Chapter 8 #2
So now, I just contribute financially to the obscene amount of fireworks we set off each year.
I enjoy sitting and watching the show, without running from whatever concoction my brother Liam created by merging various fireworks together.
I know that man is a genius, but I also like having hair on the top of my head.
I take a pull from my beer as I push slightly to make the rocking chair resume its back and forth.
Vivian’s fiancé claims the chair next to me while Savannah and Vivian try to police the kids from having too many ice cream cones and popsicles.
Walker chuckles as he watches Vivian’s daughter Eloise run past, holding yet another popsicle. “It may be a lost cause at this point, but I’m not telling her mama that.”
I nod. “Smart man.”
“I know when to pick my battles.” Walker would too, prior to being the FBI Agent he is today, he was a decorated sniper with the US Army Rangers.
He is steady and true in every area of his life and loves my sister and niece like they both deserve—quite the variance from the piece of shit her first husband turned out to be.
But Trent’s death is also what ultimately brought Walker into Vivian’s life, which goes to prove it’s possible for something good to come from even the most catastrophic events.
“I saw the girls giggling over some story about Tinsley Sinclair and Roman Cash. Have you been keeping track of that relationship?”
I school my expression to keep it neutral. “Why would that be something I would follow?”
“Right. We can play it like that. Anyway, the girls were trying to figure out if they were going to get married or maybe were already secretly married.” Walker sips on his beer and looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
“You should know by now not to believe everything you see on the internet, Walker.” Especially when it’s the flaming pile of shit that is their fake relationship.
Wells flipped when he found out about the contract Rick strong-armed her into signing.
I don’t understand why she keeps working with the man; he isn’t even good at his job and him pushing this on her is proof.
If anything, this fake relationship has brought negative attention to Tinsley with how often Roman is photographed with other women leaving his hotel room or making out with them right in front of the press.
Roman wants Lux to sign him, but there’s something not right with that guy, and Wells already blacklisted him anyway.
If one of us blacklists someone, whether an artist, songwriter, vender, or employee, we respect the decision.
Only three people at Lux have the authority to blacklist someone, and if Wells or my other best friend Max don’t trust someone, I don’t either.
I really don’t like the guy—and it doesn’t help that he is fake dating the only woman I’ve cared about in the last decade beyond a meaningless fling.
Since ghosting me in the hotel room a few years ago, my communication with Tinsley has been limited to texts, but it hasn’t lessened my feelings for her.
If anything, my feelings toward her have only grown.
But all I can do right now is remind her that I’m always there for her—not that she takes me up on any of my offers to see her or even be in the same place at the same time.
All of which is incredibly frustrating.
I look over at Walker who’s just waiting. The man is fine with silence. He is patient and in control, two qualities I appreciate in my own life. But I can also tell when he has something else he wants to say and is just waiting.
“You can go ahead and say whatever it is, you know.” I glance over at him, and he smiles at my comment.
“I’m just looking for the right way to say something.”
Now he has my full attention. “Go on then, out with it.” I put my feet down to stop the chair’s rocking movement.
Walker holds up a hand in defense. “If I could just flat out say things, I would, and you know it.” At times, Walker’s job involves coming across information that he has to decide how to navigate while upholding his oath to the badge.
He hums, apparently concluding how to approach whatever it is.
“When was the last time you dealt with Kane Daughtry?”
What the hell?
I raise an eyebrow. “Are you asking as my future brother-in-law or as an FBI Agent?”
He shrugs. “For this conversation, let’s assume they are one in the same.” Because they are.
“I don’t directly deal with the trash; it’s a perk of being a billionaire with teams of people to deal with that shit. So, I guess there’s a chance that one of my legal representatives has dealt with him, but I haven’t talked to him directly in … a year? Maybe longer? Why?”
Walker hums again and takes another drink from his beer.
“I just wonder what he’s been up to lately.
Maybe Liam knows the answer to that … or could find out.
” Walker slaps my knee and gets up to leave.
But I know Walker, and while that answer—and entire conversation—sounded vague, he just told me something without telling me anything.
I stand, grab a bottle of water, and search the lawn for my pyro-loving brothers, not that they’re hard to find if I just wait for the next boom to light up the sky.
I walk through the small crowd of our family and friends spread out on blankets and in lawn chairs across the backyard, enjoying the show.
I say hello to a few familiar faces and make my way closer to my brothers.
Liam looks up as I approach and I lean my head to the side.
I don’t need to get closer to ask him to come talk to me; he says something to Ryan and Finn who nod and take some kind of remote from his hands.
I keep walking away from the crowd and Liam catches up to me.
Handing him the water, I watch whatever five-hundred-dollar explosive Finn just blew up into the night sky.
“What’s up?” Liam asks before taking a drink of water.
I knew he wouldn’t want to drink alcohol with the amount of explosives they’re lighting tonight.
“I just had an interesting plausible deniability conversation with Walker.” We started using that term whenever there was a conversation that could put Walker in a predicament or split his loyalties between the badge and the people he cares about.
We all respect him too much to ever put him in a challenging position; at least we would never intentionally do that to him.
“Oh, yeah? Anything interesting?” Liam almost sounds bored in his response, but I know I have his full attention.
“He asked when the last time I saw Kane Daughtry was. Do you still have surveillance on him?”
Liam shakes his head. “Not since the last lawsuit was settled. I don’t even know if you have any current litigation against the guy right now, but I’m sure you will again in the future because the asshole is a cockroach. Why, did something happen?”
“I feel like something happened that I need to be aware of, or maybe Kane is up to something I should know about. Any clue about any of that?”
“Not off the top of my head, but I can find out.” Liam takes another drink as a very large explosion goes off, snapping both of our heads to Ryan and Finn, but relaxing when we hear laughter. “Those morons. I told them to press one button at a time on the remote.”
“You know it had to be Finn that pressed more than one button. That really shouldn’t surprise you.” Finn is the youngest of the four brothers and loves to do anything fun, and if it’s a boring task, he will do what he can to make it as fun as possible.
“Of course, it was Finn. He’s like a child,” Liam says but grins. Finn is a good balance to the rest of the brothers who tend to all take our own selves a little too seriously sometimes.
“So, Kane … can you look into it? Just let me know if there’s anything I need to be aware of?”
Liam tilts his head. “Do you want him followed again?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think it’s at that point. I just want to be aware if there’s anything I need to know.”