Chapter 15
ROSIE
“Is he okay?” Cara asked, glancing out of the window from the kitchen sink where she stood washing glasses.
I took a sip of wine, and my gaze drifted toward Donovan, who was standing in Cash’s garden with the rest of the guys, staring broodily at Wilder. The kid was picking flowers for Imogen as she stared up at him adoringly.
My mouth twisted into a half-smile. “Donny will be okay. He’s just a bit shellshocked.”
“Poor Donovan,” Layla murmured, rubbing her very pregnant belly. “Bowie’s the same when it comes to Sunny.”
“You expect it at Sunny and Kady’s age,” Kennedy drawled. “Immie’s not even a year old and she’s already been claimed by a biker boy. I’m not sure I would’ve been down with that.”
“A psycho biker boy too,” Cara added, her eyes drifting out of the window toward her son.
“I’ve never seen him be so sweet with anyone.
Not even me, and my boy loves his momma.
I think Immie’s good for him, and she won’t find a better protector.
My boy would take on the world for the people he loves, and Immie’s already been placed under Wilder’s big ol’ umbrella of mini-psycho-biker-boy protection. ”
“Donovan will be pleased,” I muttered sarcastically.
The ladies laughed.
My stare settled on my man, taking in the hard set of his jaw and the tenseness in his shoulders as he stood in a huddle, talking to the guys. Not for the first time, a wave of unease hit me.
Something weird was happening with him, but trying to get him to talk was like trying to get blood out of a stone.
Still, I pushed my doubts down and declared, “If it’s any consolation, Donny’s on edge today.
He walked out of the gym earlier, holding Immie, and caught somebody taking photographs of them from a car parked down the street. ”
Kennedy’s eyebrows shot up. “What the fuck?”
Cara dried her hands on a towel before approaching me, along with Layla and Ned. “Who was it?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “We don’t know.
Whoever it was, they sped off when Donovan made his approach, and he had Imogen with him, so he could hardly get into a car chase.
We’ve got the license details, so we were hoping Colt could trace the car.
” I jerked my head toward the window, where I could see Donovan deep in conversation with the other men.
“He’s probably out there now asking for help. ”
“Jesus,” Kennedy breathed. “It’s worrying. I still remember how I felt when Kady got marked by the Sinners. They snatched her a few days later.”
I felt the color drain from my face.
“Oh God,” she muttered. “I’m sorry. I’m sure everything will be okay. I was just trying to say that I know how worrying it is.”
I took another glug of wine to try and calm myself down just before Layla grabbed my elbow and led me over to the kitchen table.
“Sit,” she ordered, taking the chair beside me,
Rolling my eyes, I did as I was told, then waited for Ned and Cara to join us. “I’m okay; I know nothing’s going to happen to Imogen. I feel guilty because I think it’s because of me.”
“How so?” Layla asked, her tone confused.
I caught Kennedy’s eye and simply said, “Evan.”
Her lips thinned as my meaning dawned on her.
“Wait. What’s your ex got to do with it?” Cara asked.
“He’s threatening to take me to court. The kids don’t want to see him because they’re still pissed over the Rachel business.”
“So instead of accepting that he fucked up, he blames you,” Cara stated, shaking her head.
“He always was a narcissistic asshole. I still lie awake at night plotting his death after he blamed you for his cheating. For a guy who can’t keep the same woman for more than a few weeks, he doesn’t do much wrong, does he?
Do you think he’s hired somebody to follow you guys around? ”
“Maybe. I don’t know if it’s Evan for sure, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“Can you give me that registration number?” Kennedy asked. “I’ll get my firm’s PI on it.”
“No need,” Donovan’s voice interrupted.
I craned my neck to see my man standing at the bifold doors, leading to the garden. “Atlas already got Colt on it. We’ve got a hit. Can I have a word, Ned?”
She stood from the table. “Of course.”
“Use the study if you like,” Cara offered, gesturing toward the other end of the room. “It’s just through that door.”
Donovan held his hand out to me. “Thanks.”
I stood and took Donny’s fingers, and without a second look, he led me down the hallway. His face had blanked, like his mind was miles away, but then, it probably was.
My chest felt jittery as I wondered what conversation we were about to have.
Donovan was a new dad and already protective of Imogen, but there was no denying that fatherhood came late to him. Everything had happened very suddenly, and his life before had been mostly transient and stress-free, with no ties or responsibilities.
In the space of a year, he’d come back to the same town he grew up in, bought a business, and had become a single dad to a baby girl. He also had something else he’d never had before: a girlfriend, and one with two kids of her own, plus an asshole ex who insisted on causing drama.
I worried the pressure was starting to get to him. He seemed downtrodden by everything, like he’d lost his spark.
Kennedy opened the study door and gestured for us to go inside. We moved toward the huge desk in the middle of the room and took a seat, while Ned perched her ass on the corner of the dark wood and directed her gaze at Donovan. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Did Rosie fill you in on the asshole taking pictures?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Colt just told me the car’s registered to a PI firm in Jackson. Good reputation, big hourly rate. I don’t have any ties to Jackson, so I have no idea who hired them.”
Kennedy pulled her phone from her pocket and began to type. “I’ll set my PI on it.”
“A PI on the PI,” Donovan muttered. “This’ll be interesting.”
“We’ll find out who’s investigating you soon enough, Donovan,” she cut out.
“If the firm’s that big and that reputable, their man will know you’re onto him and report it back to his client.
They’ll soon make their approach, and we’ll be ready.
Let’s assume for a minute it’s not Evan doing this. Have you got beef with anyone else?”
“No,” he denied.
“Could it be something to do with the military?” she inquired.
“There’s no reason for Uncle Sam to sic a PI on me. And even if there was, it wouldn’t be a civilian firm working out of Jackson. If the military wanted to know anything about me, they’d put their own intelligence units on it, and believe me, nobody would see them coming,”
A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Would your uncle Patrick or Liam follow you?”
“Liam, no. He’d approach me directly.” He shrugged. “Paddy does all kinds of shit I don’t understand, but I don’t think it's him. There’s no reason for it.”
“He wants you to join the family business, right?” I pointed out.
“I don’t think it’s so important to him that he’d hire a PI to take pictures of me, Posy.
It doesn’t add up, and it’s not Patrick’s style.
He’s more of a turn up at my gym and make subtle threats kinda guy; though he’s laid off us since the whole Callum and Maeve debacle.
He got his way with that shit show, so he’d do well to quit while he was ahead.
Plus, Mam would fucking flip out on him and believe me, even Patrick Doyle would think twice about stoking up the wrath of Maureen O’Shea.
” He shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, not much would shock me about Paddy, but he wouldn’t hire someone to do his dirty work: it’s not his style. ”
“We also have to look into the possibility that this could be about Imogen,” Kennedy suggested thoughtfully.
The air in the room thickened.
I rested my hand on Donovan’s back soothingly. “I don’t see why anyone would be interested in Immie enough to hire a PI, but we have to keep it in mind so we’re not blindsided.”
He turned to me, his eyes stricken.
“Honey,” I whispered. “We’ll look after her.”
He nodded. “I don’t want my girl left alone at all. Even if she’s playing in the living room and we need to go into the kitchen for something, we take her with us.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“I’ll have to tell Ma everything,” he muttered. “She’ll go barmy.”
“It’s better than the alternative,” I stated. “We’ll sit Maureen, Callum, and Maeve down and explain everything. We need to make sure Imogen’s always covered.”
“Yeah,” Donovan breathed. “We should talk to Gabby and DJ, too. They need to keep their wits about them. Gonna ask DJ to stick close to Gabs while they’re out.”
My heart sank. “Do you think the kids are in danger?”
“We can’t be too careful. If someone’s got the balls to follow me and take pictures, they won’t think twice about doing it to the kids.”
“The new school year starts in a couple of weeks,” I reminded him. “It’s going to be difficult to keep tabs on them.”
Kennedy’s mouth pressed into a line, and she gave a slow, deliberate nod. “We’ll start digging today,” she promised. “If we need to, we can contact the school principal. Seth will understand. God knows he’s been through similar shit with Cara and the club.”
I had to stop myself from shuddering. The thought of some creep out there, lurking, with a camera trained on our babies, made me feel nauseous.
“I’ll call Colt.” Donovan turned for the door and prowled out of the room without even looking at me.
Staring after him, I chewed on my lip, ignoring the weird feeling spreading through my belly.
I didn’t want to read too much into his reaction, but it felt like he was shutting me out.
“Is everything okay with you two?” Kennedy asked softly. “He seems to have retreated into a shell.”