Chapter 30
Eric
" E ric, damn it! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Lily shot out of the sofa and screamed at me.
My heart dislodged from my throat and plummeted into my chest when I found her safe and sound, hands crossed across her heaving breasts, glaring at me.
"Are you okay?" She frowned as I hurried over to her and wrapped her in my arms. "Um...you're freaking me out." Her arms came up slowly to stroke up and down my back. "You're shaking. What's wrong?"
"Am I shaking?" I asked as she pulled back to examine me. "No. Yeah. I'm alright."
"Are you sure?" She wiped away the sweat off my forehead.
Trying not to be dead obvious, I glanced out the windows and glass doors and kept my walk steady even though my bones were fucking struggling to hold my weight up. Tyler had said something about that Carter guy being a part of a mob family. Why the fuck would he get us involved in the death of a member of the mob if he knew that?!
If he ran, there was no way we could stay. He was supposed to be untouchable and he got the fuck out of here. The guys were on their way here. I had to figure out a way to get Lily excited about packing. The first thing I brought up, without thinking, was the trip to Florida. Or maybe subconsciously, I knew it was the best place for her to be.
Me and the rest of the guys, Curly, Larry, Moe and Joe, wouldn't stand a chance against the mob. What did we look like trying to protect Lily from them? But in Florida, with my parents, where there were other retired vets helping to take care of them, there would be more protection than we could provide on our own, more expertise than we could hire out without getting involved with the wrong type of people again. The last thing we wanted was a Tyler 2.0. I had hidden my parents' weapons, so I knew where they were in the event that we needed them.
Fuck, this was a crazy idea. What was I thinking? They had PTSD, remember? I couldn't bring this to their doorstep, but what other choice did I have?
"So, uh. You know what. I've been getting cabin fever." I scratched the back of my neck.
She looked at me as if that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard come out of my mouth. "Here?"
It wasn't like we were cooped up in a tiny house.
"Yeah, here. It's so secluded. Same old, same old every single day. If I stay here one more day, I'm going to lose my mind. We wake up, it's the same thing. Big house, gym, pool, sauna, eat, sleep, repeat. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's getting to Ryan too, you know. We're used to traveling and as of late, we've just been stuck in the house." I exaggerated my groan.
Her lips actually curled in disgust. "Don't let the people I used to live amongst hear you say that. The women at the shelter might call someone like you ungrateful." She crossed her arms again. "No one's stopping you from leaving the house if you're bored."
"Yeah, but leave the house to do what? Shopping? Come on. Don't tell me you're not crawling out of your skin with boredom too." I clutched at relatability.
"Oh my goodness." She curled her lips even more. Okay, this wasn't going the way I had planned.
"What I'm trying to say," I moved closer to her, "is...yeah, I know I can leave the house and go do stuff, but I don't want to do that kind of stuff without you. Everything's boring without you, but staying in the house is not my vibe. That's all. It's a beautiful place. And I'm not ungrateful. I just need to step outside of it. I miss the beach and the sun. And honestly, I miss my parents."
She softened and stepped into me, ran her hand through my hair. "Aw, babe. You'll see them in a month."
"Why wait? Don't you want to break up the routine?" I asked.
She took a breath and brought her eyes up to the side as if she was thinking about it, until Ethan, Ryan and Matt rushed through the door in a panic, startling her out of my arms.
She looked between all four of us and drew in her brows.