“Nah,” Will said, putting his phone to his ear. “Even if they did, no one would say anything.”
As soon as Will had the clean up settled, we got back on our bikes and took off. On the way home, each of us wiped down our weapons and threw them in separate parts of the river. Getting a new weapon was nothing, but trying to convince the police that ballistics from your gun didn’t match the hole in a dead man was a bit harder to manage.
Something the Russian fuck had said nagged at me as I pulled into the forecourt and turned off my bike. What had he said? That they’d had an autopsy done on Sokolov and he’d died by poison. Had the guy had enemies besides us? There was something that I wasn’t piecing together, and it was driving me fucking nuts.
Then, before I’d even stepped into the building, I figured it out.
I fucking knew, and I was livid.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” I growled as he answered the phone. “Motherfuckers burned down Trix’s house and almost killed Lily and the boys because I had no goddamn idea what you’d done.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” my Uncle Nix said easily. “But I’m at work, so I’m going to have to call you back.”
“I don’t care how old you are,” I said. “I’m gonna beat the shit outta you when I see you.”
“I love you, too,” he said. “Give all the boys a kiss from me and tell them I’ll be down this weekend.”
“You fucking douche,” I hissed as he hung up on me.
“That your uncle?” Gramps asked as he stood in the doorway.
“You fucking know?” I asked, stalking toward him.
“I pieced it together once you’d left and gave him a call. He didn’t deny it.”
“Son of a bitch,” I grumbled. “Why the hell would he do that?”
“Because he’s your uncle,” he said simply, turning to go back into the club. “He’d rather the mess was on his own hands.”
I followed him inside, cursing under my breath. It had been bad enough that the man had been dead from natural causes before I’d gotten there. Knowing that my uncle had somehow poisoned his ass made that shit a million times more humiliating. I couldn’t even describe how livid I was that he’d created an enemy we hadn’t known about and they’d almost killed my family.
I pulled my cut off as I walked into my room, then paused when I found Lily sitting at the end of my bed.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, reaching out to run my fingers through her hair. “You should be in bed.”
“I’m done with that,” she said simply, getting to her feet. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me, too,” I murmured, leaning forward to kiss her gently. “You wanna take a nap with me?”
“Can’t,” she said with a shrug, her face stiff. “I have to catch a plane.”
“What?” I asked, unable to stop from blurting out the word. “Now?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “I need to get back before all of my professors fail me. I can only use family emergencies so many times before they start to get suspicious.”
“That’s bullshit,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re barely better.”
“I’m good enough to fly,” she said gently. This time it was her leaning forward to kiss me. “I don’t want to do the whole goodbye thing, okay?”
“Have your doctors cleared you?” I asked, unable to comprehend that she was leaving, just like that.
“Yes,” she replied. “I’m not doing the long goodbye,” she repeated. “I’ll see you soon, okay? I love you. I’ll call you when I get home.”
She left me standing there with my heart thundering and my stomach rolling like I was going to heave all over the floor.
We’d spent the last few days together. I’d held her while she slept and I’d cooked her and Gray dinner while they laid in bed watching cartoons. She hadn’t said anything about flying back to Connecticut. She hadn’t said anything about going back to Yale at all.
I strode out of my room and across the common area as fast as I could without running. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I had to do something. She couldn’t just take off. That wasn’t how it worked.
Her dad’s truck was just pulling out of the gate as I hit the forecourt, and I stopped moving when I realized that she was actually gone.
That’s when I began to debate shit in my head. I was acting on emotion. That wasn’t how I was supposed to do things. I’d told her to go back to Yale. I’d told her that was what I wanted for her. Just because we’d lived through something big didn’t change that. I was being a pussy because I wasn’t ready for her to leave, but I knew that’s what was best for her.
She deserved to go to that school. She deserved to have those doors opened for her. She deserved the world. And just because I’d forgotten for a moment that she belonged somewhere else didn’t mean that I had the right to drag her back home.
I spun toward the garage and found Cam staring at me.
“Did Lily leave?” he asked, wiping his hands on a rag.
“Yeah.” The word came out choked and I cleared my throat to disguise it.
“She’ll be back.” He turned and walked back into the garage.
Chapter 25
Lily
It had been three weeks of talking with professors, and packing, and long conversations with the admissions people in Oregon, but I was finally home.
Well, sort of.
I was actually standing in the middle of Leo’s kitchen with my bare ass hanging out of the back of my apron as I waited for him to get home. I’d been standing there for almost an hour, and even though I’d figured out my sultry pose and couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw me, my legs were starting to get tired from standing in one position so long and I kind of had to pee.
I cocked my head toward the door as I finally heard his key in the lock, then turned toward the stove so that the first thing he’d see when he came in the door was my bare backside only covered with some apron strings.
“I’m tellin’ ya, that F250 is fuckin’ toast—”
I spun around with my eyes almost popping out of my head at the same time Leo saw me and froze, except for the arm that he used to shove whoever was behind him away from the door.
“Leave,” he ordered, taking a step forward and slamming the door shut behind him.
“Honey, I’m home,” I said with an embarrassed snicker. “That was not how I planned for that to go.”
“What’re you doin’ here?” he asked, striding toward me.
“I’m back for good,” I replied, a smug smile on my mouth. “I transferred to the University of Oregon and I start next term.”
“No, you didn’t,” he argued as he reached me.
“Yep.” I stood quietly as his hands slid around my hips and came to rest on my ass. “And there’s not a fucking thing you can do about it.”
“We’re discussing this,” he said seriously, his hands starting to wander. “Once I can focus.”
Then he threw me over his shoulder and strode toward the bedroom as I laughed.
Acknowledgements
Readers and bloggers: Thank you for always being so excited to read my stories. Without you guys, my life would look entirely different. I’m so thankful for your support.
Mom and Dad: Thank you for all of your help… especially that day when Dad took the girls ALL DAY so that I could finish this story.
Girlies: I love you. I know you get frustrated and annoyed… and I also know you proudly tell everyone at school what your mom does for a living. You can’t fool me. I hope you find a career that you love as much as I love this one.
Sister: Thanks for listening to my venting and cheering me on, like always.
Missy and Joey: My oldest and dearest friends. Thanks for being so proud of me and making sure I know it. It means more than you know. Here’s to 25 more years of friendship, I’m pretty sure we’ll be making dirty jokes in our retirement home.
; Donna: Thank you. Again. Because I’m always going to thank you. Every. Time.
Lola: I gave you a very vague idea of what I wanted on this cover and you came back to me with perfection. I wasn’t surprised.
Nikki: You’re the best sounding board I’ve ever had, and I don’t just mean as an editor. You push me and smack sense into me and make me better in all ways. I love you and you’re stuck with me.
Toni: Peas and Carrots. I’m so proud of you, dude.
Heidi: I never would have finished this book without you cheering me on. Again.
Amber and Melissa: Best betas ever. Thanks for reading in a hurry… again.
Marisa: Thanks for having my back, like always.
Clint: Why on earth did it take us twenty years to figure this out? I love you.
Nicole Jacquelyn, Craving Lily
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