Chapter 16
Harper
I left Uncle Woody’s office completely stunned.
I’d always had a good working relationship with Paige. Up until that last day, we’d gotten along great. Never any friction, never any problems. I’d just assumed that I’d put her in an uncomfortable position when I’d walked out on the job I’d been contracted for, and that’s why she’d been so pissed.
There was no way that I could’ve ever imagined that she’d go completely round the bend with me as her target.
As soon as Uncle Woody mentioned next steps, Uncle Grease and my dad ushered me back to the car. Even Bas was surprisingly reticent when I’d asked him how the hell they’d convince Paige to cancel the contract.
Uncle Woody’s guy had found it—the contract. One hundred thousand dollars to make it look like I died in an accident. She’d even provided my work ID photo.
Now, I was back at the clubhouse, and I’d been playing cards with Nova and Grandma Brenna for nearly an hour.
I was pretty sure Nova had taken time off work just to hang with me.
The noise in the room was a steady hum as members and wives moved in and out, sometimes walking over to check on me and sometimes just waving from across the room.
No one had brought their kids. They wanted to make sure I was okay, but until the whole contract-on-my-life thing was over, I was pretty much radioactive.
It made me sick to think about how long that guy had been following me.
Probably for days, but definitely the night I’d gone to Ariel’s birthday party.
There had been, like, ten kids there, from babies to pre-teens.
The realization that they could’ve been caught in the crossfire the way Gram had made me crazy if I thought about it for too long.
For the last fifteen minutes, Bas had been in church with the rest of the voting members of the club.
It didn’t take much thought to know what they were discussing.
Part of me was glad that they wouldn’t tell me what happened next, because I didn’t really want to know.
But the other part of me was dying of morbid curiosity.
“You suck at this game,” Nova announced, pulling all the cards off the table to shuffle them. “Are you even paying attention?”
“Barely,” I replied as Grandma Brenna laughed.
She reached out and patted my knee. “Sometimes, it’s infuriating when they won’t tell us things. Most times? It’s a blessing.”
“Doesn’t it drive you crazy?” I asked.
“Once upon a time,” she said with a smile. “Until I realized that it would be a lot easier on them if they could drop it all at our feet and let us carry some of the burden. Choosing not to do that is an act of devotion—don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”
My mother had said something similar to me when I was a kid, but I hadn’t really understood it then.
Parents were supposed to carry the weight—that was their responsibility.
Now that it was my partner—the person I wanted to share everything with—that dynamic was completely different.
I wished that Bas could tell me anything that was on his mind, but I also knew from the moment I’d leaned down to kiss him the first time that would never be possible for us. I’d learn to live with it.
Sometime later, the guys were still holed up in their little room when my mom wandered over and set her hands on my shoulders. I’d lost about five games of cards.
“Hey, Ma,” I said, leaning my head back against her stomach. “Whatcha doing?”
“I ordered some dinner,” she replied, giving my shoulders a squeeze. “Hopefully everyone likes Chinese food, because they’re bringing a metric ton of it.”
“From that new place that just opened up?” Nova asked, perking up. “I’ve been wanting to try it.”
“Yeah. The prospects will bring it down from the gate when it gets here. I have a feeling it’ll take a while to cook that much food.” Mom’s fingers moved to my hair. “Make sure you pack up a plate and bring some to your Gran.”
“I will,” Nova replied with a smile. “But she’s out with her friend tonight, so who knows when she’ll be home.”
“Partying hard?” I asked.
“I think they were going to a craft fair or something,” Nova said with a laugh. “But who knows after that.”
“I want to go to a craft fair,” I complained, leaning into my mom’s hands. My scalp tingled as she ran her fingers through my hair.
“Stop whining,” she ordered. “This’ll be over soon.”
“You can go home, you know,” I said, looking up at her. “There’s no reason both of us have to be stuck here.”
“Not happening,” she replied calmly.
I let out a sigh just as the door behind the bar opened and men started filing out.
“If you start asking questions,” my mom warned softly. “You’ll put him into the position of having to tell you that he can’t answer them.”
“Or feeling like he has to lie,” Nova added, rising from her seat. “My deal with Rum is that he can’t lie, but if he tells me that I can’t know—I drop it.”
I nodded and watched the door, waiting for Bas to emerge. He came out talking to my brother. They rounded the bar together, then Gray turned and walked out of the clubhouse while Bas headed toward me.
“I lost a million games of cards,” I announced as he got closer. “Nova thinks I wasn’t paying attention.”
Mom scrubbed her hand softly at the back of my head, then walked away, patting Bas on the shoulder as she passed him.
“You’ve got a lot on your mind,” Bas said as he reached me. “Come with me?”
I looked back toward the table only to realize that Grandma and Nova had both disappeared.
He led me back into the bedroom we’d been using and sat at the edge of the bed, pulling me in between his knees.
“Why do I think this is a conversation I’m not going to enjoy?” I asked cautiously.
Bas laughed. “It’s nothin’ bad.”
“Spill it,” I ordered, sliding my hands up his arms to his shoulders.
“I gotta go out of town for a few days.”
My stomach lurched and then felt like it somersaulted.
“I can’t ask where you’re going,” I said, holding his gaze. “But I probably don’t need to.”
“You’re gonna stay at your parents’ house,” he continued, his hands tightening on my hips. “You’ll have guards out front and back, plus your dad’s gonna stay home while I’m gone.”
“I guess that’s better than having to stay here,” I conceded.
“When I get back, it should be over. We can get back to dealin’ with regular life.”
“And moving in together,” I reminded him.
“And movin’ in together,” he confirmed. “Maybe don’t tell your pop that until after I’m back, yeah? Don’t want to walk into an ambush.”
I grinned. “No promises.”
“Main thing is you’ll be safe until we can get that contract taken care of,” he said, sliding his hands to my waist and then back down again.
“When are you leaving?” I asked, leaning into him.
“Now.”
“Oh, that’s fast,” I murmured.
“The faster we get this taken care of, the faster you don’t have a target on your back, Harp. I’m gonna run home and pack a bag, and then I’ll meet up with Gray and Rumi.”
“Rumi’s going?” That surprised me.
“Yep.”
He rose to his feet and framed my face with his hands. “Listen to your dad. Don’t take any chances. Read some of those books you love. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Be careful,” I replied, closing my eyes as he peppered kisses over my cheeks and forehead. “Don’t get caught. I don’t want to be pressing my boobs to glass just so you can see them for the next fifteen years.”
Bas jerked back and laughed.
“What the hell do you think I’m goin’ to do?” he asked, chuckling.
“I have no idea, and I know better than to ask,” I replied primly.
“Nothin’ that could get me sent down for fifteen fuckin’ years,” he assured me, still snickering. He pressed his lips to mine. “I love you.”
“Love you, too. Call me if you can.”
“I’ll do my best.” He kissed me again.
Then he left the room, and I dropped glumly to the end of the bed. I didn’t like the idea of him going somewhere for days. I didn’t like that the whole reason he was going was because of me. And I really just didn’t like being apart from him for that long.
It was that realization that snapped me out of my pout. We’d been spending every day together for so long that it had somehow become a necessity. I loved spending time with Bas, and at the end of the day, I wanted to go home with him—but I needed to start building my own life, too.
If I was going to make a life in Eugene, I needed to actually do it. No more isolation.
Moseying out to the main room, I found my parents talking to Auntie Rose and Uncle Mack.
“Hey, we ready to go?” I asked cheerfully. “I don’t have any luggage, so I’m set.”
“We’re waitin’ on all the food your mom ordered,” Dad replied with a grin.
“Well, I didn’t know we’d be leaving tonight,” Mom huffed.
“Did you tell Kara that they were ordering food?” Auntie Rose asked Uncle Mack. “If she brings the kids down, she won’t have to make dinner.”
“She said she put somethin’ in the slow cooker this mornin’,” Uncle Mack replied apologetically. “But she said if you want to make them dinner tomorrow, she’s in.”
“Good.” Auntie Rose turned to my mom. “You just wait. Grandkids are the reward for having kids.”
“Don’t look at me,” I said quickly. “Gray and Frankie are first.”
“Gonna be hard to have babies in a convent,” my dad joked.
“You’re very funny,” I replied dryly, pointing over my shoulder. “I’m going to go over there.”
Turning on my heel, I marched toward a group of tables where a bunch of my cousins were sitting.
I’d barely seen Meg and Olive since I’d been in town, and it was the first time I’d seen Forrest at all.
Brody and Jamo were teasing Myla about something when I stopped at the edge of their table, and one of them kicked out a chair for me to sit in without even glancing my way.
“About time,” Brody said. “You’ve been up Bas’s ass since you got back.”
“I have not,” I argued, dropping into the chair. “Most of the time I was lying on Mom and Dad’s couch, reading used romance novels.”
“Thrilling,” Jamo joked.