her daughter. She was right, and the guilt weighed heavily on her as her eyes pooled with fresh tears as well.
“I can’t even look at you right now. I need to get the hell out of here.” She stormed toward the front door, and Rose reached for her hand.
She snatched away from him and Luna chased right behind her.
“Minx—”
Finn and Rose remained, both staring Mila down from the doorway. She recalled when neither of them even had chest hair. Now they stood before her, two strong, forceful men. She took another long drag of her cigarette before she put it out in the ashtray in front of him, then blew the smoke out and nodded to them.
“Go after her, Rose. I’ll be fine. We can talk later. Take care of my daughter.” Mila rose to her feet.
She started up the stairs, leaving the three men alone.
“What are we supposed to do here?” Finn asked.
“Go get some rest. We reconvene in the morning and talk strategy. Either way, these mothafuckas are about to feel it around here,” Jonah assured them.
“A’ight. We’ll see you in the morning.” Rose bowed his head and nodded for Finn to follow him to the door.
When they stepped outside, Minx was seated on the stairs to her porch, legs together and chin resting on her arms, which were draped over her knees. Luna sat beside her, resting her head against Minx’s back and trying to comfort her. She turned when the guys came out.
“Let’s get out of here. I got a pound waiting to be rolled up and a fifth of D’Ussé. We definitely need something to take the edge off,” Finn suggested.
“I’ll drive. We can go to my place.” Rose offered, walking past the girls until he was at the bottom of the staircase.
He and Minx locked eyes, and he held his hand out for her to take.
“Come on, Minx.”
Reluctant, she accepted his hand, and he dragged her down the rest of the steps with Luna and Finn bringing up the rear. Loading his truck, they drove across town to his house. It was small, secluded, and ducked off behind trees on a low traffic street. He parked his truck in his gravel driveway and shut it off. Finn and Luna were hugged up in the back seat, and Rose brought his eyes over to Minx as she sat staring out her window.
“Damn, Rose. This the new hideout?” Luna asked, peering around.
“Something like that,” he answered, keeping his focus on Minx.
“Come on. He got a hell of a view from his back deck.” Finn grabbed Luna’s hand and pulled her out of the car once he opened his door.
Luna hopped onto his back, and he grabbed her legs to support her and walked along the driveway to the back of the house.
“You good?” Rose asked Minx.
Slowly, her head swung in his direction. Eyes connecting in a deep stare, hers misted as she thought about everything. Thinking Max was gone and it was because of her mother left her empty. How could she ever trust her again?
“What do you think?”
