I always thought it was kind of cute, but felt bad for Sam when she got old enough to start dating. With all those big brothers—not to mention cousins and scary uncles. She was never going to be able to find a guy to take her out.
Hell, that was the reason I hadn’t dated until I was older. Jase was the first guy in town with the balls to come pick me up at home.
“Let’s just say that when Sam sets her mind to something, there’s no talking to her about it. Sounds like someone else I know,” he added, giving me a look.
“Oh, my God. Louana,” Sam said as recognition finally hit. “Wow. It’s been forever. Where have you been?”
“Europe, mostly,” I told her.
“Fun. My cousin Becca went to Europe and got her heart broken by some hot guy in Spain. Anyway, nice to see you again. I better go wash my hands. I think I spy some of NBPD’s finest in that corner over there,” she said, nodding toward it, making Jase swivel to look as well.
“Good catch. Make sure you get under the nails. And you have some blood on your shoes.”
“Damnit. I thought I got it all. Alright. I’m out. Nice to see you again, Lu,” she said, shooting me a dazzling smile before she turned around and walked away.
“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “She grew up.”
“I know. Fucking annoying. You know how many times I told her she was forbidden from doing that shit?”
“I can imagine,” I agreed, smiling because his love of his family had always been one of the best things about him.
“So, you gonna put on your big girl panties, and go back and have the hard talk?” Jase asked, tapping the bar again in front of my drink. “Figure you’re not the lightweight you used to be,” he said, smile soft.
Because after that first whiskey on the rocks, I’d been slurring and stumbling, and he’d practically carried me up my side yard and lifted me in through my window and told me to go to sleep.
I ended up waking up my parents when I’d decided that I needed mac & cheese.
Luckily, they’d always been lax about that sort of thing. And they’d trusted Jase.
As, it seems, they should have.
Because he’d never been anything but good to me.
“Are you seeing someone?” I asked.
To that, he let out a low snort as his gaze moved to the back bar. “Nah, Lu. I decided that wasn’t my lane to stay in. So now I see lots of women.”
“You were a good boyfriend, Jase,” I told him.
“I’m a good friend,” he clarified. “Which is why I am telling you to down that last drink, and then I will drive your pretty ass back to the clubhouse, so you can have the hard talk with that moron who doesn’t deserve you.”
With that, I threw back the drink, tipped the bartender since Jase wouldn’t let me pay, then climbed in his car.
“Give me your keys,” he demanded as he pulled away from the curb. “I’ll drop your car off at the clubhouse and walk back to the bar.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Listen, you pain in the ass,” he said, shaking his head at me, “when someone wants to do something nice for you, just fucking let them.”
“Thank you,” I said, watching him brush me off as he pulled up at the clubhouse. “No, really, thank you,” I insisted.
“Yeah yeah yeah. Go on. Stop stalling. Have your talk.”
With that, I climbed out of his car and made my way toward the clubhouse, sighing when Seth and Finn moved out the front doors.
“Well, well, well, the plot thickens,” Seth said, smirking at me.
“It’s not like that. I was just too drunk to drive,” I told them, though, objectively, I felt stone cold fucking sober. The idea of having a “hard talk” with the person who meant far too much could do that to you.
“Sure sure. I’ve used that one before,” Seth said.
“Why don’t you go find a woman instead of pestering me?” I grumbled as I moved past him toward the door.
“She’s got a point,” Finn said, getting a shove from Seth.
I left them outside as I walked on numb legs toward the prospect room.
My insides felt shaky.
I kind of wished I’d stayed for another drink or five.
I wasn’t sure I’d get through this talk without that.
But when I pushed open the door to our room, I didn’t find Valen there at all.
In fact, it was Voss standing there.
Like he’d been waiting for me.
Holding Valen’s phone in his hands.
His face was grim.
“What is it?” I asked, my heart sinking.
Because a part of me knew.
Even without knowing, I knew.
“I think shit just went sideways,” he said.
And so it did.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Louana
“Talk to me,” I said, giving him a look that said I’d been onto Valen for a while too, that I was worried as well.
“He took off a while ago. Took off his cut. Left his phone. Checked his bag. He took all his weapons with him.”
“Shit,” I snapped, exhaling hard. “Give me that,” I demanded, waving toward the phone in his hand.
“I can’t get it open. Tried everything I could think of.”
“Give it to me,” I demanded, not waiting for him to do so, walking forward so I could rip it from his hand, and type in the passcode.
“He told you?” he asked, brows drawing together. Looking a little, I don’t know, disappointed. That he, the best friend, didn’t have that same level of access.
“He didn’t need to,” I said, going back to his texts. “He’s been receiving texts from someone for like… shit. It looks like years. He never answered. But they’re all here,” I said, turning the screen toward Voss. “They’re all threats. Do you know what this is about?”
Voss scrolled through some of the texts, looking more and more lost with each passing second.
“I have no fucking idea.”
“You guys were traveling with each other for, what, months, years? And you don’t know who was on his ass like this?”
“He talked about his past here and there, but there were blank spots. But mine had some blank spots too,” Voss said, shrugging.
“Guys,” I scoffed. “He never mentioned making any sort of enemy?”
“I didn’t think he’d stayed anywhere long enough to have that shit happen. Told me the stories by the months really. Starting with this shit about working at a tree stand on Christmas Eve.”
“Christmas,” I repeated, brows drawing down. “That was where his stories started? Christmas?”
“Yeah. Thought it was a weird time to leave your family, but figured there was some shit going on.”
“No. Voss, no. He left at the beginning of July. Where the hell did almost six months go?”
And what was he doing during them?
Who had he associated himself with?
“I have no fucking idea. But he never talked about anything before that.”
“Where was that? The Christmas tree stand?” I clarified.