Chapter 14 LEO
LEO
“Find out anything last night?” Emmett asked.
“Nothing.” I swiped up a rag, wiping at the grease on my fingers.
I’d been working on the Firebird all day, enjoying a solo project and some time out of the paint booth for a change of pace. We’d brought it in from the back lot a few days ago and since, she’d had my focus. The car was going to be a beauty, especially now that she was getting some attention.
The list of jobs lined up on the board was long, but we had a small window while we waited on parts and payments and customers to make decisions, and when Dash had suggested the Firebird, I’d jumped at the chance to get my hands on her again.
I skimmed my finger over the side panel, imagining it in flaming orange. There were projects where the color in my mind’s eye changed as we worked. I’d see the car differently as it was transformed. But not this one. It had to be that orange.
And if I had my way, this car would be mine too.
A gift to Cass.
It had been a month since she’d moved. An agonizing month. The only reason I hadn’t insisted—begged—she come home was because we still hadn’t figured out who the bastard was who’d paid that bitch to drug me. Or why. Though it hadn’t been for lack of trying.
I’d gone to The Betsy nearly every night in the past month.
It was the best way to find the guy and without Cass, it was too lonely to stay home.
Each time I went to the bar, I’d have a few beers, ensuring each and every one of them was opened by Paul or the other bartenders in my sight.
I’d play pool and pretend like it was just another night, meanwhile keeping watch in case the brunette came in again or anyone eyed me suspiciously.
The brunette hadn’t shown. And for a month it had been nothing but familiar faces.
Emmett had scoured the security camera footage from the night I’d been drugged. He’d found Cass coming to the bar and racing away. Otherwise, there hadn’t been anyone who’d matched the brunette’s description that he or I hadn’t already known.
Whoever had drugged me had snuck in and out without notice.
Or . . . the brunette had lied to me.
“Been thinking . . . maybe the brunette did it on her own.” I sighed. “I don’t think there was a guy who paid her.” She’d seemed scared when I confronted her but hell, maybe she was a good actress.
“Yeah.” Emmett rubbed at his beard. “I’m leaning toward that conclusion too. Still best to stay vigilant. Keep an eye on your drinks. We’ll all do the same.”
There’d be no need to watch my drinks. Any desire I had to go to The Betsy had died a month ago. The only reason I’d kept showing was to find answers. And if there was any danger, to make sure Cass wouldn’t suffer from the fallout.
It had to be a case of a crazy bitch who’d crossed a line. End of story. Time to move on.
The baby was due any day now, and the second she was born, I was bringing Cass home.
“Any word from Cass?” Emmett asked, picking up a wrench from the stack of tools I’d brought over earlier. Today I’d been taking out the interior of the Firebird, stripping out the old seats and nasty carpet.
“I texted her last night.” I’d sent her a picture of the crib and changing table in the nursery.
I’d assembled it the day she’d moved out but hadn’t shown her yet. Maybe because I’d hoped that she would come home and see it for herself. But her due date was in three days and she still hadn’t collected the baby’s things.
I was taking it as a good sign I could convince her to move back.
It was unlike Cass to not have things settled. Even in the short time we’d known one another, I could tell she was a planner. She made grocery lists and meal plans. I missed the sticky notes of daily to-dos beside her laptop.
For her to leave the baby’s things might mean that she’d gotten new ones at her parents’ place. Or maybe she hadn’t completely given up on me.
For a month I hadn’t broached the subject with her for fear that she’d act and leave for good. But last night, while I’d had dinner alone at the dining room table, I’d wanted her to know that she still had a place. That the baby had a place.
So I’d texted the picture and asked how she was feeling.
She hadn’t replied. She rarely did. But I’d texted all the same.
Despite her request for space, I hadn’t been able to go more than three days without sending her a note. The texts weren’t for her, but myself. I craved that connection to her. I wanted her to know that she was on my mind.
“Is she going to move back in?” Emmett asked.
I sighed. “I don’t know, and I haven’t asked. Treading lightly these days.”
“Do you want her to?”
“Yeah.” Badly. Something I didn’t want to tell Cass via text.
God, I missed her face. I missed her eyes and her smell and her taste. Going this long without seeing her had turned me into a moody asshole. If not for work, I would have crawled out of my skin.
The reason we had this small window on the job schedule was because of how much time I’d been spending at the garage. With Dash, Emmett, Isaiah and me all working on the remodels, they’d gone quicker than anticipated.
One morning I’d shown up at eight and Presley had threatened to drive me to the hospital because clearly, if I was in before ten, I must be feverish. So I’d shown up three days in a row at eight just to see the look on her face.
I would have seen it again today, but Pres had taken the day off. Emmett, Isaiah and I were all taking turns covering the office phones. Isaiah was in there now, the poor bastard. Office work was boring and my shift in there later would be painful.
“Can I ask you something?” I knelt beside the passenger seat and took a utility knife from my pocket, beginning to cut the old carpet away. “I think I want to buy this from Dash.”
“It’ll be a sweet ride when it’s done. Good investment.”
“I thought maybe Cass might like it.”
Emmett blinked. “You’re giving this to Cass?”
“Why not?” I shrugged. “It wouldn’t be to drive every day. There’s not a lot of room in the back for a car seat, but she could take it out for fun. Drive it in the summer.”
Emmett stared at me, unspeaking.
“What?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t realize . . .”
“Realize what?”
“That you were in love with her.”
The knife slipped from my hand.
I wasn’t in love with Cass, was I? Sure, I missed her company. I respected the hell out of her. She was the smartest woman I’d ever met and braver than most too. But love?
“The color just drained from your face.” Emmett chuckled. “Change of subject?”
“Please,” I choked out.
I didn’t love Cass. We were . . . what the fuck were we? Former lovers? Friendly? I doubted she’d call me a friend. Soon-to-be co-parents?
Those labels were all wrong. And they weren’t the labels I wanted. Not anymore.
There was a hole in my life. I’d known it for a long time.
That hole had been there as a kid who’d needed a father.
A kid whose mother loved him, maybe, but hadn’t understood him.
The hole had filled some when I’d joined the club.
Then it had grown, expanding exponentially when the Tin Kings had disbanded, doubling again after Draven had died.
Hole upon hole. And the only time it hadn’t felt soul-deep had been with Cass.
“She deserves better than me.”
Emmett’s gaze narrowed. “You really think that?”
“It’s the truth. I’ve got nothing to offer her but baggage.”
He scoffed. “It’s a good thing Draven is in the ground. He’d kick your ass for a comment like that. And you’d deserve it.” Without another word, he threw down the wrench so hard it bounced on the car’s floor. Then he stood and strode away, leaving me beside the Firebird.
Why was he pissed? I didn’t have an education. For years I’d used my fists to make extra cash in the boxing ring. I drank too much. I’d had too many women. Like Dale had said, Cass deserved better.
Before I could make sense of Emmett’s reaction, my phone rang in my pocket. I stood and dug it out, Cass’s name on the screen.
My heart jumped into my throat. For a month, I’d wished for this. I’d wished for her to call. Now she was and because it had been a month, I was scared to answer.
But I did it anyway. “Hey, babe.”
“Hello, Leo,” Claudia said.
“Oh . . . hi. Sorry, thought you were Cass.”
“She’s getting checked in at the hospital.”
“What?” I swayed on my feet. “She’s—the baby—”
“Get down here, Leo.”
I swallowed hard. “Yes, ma’am.”
It took me a moment after she ended the call to find my balance. My boots seemed stuck to the floor while my head spun like a top. I planted a hand on top of the Firebird, closing my eyes until I was steady. Then I couldn’t move fast enough.
I ran toward the sink in the corner, turning on the water and scrubbing my hands with fury. But the grease was stuck to my skin and the water was cold. “Come off. Fucking come on.”
I had to get my hands clean. I couldn’t go to the hospital with greasy hands.
“Hey, man. You okay?” Isaiah came out of the office and to my side.
I shook my head. “I gotta get this grease off.”
“Might work better if you use some soap?” He picked up a bottle of orange liquid and squirted some onto my palm.
“Right.” I scrubbed more, letting it lather, and finally, the grease began to break itself free from my fingers.
“What’s going on?”
“Cass.” Scrub. “Hospital.” Scrub. “Baby.”
“Deep breath.”
I obeyed, sucking in a long breath as I washed.
“Here.” Isaiah handed me the brush we used to get the grease out of our cuticles and from underneath our nails. Then he gave me one more squirt of soap and went to the office door to holler inside. “Cass is at the hospital.”
“You’re kidding.” Emmett appeared in the doorway. “Presley just texted me from the hospital.”
I didn’t hear much of what he said to Isaiah. Something about Presley being with Scarlett and Scarlett having contractions. None of that mattered when there were black smudges on my hands.