Dylan (6 page)

She rolls her head along the back of the
sofa until she is looking at me again. “Besides, it’s just dancing.
I don’t sleep with anyone else. I wouldn’t even want to! There is
no way they could measure up to all of that male aggression that
Ethan unleashes on me.”

I study her for a minute, debating whether I
should voice my next thought, but figure I might as well get it out
there. “Aren’t you afraid that he might get tired of the games?
Have you ever actually told him how you feel?”

Trisha’s laugh is defeated as she once again
sits up to face me. “The day I tell Ethan Quinn how I feel about
him, will be the day I lose him forever, and I won’t let that
happen.”

I want to laugh at her and make a joke to
lighten the intensity of her words, but I know that she is beyond
serious, and I am beyond envious.

Chapter Six

Dylan

I should have
caught a ride with Ethan.

It’s the only thought in my head as I sit
stuffed up in the back of Troy’s ridiculously expensive circus car.
Backseat passengers, especially tall ones, weren’t considered when
this car was made. My knees are practically parallel with my chest,
and I decided not long after shoving myself back here that I am in
fact riding home with Ethan.

“How much longer?”

Kaci laughs from the front seat as I ask
this same question for maybe the tenth time in just as many
minutes.

“I didn’t realize the baby was already here,
Kace. Why don’t you toss him a bottle, or something to shut him
up?” I roll my eyes at Troy, and then grin mischievously to
myself.

“Yeah, Kace, pop open that blouse, and let
baby Dylan nurse for a minute. I’m fucking
starving
.” I have
to move fast to dodge the fist that awkwardly swings toward me from
Troy’s seat.

Kaci is laughing so hard I think she might
hyperventilate, but Troy looks like he might have taken my head off
if he could have reached me.

“Chill out, Troy. You know he’s only saying
it to get a reaction out of you, and yet you give it to him every
time.” Kaci rubs his shoulder, and the way his face softens at just
a simple touch from her quickly kills my humor.

I can’t imagine ever loving someone the way
they clearly love each other. I just don’t think that’s what’s in
the cards for me. I practically raised myself, and I have been
alone for so long I don’t know what I would do if someone came
along and started imposing themselves on my life. Sure, I’ve dated
. . . well, if you consider banging a copious amount of women and
sometimes feeding them dinner beforehand dating. Then Shit yeah,
I’m the king of dating.

The car rolls to an achingly slow stop
outside the warehouse. I swear I can feel every pebble of gravel
that moves beneath the tires. I remember the days when Troy would
fishtail this bad boy through the warehouse parking lot, but that
was before Kaci and the baby came into the picture. While I respect
Troy’s need for them to be safe, I’m pretty sure driving over 30
mph won’t damage them too much.

Troy climbs out, walks around the car to
Kaci’s door, and helps her out while I sit cramped up back here
waiting patiently for the moment I can escape the confines of this
hellish backseat. As soon as I’m standing outside the car, I
release the biggest moan of satisfaction of my life and stretch my
long limbs. That is, until a fist hits me square in the diaphragm
making me huff out a laugh as I hold a hand over my abdomen.

“Keep your eyes off my wife’s tits.” There
is humor in Troy’s voice, but I have no doubt he is completely
serious—which only increases my laughter.

“No promises.” I wink at him just as Ethan
starts to walk past me. I stop him with a hand to his shoulder.
“Hey, I’m riding back with you.”

Ethan looks at the car behind me, and then
back at me with a smirk on his face. Yeah, I’m a giant, and I can’t
fit into the circus car. The three of them burst into laughter, and
I realize I said that aloud this time. I smile. I can be funny even
when I’m not trying to be.

“Sure, D, you can ride with me, but I’m
going to Trisha’s place when I leave here.”

My mind immediately jumps to thoughts of
Raven. I know it’s a long shot, but the thought that there is even
a small chance she might be there has me speaking before the words
even have time to filter through my miniscule brain.

“I’ll go with you.” Ethan lifts a brow, and
grins at me.

“You want to watch? I should have known you
were that kinky. I mean, after you and Troy—” Kaci cuts him off and
shoves him playfully before covering her ears.

“Stop that sentence right there Ethan Ardon
Quinn. I don’t want to know.” She hurries into the warehouse making
Ethan and I laugh as Troy rushes in after her.

“Seriously, you can come if you want. Trisha
wants to
talk
, which means I probably won’t be getting laid
anyway.” He air quoted the word talk, which makes me think this is
not something he’s real anxious to do.

“Why do you need to talk?” I ask as we start
walking toward the entrance of the warehouse. The door is already
open, so we walk in, and Ethan pulls it shut behind us.

“
She
needs to talk. I have nothing to
say aside from
please let me bang you before I leave
.”

I laugh as we take our seats at the table. I
give a nod to Ronan and Ardon who are already sitting in their
respective seats. Everyone is here, except Sean. The reality check
of him not being in his seat is enough to ruin any hilarity I had
been feeling.

“As you know, Sean isn’t back yet.” Ronan’s
lilt is filled with an audible layer of worry.

I glance over the table at Kaci, but her
expression gives nothing away. I know that we aren’t allowed to
tell Kaci or Addie about Sean, but I wonder how long it
took Troy to break that vow after he
and Kaci got together. I can’t see him keeping something like that
from her.

“Have you heard anything from him at all?”
Ethan’s voice pulls me back to the conversation at hand.

“Not for a couple weeks now.” Ardon’s tone
is bleak and wary. It’s clear that he thinks something happened to
Sean.

“You want us to head out after him?” I ask
the question to the table, but keep my eyes on Ronan.

I don’t have any kids that I know of, and I
don’t plan to have any. I can only compare my own grief over my
parents to what he may be feeling, and that is enough to make me
want to take action. Sean is my brother in every sense of the word.
We may not have the same blood running through our veins, but I
would take a bullet for him without hesitation. For any one of the
men sitting at this table.

Ronan and Ardon both shake their heads no,
but Ardon is the one who speaks. “We don’t know that there is any
reason he may need back up. He’s been gone a month now, but as I
said, we heard from him a couple weeks ago. At that time, he was
working a lead out of Bartly. For all we know that lead put him on
the right track and he has simply been too busy to fill us in.”

Ardon exhales a tired breath as he shifts
his gaze around the table, taking us in one at a time. “If we don’t
hear something in two weeks we will send you boys out to find
him.”

All of us nod, but I know the thought is
tormenting Troy. The baby is due in three weeks. What if Kaci has
the baby while he out hunting the woman responsible for more than
just the scar on his chest?

“Dylan,” Ronan’s voice pulls my gaze away
from Troy’s protective hand resting over Kaci’s belly. “You’re
meeting with Fuentes tonight. I want Ethan to go with you. You’ll
also need to run the monthly supply to Clovers.”

“Affirmative.” I grin around my words to
lighten the mood, but I know that no amount of laughter can kill
the dread that’s starting to settle deep into all of us.

Ronan stands, moves around the table, clasps
Kaci’s hands, and pulls her to her feet. He wraps caring arms
around his daughter as he presses his lips to the crown of her
head. Ardon then stands and braces his arms on the table.

“I know this is a hard thing for all of us
to deal with. Worrying is never easy, but it’s what families do. We
have each other, and soon Sean will be back, and we will be able to
forget all of this worry and simply embrace our family.”

My chest tightens, and I swear I can see a
small amount of liquid filling his eyes. Ethan stands, and we all
follow suite. I flick my gaze around the room, but I have nothing
to say that can make this better. No amount of humor will ever be
enough to overshadow the fear that’s embracing everyone in this
room.

A hand clasps my shoulder, and I look back
to see Ethan with a somber look on his face. “Let’s get the rest of
this horrible day over with.” I nod, because I completely
agree.

I don’t see how my day can get any better
from here on out. I slip my cell phone from my pocket and send a
text to Sean. I know he probably won’t respond, but just sending it
makes me feel a little lighter. I follow Ethan out and trade my
phone for the slim case that holds my pre-rolled joints. I wait
until we are both in the car before I light it, and we pass it back
and forth as
Ethan heads in the direction of
Trisha’s house.

I’ve barely finished off the joint when
Ethan pulls up to a guarded fence that encompasses the city’s
newest gated community. He rolls down his window as a chubby man
dressed in a security uniform steps up to the car.

“Name and business?” His tone is bored at
best, and I almost feel sorry for him.

I know I’m a certified drug runner, but
honestly I think that’s better than being a forty-something
security guard to rich people. Maybe that’s just me though.

“Ethan Quinn. I’m here to visit the
Vandells.” Ethan’s smooth voice answers with ease hinting at the
many times he’s done this little song and dance.

The guard nods tipping his head toward the
gates as he motions to another guard in the booth behind him. The
gates part and Ethan gently eases his car on through. I feel a
smirk growing on my lips.

“You met her dad yet?” I have a feeling her
dad can’t be too happy with his daughter’s choice in men if Ethan
is hanging around, and his affirmative grunt makes my smile grow
bigger.

“Not too fond of you, huh?” Ethan’s gaze
shifts to me, and I wink at him. I love getting under his skin. He
is too fucking sensitive where Trisha is concerned.

“No.” Is his only response.

I turn to look out the window as we pull up
outside a three-story limestone villa. I whistle under my breath as
Ethan pulls to a stop and we climb out. This house is nothing
compared to the ones Ethan grew up in, but it is still pretty
extravagant.

We walk up the pebbled sidewalk to the
glass-plated front door. Ethan rings the bell, and I am surprised
when it swings open to reveal a middle-aged man in a three-piece
suit. His dark hair is gray at the temples, and his blue eyes
instantly zero in on Ethan. It’s a small squeal that brings my gaze
to his side where the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen clings onto
him.

My first thought is wow. I’m surprised he
would want another kid after raising Trisha. That girl is enough to
give any father heart failure, and here he went and had another
one.

“Ethan.” The man, who I’m assuming is Mr.
Vandell, greets in a deep voice that drips with disdain.

“Jim. Is Trisha here?”

I don’t speak, but I do smile at the visual
standoff happening between these two right now. I half expect
Jim
to slam the door on us.

“Wisha!” The little girl squeals, drawing
our attention to her adorably chubby face.

There is something about her that strikes me
as familiar, but I
know
I’ve never seen this kid before.
Running into toddlers isn’t something that happens a lot in my line
of work.

Jim sighs as he steps back to let us in, but
he doesn’t take his eyes away from the little girl. “She’s in her
room. Don’t stay long.”

Ethan nods tightly, and walks past him to
move up the winding staircase. I follow behind him, and I can’t
help admiring the light spilling in through the many windows lining
the walls. This house has an open, airy feel to it, and it smells
like cookies, which is making my stomach rumble.

We step into a long corridor, and Ethan
leads us down to the farthest door at the end. He knocks once and
opens it. I’m about to make some clever comment about seeing Trisha
naked, but the words lodge in my throat. I have to swallow thickly
to keep myself from gasping out loud at the sight of Raven lounging
on Trisha’s bed.

Her ankles are crossed and she’s propped up
on her elbows, which pushes her generous tits forward. I know I
must have the silliest grin ever on my face, but I can’t find it in
myself to care. My day just got a little bit brighter after
all.

Chapter Seven

Raven

My body is tense,
but my heart is pounding.
What the hell is he doing here?
I
want to look over at Trisha because I know she has something to do
with this, but my eyes stay glued to the lopsided grin on his
face.

It’s perfect, a little rugged, but natural.
It’s just how I remember it, and I really don’t need those
memories.
How fucked up am I?
Even after what I’ve been
through, what took place just this morning, I’m still feeling
something for him. It’s not something I’m at all comfortable with,
and those thoughts are what give me the strength to look away from
him and glare across the room at Trisha.

She’s not glaring at me though. Trisha has
one of the biggest grins I’ve ever seen plastered on her statuesque
face. I really want to be furious with her. I want to let her know
that I’m not okay with this, at all, but how can I take away that
smile?

My gaze moves to settle on Ethan, and I
realize he’s notice her smile as well. He seems frozen in place as
he stares at her. Like she’s the center of his world, and she is
lighting up everything around him.