Chapter 13
Allister
"Fucking hell."
"What?" Decker looks up from the papers he's been signing.
His office is freezing, cold air pumping from the vents. The white walls throw the fluorescent glare back at me until the headache behind my eyes goes near blinding.
"I've called and texted Leah four times. Do you feel this way about May? If I don't hear back from her, I can't fucking think straight."
He grins and nods, then goes back to the papers.
"Yes. We have an agreement. It might sound like I'm a possessive asshole, but she keeps her phone on her at all times.
And I need to hear back from her within twenty minutes, or I'm coming to look for her ass.
Hard limit for me. I have to know where she is and if she's okay. "
"Exactly. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind, man. She's got my nuts in her hand twenty-four seven, and I can't fucking breathe half the time when I think about her."
Decker leans back in his chair, that knowing grin still on his face.
"You guys official then?" He raises his eyebrows. We both know what he means without saying it.
I just nod.
"Glad you waited?"
"More than glad." I shove my phone in my pocket and pinch the bridge of my nose until the pain shoots down into my eye sockets.
Decker's the only other guy I know who waited for the right one. Holding out for your one and only isn't standard guy code, but damn if it wasn't fucking worth it.
"Dude, just go find her. You're no good to me like this, and I fucking understand. I've got the paperwork. Just go."
I'm out his door with a nod, jogging to my office for my stuff.
But as I'm about to go in, Desiree comes around the corner.
She's been with us five years, just made assistant manager here at Monarch IV, and somewhere in there she became the closest thing I've got to a sister.
It helps that men aren't her cup of tea, so the gossip stays to a minimum.
The staff know I don't poach and never have, but they'll find something to gossip about regardless.
"Hey." She eyes me, and a grin pulls at the corner of her mouth. "Glad you're back, baldy. Although not so bald these days, what's up with that?" Just as fast, the grin fades. "Those fires… wow, right?"
"Yep." I punch the code into my office door.
"You okay?"
"Yes. Just have to get somewhere." Inside, I grab my briefcase and shrug into my coat. "How's my mom?"
Desiree and I have texted the whole time I've been buried in the fire business, mostly about my mom.
Mom's a constant drain, but thank God she and Desiree have their own thing now, because I haven't seen her much in person lately.
Pain in my ass or not, she's my mom, and I'll always take care of her.
"She's the same. I was over there yesterday. Did a hunt and gather mission. Stashed everything where I always do, at your place. It wasn't so bad. Three prescriptions from a new doctor she found."
"Jesus. I love her, you know, but… she's killin' me."
"Yeah, she said she's still mad at you."
"That's fine. She can stay mad while I keep her safe. I've got another rehab willing to take her, but if she won't go, I can't force her."
"I know. I'm sorry." She crosses her arms over her black Monarch t-shirt. "Hey, at least it's not as bad as that last haul she had. That was epic. That's why I sent you the pictures once I'd stored it all in the cabinet. Didn't want you keeling over when you saw the size of it."
"It's fine. Thanks for all you do for her. She lets you do things she won't let me do. It means so much to me, really."
"It's cool. Remember where I was at when you hired me? It's a beast to kick a habit like that. So I owe you. And she knows I understand the struggle."
"Still, I appreciate it. Okay, I gotta go.
See if you can convince her to let me and Leah come for dinner next week.
I want to introduce them. I haven't told Leah everything about Mom yet, so it buys me time to explain how the two of us work," I rumble with a half-hearted chuckle as I corral her out and shut the door behind us.
"Oh, and thanks for keeping the whole Leah thing under your hat.
We're going public, but I appreciate your discretion.
" I let it slip about Leah on a call last week, swore her to silence, and she's a vault.
If people knew how much she does for me and Mom, they'd assume she and I were a thing, and that would tip the whole club on its ear.
"I'll do it." She smiles and punches me in the arm.
"I'm happy you're happy. Oh, and one thing.
" Her eyebrows pull together. "I saw that black Bentley twice this week.
You know, the one that douche Victor was always in?
Same driver, too. Drove by your house when I was there dropping off your mom's new scripts.
Then again, outside Decker's place, while I was getting him to sign some documents.
What the fuck do you think that's all about?
I thought that asshole was locked up, and it's creepy, him circling both Deck's place and yours.
That's freaky, dude. That driver always gave me the shivers. "
I'm at a dead run by the time I hit the parking lot. I've got the phone to my ear, calling Leah again, and it goes straight to voicemail. My heart's in my throat. Something is wrong. If she's hurt, I don't know what I'll do.
And if someone's hurt her, I know exactly what I'll do.