Brock
I was outside getting air, having a surreal moment with my past and present colliding, but after my talk with Cedar earlier, I wanted to hunt her down, wanted my girl, but she wasn’t that girl anymore. She’d been beautiful at eighteen, but she was exquisite now. She was wearing her glasses. Her shirt was bright and bedazzled. And she’d been sketching her designs. The memory hit like a fucking punch, but she was coming back to herself, and as much as I hated to admit it, she was because of him.
I’d been her past. But we lost that. She found her present and future, and as much as I’d always fucking hate him, he would keep her safe. If I had to let her go, at least I was letting her go to someone worthy of her.
Iron Guardians were my family now, but hearing Cedar earlier. Was it possible to have both? Not the way I wanted, but she was family, too. And I fucking missed her. I wasn’t sure how the sheriff would feel about it, but maybe, we’d all lost enough.
To say I was surprised to see Damian Tate, among everyone who had gathered, was an understatement. Never worked with him, but I’d certainly heard of him. Our odds just improved significantly, even more so with Anton Scalene. He worked on being legit, but once a crime boss, always a crime boss. And yet, he’d found a life, a family. His past didn’t define him.
I couldn’t go back, I didn’t want to, but I could have more than I’d allowed myself. The door closing turned my head to see Donnelly. For someone I’d never met, he sure as fuck had a big influence on my life.
“Your case is the kind detectives dread,” he said, looking out at the bikes lined up side by side. “Knowing who pulled the figurative trigger, but knowing they aren’t the bad guy.” He glanced my way. “Can’t say that’s the case anymore.”
“You’re not taking me in.” And he wouldn’t. I’d kill him before I let that happen. I might want more, but I wasn’t going to be caged.
“No. Not going to try. I’m here for the kid you were, for Cedar. The law is supposed to protect people, but sometimes, it works against them. Can’t say I wouldn’t have taken the path you did had I been in your shoes.” He turned hard eyes on me. “That said, you could choose to be a better man. Not saying join the fucking PTA, but choosing to not become your father.”
Fury rushed through me; my hands fisted as I turned into him.
He didn’t back down.“He deserved to die, but all those who followed...they were for personal gain, nothing more. And that is Kenneth Callahan. You can stand on the other side of the law and still do the right thing. Your past doesn’t have to define you.” Those words rocked me. He turned back to the gym and stopped. “There was once a kid who helped steal a turkey because the idea of it dying broke the heart of a young girl. Be the man that boy showed the promise of being. The man Sage and Andrew Walker gave their lives for.” He leveled hard eyes on me. “You’ve a moral compass; it’s time you start following it again. You’re not past redemption, and maybe, you’ll find what you’re missing.”
He walked back inside, but I stood there a long time, struggling with my ghosts and demons.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
killian
“Declan Thompson has a penthouse in the Gramercy building. It’s got pretty decent security, but there are holes. He has a dedicated elevator, but it locks when it reaches the top, calling it down will alert them we’re there. But there’s a maintenance elevator that goes to the floor just under his. We take that, disable it, climb up a floor and enter using the maintenance hatch.” Damian pointed on the blueprints. “We enter here. There’s a security station manned twenty-four seven by two guards. We take them out, then Mic becomes our eyes and ears.”
Killian didn’t know how Damian did it, but the man was efficient. It was almost an art form.
“So, we have the in, but how do we know he’s going to be there?” Razor asked.
“Because he thinks he’s meeting with Dominic Medici, the man he’s been laundering money for,” Anton offered.
“Alright then,” Razor said.
Brock looked around the room. “You don’t owe me shit.”
“Not doing it for you. A brother calls in a marker, we answer,” Damian said.
Brock’s focus swung to Killian. He knew what the younger man was thinking; he’d owe him, and he would. Killian knew exactly what he wanted from him, but that was for later.
Brock nodded and looked around the room. “Regardless, you’ve got my marker.”
“Fair enough,” Anton said. “Dominic has agreed to let the dust settle, see what shakes out.” Then he asked Brock, “Did you really steal twenty million that someone else stole from Dominic?”
“Yeah. I earned it.”
Anton shook his head but he grinned. “That takes balls.”
“When you got nothing left to lose…” Brock said. A sentiment many in the room could appreciate.
“Alright, so we take Declan’s army and then what?” Matthew asked.
Brock curled his fists. “Then I ask him a few questions.”
They were moving out, weapons were loaded, equipment packed in the black SUVs parked behind the gym. Killian found Cedar in the kitchen with some of the women. She saw him, moved from her place at the counter where she was helping prepare food, and crossed the room to him. He walked her from the kitchen to a dark corner.
“Guy and Donnelly will be here.”
She looked across the room to the men in question, nodded her head before her wide, fearful eyes came back to him. He cradled her face. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You’ve done this before in your agent days, but this is all new to me, so I’m going freak out.”
He grinned.
“Come back to me,” she whispered.
“Always.”
As much as he hated it, he stepped back when Brock approached. Her eyes turned to him, before she stepped into him and hugged him hard. “Be safe,” she whispered.
Brock’s focus turned to Killian as he held Cedar close. “Will do.”
Killian was a patient man, but he was losing his patience. Brock touched her cheek, grinned then walked away. She watched Brock before she turned back to Killian. He saw the tears in her eyes. She stepped into him, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her lips lingered against his. “I love you, Sheriff.”
He kissed her again, longer, harder and deeper. “Love you, too.”
Then he walked away, right out the door. They needed to get this shit done because he had plans for that woman.