He tells Zeke to pick a card, look at it, then lay it face-down on the table. I cross my arms and lean against the wall and watch in silence. Jake takes Zeke’s card and slips it back into the deck and shuffles. A moment later, he pulls out a card and shows it to the boys.
“Was this your card?”
Zeke’s eyes grow wide as he sucks in a gasp. He nods his head. “How did you do that?”
Jake stacks the cards and places them on the table then stands. “One day, I’ll teach you,” he says with a wink then meets me by the door.
“Thank you for sitting with them.”
“No problem.” He gets that look in his eyes, the one that reminds me that no matter how sweet he may appear, Jake Grimes is still very much a man-child. “You know—”
I hold my hand up to stop him right there. “If you’re about to say I owe you another favor, I’m going to put your balls on a barbecue.” I make sure to air quote the word favor.
He gives me a twisted grin. “Whatever it takes to get them in your mouth.”
I point to the door. “Go. Get out.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “I’m fucking with you, Addy. But seriously, you want to talk about why you called me here?”
Even Jake is smart enough to know I’d never call him for a favor unless I really, really needed it. I want to take him seriously because as far as friends go, Jake would be a good one. He keeps it light but isn’t afraid of the heavy. I can see why he and Brody are so close. That and the fact that they’re both obnoxious…
“Maybe some other time. I need to talk to Liam first.”
“Okay. If you need anything else, I’m two miles away. Remember that.”
After Jake is gone and I make sure the other boys are thoroughly preoccupied upstairs, I bring Liam to the living room and have him sit on the sofa.
I sit beside him, knees bent with my bare feet tucked into the crack between the cushions. “You had a visitor today.” I see the panic in his expression as he sucks in a breath. “Someone named Mal. Lovely guy.”
He swallows hard then sits up straight, turning his body to face me. “Miss M, I can explain.”
“Good. Because you’re going to. Starting now.”
He exhales. “Mal is my sister’s boyfriend—”
“Wait, you have a sister?” Where was this in his file? Kai never mentioned any siblings.
He nods. “Her name is Alex.” He shrugs one shoulder. “Well, Alexandra. But we call her Alex. My mom gave her up for adoption when she was a baby. A few years ago, she found us. It’s the main reason my parents fought so much. Alex has a different dad, and my dad didn’t want my mom having anything to do with her. I don’t know why. I just know he hated when my mom talked about it. So, she made me keep in touch with Alex. Keep tabs on her and report back. She said Dad didn’t want her having anything to do with my sister, but he wouldn’t care if I did. Alex started dating Mal about a year ago. He’s been after me to join his crew, but I always found reasons to blow him off. Then after my parents died, I knew Alex was the only family I had left. I had to find a way to make sure she wouldn’t leave me too.”
“So the fire, Mal told you to do it?”
He nods.
“Why?”
His shoulders slump, and he relaxes a little. “To prove my worth. To show him I wasn’t a pussy.”
I cut him a glare. “Language.”
His gaze falls to the ground. “Sorry.”
I reach for his hand and cover it with mine. “Liam, you have a family. We’re your family. Me, the boys, Brody, Haley…” I pause. “Blaze.”
I scoot closer to him in order to drape my arm around his shoulder. His eyes are bright green pools of confusion and chaos as he silently processes my words. I’ve been where he is. Family is a hard word to swallow when you feel like it’s you against the world, when you build up the walls, board up the windows and bolt the doors to keep anyone else from getting in.
“Your sister loves you. She’s been in your life all these years without you having to join some gang. She’s not going to leave you.” I squeeze his shoulder and hope my words find a place in his heart.
“I know… Or at least I try to believe that.” The first tear spills over his cheek, and my heart twists. Any moment now it will twist so tight it snaps in two. “But it’s too late. Last night was supposed to be my initiation, but I didn’t go. I thought if I just didn’t show up that Mal would get the hint.” He shivers against me, the way I shivered when I saw the devil himself standing at the front door.
Liam looks up at me. His face is pale. His lips are dry. This child is consumed by fear, and I want to rip that asshole’s throat out for it. It’s one thing to try to intimidate me, but when you mess with one of my boys, you’ve crossed the line.
“But he didn’t get the hint, Miss M. He came here. He isn’t going to leave it alone.” His eyes water then the tears spill freely. “What if he hurts my sister?” His body shakes with his sobs.
I pull him into my arms and smooth his hair with one hand while the other holds him close. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt anyone. I’ll make sure of it. For now, you need to stay inside. No basketball. No answering the door.” I wait a few seconds before I lean back and cup his cheeks, forcing him to look at me. “Understand?”
He nods, and I kiss him on the forehead. “Good. Now stay here, and I’ll be right back with some ice cream.”
Of course there was no way I was about to let Haley take her shift without having someone else at the house. Brody had a million and one questions, and Haley insisted she could handle her own, but after I told them both that it was either let Brody sleep on the sofa or I was calling Jake, they both agreed Brody should stay. We also all agreed that, given the circumstances, it’s best if I have a meeting with Kai first thing in the morning when I get to the office.
Ten minutes after I leave the house, I’m speeding down the interstate with a black Ford Mustang on my ass. I don’t even know how I got here. One minute, I was pulling out of the driveway at HoH, mind reeling at all the ways we could save Liam and his sister. I was driving through the neighborhood, replaying every crime show episode I’ve ever seen involving gangs. The next minute, this car—the car I watched Mal get into earlier—appeared at a four-way stop and started following me.
My heart kicks up, thrashing in my chest as I scramble to figure out where the hell to go from here. I can’t go back to the house. I’m damn sure not going home.
I press the gas, finally hitting ninety-five on the speedometer. I pass the first car, then the second. Then I take a steady breath and tighten my grip on the wheel. Don’t panic.
Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.
It’s another quote I put in my journal, one I’ve learned to live by, one I find myself repeating over and over in my head right now.
He weaves through traffic until he’s right behind me again. There’s no way I’m going to outrun him. I cut between two eighteen-wheelers, and one of them blows his horn at me. A few miles in front of me, I see nothing but brake lights. Traffic.
Shit.