by Davis, Jen
Mandy was already there, working on the food with Cindy. When he’d told her about his invitation from Brick, about the growing friendship they had, she’d insisted he go there first. His arrival at the Coopers’ was supposed to be a surprise; he hoped everyone would consider it a good one.
Why was he so nervous? He’d known these people for years. He was only there a couple of weeks ago.
But I wasn’t back with Mandy then.
Would they be happy to see the man he’d become as a permanent fixture in their family? He’d find out soon enough.
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It swung open before he even let it out. Then Mandy fell into his arms, and nothing mattered but the smell of her hair and the way she whispered his name.
“Who is it?” Cindy’s voice drifted out from the living room. “Amanda?” She exhaled sharply. “Oh my God, Mike. It’s Kane. Is he…are you…are you guys together?”
The joy in her voice put to rest any concerns he had about his welcome. When Mandy finally let him go, Cindy practically elbowed her aside to give him a hug of her own. “We’ve been waiting a long time to have you back here, my friend. I hope you’re sure about this because you’re stuck with us now.”
He hugged her back with the same warmth she bestowed on him. Her grip was strong and after all these years, she still smelled like coconuts.
“All of you need to get your asses in the house and shut the door,” Mike grumbled. “I’m freezing my nuts off.”
Flanked by the women, he followed Mike’s voice into the warmth of the house. Mandy’s brother looked transformed from a few weeks earlier. Though he was still in the wheelchair, the casts were off his legs, and he’d put on at least ten pounds. His little girl had her arms locked around his neck. “Looking good, old friend.”
Mike set his daughter on the floor, and she toddled away on pudgy feet. “I’m living right. It looks like I’ll finally be able to get back to work in a couple of weeks. I’m sure my better half is ready to get me out of the house. If she has to spend much more time with me in close quarters, I may not make it out alive.”
Cindy tapped the back of his head playfully. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time nursing you back to health.”
“Hey, Mom, are we going to eat or what?” Joshua tilted his upper body into the space of the doorframe to the kitchen. “I’m starving.”
Mandy’s hand nestled tightly in his, Kane walked with the family into the kitchen. He hadn’t eaten too much at Brick’s place, knowing he’d be sharing dinner here. Once the smell of Cindy’s pot roast took over his senses, he knew he’d made the right choice.
“Mana, up. Mana, up.” Mike’s little girl was tugging on Mandy’s jeans and quickly got scooped into her aunt’s arms.
His woman looked right at home holding a toddler. Maybe they could talk about having one of their own.
His heartbeat picked up.
It could really happen. All those dreams he thought had died were waking up from hibernation.
The meal was delicious, and the family was everything he remembered from before. Everything but Charlie and Elizabeth Cooper. Still, their picture hung on the wall over the table, giving him the feeling the couple watched over them from wherever they were now.
It might have been perfect if Joshua would have stopped staring at him every once in a while. He crooked his eyebrow at the boy from across the table. “Do I have spinach in my teeth, or what?” He glanced down at his T-shirt. “Food on my clothes? Twigs in my hair?”
Joshua smirked. “You thought I was your kid, didn’t you?”
Cindy slapped her forehead, then ran her hand over her face. “Joshua Charles Cooper, do you have no filter at all?”
The boy had a lot of nerve. Kane decided he liked it. Shooting back his own crooked smile, he feigned a shudder. “Thank God, I was wrong.”
A moment of silence passed before Mandy let out an inelegant snort, and the entire table erupted in laughter. A roll flew across the table and bounced off Kane’s head, leaving Mike doubled over in mirth.
It was the kind of Christmas he had always dreamed about.
He was still smiling when the phone buzzed in his pocket.
Malcolm: 911. Family emergency.
The one call he couldn’t ignore. Family emergency meant shit was hitting the fan. The club needed him. This one last time, he would go.
“Thank you, guys, for including me in your Christmas dinner, but I need to get home.” He kept his eyes on Mandy as he tilted his head toward the door. “Will you walk me out, babe?”
She raised her eyebrows but did as he asked. “Everything okay?”
He shook his head. “Something’s wrong. I need to find out what. But after this, I’m out.” Grabbing his jacket from the hook on the wall near the front door, he pulled a small box from an inside pocket. “Hold on to this. You can open it when I come back to you tonight.”
Her face lit up, then her lower lip shot out as she shook the box gently. “No. You can’t make me wait. You’re just mean.”
Leaning forward, he took a quick bite of her bottom lip. “As if I could ever tell you no. Fine, open it, but then I really do have to go.”
Grinning widely, she ripped off the paper and peered inside the box. A breath escaped her as she pulled out the delicate silver chain. Attached were two entwined hearts. One was silver, engraved with the words I Love You; the other was white gold, marked with the word Forever. “I love it.” Her voice cracked a little at the end. “Will you put it on me?” She lifted her hair and presented him with the back of her neck.
His big fingers were clumsy handling the tiny clasp, but after two or three tries, he managed to get it fastened. “All done.” He kissed her neck. “Tonight, you can wear it for me and nothing else.”
When she turned back toward him, her eyes already sparked with heat. “You can count on it.”
Images of Mandy waiting for him in her bed kept him warm on the icy drive back to the clubhouse. It also kept him from speculating much about whatever crisis had inspired the text calling him home.
It never even occurred to him the plaintive wail of sirens could be headed to the same destination he was. At least, he didn’t realize it, until he turned the corner onto the clubhouse street and an array of red and blue flashing lights nearly blinded him.
At least six police cars lit up the night from their haphazard parking spots around the house. Two ambulances were on the lawn, backed up to the walkway outside the front door.
Mama V knelt in the grass, sobbing, her face tilted up to the sky. His father, shell-shocked, sat cross-legged on the ground beside her. His expression remained blank, even as Kane approached. But when his mom caught sight of him, she let out a keening cry and wrapped her arms around his legs.
He squatted to her eye level. “What’s happening? Mama, what’s going on?”
“My baby. My baby,” she cried. It barely even sounded like his mom, her voice broken and raspy.
He wasn’t getting any answers here. Pulling out of her grip, he moved toward the open front door to the house. He barely made it two steps before a gurney blocked his path. Two EMTs were rushing someone out of the house. He recognized Cue’s bald head instantly. One of the medics called out his vitals.
All at once, his eyes took in the broken windows. The bullet holes scattered across the front of the house. The blood on his mother’s clothes.
The EMTs quickly rolled the gurney around him, spiriting Cue Ball to the ambulance and revealing a second crew not far behind. The team in the back moved slower. A sheet covered the body on their gurney.
“Hey,” he called out. “Who is that?” An officer appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. “Let me go. I need to see who it is.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the cop said firmly. “You’re going to need to step back and let the men work.”
“You don’t understand.” Panic rose. “This is my family.” The second gurney rolled past. “You
have to tell me. Who—” He swallowed his next words as the wheels bounced off the sidewalk into the grass, and a man’s hand slid out from beneath the white sheet speckled with blood.
Twenty-four hours later, the scorpion drawing was still there.
He sunk to the ground, only a few feet away from the spot where his mother still wept.
His brother was dead. And he wouldn’t rest until somebody fucking paid for it.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Amanda
Amanda ran her fingers along the outline of one of the hearts on her pendant. Wearing the necklace, she couldn’t tell whether it was the one engraved I Love You or Forever. It didn’t matter. Either one alone was enough to make her heart fill to bursting.
She didn’t bother to hide the wide grin on her face when she returned to the table from walking Kane out. Knowing the entire family was watching, she plucked the spoon out of Mike’s bowl and stuffed a bite of butter pecan ice cream in her mouth. Bliss.
“What the hell, woman?” Her brother tried to swipe the spoon back. “Get your own.”
“Oh, give her a break, hon.” Cindy shot her a wink. “She’s got a reason to celebrate.”
“Yeah, well, she doesn’t need my ice cream to do it,” he grumbled.
Joshua waved his hand in the air. “If anyone cares about my opinion, I like the guy. He fits right in with us…kind of weird…definitely a smart-ass.”
Mike swiped the back of his head. “Watch your language,” he warned, but there was no evidence of any real anger. He lifted the toddler in his lap and handed her over. “Go get your sister ready for bed, and we’ll pretend like this never happened.”
He waited until Joshua swept Aliyah in his gangly arms and carried her out before he spoke again. “You know I always considered Kane like a member of this family.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Even though he never gave her a hard time about it, she knew Mike had suffered when Kane left their inner circle.
“Tonight was awesome,” he continued. “In some ways, it was like he never left. I’ve got to ask, though. Are you sure about this?” He looked up at the ceiling before meeting her eyes. “A lot of time has passed. He’s been running with his dad’s gang. Those guys are involved in some serious shit. Last I heard, they were running guns. Not to mention, those look like some leftover bruises on his face.”
She didn’t know the details about their criminal activities, but she didn’t doubt Mike’s word. Kane didn’t like to talk about how the club made its money, even when they dated the first time around, but with what she’d learned about their movement into the drug trade, nothing would surprise her. “He’s patching out.”
“He told you he was leaving the club?” Mike couldn’t have sounded more dubious.
It annoyed her. “Actually, yes. He did. Days ago and again tonight. He’s got an emergency to take care of, then he is coming back to me.”
Cindy scraped the remnants of food off the remaining plates onto an empty platter. “I hope it’s true. If it is, great, but what about the years he’s been part of the crew? Even if he walked into his father’s club with his hands clean, you think they are now? And for God’s sake,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “I hope you make him get tested before you get freaky. Who knows where he’s been dipping his wick?”
Mike groaned. “Do not talk about my sister having sex, Cin.”
“Why not?” Cindy stopped cleaning long enough to shoot him a dirty look. “Amanda is full-grown, and she deserves to get laid every bit as much as you do. I just don’t want her to end up with a raging case of the clap.”
“I’m not getting the clap.” That’s why God invented condoms. “Look, I appreciate you both looking out for me, but as you said, I’m a big girl. All I need from you guys is your love and support. And if it’s not too much trouble, maybe you can be happy for me. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”
Mike stirred the soupy remains of his dessert. “We are happy for you, and really, I want Kane back. I always thought we would end up raising our kids together and being the cool dads our kids want at parties.”
“No one wants you at parties, Dad.” Joshua’s taunt came in loud and clear from the next room.
“Keep it up, and I’ll say no to the PlayStation game you asked to download.” Mike shook his head and muttered, “Smartass.”
The idea of a little boy with Kane’s dark hair and big heart was what her dreams were made of. Even when the possibility of a future with him had been less than zero, all her fantasy children had his smile. “I’d love for my kids to grow up with yours.”
“All I’m asking is if you’re sure all of this is what Kane wants too. The kind of happy ever after domestic family thing we’re talking about doesn’t jive with the Skulls; we both know it. And if what you say is true—if he’s dropping out—you’ve got to be ready for it to rock his world. The club has been practically everything to him for his entire adult life. I’m only saying it might be hard.” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to go load the dishwasher now.”
Cindy placed the stack of dishes she’d collected onto his lap and waited until he wheeled away before she spoke. “He means well.”
She didn’t doubt it for a second. Mike had never done anything but support her, from her choice in career, to her love life, to her relationship with her father. Her brother was her biggest cheerleader and her best friend. “I know. I’m not sure what he’s asking me, though. Do I know the club is shady? Yeah. Do I know it’s a big deal for him to patch out? Again…yeah. But it was his choice. It’s what he wants. I’m what he wants.”
“I think you’re right.” Cindy stood, opening her arms for a hug she was more than happy to provide. Her sister-in-law’s embrace felt familiar and fortifying. “If anyone can find the magic again after a thirteen-year break, it’s the two of you. I never stopped hoping you’d find your way back to each other.” Cindy kissed her cheek. “Now get your ass out of here. I have a feeling he’ll be calling any minute.”
The lady didn’t have to say it twice. She couldn’t wait to get home, to have her man back in her bed.
Just as Cindy predicted, the phone buzzed moments after she walked in her front door, but her heart sank when she saw the text.
Kane: Can’t make it tonight.
No tender words. No explanation.
Her mind went straight to her brother’s warnings. Had she read Kane wrong? Had he changed his mind already?
She grasped the pendant at her neck, the cool metal a comforting weight in her hand. I Love You. Forever. She was being paranoid. Kane wouldn’t change his mind; he was in it for the long haul, leaving his old life behind, if not tonight, then tomorrow.
No reason to worry. She’d tell herself as many times as it took until she could make herself believe it.
***
Kane
Kane shoved his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket, pushing images of Mandy out of his head. She had no place among the dark thoughts consuming him right now.
The police had finished their work, leaving him seeped in his mother’s grief, his father’s frozen stupor, and a clubhouse riddled with bullets and soaked in blood. “What happened?” He needed answers, and his parents were the only ones here. “Malcolm,” he barked, shaking his father’s shoulder. “What. Happened.”
Malcolm glanced up, the dazed look in his eyes clearing. “We were shooting pool when the gunfire started. Cue, Scott, and me. I’d walked back to the kitchen to grab a beer, and then I heard it. It was automatic for sure.” His jaw tightened. “I crawled back in on my hands and knees, but it stopped as fast as it started. Your brother was dead before I got to him.”
A large pool of blood next to the table supported his version of events. The array of bullet holes along the front wall of the house and the interior did as well. There were too many for it to be anything less than automatic fire. “Who did this?” Either the Christian Soldiers or the Russians were behind it. Both gro
ups would want Scott’s head on a pike.
“Witnesses told the cops they saw a black van.” With shaking hands, Malcolm poured a healthy dose of bourbon into a glass.
“Sergei,” Kane growled. The Soldiers would have been on two wheels, not four.
“You tried to warn us.” Malcolm gulped back the amber liquid. “We should have listened.”
He wasn’t interested in his father’s self-pity. It was time for action, not words. “Call in the rest of the club. There’s going to be a reckoning.”
Malcolm had the men assembled in thirty minutes flat. Their reactions ranged from anger to heartbreak to fear.
“First thing we gotta do is be there for Cue.” He turned to the prospect. “I need you to take Mama V and Desiree to the hospital. Use my mom’s car.”
The kid took the keys Malcolm held out, then led Mama out the front door.
Kane returned his focus to his brothers. “What do we know about where the Russians stay when they’re here?”
Frank cracked his knuckles. “They’ve got a safe house in Mechanicsville. At least, they did a few years back. It’s where we met with them the first time…me, Randy, and Scott.”
Randy stroked his mostly gray beard, a frown wrinkling his leathery forehead. “Right. It was on Love Street. I remember Scott said he was gonna steal the street sign to hang over his bed. The Russians didn’t think it was funny.”
That sounded like Scott. He always—Kane’s heart stuttered when he remembered his brother would never do anything again. No more corny puns or practical jokes. Scott’s legacy was complete. It was all past tense now.
He shut down the rising tide of emotion. “Do you think you’d recognize the place if you saw it again?”
Randy’s eyes narrowed. “No doubt.”
Frank crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Me too. Plus, their van will stick out like a sore thumb. It’s no Escalade, but it’s nicer than anything else you’re gonna see in the neighborhood.”
