“Baby, I asked you if you were good. Your response was to tell me you weren’t leaving me. And before that, I watched you disarm then kick Hutchinson’s ass. I know you’re all right. Though you wiped your blood all over my shirt. Yours is a mess and you need some fucking ice for your eye. So we’re gonna do that, then I’ll sit with you while you give your statement and after that, I’m taking you home.”
“Home?” She smiled.
My eyes dropped to her bloody lips then went back to hers.
“Home. Our home.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you, Luke?”
“No. I’m telling you, you no longer live here, Shiloh.”
“So you’re telling me I’m moving in with you?”
I figured I was clear that was exactly what I’d done, therefore I didn’t answer.
“Okay, I’ll move in with you.”
I didn’t respond to that either, seeing as not only hadn’t I asked, I wasn’t giving her options.
I had no clue what had taken place in her house or how Hutchinson got the drop on her. I did however know what happened on the front lawn. I also knew I’d hear the story when she gave her statement and I wouldn’t like it. And since I knew that to be the case there was no chance in hell she was living in this house. Further, it would be a complete waste of time and money for her to get another place and for us to continue to bounce back and forth from one house to another when she’d be wearing my ring and soon.
Tomorrow, if I could pull it off.
“I love you, baby.”
Shiloh’s face planted into my chest and she mumbled against it, “I love you, too, Luke.”
30
I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t so damn tired.
I would’ve laughed if Luke didn’t look like he was ready to commit murder and if Echo and Phoenix didn’t look like they were ready and willing accomplices.
So even though I wanted to bust a gut when Luke pulled onto his street and found carloads of people standing in his front yard, I didn’t.
I even bit my tongue when Luke got out and growled at everyone to leave.
No one listened. Not a single person who’d been waiting for our arrival cared that Luke sounded as annoyed as he looked.
But it was Liberty—bold as brass—who stalked right up to Luke, put her hand on his chest, and gave him a sad, sullen look accompanied with a soft smile.
“Payback, Luke” was all Liberty said and poof, all the irritation slid from his features.
Which I thought was a miracle. The kind of miracle that someone should notify the Pope about considering Luke’s mood had seriously deteriorated when I sat with Ethan, my captain, and officer Frank Nigma while he listened to me make my statement.
There wasn’t much to tell, really. Clive had broken into my house and was waiting for me to come home. I had to pause my retelling when Echo ranted for five minutes about how he’s told me twenty-million times to get an alarm. That was a slight exaggeration but I wisely didn’t call him on it. Then I paused again when I explained Clive had shot the family picture I had on my bookshelf in the living room. I was forced to pause because it was Phoenix’s turn to go off on a tangent. His didn’t last as long and was basically him making up creative curse words to call Clive.
Luke hadn’t interrupted but he did give Ethan a knowing look when I explained why I waited until Clive had taken me outside before I attempted to escape. While we were in my house he was prowling around like a caged animal. He gave me no opening to get close. And the way he was swinging the gun around worried me. I didn’t want him to shoot me. I figured one of my neighbors would’ve called nine-one-one when they heard the gunshot but I couldn’t be sure. And when the police rolled up, lights and sirens, Clive ordered me out of the house.
Throughout the time I was in the house with Clive he didn’t say much. But what he said broke my heart. He missed his daughter and he blamed me. However, as much as my heart hurt for him and I understood why he blamed me, I wasn’t going to let him kill a member of my family as payback. So when he asked me which brother I wanted to die I immediately said River knowing he was safely in Florida undercover. I just needed to buy time.
I might’ve lost it for a minute and gotten a few good hits in after I disarmed Clive but I was relieved the standoff ended without him being killed. Seeing Luke on scene had actually motivated me to make my move sooner than I’d planned. I was going to try to talk Clive down, but once Luke was there and I saw what he intended to do, I knew I needed to make my move or Luke would end Clive.
Now it was hours later. I’d had the worst two days of my life and I really wanted to lock the doors, turn off the phones, and crawl into bed with my man but I couldn’t because there was a house full of people.
And by that I meant, a house so full people were milling about in the backyard because there was nowhere to sit or stand in the living room, dining area, or kitchen. I was on the loveseat, Luke beside me. My brothers on the couch, Drake in an armchair with Liberty on his lap, and Ethan was standing next to the chair where his wife Honor sat tucked to his side. Ethan’s daughter Carson had her brother Hudson and cousin Emma in Luke’s bedroom and they were watching TV.
Every Triple Canopy employee was there and each of the men I worked with had been by. Some just came by to give me a once-over and make sure I was okay, then left after hugging me but Gordy and Chip had come and stayed. They were currently in the backyard. Mereno had come and stayed for about ten minutes but wanted to get back to the hospital. Valentine had woken up and everyone was taking shifts to sit with him so he wouldn’t be alone. I promised I’d be by to see him tomorrow. Luke had stepped in and told Mereno I wouldn’t be around until the day after. I’d started to argue until Luke cut his eyes at me. I’d promptly clamped my mouth closed and nodded my agreement.
I had a lot to say and my energy was waning so I figured it was time to get on with it.
“I went to see Dad today,” I blurted.
My brothers’ angry stares pinned me in place and Luke’s fingers curled into my shoulder.
“It will come as no surprise to you he’s still a dick. I informed him that none of us would be visiting him.”
“Sunny—”
“That’s it,” I cut Echo off. “It’s done for us. I made it clear his shit was his, it is not ours. It never was. We’ve been carrying his burdens around for too long. Especially you, brother.” I looked at Phoenix and waited. I knew what was coming. Anytime my father was brought up Phoenix closed down. I understood this. But it was time for it to stop. “After I left the prison I drove to Mom’s.”
“You did what?” Echo seethed.
“Don’t try and bullshit me, Echo. I know you’ve looked her up, too. All of us have but none of us wanted to tell the others we knew where she was because that would mean we’d have to talk about her. In case either of you was wondering, she didn’t have more kids after she left us. That was all I wanted to know from her.”
“Thank God,” Phoenix muttered.
I agreed, totally. That was something I’d thought a lot about over the years, wondering if I had other siblings and if they were being taken care of.