Edge (Parker Reed #2) (24 page)

“Good girl,” Colin said. “Listen. Together, Jones and I…we want…” He looked back at Troy before meeting my gaze. “We want to help him. Will you allow us to do that?”

“Of course.” Anxiety twisted at my stomach over everything that had happened in such a short matter of time. “Please. He needs all the help that he can get. He…”

“Keely, we will help him in whatever way that we can.” Colin turned to Greyson and his crew. “Can you give us a minute?”

“Sure thing.” Greyson snapped his fingers and winked at me when the club followed him into the house.

Colin sat beside me with Jones standing on the other side of Parker. “You know the lifestyle that we live. You’ve now been introduced to it by Parker. We want to slowly bring Troy into it.”

My head whipped around. “Really?”

Colin smiled sadly. “We want to take him under our wing, so to speak. We won’t push him to do anything that he doesn’t want to do—”

“Please. Yes. Do whatever it takes.” I grabbed Colin’s arm as he rose to his feet. “Just bring me back my best friend.”

He nodded and together, they made their way to Troy. I watched as they said something to him. Troy kept his head in his hands but slowly nodded. Colin sat beside him and placed a hand on his back. Troy’s shoulders shook. Colin glanced at me when he wrapped his arm around him. Troy returned the embrace, crying hard against Colin. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks. Jones sat on the other side of Troy, whispering in his ear. “You think they can help him?” I asked Parker, curling my feet under me.

“Yes. In time. Troy needs to mourn Patrick’s loss.” Parker squeezed my thigh with reassurance. “This is what Colin and Jones do.”

“I thought Jones wasn’t gay.” Not that it mattered really but I had to know for Troy’s sake. I didn’t want him hurt again.

“He’s not but he loves Colin so he would do anything to make him happy.”

That bond was not normally shared between two people let alone three. Loving someone was hard work. It was a twenty-four/seven task and I couldn’t ask for better for Troy.

“One day at a time, angel.” Parker kissed my forehead. “One day at a time.”

“KEELY?”

My heart jumped at the soft, deep voice and turned from my laptop towards Troy coming up behind me.

A small smile appeared on his lips. “Can I join you?”

I nodded quickly. “Of course.”

He sat beside me, stretching out his long legs in front of him. It had been several hours since Patrick’s murder. It was now late into the night but none of us could sleep.

“What are you working on?” Troy asked, nodding towards the computer on my lap.

“Uh…I’m trying to find out everything that I can on my dad.” I glanced at the screen. “But unfortunately, Devin did well at hiding him.”

“So it’s like he actually died.”

“Yeah.” I sighed and shut the laptop closed, placing it on the coffee table in front of us. “H-how are you doing?”

He shrugged. “I’m…” He swallowed hard. “I’ll be okay I guess.”

Colin appeared at the doorway of the office, holding two beers in his hands, and then handed them to us.

We both thanked him.

He nodded once before locking eyes with Troy. “One month,” was all he said before he left the room.

“One month?” I asked Troy, taking a swig of the cold brew.

A slight flush crept up his neck. “He, uh…Jones and him want me back here in a month. After this shit is done. They told me or I guess…they
instructed
me to mourn Patrick and then I have to be back here.”

“You can trust them,” I told him, curling my feet under me.

“I know.” His look became thoughtful as the silence wore on.

“I am sorry,” I whispered finally.

“I know that, too.” Troy grabbed my hand, linking his fingers in mine. “And I’m sorry for the shit I said to you. For blaming you.” His voice became thick and he cleared his throat. “I love you, Keely.”

Tears burned my eyes. “I love you, too.”

“So your father is alive. That’s fucking amazing and ridiculous all at the same time.”

“I agree.” I wrapped a hand around his thick arm and leaned my head against his shoulder. “If you would have known that this would happen all those years ago, would you have convinced me to leave?”

“Yes,” he said automatically.

My eyes widened. “Really?”

“What you have with Parker…I want that and I like to believe that I had it with Patrick but I honestly feel that everything happens for a reason. Look at what we’ve been through, Keely.”

“I know, honey. I just wish things were easier for us.”

He kissed my head. “I know, baby girl.” He took a deep breath. “Patrick would be happy right now seeing us talking again. He called me a douche monkey for getting mad at you in the first place.”

“You had every right, Troy. I betrayed your trust. I understand—”

“No. It’s still no reason for how I treated you.”

“Okay. Well, I forgive you,” I whispered.

He hooked an arm around my shoulders, holding me against him. “Colin is a scary man.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “You think so?”

“Dude, one look from him and my knees tremble with fear.”

“Are you sure it’s fear they tremble with?” I waggled my eyebrows.

His cheeks reddened. “Patrick would like him.”

“Colin doesn’t expect you to move on right away. It hasn’t even been a day yet.” I sat up and crossed my legs, turning towards him. “Jones and Colin are very patient men. From what I’ve heard, they train people to um…well…” I wasn’t sure exactly what Troy knew or if they had shown him the play room or even the rope room.

“I know. I find myself willing to do whatever it takes to move on but…I need time.”

I threw my arms around his neck. “I know.
They
know that. We’ll all get through this together.”

“How are
you
doing?” he asked me.

I opened my mouth to reply when nothing came out. I honestly had no idea how I was doing. Or how this would all play out. But as long as I had my best friend and my boyfriend, I would get through this. I had to.

PATRICK WAS dead; the rest of us remained alive. Looking down at the grave as his coffin was being lowered into the ground, I held tight onto Troy’s hand. I knew a part of him still blamed me for the death of the man that he loved. I even blamed myself. I thought back to that first day I met Devin Tate. If only I wouldn’t have let him into my life. My parents would probably still be alive. Patrick would be with Troy and Parker and I would have a normal relationship. But would I have still met Parker? If I never met Devin, than Troy would never have needed to save me. And then we wouldn’t have moved to the city. Funny how life worked sometimes.

I liked to think that I still would have met Parker even if I never had met Devin. If I never had talked to him at that ice cream shop. If I never agreed to go on that date with him.

Life was full of what-if’s.

It was two days after Patrick’s death. Jones and Colin had worked their magic and set up a private funeral just so Troy could say goodbye. I knew that usually in cases like this, they would just bury the body and be done with it so the police would have no way of getting involved. But apparently they knew a guy who knew a guy who owed them a favor.

It was still raining as we all huddled under our own umbrellas, Troy and I sharing one. The Hell’s Harlem were standing around us, their Old Ladies on their arms. Greyson the only one without a woman. He caught my eye and smiled softly at me.

I nodded, inhaling a shaky breath.

The priest continued on, blessing Patrick’s body. It was a nice, short funeral and it gave Troy a chance to heal and move on.

Once the funeral was over, I stayed with Troy while he spoke quietly at the graveside, telling Patrick how much he loved him and how sorry he was. Tears welled in my eyes and as much as I needed to say something, I couldn’t for fear of breaking down and losing it. Again.

“Baby, I know you told me to move on and be happy but I can’t. Not without you.”

My head whipped around. “Troy,” I gasped.

His shoulders shook. “He died in my arms.”

Oh God. I knelt beside him and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” I cried along with him as we both told Patrick that he would be missed. I hadn’t known him that well but he was good for Troy. He had helped that timid boy inside of him grow into the strong confident man that he was today. Years ago, he never would have spoken to me like he did through all of this. Although the words hurt, I was glad that he told me how he felt instead of keeping it bottled inside.

“Keely?”

Wiping under my eyes, I looked up as Parker, Colin, and Jones approached us.

“We have to go, angel,” Parker said softly.

I nodded. “Troy.” I cupped his face and kissed his cheek. “Let’s go home.”

He sighed and leaned over, placing a kiss on the wooden casket. “I will always be yours,” he whispered.

We rose to our feet and were embraced by heavy arms. I was pushed against Troy, the group hug enveloping us in a warm blanket of sympathy.

“We’re here for you,” Colin said, his voice thick.

Although none of us knew Patrick that well, we knew Troy and him being hurt affected us all.

“I know,” Troy swallowed a couple of times. “I just…”

“I’ll go get the car,” Parker offered and grabbed the keys from Jones.

“I can leave to give you guys a moment,” I suggested, pulling out of the huddle of large men.

“No,” Troy said, grabbing my arm. “Please stay.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Keely, do you trust us?” Jones cupped Troy’s nape, looking down at me.

“Of course. I just…I want Troy happy again.” I squeezed Troy’s middle, trying to pour the strength I didn’t really feel at that moment, but I tried anyways to force it into my hug. “I know it’ll take time, honey, but these guys are here for you. Look at what they’ve done for me. For Parker.”

“Being with someone else scares me,” Troy whispered.

“Listen,” Colin leaned his forehead against Troy’s. “We do not want to help you move on. We only want to help you heal. We want you to remember Patrick forever. I would never try and take his place.”

Troy nodded. “Okay.”

“Like I said before. One month. And then I want you back at our cottage. Even to just hang out. We could play poker, drink beer, what the fuck ever.” Colin cupped his cheek and placed a soft peck on his forehead, letting his lips linger.

Tears welled in my eyes at the gentle touch.

Troy’s eyes fluttered closed, a shaky breath leaving his lips. “It hurts. It hurts so damn much.”

 “I know. Let me help you,” Colin said softly.

At that moment, I left them alone. I walked to the limo and was met with several hugs from Greyson and his crew. I thanked them for the support and for coming to the funeral.

“Whatever affects you, affects us. You’re family,” Greyson told me.

I nodded and glanced back at Troy huddled with Jones and Colin. They would be good for him. His heart would always belong to Patrick but they would help Troy heal. And they would do whatever it took to bring him back.

THE NEXT day I was finally going to Devin’s hotel to meet him, to try and work this out. We had a plan. I just prayed that it worked. Devin knew that I wouldn’t show up when he told me to.