Dylan (27 page)

“I don’t need a babysitter, Dylan. No one
knows I’m here except for Trisha and Uncle Jim, and they won’t say
anything.” She pauses, and then looks at me as if everything is
slowly clicking into place and she is trying to fit the pieces
together as quickly as possible. “Is Ethan a member of this
family
too?”

I lean down, and test my luck by placing a
kiss to the corner of her lips. She rolls her eyes at me, but tries
to hide her smile. I take that as a good sign.

“Just let me do this, please? I’ll feel
better knowing Ethan is here.” I don’t answer her other
question.

I don’t think she really needs me to. She
already knows the answer, and at my obvious evasion, she rolls her
eyes again.

“Okay.”

I grin, and this time, I do tuck her hair
behind her ear. “I’m going to make you love me so much that it will
be impossible for you to walk away.”

Raven sighs as she stares into my eyes for a
moment before looking away. “Will you love me that much?” Her
question is quiet, and I don’t really know if she is speaking to
herself or me, but I answer anyway.

“I already do, Angel. Can’t you see how
completely crazy I am about you? I’m not going anywhere unless you
make me. You have all of the power in this relationship. I’m
completely yours.” I kiss the top of her head and inhale her soft,
sweet scent into me just as the door swings open and Ethan walks
in.

He looks nothing like the mess I left behind
in his condo. He’s dressed as classy as ever with every hair in
place just like I expect him to be.

I reluctantly pull away from Raven. It
doesn’t escape me that she hasn’t said anything about my little
speech, but I have to get to Mom now. I don’t say anything more as
I sprint out of my apartment and run the whole way to Mom’s
house.

I burst through the door; chest heaving,
sweat coating my skin, and my legs in the beginning stages of
cramping from not stretching first.

June is standing in the kitchen, so I
quickly move in that direction. I don’t see Mom anywhere which only
further concerns me.

“What happened? Where is she? Did they take
her to the hospital again?”

June holds her hands up in a halting motion,
and I pull in a breath as I wait for her to answer me. She doesn’t
answer me though. She steps up to me, and before I realize what’s
happening, her lips are against mine, and she is wrapped around me
like a fucking squid. Her tongue is ghosting over my lips, and
trying to invade as I try to think past the utter shock that is
splintering through me.

I start grabbing at any part of her I can
reach as I try to remove her from my body, but she fights me the
whole time. I finally manage to pull my lips from hers, but she
just moves her lips to my neck, and the anger that’s boiling inside
of me is something I have never felt toward a woman.

“Get the fuck off of me, June. Now.” I stay
very still, but I can feel my body vibrating in anger, and she must
feel it too, because she very cautiously begins to unwrap herself
from me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I keep my
eyes locked to hers, and I can see the exact moment that it
registers in her head just how epically she fucked up.

“I . . . I just wanted . . . I thought . .
.” June stutters over her words, but I’m too pissed off to back
down now.

“You’re fired. Get the fuck out, and don’t
come back.” Her eyes widen and fill with liquid. “Even if you
hadn’t just tried to force your tongue down my throat, you used my
mother to get me here. Did you really think that was a good fucking
idea?”

“I just wanted a chance to show you how good
we could be. You never gave me a chance. I know you can feel the
connection between us, Dylan.”

“You know what I feel?” I lean down closer
to her face. “Murderous.” I lean up, and the fear in her eyes
should be enough to satisfy me, but I keep going anyway. “You never
had a chance, June. You are nothing compared to what I have waiting
at home for me. Now get your shit and get out.”

She scurries around me and heads to the
guest room that she had been staying in. I listen for a few seconds
as she cries and tosses her things around. Then I pull out my phone
and dial the nursing service.

I talk to a nice woman who assures me June
will be punished for her failed seductress attempt, and I don’t
even care that she’ll get in trouble. I move around the counters
and angrily wipe at the leftover mess from Mom’s lunch that June
had been preparing. The woman on the phone tells me they have
another nurse on his way over, and yes, it is a
him
this
time. Mom should like that. I empty the last of the mess into the
trashcan and thank her before hanging up. I glance out the window,
watching as June leaves my mother’s house still in a fit of
tears.

She climbs in a cab, and I pull out my cell
phone to text Ethan. Almost as soon as the new nurse, Evan, shows
up, Troy calls me. I answer the phone with an aggravated hello, not
in the mood to deal with any more shit right now, but my sour mood
is replaced with adrenalin as Troy tells me Kaci is in labor. The
baby is coming . . .

***

I rush back to my apartment after leaving
brief instructions with Evan. Ethan has already been informed, so
Raven and Harper are waiting outside in his car. I climb in on the
passenger side, and try to slow my rapidly beating heart. My best
friend is about to become a dad. It’s the most fucking surreal
thing ever.

As soon as we walk into the waiting room,
we’re greeted by family—
my family
. Suddenly, I can’t think
of a more perfect time to introduce them to Raven. I walk her
around to each individual person starting with Ronan and ending
with Deirdre. We stop and talk with Addie and the baby for a
minute, because Harper is completely infatuated with the tiny
infant.

We keep asking the nurse for updates, but
she won’t tell us anything. I’ve called the prison to leave
messages for Luke, and he is probably cursing the guards to high
heaven at the moment. I can’t imagine being in his position right
now, and I really don’t want to.

I feel more content in this room with my
family and my girls then I have in a long time. That is until Ethan
walks over to me. Raven and Harper have been pulled into a
conversation with Addie and Deirdre, so it’s just me and Ethan.
Before he even makes his way to me, I can see the dread on his
face.

“Dad’s not here.” Is all he says before he
turns, and walks out of the waiting room.

No way am I letting him go alone, but I
don’t have time to talk to Raven with Ethan already storming out. I
send her a quick text as I follow him out. Her response is nothing
more than a simple be careful text, but I don’t have time to focus
on that as I throw myself into Ethan’s car.

We don’t talk as we head to the warehouse.
If Ardon were home, he would have been with Deirdre and Addie, so
the warehouse is most likely where he is. I text Raven and Addie,
as I try to keep tabs on Troy, Kaci, the baby, and the woman I am
crazy in love with.

By the time we get to the warehouse, I learn
that the doctor thinks the baby will be here within the next four
to six hours, which seems like a lifetime to me. I know Troy must
be going crazy, and I really just want to find Ardon so I can get
back to them.

We step into the warehouse, and as soon as
we do, we stop cold at the sight before us. Neither of us moves.
Very slowly, I press the volume button on the side of my phone to
quiet the noise of incoming notifications.

The only sound that can be heard is the
heavy breathing of the fiery red-head in front of us, and the
shaking grip of the gun in her hands. I let my gaze move slowly to
the slumped forms on the ground in front of her, and my chest
squeezes painfully as my gaze shoots to Ethan.

Ardon is lying in a pool of blood right next
to the prone body of Roy Elliot. They aren’t moving, or even appear
to be breathing. Ethan slowly starts moving in the opposite
direction of where I know he wants to be. He’s thinking like the
machine he is, but Callie knows we’re here. We weren’t quiet about
entering, and I am not surprised when she turns her gaze to us with
a twisted smirk on her lips.

“Welcome to the party, boys.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Raven

It’s easy
to see why Dylan loves these people so much. They seem to love him
just as fiercely. Every single person has been welcoming, and it’s
as if Harper and I are already part of this eclectic family. I am
still having a hard time accepting it all though. How can I justify
a relationship with Dylan after what I’ve been through?

As a silver lining, I’ve learned a lot about
younger Dylan. These people love talking about the past, and
Dylan’s childhood, though tragic, seemed really colorful. I’ve
heard about their silly mud fights, Dylan’s first black eye—which
happened on accident and was caused by a girl. I’ve also heard all
about how the younger boys were more like brothers than
friends.

That doesn’t seem like it’s changed.

I wonder what it would be like growing up in
a life like that. It’s had to affect him in some way, and I know
that if we do stay together there are things he will have to do. I
can’t be around drugs, and I don’t want Harper around them either.
So, Dylan will have to eliminate that from his life.

Can he do that? Would he do that for us?

He said that he loves me, and even though I
said it first, I hadn’t been able to respond. I guess I feel like
giving into him because he said he loves me is a stupid thing to
do. I just need time to think. Dylan is willing to give me that,
but there is so much more going on that it’s hard to concentrate on
just us.

I’m scared of so many things, but Steven is
always at the top of that list. It seems like that won’t ever
change. Just when things were looking brighter, Steven is there to
dim the glow, and return the terror to my soul. Will it always be
that way?

I know that I shouldn’t be afraid. Steven is
in jail, and although I have no clue as to how he got my number, I
know that he can’t hurt me from behind bars. Dylan said he’d kill
him, and I have no doubt that he meant it. A twisted part of me
thinks that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

When the man I now know is Troy steps out to
update us, I immediately text Dylan. I haven’t heard anything from
him in the last thirty minutes, and I would be lying if I said I
wasn’t worried. Dylan always responds quickly, but when I told Troy
that Dylan had left with Ethan to get Ardon, he had seemed to
understand. Troy didn’t seem worried at all. So, why am I?

I notice that Troy doesn’t talk to Addie. He
speaks to everyone in this room but her, and I can’t help but
wonder what story lies behind that.

Troy isn’t as tall as Dylan, and I really
prefer Dylan’s sandy hair to Troy’s darker locks, but the man is
still handsome. In fact, all of the men in this room are
ridiculously good looking, and I can’t help but wonder if that is
some sort of gang requirement.

After another half hour without a response,
I need to talk to Dylan. I don’t want to bother anyone in their
family moment, so I ask Addie if she will watch Harper for me while
I use the ladies room. If she suspects I have an ulterior motive
for leaving Harper with her, she doesn’t let on. Since she has a
baby herself, I feel more at ease about letting her keep an eye on
Harper for just a minute.

I walk down the long, white corridor to the
sign that indicated the ladies room. I walk inside as I slip my
cell phone from my pocket. I just get Dylan’s name brought up on
the screen when a hand clamps around my mouth, and I’m assaulted by
the most putrid stench I’ve ever smelled right before the soul
cause of my deepest fears whispers into my ear.

“Daddy’s back.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Dylan

“What the
fuck did you do, Callie?” The words leave my lips, but they don’t
feel like mine.

All of this seems too surreal to be
believable, and I’m waiting to wake up again. As if this whole day
has been nothing more than a dream, but she is still there smiling
wickedly at us. She doesn’t seem worried or fearful. She seems
almost accepting. As if she knows what is going to happen next, and
she’s waiting for it.

“I really loved him you know?” She turns her
body more fully to face us as she speaks, and her gun shifts
between the two of us as if she can’t decide who to shoot first. “I
know that after what happened with Marcus, that may seem hard to
believe, but I loved Roy.”

I naturally fall into the game Ethan and I
have used so many times over the years, and continue talking to her
like this whole situation isn’t completely fucked up. It’s a
distraction technique, and I know that she might not play into it.
She’s probably used it herself a time or two.

“What do you know about love, Callie? Even
your own father didn’t really love you.”

I let my face show nothing more than
amusement, and I let my tone drip boredom. Callie started this
whole mess just looking for attention and acceptance from her
father. Maybe if I treat her like nothing more than an annoyance,
she will get pissed enough to act irrationally. That will give
Ethan time to take her down.

She moves the gun, aims it at me, and cocks
her head to the side. “You think it’s a good idea to piss off a
woman holding a gun, Dylan? Didn’t your mother ever teach you— Oh,
that’s right. I guess she didn’t get to that lesson before she
tried to off herself and failed.”

Fuck
. I try to keep my face neutral
as her words cut me deeper than I know they should. No one knows if
she was actually trying to kill herself, but I don’t believe she
would do that to me. Not to me. I shove down the hit of pain that
Callie’s own game inflicted on me and focus again on the strategy
in my mind.