Chapter Six #2
“I never expected to fall in love,” Carrie continued in the background as everything around me faded away, my world narrowing to only Margo.
“I didn’t think I deserved to be loved the way that Grayson loves me, but he showed me the truth.
Everyone deserves to be loved, even the ones who make mistakes. ”
Margo’s lips closed, the tattooed butterfly on her neck shifting as she swallowed as if she was parched.
Parched for me.
“Our wedding day wouldn’t be special without our family there to support us, without our best friends standing beside us as Grayson and I promise each other forever.”
My head tilted to the side, my gaze burning into Margo, pleading for mercy.
Come on, Temper.
Give me a chance to explain.
Tell me the truth.
Please.
“Which is why I want to ask Margo and Sarah to be my maids of honor.”
The spell between us was broken as the world came rushing back. Everyone was clapping. Sarah had her hand over her mouth in shock and looked down to Margo, who was gaping at Carrie. Ash nudged my arm. “Clap, man. Jesus.”
Automatically, I started clapping, watching in awe as Margo rose from her seat, the blanket falling to the floor in a heap.
Carrie practically jumped over to her friends, a pink gift bag in each hand.
“Will you both stand beside me on my wedding day?” she proposed.
“I can’t do this with you. I need my girls. ”
Sarah nodded, already a blubbering mess. Her husband shook his head, chuckling. She wrapped her arm around Margo’s shoulders, shaking her. “Earth to Margo! You going to answer?”
The room fell silent again as Margo stared at Carrie in disbelief. “You can’t—you don’t want me for this.”
Carrie’s face twisted in bewilderment. “What do you mean? Of course I do. I can’t do this without you, babe.”
“Cardinal,” Margo rasped, lifting a trembling hand to her lips, tears sliding down her cheeks now.
It took everything in me not to cross the room and wipe those tears from her face. I couldn’t stand the sight of them.
How many tears do you think she cried when she woke up to an empty bed, asshole?
A broken sob filled the room just before she nodded, falling into Carrie’s open arms. Seconds later, Sarah joined too, and I looked at my feet, that wretched sound echoing in my ears.
“Carrie’s got a good group of friends here,” Jake noted.
“Agreed.”
The doorbell rang then, and my head snapped up to find Grayson answering the door. He smiled at someone before stepping aside, gesturing to the room.
“So sorry I’m late,” a sweet voice announced.
All eyes went to the woman standing at the mouth of the living room, her arms full of shiny pink and purple wrapped boxes.
She peeked over the stack, her brown skirt shifting as she found Carrie.
“There was an emergency at the shop. Mrs. Wellington came in right at closing time with a tear in her rehearsal dinner dress.”
“How in the heck did she manage that?” Sarah asked, clearly knowing who the customer was.
Grayson and Michael took the boxes out of the woman’s arms, and she smiled at them, muttering a “‘thank you.” The woman was beautiful, around the same age as Carrie, but taller. She was nearly as tall as Margo, who was around five ten. The stranger had a fuller figure, similar to Carrie’s.
Her wavy brown hair was just a shade or two darker than Sarah’s, cut short so it stopped just above her shoulders .
Carrie grabbed her hand, beaming. “Thank you for coming. We saved you a plate and we’re just about to serve dessert. ”
The woman shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Of course we did.” Carrie hushed her before turning to the room. “Everyone, this is Pam! She owns Seaside Boutique!”
My brows came together, and before I could open my mouth, Ash read my mind. “Funny, she doesn’t look like a Pam.”
Jake scoffed, tipping his beer bottle to his lips. “What does she look like, then?”
“I don’t know, but not a Pam,” Ash noted, looking over to the window. “Dominic?”
My eyes followed his, and when they landed on our friend, my lips twitched. Dominic was leaning against the wall, his jaw tight and his dark blue eyes on Pam. He was staring at her like he wanted to devour the poor woman. I chuckled, unable to help it, and Jake did the same.
“Here we fucking go,” my tech specialist muttered.
Ash moved away from the wall, his head swinging back and forth between Pam, who now had her back to us, and Dominic, who looked like he was three seconds away from throwing the woman over his shoulder and carrying her out the door.
I took a moment to glance at Margo, staring at her profile.
She touched Pam’s arm, laughing at something Sarah said.
“Christ, what the hell is up with him?”
I blinked, snapping out of it, and looked at Ash. He wasn’t looking at me, thank fuck. His gaze was still on Dominic.
“I don’t know,” Jake answered. “But if anyone in this town needs to have some fun, it’s Dominic. The move was stressful on him.”
“Yeah, he definitely needs to let off some steam,” Ash agreed. Then he slapped my shoulder. “So do you, Mitchell. You’ve had a hell of a year.”
I shoved his hand away. “Fuck off.”
A low whistle broke the tension and the three of us, along with Dominic, turned to Grayson, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He jerked his chin in silent command before disappearing down the hall.
“Fucking hell,” Jake muttered. “Just when we all had the night off.”
“Got a call,” Gray announced as he closed his office door behind Dominic.
I leaned against the wall and folded my arms over my chest. “What is it?” I asked.
His dark eyes cut to me. “A hunt.”
That was all he said.
The four of us waited a few beats, hoping he’d give more.
“Is there a reason you aren’t briefing us?” This came from Ash, who was leaning against Grayson’s desk, hands on either side of his hips. His good mood had all but vanished, his eyes flashing with uncertainty.
“Yes.”
Just after Grayson had found Carrie, Ash was on a hunt, and when he was finished, he found the client’s wife starved, beaten, and tied to her bed.
She was the reason he’d gone underground, and it took us three months to find him again.
When Gray finally got eyes on him, Ash’s body was so mangled and broken…
he coded twice in the hospital. Now, nearly two years later, the woman was still missing, and every single day, Ash spent hours trying to track her down.
He’d never forgotten about her, and I feared that if Red Snake never found her, he too would be lost.
Ash’s face was twisted in a way that gutted me. I cleared my throat and asked the question no one else wanted to ask. “Is it the preacher’s wife?”
Gray shook his head once, his eyes on Doss. “No.”
Ash’s shoulders sagged. From relief or disappointment, we would never know.
Grayson widened his stance and crossed his arms, his eyes on me now. “Jack is back on the radar.”
“How in the fuck is he still alive?” I asked, my arms falling to my sides. “I fucking shot him.”
“I don’t know, but he’s back.”
“How?” Jake clipped, moving to Grayson’s computer, rounding the desk. “How in the fuck did you find that out before me?” He yanked out the desk chair and took a seat, his fingers already flying over the keyboard, remotely logging into the Red Snake database.
“Murphy,” Gray called.
“Who tipped you off?” I asked, raising a brow.
“Stevens.”
Dominic looked to the ceiling. “Fucking hell,” he sighed. “If that’s the case, then maybe we let the mafia handle Jack. He has to be on his own by now. His entire empire crumbled after Mitchell infiltrated Vegas last year.”
“No,” I said. All eyes were on me now, but I kept my gaze on my partner. “If anyone gets to end this, it’s me.”
“Hayes—”
“It’s a loose end.” I cut him off, shooting a glance at each of them. “I should have made sure he was dead before leaving. This is on me.”
“Jack wasn’t your objective,” Ash reminded me, his voice cold.
My head ticked to the side. “Red Snake’s objective is protection, always has been,” I countered.
Jake’s fingers halted, hovering over the keyboard, and he sat back. “How in the hell did Collin Stevens get a hit on Jack?”
“The mafia has ties worldwide, Murphy,” Dominic deadpanned. “It wouldn’t be that hard. Besides, Jack is on Stevens’ shit list.”
“Jack isn’t stateside.”
My head snapped in my partner’s direction. “Excuse me?”
Grayson stepped up, starting his debrief.
Ten minutes later, we mapped out a plan of attack.
Five minutes after that, I walked out of the office, leaving my team to hammer out the details.
Before I left, I needed to fix something I’d broken.
A conversation Grayson and I had some time ago had come rushing back to the forefront of my mind when I decided to take the hunt, knowing I wouldn’t be back in town for a while.
“I thought I found it, man,” I murmured, eyes on the Denver skyline and the grand mountains beyond it, the sting of Veronica’s affair still fresh.
“And if you found it again?” he asked gently.
My eyes found his and I told him the truth. “If I found what you’ve found, Gray…there’s not a single fucking man on this earth who could stop me from having it.”
Jaw tight, I stormed down the hall and into the kitchen, finding Margo and Rossy there having tea while everyone else was in the living room, lost in conversations. She was sitting in the chair closest to the back window, hands curled around her mug.
“Margo,” I called, chest tight, closing the distance between us.
Her head lifted, jade eyes widening as her lips parted. “Hayes, what—”
Her words were cut off as I cupped her face. “I’m leaving,” I murmured, looming over her.
“I don’t—”
I got in her face then, not giving a fuck about Rossy’s presence. “When I get back, you and I are going to have a conversation. Understood?”
Those addictive eyes flashed, anger painting her face. “We have nothing to talk about.”
“I beg to differ, Temper.” Before she could say anything else, I pressed my lips to her forehead. And then I was gone, walking out of the house.