He took another bite of cereal with a big grin. “Hail Mary, I was up late last night working, and I couldn’t relax, so I partook of the herb. It’s all-natural, with none of the harsh side effects of Ambien.”
I shot him a warning glance as Kate sank down onto the kitchen floor, muttering to herself. “This is psychosis—disorganized thinking and hallucinations.”
Rick paused the video to ask, “Is she talking to herself, Celia? Hail Mary, you’re thinking of peyote—not psychosis.”
“You said you were working late. What were you doing?”
I knew what she was getting at, but what had happened to the Blake family was not up for discussion. I squeezed his arm and shook my head. “Don’t.”
Kate continued watching Rick before leaning against the refrigerator with a groan.
“C’mon, Kate,” Dakota snapped as she walked in. “Quit moping on the floor.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Kate screeched in reply. “You were so upset with me earlier, and now you’re acting as though all of this is fine. You shot your boyfriend after getting kidnapped. Mama is watching cat videos with the stoner over here. I’m sorry, I’m just having a hard time keeping up with everything taking place in front of me.”
Proving that weed only made him more unpredictable, Rick chose that moment to announce, “Caparina’s emotions are gonna be all over the place—at least until the second trimester.”
Kate’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at Dakota.
“I was going to tell you…”
Her hand came up over her mouth in shock. “How? When?”
Dakota joined her sister on the floor. “I found out last night in the ER; and when two people really love each other—”
“Stop. I get it.”
Kate’s breaths became ragged, and I knew that there was never going to be a good time to tell her the truth. Rick squeezed my shoulder as I stood up and made my way over to my girls.
“Kate, there’s something I want to talk to you about—”
Jeremy and Zane walked in, leaving me with a sense of claustrophobia. Dakota’s kitchen wasn’t made for this many people.
“Kate told you guys she got married in Vegas, yeah?” Jeremy casually asked, stopping me in my tracks. I’d almost been convinced that Jamie was mistaken; could’ve sworn that she wouldn’t have done something so reckless.
I knelt beside her. “You got married, Kate?”
Do you love him?
Are you scared?
Is he worthy of someone as unique as you?
I rocked back on my heels; the questions stuck in my throat. I couldn’t question Kate’s decisions without revealing my own.
Misreading things entirely, Dakota ran over to hug Jeremy. “Congrats. I have a brother now.”
Rick chuckled to himself before cryptically muttering, “You’re so dead, Jarvis.”
Jeremy looked around for help before blurting, “She didn’t marry me…”
I winced when Dakota connected the dots and confronted her sister. “God of thunder, Kate. Tell me you didn’t do something as stupid as marrying that asshole!”
The asshole happened to be a doctor, but I understood her frustration. From what little I’d seen, the two were oil and water, never managing to go more than a couple of days without blowing up at each other.
Kate pushed herself to her feet. “Well, it’s time for me to go.”
“No, you don’t, Mary Katherine,” Dakota snapped. “I need details!”
“You just called my husband an asshole, Dakota. You don’t get to make demands now. Jeremy, let’s go.”
“If you’re married to Nate, then why are you here with Jeremy?” She called after her.
I’d come to tell Kate the truth, but my head was left spinning with more questions than answers. I’d assumed that the two had put their childhood differences aside, but with the way they were in each other’s faces, it was clear that I was mistaken.
Just one more thing I’d missed.
“Kate—Dad’s alive,” Dakota quietly admitted, pulling me back to the conversation.
Her green eyes met mine, and I nodded, blinking against the sharp sting of tears. She was no longer a woman, but a little girl, battling her anxiety in the middle of a grocery store.
I can’t breathe, Mama!
“My dad died,” she said slowly.
I shook my head, watching her break all over again. The stolen money was the least of their worries when their entire childhood had been drenched in lies.
“Nah, Hail Mary,” Rick said with a laugh. “Your padre is my boss.”
“So, your husband is my dad?” she spluttered.
“Kate, I wanted to tell you—” I started.
“Wow, I’m hearing a lot of that tonight. I need to get out of here.”
With that, she was gone, along with any chance of redemption. Dakota shook her head and wrapped her arms around me as the air left my lungs. Kate was still that lost little girl, grieving her daddy. Telling her the truth hadn’t changed that; if anything, it had only forced her to relive it.
Maybe my mother had been right all along.
The girls had been better off without me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Grey: December 2016
“I want to know where those photos came from. Is Kate even safe here? Fuck, maybe we have Mikey put her back in that holding facility—”
Jarvis cut me off. “Grey, I’m tracing the IP address. Trust me, we’ll find these guys. Sullivan says she’s safe here. If that changes, we’ll move her and Dakota somewhere else.”
I glanced back toward the closed bedroom door and whispered, “You think the doctor she married had somethin’ to do with this?”
“I’ve run him through everything. Not counting his crazy ex-wife, the guy’s completely clean.”
“Bet that really chaps your ass, don’t it, Jarvis?” I clicked my tongue against my teeth.
“I’m not following.”
“Never mind. We look into the ex-wife? Maybe she had something to do with the pictures?”
The guys at Inked had reached out after photographs of Kate popped up in their inbox. It was bad enough knowing she’d run off and married a man she barely knew but seeing full-color images of the two of them going at it in a hotel elevator was enough to send me to an early grave.
Me, and anybody else who saw them.
“Uh, the ex-wife checks out too. Well, other than the whole trying to get Kate sent to prison thing.”
I ground my teeth together. “And you can bet your ass that as soon as this is taken care of, I’ll be handlin’ that shit.”
Jarvis gnawed at the corner of his lip before admitting, “Well, uh, it’s been handled… already.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Care to explain to me who gave the motherfuckin’ orders on that one?”
“Uh, your Ol’ Lady... sir. She called in Knight—”
I let out a low whistle. “The British Butcher? Shit, between the two of ‘em, I’d say they have it completely covered.”
Knight was a Nomad known for dismembering club enemies while they were still alive, and the only other man who seemed to get off on torture as much as I did.
He’d earned every bit of his nickname but had a soft spot when it came to Celia and would’ve done anything she asked.
“What else? Did you get a copy of her medical records? Tell me she ain’t knocked up.”
Jarvis’s jaw tightened, and I wondered if I would’ve noticed it had I not known about him and Kate.
“She’s not pregnant, but she does have pneumonia, which could’ve been caused by any number of things—none of them related to the Sons. Although, the more I think about it, the more I’m startin’ to think that Kate wasn’t their intended target.” He opened his laptop. “Take a look at these—”
“Fuck, Jarvis. You think I wanna see those again?”
“Just hear me out here. I want you to look at these images again and tell me who it looks like to you
. You knew it was Kate because I traced the images back to the hotel in Vegas, but what if I hadn’t?”
I tried to ignore the fact that I was looking at my little girl and reluctantly lowered my eyes to the screen. “Yep. Still looks like Kate. Thanks for—”
He pressed a button and an image I’d never seen before filled the screen. It was grainier than the others as if it had been taken with a different camera. “This is one of the originals. I simply ran them through my software to sharpen them like the others you’ve seen, but tell me, who does this look like?”
“It looks like Kate’s mama.”
Jarvis nodded. “Exactly. I think these images were meant to make you think your Ol’ Lady was with someone else.”
The only thing that kept me sitting in my chair was the fact that my wife was with Knight.
“Why do they want her?”
He minimized the image while shaking his head. “I don’t know why, but we’re getting a lot closer to finding out who’s behind this.”
There was a loud knock at the door that had both of us reaching for our guns. I pointed toward the bedroom. “Stay with her.”
When I saw who it was, I shoved my weapon back in the holster and threw open the door. He took several steps back at the sight of me, and I stretched my fingers, aching to lay hands on him.
“Is, uh, Kate here?”
“She’s sick and needs her rest right now,” I stated flatly.
Proving that love turned people into idiots, he tried stepping around me to get into the apartment. “Look, I’m her husband. Just let me check on her—I’m a doctor.”
Giving up any pretense of being a nice guy, I planted my palm in the center of his chest and led him out onto her front porch with a growl. “Nate, can I call you Nate? Look, I don’t wanna be that guy, but that’s my baby girl in there. You feel me?”
His throat bobbed up and down in a swallow, and he nodded.
I took another step forward, enjoying the way he looked ready to jump out of his skin. “Now, I believe that fair is fair, so I’m gonna give you a warnin’. Stay the fuck away from her. If she wants you, she’ll come find you. Disregard that, and you’ll find out just how bad Kate’s ‘biker daddy’ is. Alright?”
Goblin had filled me in on the things he’d said to my little girl the last time they were together; the things he’d accused her of doing all because his ex-wife had been a psychotic bitch. If he wanted to pin shit on someone, I’d gladly step up and volunteer.
His face went ashen as I grinned and threw an arm over his shoulder before leading him down toward the parking lot. “Jesus Christ, Nate. You’re shakin’. I didn’t hold a gun to your head…yet.”
“R-right. I’m just parked—” He pointed at multiple cars. “Over there. I—just tell her I hope she feels better.”
“I won’t,” I said with a chuckle. “Ain’t your goddamn secretary. Now, you might wanna get a move on before I change my mind.”
The tires on his black BMW screeched across the parking lot, and I walked back upstairs, shaking my head. The old me would’ve killed him and told Kate he died.
I’d gotten soft.
Hell, maybe I was turning into Wolverine in my old age, giving out warnings and shit.
Jarvis met me at the front door. “Was that him?” I nodded, and he grinned. “Wish I could’ve seen the look on that asshole’s face. Are we sendin’ him to the Reaper?”
“Nah, Jarvis. Poor fucker’s in love.”
He slammed his laptop shut, the muscles in his neck straining as he nodded. “Well, Sullivan called while you were downstairs. He said it’s best if we go without colors for the time being. And, uh, he’s runnin’ a trace on that IP address. Between the two of us, we should have something shortly. If you’ve got this, I’ll just take off.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’ve got this under control. You just head back to the clubhouse.” Feeling like an asshole for pushing his buttons, I added, “Really appreciate all that you’ve done for her, Jarvis.”
“Thanks, Pres.”
I locked the front door before going back to the armchair. It was pointless. I was up again within seconds, unable to sit still.
“Nate?” The handle on the bedroom door rattled, and Kate appeared, using the wall to support herself. Her dark hair was drenched in sweat, and her usually bright green eyes were glazed from fever.
She might’ve been the spitting image of her mama, but as she stumbled toward me, all I could see was my little girl.
Daddy, can you come to my tea pawty?
I crossed the room to her. “Katydid, let’s get you back to bed.”
She shook her head and stabbed a finger in the direction of the front door. “No…it’s Nate.”
“Sweetheart, you’re not well. You need to be restin’.”
“Jolly Giant,” she croaked. “I’m fine. See?” She managed two steps before falling into the back of the couch and then collapsing onto the carpet in a flood of tears. Her hands dug at the fibers like she was building a sandcastle.
Daddy, I builded a towah all by myself. Don’t bweak it!
I lifted her in my arms, but she didn’t struggle, just watched me with a curious expression on her face. I’d forgotten how her cat-like eyes seemed to bore right through my skull as if reading my thoughts.
“Grey?” she whispered, and I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, suddenly fighting back the tears. When Dakota told Celia she wanted a relationship with me, I’d been ecstatic, but with Kate, things were different.
She’d known that fairy tales were bullshit since the age of six; had been forced to learn that her heroes weren’t invincible.
Daddy, hold me on yew awm like Spidewman…
“I’ve got you, Katydid. You’re not makin’ any sense. Let’s get you back in bed.”
I gently laid her back in bed before bringing the blankets up to her shoulders and pushing them under her body like a burrito. It was just like before, only she was twenty-six, not six.
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at me. “Nate…where did Nate go?”
“Nobody’s been here but me.”
She shook her head sternly, and I half-expected her hand to pop out from under the covers, going to straight to her hip. “I saw him. Nate. He was here, and he wanted to take care of me.”
I wanted to take care of her.
It was no one else’s job but mine.
I sat down and, ignoring the fact that she was as warm as an oven, pulled her body up against my chest. “I think you’re hallucinatin’, darlin’.”
When she was four, she’d had the flu, and I’d stayed awake all night, holding her in my arms, just like I was now. Her shoulders shook as she released an anguished sob and I tightened my grip, wishing like hell I could take her pain away. Any good feelings I had about letting Nate live were gone, leaving my monster aching for a kill.
“Which one heard voices? Was that Sylvia Plath or Virginia Woolf?”
Jesus, she was her mother’s daughter.
I chuckled. “Well, I think it was Virginia Woolf. In your case though, I’d blame it on pneumonia and not any mental break on your end.”
“So, Nate hasn’t been here at all?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, debating on whether or not to tell her the truth. I badly needed a cigarette but would wait until I was away from Kate. I wasn’t doing anything that would make her worse.
My lower back ached from the position, and I toed off my boots before pulling her closer and settling back against the pillows. “There was someone who dropped by earlier—dressed like a cowboy? You were sleepin’, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“That was Garrett, Nate’s brother. Nate must’ve not told him that I’m insane yet.”
It was official.
I was sending Nate to the Reaper.
My jaw tightened. “You know, when you were a little girl, you would refuse to go to bed until you’d had a bedtime story. Your mama would offer to read it, and
you’d throw a fit—it had to be me. You loved for me to read comics to you—”
Daddy, wead this one!
“I think you’re mixing me up with Dakota.”
I shook my head, recalling the exact face she used to make to get what she wanted. She’d always had me completely wrapped around her finger. “No, it was you. Dakota wasn’t even around then. You were picky about them too. You always requested the same comics. They had to be Spiderman, or they were no good. I once asked you why and do you know what you told me?”
“Not a clue,” she rasped before coughing into her hand.
I rubbed her back until it passed before continuing. “You told me that you liked him because he wasn’t perfect. He lost his uncle and the love of his life, but you said somethin’ that day that’s always stuck with me: ‘he’s been through so much, but he just keeps tryin’ to do the right thing—even when it would be easier to give up.’ You’ve always had a soft spot for broken things, Katydid. I can’t imagine that Nate is much different. You were drawn to Peter Parker’s story because it’s your story too.”
Fuck, I sounded like I was selling her on the idea of staying with the prick.
“No, I’m uptight, rigid, unyielding—I’m nothing like your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. I’m just ‘Not So Fun Kate.’ What a terrible superhero I’d make.”
I growled, “No matter what life has thrown at you, you’ve taken it all in stride, knowing that with great power comes great responsibility. You were Dakota’s keeper when your mama left, but you don’t need to do that anymore. You’ve shouldered that burden for too long—if I would’ve known things were that bad, I would’ve stepped in a long time ago.”
She fell silent before asking, “What are you going to do? Shower me in money? Break anyone who crosses me? Because I’ve got quite the list, starting with my grandparents. And then Nate…obviously.”
Kate could’ve named anyone, and I would’ve put them down for her. Her grandparents had yet to be held accountable for their actions, but their day of reckoning was coming.
Regardless of my take on the matter, I chuckled at the thought of her raising a hand to anyone. “I don’t think you’re cut out for this lifestyle, kiddo. Hell, there are days that I don’t think I’m cut out for it. Sleep, Katydid. I’m going to get you some more medicine.”
Protector: Silent Phoenix MC Series: Book Four Page 29
