"Teagan, except for the dictator part, you’re describing what parents do," Amy said gently, sinking into a chair across from him. "I'm not trying to boss you around. I'm trying my best to replace our parents."
"But you're not our parents!" Teagan shouted. Amy froze, hoping the girls didn't wake up. "You suck at being them. You never do anything right. You barely make enough money at your stupid job for us to live. I'm tired of things sucking so bad all the time. I never get anything extra and I have to listen to someone who’s only a few years older than me. Why? Because some stupid social services workers said I have to?"
Amy tried to blink the tears away. Teagan had a point. Life wasn't easy for them. She'd hoped that their love for each other would be enough to get them through the tough times, but she knew that there were many things she was failing at. She couldn't make birthdays or Christmases spectacular, the way they'd been when their parents were together in the house. She couldn't buy extras. No fancy foods, no meals out, no friends over.
"I'm sorry you feel that way." She tried to sound mature, tried to give him what she hoped he needed, but inside she was a boiling pit of guilt, anger and sadness. Her parents had done this to them. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't dig the family out of poverty. All they had was each other and the house. "I'm willing to talk to you about changing things. You don't need to abide by the same rules as our sisters. You're almost a legal adult. We can talk about loosening some of the restrictions."
In reality, Teagan had very few restrictions already, a result of his rebellious nature and Amy's inability to lay down the law with him. Still, her words didn't diffuse his anger.
"It's too late, I'm done. I'm done with this house, done with you and the girls." His voice cracked a little on the last word. Teagan really did love his sisters, even if he was angry at the world.
"What does that mean?" Amy asked. "What do you mean by you’re done?"
He shoved his chair back and stood. "I mean I'm done living here. I hate it. I hate living in the same house where Dad…" He didn't finish the sentence, instead changing the subject. "I'm gonna go live with a friend for a while. Then I'll figure something out."
Amy stood too, alarm crossing her features. "Absolutely not! You can't go live somewhere else. You're still seventeen. You still have to reside under my care."
He glared at her. "Fuck off. I'm leaving."
The tears escaped Amy's eyes as her brother swore at her. It wasn't the first time, but it didn't get any easier to take each time it happened. He snatched his backpack off the floor and stormed down to his bedroom. Minutes later he came back upstairs with his backpack and another bag, probably filled with clothes. Without a backward glance or a goodbye, he slammed out of the house.
Amy sank back into her seat and let the tears fall.
Four
"Enrico called, said the Ghosts got our message. They sent a message back. They say the death of Buffalo makes us even."
It took Jared a moment to re-adjust his thinking, away from his curvy black-haired neighbour to his boss. Vincent, the guy Jared would happily follow into death. The guy who had his back no matter what. They'd grown up together, part of a local biker club, the Ghosts.
The club that had betrayed them in a drug hand-off gone wrong and nearly gotten them both killed. In retaliation, Jared and Vince had taken out a good portion of the club. They'd been at war ever since, for well over a decade now.
Jared snorted. "There's no such thing as even for those guys."
Vince's eyes glowed with an unholy light. "You don't want to stop our vendetta?"
For some reason, Jared's thoughts flitted to his cute next-door neighbour. Amy shouldn't affect this decision. Hell, he was just getting acquainted with her. But, for some reason, his heart and his head were telling him that she would affect all of his future decisions.
"Gotta say," Jared drawled, "as much as I hate those guys, it's tempting to leave things alone. We’ve been after them for a long time. They're not even the same club anymore."
Vince nodded slowly. "True, man, kind of agree with you there. Especially now that I've got the wife and kids. Don't need to give those guys an excuse to come after my family."
Jared thought about Amy again, thought about her siblings and their tragic background. "Yeah, agreed. Whatever it takes to keep Jenna and the kids safe."
"So we stop? Send them a message of truce?"
Jared wanted to agree. End the constant fighting once and for all. But they weren't the only ones involved. Others had gotten hurt when the Ghosts betrayed them. "What about on Enrico? Have you talked to him about a truce?"
Enrico Garcia was the one member of the Ghosts biker club who stepped up for his little brothers. He’d warned Jared and Vince that they were going to be betrayed, and he had their backs when they decimated the club. He hadn't lost as much as his brothers, but he was just as angry as they were.
Vince nodded his agreement. "I'll talk to him, make sure he’s good with settling the matter."
Jared and Vince talked business for a while longer. Though Vince was his boss, Jared had just as much stake in the company. He worked under Vince because he had no interest in being anyone's boss. He preferred to work security, to be the muscle behind the crown. Together, they owned a good chunk of the city. Vince ran things while Jared kept everything in line. It was a good partnership, one that had served them well over the years.
Thankfully, they were talking the legitimate side of the business when Jenna breezed through the door of Vince's trailer office. She swept the room with a glance, her grin encompassing both Jared and Vince. She bent over and plopped a powdery smelling baby on Jared's lap before swinging around the side of the desk and dropping onto her husband. Vince’s arms came up to wrap protectively around the curvy redhead.
Jared ignored the two and focused on the baby. Vincent Junior was going to be the spitting image of his father. A fair trade, since Jenna's daughter, Lola, looked just like her mother. Especially now that her hair was going from strawberry blond to a fiery red.
The three of them talked for a while before Vince was called out of the office by one of his contractors who had an issue on the third floor of the apartment complex they were building. Before Jenna could follow her husband out the door and leave the site, Jared called her back.
"Was wondering if I could talk to you about something?"
She gave him a warm smile and sat on the sofa next to him. It was one of those really ugly 70’s couches, upholstered in a hideous orange flower pattern that would survive to the end of time. But the couch was functional and tough, and Vince liked having furniture in his office for visitors.
"Of course," she said cheerfully, snuggling Vince Junior where he promptly fell asleep with his face smashed between her breasts.
"It's about my neighbour," Jared told her. "Think she might be in some kind of trouble."
A frown marred Jenna's brow and her voice was concerned when she said, "What kind of trouble?"
Jared knew his boss's kindhearted wife would be interested in Amy’s story. The former health nurse had a big heart that encompassed everyone around her, including the inmates at the prison where she used to work.