Kinda Don't Care

by Lani Lynn Vale

  James’ face went slack with relief. “Maybe your problem is that you’re trying to do it legal. Sometimes, legal isn’t always the way to go.”

  “If it’s not done legal, if the root system isn’t dug up completely, then that leaves other people planted to continue with the work. And a new fucking tree takes root,” I pointed out.

  James shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But what you need to realize is that sometimes, the bad guy wins. Sometimes, what you need is another bad guy to fight for you.”

  “And you have one of those bad guys?” I drawled.

  James stood up and pulled his phone from the pocket of his jeans. “Let me text Jack to see where ol’ Joker is today. When I get his number, I’ll let you know.”

  Joker was also known as Lynn, who happened to be a jack of all trades, and a man of many faces—or names, for that matter.

  While we were on that subject. “You do know, correct, that your daughter has surpassed the master, right?”

  James frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Janie learned everything that she knows from Jack and Winter…but she’s better than they’ll ever be. She has everything y’all need, yet you all aren’t utilizing her full potential. You set her to meaningless tasks involving paperwork, yet you don’t even know that she could do a whole lot fucking more than what you’re giving her,” I said.

  James blinked. “She’s never said…”

  “She’s never said because she knows that y’all won’t let her do it anyway.” I paused. “Which is stupid. She’s going to do what she wants, and then act like she’s coloring between the lines. But, I think it’s time y’all let her use what you gave her the power to use. Plus, she can get it done in about half the time as Jack—who, from what I have observed, would rather be doing stuff in the shop more anyway.”

  James opened his mouth, then closed it. “Why wouldn’t she say something?”

  “Would it have helped?” I asked. “Because from where I’m standing, watching through y’all’s windows, there’s no way in hell you’d let your own daughter get mixed up in what you work on—at least if you thought she wasn’t as good as she is. But honestly, James…she’s good.”

  “Then why’d you kick her off of your stuff?”

  I grinned. “Because I don’t want to lose her. I’m guilty of treating her exactly like you do…which is part of our problem, now isn’t it?”

  James sighed. “I’ll try to figure out a way to let go of those strings a little.”

  The nurse came in moments later, and we were out the door moments after that, James riding in a wheelchair since it was ‘hospital policy.’

  I tried not to laugh the entire way.

  The drive to his place wasn’t bad. After the specifics of me dating his daughter were over, they turned to the case that I was working on with Trace, and what we were doing to uncover Layton’s criminal workings.

  I told him everything, not leaving a single thing out, and when I was done, I realized a few things.

  I should’ve done this earlier.

  Trace hadn’t been enough, and we both knew it. But since I had nobody I could trust to work this case—that I was willing to put in jeopardy with me—I hadn’t reached out for help. Having someone else know what was going on was quite comforting.

  At least from a security standpoint.

  Janie knew. Trace knew. And now James knew.

  If something happened…

  “What. The. Fuck.”

  I looked up to focus on the man that was waiting in the driveway.

  Tegan.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “Remember, he’s a cop and we can’t kill him,” James said. “I might lose my job, and I like it. I get to retire in a few years.”

  My lips twitched.

  “Now’s probably a good time to go ahead and ask for…”

  “You have my permission to marry my daughter.” He paused. “But just sayin’, you can pay for it. Right?”

  I started to laugh. “Yeah.”

  “Good, because she did all that bullshit with him to get you to pay attention to her, and by doing that, she used a lot of my savings. It seems only fair that you pay for it since she did it because of you.”

  I could get down with that. “I have more money than God.”

  He looked over at me. “You’re a prick.”

  Then I stopped my truck and got out, waiting beside it while James made his way around to the front.

  “Can I help you?”

  I left the door in between me and Tegan. Maybe with it there, I would be able to control myself. A barrier for stupidity, so to speak.

  “Your dogs have gotten disturbing the peace complaints,” Tegan said, gesturing to Glock and Kimber who were sitting quietly at the gate, looking for all they were worth like well-behaved pups that they weren’t. “I was in the neighborhood, so I chose to run the warning by.”

  Tegan held out a white piece of paper.

  “And who might this complaint be from?” I asked as James took the paper. “There are no ‘neighbors’ out here to complain.”

  Tegan bared his teeth at me. “It was a runner passing by. She felt that her life was in danger of the dogs jumping over.”

  “The dogs won’t jump over a razor wire fence,” I told him bluntly. “You can start handing out bogus complaints all you want, but it’s not going to bring Janie back to you. You were just a filler for me…FYI.”

  Tegan’s jaw tightened. “That’s not what she said.”

  I snorted.

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t tell you that you were filler,” I pointed out.

  “Janie told me everything,” Tegan countered. “Everything.”

  My brows rose.

  “She told me that your father was a piece of shit, and ruined multiple families’ lives with his Ponzi schemes. How you were on a vendetta to right the wrongs of your father. How you were misunderstood, and that you were trying to become someone that your father would never be. She also told me that you were her childhood crush…but I just didn’t know that that childhood crush was an adult crush, too.” He laughed. “I guess I should have, though.”

  I wasn’t sure how Tegan had found this information out—though it wasn’t hard if you asked the right people—but I knew Janie would never tell him anything.

  I confirmed that moments later when James started to laugh. “I told you that, numbnuts. You didn’t even know Janie had dogs.”

  The dogs wagged their tails.

  “Don’t come around here handing me bullshit.” He handed the warning back, but Tegan refused to take it. “I know you’re hurt. I know that you feel slighted. But let me tell you something, don’t mess with my girl or my family.”

  Tegan turned to go. “Rafe isn’t family yet, though, is he?”

  I think that Tegan was expecting a different answer than the one James gave him. Hell, we both were.

  “Rafe’s been family for a while now.” James paused. “You just didn’t know it. Like everything else you were kept in the dark about.”

  Tegan got to his car and turned his eyes to me. “Don’t think that I forgot that you assaulted a police officer the other day in that hotel.”

  I grinned. “I’m unsure of what you’re speaking of, officer.”

  I wasn’t stupid.

  I knew that the dash cam was running—as well as the body cam that Kilgore required all of their officers to wear when they were on duty—and I knew that admitting that I hit him wasn’t something that I should be doing on camera.

  But I couldn’t help but mention a few things to him that he did.

  “Do you remember calling Janie a slut?” I asked.

  Tegan paused getting into his car.

  “What about calling her trash?” I asked.

  “I was drunk. I can’t remember what I said,” he lied.

  “Then if what you’re saying is true, then maybe you can’t remember what ha
ppened, exactly, either.” I paused. “From my recollection, you fell and hit your face on your own knee.”

  “The camera at the hotel…”

  “Isn’t on the particular floor we were on due to it having four rooms on it. All of which are honeymoon suites,” I pointed out. “Everything in that particular portion of the hotel is very circumspect due to the high probability of honeymooners getting a little frisky in the hallway. And honeymooners paying out the ass to keep themselves safe.”

  Tegan got into his car and drove away.

  Moments later, I turned to find James staring at me.

  “There are cameras in that hotel hallway.”

  I snorted. “I know. Or there were, anyway.”

  James shook his head, then went to the gate and typed in the code.

  Moments later the gate opened, and he got back into the truck.

  I did, too.

  “I feel like I’m the winner here,” James said, breaking the silence. “Maybe I’ll pay for the wedding after all.”

  I snorted out a laugh.

  “You can try,” I taunted.

  Chapter 20

  Ending work-related emails with ‘fucking dickbags’ is apparently unacceptable.

  -Rafe to Parker

  Rafe

  “Are you sure you’re okay with going?”

  I looked at Janie over my shoulder. “Yes. What the hell is the big deal?”

  “They’re a little…much. Alpha as hell.”

  Janie and I were on our way to a Dixie Warden MC party. It was being held in Benton, Louisiana about an hour and fifteen minutes away, and all of the family—Free family anyway—was riding over there in a group.

  “I’ve been penetrating organizations for a very long time, honey,” I told Janie. “I’ve been working with Hail Auto Recovery for a while now. I’ve worked for the FBI, CIA, and a few other organizations as a contract agent. All of which had me dealing with a large group of ‘alpha male men’ as you call them. Trust me when I say I can handle myself.”

  Janie sighed, then closed her eyes.

  “I’m tired.”

  “Then sleep,” I told her, reaching for her hand.

  She clutched onto it, then leaned over onto my arm, which was resting on my truck’s console.

  We’d originally planned on taking my bike, but James and Shiloh had ridden James’ motorcycle, originally planning on leaving Scout and Rebel at home. But Tegan had ramped up his annoyance factor and had started sending cops out to the compound on bogus noise complaints.

  And since everyone in the compound was coming to this ‘family picnic’ as Janie kept calling it, they didn’t want to leave the two teens at home by themselves.

  So, they’d hitched a ride along with us.

  Which worked for me because it looked like it was about to rain anyway, and Janie didn’t look like she was feeling too well.

  “Is your head still bothering you?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she answered. “It’s been bothering me since I stopped drinking coffee.”

  “Why did you stop drinking coffee?” I asked.

  “Because it made my stomach upset,” she said.

  “Did you switch to a different brand or something?” I questioned.

  “No.” She shook her head. “I think it’s all this stress with you. I think I have an ulcer.”

  “Ulcers are…”

  “Okay. I used to get them a lot when I was a young kid. I’m prone to them,” she said. “Sorry for you. So, don’t stress me out.”

  I laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Maybe you should go to sleep so the rest of us can, too,” Rebel murmured sleepily from her position in the back seat.

  Janie flipped her off, but she didn’t say anything else until we were pulling into the driveway an hour later.

  The next twenty minutes went like this…

  “Hi, how are you. This is Rafe. He’s my man.”

  “Hi, Rafe. I’m ***insert woman’s name here***. I’m so and so’s wife.”

  “Hi, nice to meet you,” I’d reply.

  And, so, it went, until I’d met about eight million and two people out in the front driveway and yard.

  The men, however, were a little different.

  All of them, and I do mean all of them, wanted to know who the hell I was. Torren, the man who owned the house we were currently parked in front of, had narrowed his eyes at me and asked my ‘intentions.’

  At this point Janie had wandered away, giving me ‘man time.’

  Apparently, that ‘man time’ consisted of me getting the third degree.

  By not one. Not four. Not even ten. By at least twenty men—some of those men including the boy-men that belonged to the men.

  Janie was a very loved person, and all of them wanted to make sure that I had what it took to withstand them.

  And, by the time I was finished and walking away to get a beer, I wasn’t sure if I’d won them over or not.

  Most likely not seeing as I was ‘way too old’ according to Silas.

  Silas, who himself was ‘way too old’ for his wife.

  But whatever.

  I wasn’t one to judge.

  But, as I found the beer, and then meandered through the throng of women, children, and random dogs, I found myself steering clear of all the men. Which was how I found my way into a room where I could hear a piano playing.

  I found the room and came to a halt in the doorway as I took it all in.

  There was a large, open room with one single thing in it: a baby grand piano.

  It looked like it cost a whack, too.

  I’d never had anything as nice as that.

  My father refused to buy me anything that I could possibly ruin. Not that I ruined anything. I feared for my life too much to ever do anything that could possibly draw his wrath.

  So, I stayed silent, did what I was told, and played piano on the stupid piece of crap he’d found for me.

  Then he’d put it into the garage, so he didn’t have to hear my ‘racket.’

  I found myself wistful as I watched the girl play through her music, wincing every so often when she missed a note.

  I stepped into the room and walked to the side, so I wouldn’t walk up directly behind her and scare her. This way she would see me coming, and maybe not freak out.

  The girl looked up, grimaced, but kept playing.

  She was about eight or so, and clearly unhappy to be playing.

  She was tapping at the keys, face looking hard, as she tried to play the music on the sheet.

  “This blows,” she said, slamming her hand down on the notes, making me grimace.

  “Having problems?”

  The little girl looked up at me, and I realized instantly who she belonged to based solely on how much she looked like the woman I’d just met—the one who’d opened the door. Tru.

  “I suck,” she said. “This sucks. I hate this sucky piano. But I’m being forced to finish because I refused to do it earlier. And now this is my punishment.”

  “Why?” I questioned, leaning a hip against the side of the piano.

  My eyes trailed over the girl’s stubborn features.

  “Because my mother is forcing me to play, and it sucks,” she said. “It’s too hard.”

  “Is anything easy worth it?” I asked cautiously.

  “Taking a nap is easy,” she said. “And naps are always worth it.”

  She had me there.

  My lips twitched.

  “Scoot over.”

  She frowned. “I don’t know you.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t think I’d be in your house right now if I wasn’t a person that was supposed to be here.”

  I mean, I had to pass by at least twenty fucking bikers to get in here…

  She nodded. “Mommy wouldn’t have let you in.”

  I agreed with a nod. That had been true, too. I’d been documented by no less than thi
rty women, too. Including this one’s mother.

  “Fine, I’m Ashe,” she said, scooting over. “Do you know how to play?”

  I tilted my head up and down once. “I do.”

  “Then show me what you got, because I’m this,” she held up two fingers about a quarter inch apart. “Close to quitting. I might as well play soccer if it’s going to suck this bad.”

  I would’ve held in the laugh if I could have.

  But I couldn’t.

  It just burst free before I could try to choke it back.

  “I’m glad someone finds my life amusing,” she grumbled.

  Apparently, the life of an eight-year-old forced to play the piano was not an easy one.

  “I know you can’t hold your hands quite like I do yet, but when you get older, and with more practice, you’ll find that you can,” I said.

  Then I proceeded to teach her the basics. Something in which she’d likely already learned if she was taking lessons as she said. But, you had to have a solid foundation to be able to build on it.

  So that was where I started.

  “Wow,” the girl breathed. “Can you play faster?”

  I grinned. “Can I play faster?”

  I then proceeded to play “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis and thoroughly impressed my student.

  As well as the audience at my back that showed a few notes into the song.

  ***

  Janie

  My eyes followed Rafe’s progress around the room, and toward the sound of the piano playing, and I grinned.

  “I know that look.”

  I looked up to find Tru staring at me.

  “What look?” I teased.

  “The one where you look like your heart is walking around this room, and you want to go find it,” she said. “You look like you’re in love, honey.”

  “I am,” I admitted. “But…I’ve always been in love. With him. At least for the last couple years since I could understand what love really was.”

  “So, this is him.”

  I looked over at Sebastian’s wife, Baylee, and grinned. “This is him.”

  “He really is a lot older,” she surmised. “But he’s cute. And that graying thing he has going on is hot…just like mine. I swear to God; the first time Sebastian saw that gray in his beard he freaked. Your man looks like he rocks it, though.”