Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Lucian
It’s been a quiet afternoon. I’m sitting on the porch, watching the fog lift off the lake, enjoying the only cigarette I found, hidden in the crumpled pack Erin stuffed into an empty tin at the back of a cabinet.
I light it, taking that first drag a little too eagerly, and it hits me almost immediately.
The swirling smoke from my exhale makes me think of her cabin.
It’s prettier here than at the moor. Still, something inside me misses the foggy gray skies, the muddy dirt path, the depressing stretch of colorless land that leads nowhere.
Bayne calls.
“You still want to do this?” he asks without preamble.
I tense. Are we asking too much? To kill Rory, too? Erin’s afraid Rory could come looking for Ryan one day. Rory is, after all, little man’s grandfather.
Erin and Cass don’t ever want Ryan to meet him, much less risk him trying to kidnap Ryan for his own.
And there’s only one way to make that happen.
“Lucian?”
“Huh?” I’ve been lost in thought.
He waits a beat. “I asked what you want.”
What I want is Erin safe in my arms. “If we do this—I don’t want to leave a mess for you to clean up.”
“We’re from the island,” Bayne says. “We’re used to mud on our boots.”
Still, I’ve already taken enough of their time, their energy, their risk.
“The Kings have done everything for us. I don’t want to start a war with the Hoax, one you have to finish.”
“We have a plan. We’re going to make it look like an accident. A grieving father had too much to drink one night. His health isn’t exactly his first priority. A heart attack isn’t out of the question.”
“And until we get out of here? My priority is keeping her safe.”
“I’ve got someone.” A pause. “His name is Raphael.”
“Raphael.”
“Yeah. He’s a good one. He floats around, a liaison, allies with a few of us, commits to no one—tough bastard with a steady aim. He can form a team.” Another pause, then he clears his throat. “I trust him.”
I snort. “You trust no one.”
“Well,” he says with a low chuckle, “I trust you. Which is why I’m offering him. Do you want him to head your way?”
“Yeah,” I say, distracted. “Send him. We’ll keep the place on lockdown.”
Send them all. A hundred men. A thousand. Walls wrapped in barbed wire. And Erin safe in the center of the storm, wrapped in my arms.
I won’t let what happened to Isobel happen to Erin. Not only did my men and Isobel die that day, but so did a part of me.
And Erin is the one who brought me back to life.
Now, her adorable smiling face pops into the doorframe. “Come on, Luce! We’re playing cards and eating popcorn. Please tell me now if Gregory can count cards. That man seems wicked smart.”
“First of all,” I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. “Don’t ever call me Luce again.”
“K, Luce,” her eyes sparkle as she winds her arms around my neck.
Staring down into her pretty blue eyes, I grab her sexy ass, squeezing it in my hands. “And second of all, watch that kid like a hawk. He is crazy smart and I wouldn’t put it past him to count cards.”
“I could have a few tricks up my own sleeve. You boys better keep your eyes on me.”
“When do I not?” I laugh.
She kisses me, takes my hand, and drags me out of the living room where my little brother waits for sodas, candy, and popcorn.
“What are you guys? Twelve?”
“We decided Red Shutters with the green shutters deserves a proper sleepover.” She sinks into a velvet armchair. Grabbing a bag of colorful gummies off the table, she holds it up proudly. “Baynes’s men even got me wine gums!”
Gregory pats the seat beside him. “Sit, Luce. Let me kick your gigantic ass in the only way I can. A game of skill.”
And he does. Gregory wipes the floor with Erin and me both, and the two of them consume more sugar than I would have thought possible. When Erin leaves us to make more popcorn, I grab the opportunity to tell him what I’ve been thinking since he showed up.
The pressure in my chest is unbearable. “I never wanted you in this world, Gregory.”
“And yet here I am.” He smiles showing the dimple in his left cheek I’d forgotten he has.
“I sent you to school. Set you up for any legit career you wanted. You were never supposed to look back.”
He looks down at the cards in his hand. “You don’t get to decide that.”
My jaw ticks.
“I have blood on my hands,” I whisper. “You deserve clean ones.”
Gregory’s eyes drag back up to mine. When he speaks, his tone is a man’s, not a child. “I can never pay you back for what you’ve done for me.”
“Yes, you can. That’s what I’m trying to say. Go back to the clean world. Be happy.”
“How can I be happy when I don’t have my brother?”
His words make an intense jolt rip through my chest. We stare at one another for a beat in our silence.
Gravel crunches under heavy tires.
Standing, I press a heavy hand onto his shoulder. “You have me now, brother. I promise.”
Erin comes back, a smile on her face and a large bowl brimming with popcorn in her hands. “Where are you going?”
“Outside. I heard a car.” I kiss Erin’s cheek and toss a gummy at the back of Gregory’s head.
It hits him, bouncing off onto the floor. “Hey!” He picks it up with a grin. “Waste of precious candy.”
More heavy tires rolling over gravel. Bayne’s at the door, his big black SUV behind him. We bypass the pleasantries, but I tell him for the hundredth time how many favors I owe him after this.
“All good, lover boy. Just wanted to let you know Raphael and his men are here. Your army has doubled.” He glances over his shoulder. “Not that you can see a fucking one of them.”
I stare out into the night. “It’s better that way. Anything to draw less attention to Red Shutters.”
“You mean the green shutters?”
“Callum’s idea. A little joke between the Kings. That our enemies are dim-witted enough to pass over this place, confused by the name.”
We share a laugh, then the night goes quiet.
“Thanks,” I tell him. “For everything.”
“I hope it works out for you two,” he says.
I can’t find the words to tell him how hard I’m wishing for the same thing.