“Not like you can. If you think you going to prison isn’t going to hurt her, then you’re a damn fool.”
“I’m not trying to hurt anyone.” Pain flashes in his eyes, and I know I’m not only leaving my son and Izzy behind. My actions have hurt so many people.
“The attorney says—”
“I killed a man!” I roar, too emotional to worry if Delilah is upstairs sleeping. “I’m not going to stand before a judge and beg him to understand. There is no understanding. There is nothing that will bring that man back or give his family peace. I have to live with that. I have to be punished for that.”
“You don’t have—”
“Enough!” I swipe my hand through the air. “I’m not having this conversation again. You won’t change my mind. She won’t change my mind.”
“Drew.”
I walk away, heading right upstairs, but even as exhausted as I know I am, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.
Chapter 17
Isabella
“Have you been sleeping?”
“Yes.” I lower my eyes, focusing all of my attention on the straw floating in my root beer.
“You’re lying. I always know when you’re lying.” I can feel Sophia’s eyes boring into me.
“Sleep doesn’t come easy these days. I’m as big as the clubhouse and my feet hurt when I’m not even standing on them.”
“You know what will help you sleep. Org—”
“If you say orgasms, I’m going to get up and walk out of here.”
“All the way back to the clubhouse? I thought your feet hurt.”
A weak smile tugs up the corners of my mouth.
“So, no orgasms then.” Not since that night. “We can talk about something else then. Thanksgiving is next week. Are you going to make that chocolate pecan pie you make every year or are you going to be too tired?”
I don’t even want to think about Thanksgiving. Normally, the holiday is filled with laughter and joy, dozens of people coming together to eat ourselves silly and play cards games.
This year it’s just the Thursday before Drew’s court hearing. The Monday after the holiday seems like a ridiculous time to have such proceedings. Why not wait until after Christmas? Shouldn’t the judge and courtroom staff be using up their saved vacation hours around this time of the year?
“I’m never too tired to make a pie.”
“Good. I invited Colton’s parents before talking to him about it, and I don’t think he wants them there.”
“Oh really?” I look up at my smiling best friend. I can get behind talking about anything other than what’s been plaguing me for the last couple of weeks.
Drew has managed to avoid me since that night in the entryway. Before, I could tell it was the guys keeping him busy, but he’s declined every invite to dinner, saying he doesn’t want to intrude since Gigi came home with little Jameson. We haven’t spent any real time together, and the time we have spent in the presence of others is stilted and seems like an obligation to him.
Our just sex conversation has played over and over in my head, and as many times as I’ve run it through, I don’t recall him mentioning it would only happen once. Hell, if he wants to get technical, we didn’t have actual sex. His definitions may be different from mine.
“Do you even know what we’re talking about?”
“Yes.” I watch her face fill with doubt. “Colton isn’t happy that you invited his parents to Thanksgiving.”
She looks a little shocked, and I’m just glad she hadn’t moved the conversation very far forward since I stopped paying attention.
“Did he say why?”
“He thinks his dad has lost his mind. Franklin bought a motorcycle and now Sally is buying t-shirts crude enough to give Cannon a run for his money.”
A genuine laugh bubbles out of my throat.
“Sally? Really?”
“Yep.” Her eyes widen. “We went to dinner the other day, and she said it was canceled. They’ve had a dinner every weekend since Colton moved out of the house. I thought Rick was going to cry.”
“Why would she cancel dinner?”
“His parents said they were going for a ride on the bike.”
“It’s freezing outside!”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t a concern for them. Colton swears the Cerberus guys are a bad influence on them. He’s adamant that peer pressure is making his parents insane.”
I laugh again. “Ridiculous.”
“And Sally’s shirt?” She points to the front of her sweater. “It said I Love Dirty Old Bikers.”
I snort a laugh. “That’s amazing.”
“Colton doesn’t think so. He put his foot down when Franklin offered to buy Rick a bike.”
“That boy is best friends with Landon. Him ending up on a bike is inevitable.”
“I know! And when Colton commented on his mom’s shirt, Franklin opened his leather jacket showing him his.” She points at her chest again. “His said Motorcycles are like women. It’s always best to have two.”
“No.” I slap my hand over my mouth. If I’ve learned anything about people since my dad joined Cerberus, it’s to not count anything out with age. “Do you think?”
She gags. “I don’t even want to think about it, but it seriously skeeved Colton out. He had a talk with Dad.”
“That probably didn’t go well. Dominic can’t usually be swayed in any direction.”
She shrugs. “It didn’t go the way Colton wanted it to. Dad listened to him, but he just as quickly reminded him that his parents are grown. He told him that parents are just as unimpressed with what their children do sometimes.”
“Oh, crap.”
“Yeah.”
“So he did hear?”
“Apparently. Thinking about it now, I may not even be able to show my face at Thanksgiving. You may have to bring that pie to the house.”
Sophia called me last week and told me that Colton had been working a case that kept him away for the better part of four days. He only came home long enough to shower, eat, and grab a couple naps. She complained about being sexually deprived, and somehow I managed to keep my mouth closed and didn’t remind her what deprivation really looked like.
Her parents were visiting when he finally came home. She gave explicit details about what she did to him in the shower, only to walk out of the bathroom with her parents both still sitting in the living room. Apparently, she was so hard up, she forgot they were there.
“I can’t believe they didn’t get up and walk out.”
“Oh, they did. But they just waited until we were done.”
I shudder. Dad obviously knows I had sex, but I can’t imagine him hearing any part of such exploits. I don’t think Dad would sit there and listen. He’d kick Drew’s ass. Not that Drew is scrambling in my direction these days.
“You have to remember what he walked in on with Jasmine, Max, and Tug. At least he didn’t see what was going on between you and Colton.”
“Still mortifying.”
“Very,” I agree. “So what else is going on?”