“Really, I’m fine,” I murmured.
Cole dabbed at one of the burns I had on my right forearm. “So you say.”
“Dude, the paramedics even cleared me.”
He peeked up at me. “Because you kept cursing them out whenever they hit you with an alcohol swab.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatev—holy fuck! What the hell?”
He ripped open another alcohol swab. “Sure you’re fine?”
I peered over my shoulder to try and distract myself while Cole essentially tortured me, and I saw the paramedics looking over Molly. She kept her eyes locked with mine while they poked and prodded, testing her pupillary responses and measuring her oxygen intake and output.
Hey, I picked up a few things being around Cole, all right?
“I can’t thank you enough, Tan.”
Archer’s voice caught my ear, and I turned my head to face him. “It’s really not a problem.”
“You tugged me out of there when I had no issues with killing myself trying to find Josie. You’re the one who told me she was probably already outside.”
I chuckled. “I’m also the one that stuffed your ass through that window so you could catch Raven.”
“I owe both of you a debt of gratitude,” Brooks said as he walked up.
He patted both of us on the back as he blinked back tears.
“Man, it’s okay. You would’ve done the same for us,” I said.
Archer nodded. “He’s right. Had it been one of our girls, you would’ve run in without a second thought.”
Brooks swallowed hard. “Just—thank you. Both of you.”
I patted his knee as he stood behind me. “If you really want to thank me, tell Cole to cut the shit and bandage me up.”
Cole groaned. “A fully grown man can’t handle an alcohol swab.”
“On a burn, man,” I hissed.
Brooks snorted. “Just let him do what he does best. That way, you risk not getting your arm infected, got it?”
My face fell flat. “So much for brotherhood.”
We all busted out laughing, trying to relieve the tension as we watched the black flames from our warehouse barrel into the sky. None of us caught those two asshats that had escaped, and now we had nowhere to go.
Our homes weren’t safe.
The clubhouse wasn’t safe.
And now, our warehouse was ruined beyond immediate repair.
“What do you think happens now?” I asked.
Archer shrugged. “No clue.”
Cole finally bandaged up my forearm. “Guess we’ll have to scatter to the wind for a while.”
I shook my head. “You know that won’t do shit. They’ll track all of us down so long as Chops is calling the shots.”
“Shh,” Brooks said hotly behind us, “not now. Not while other people are around.”
Summer came to sit beside me and I wrapped my arm around her. She laid her head against my shoulder, watching gallons upon gallons of water spew to the ground and toward the warehouse as the firefighters put out the steaming embers. They wrapped around the back of the warehouse, and I could only assume it was to retrace the steps the fire itself took.
And as we all gathered around Cole—men and women alike—we all stayed silent until the firefighters finally packed up and left.
Then, Brooks cleared his throat. “Church.”
I sighed. “I’m not leaving Summer. Sorry.”
Cole nodded. “Same, but for Molly.”
Brooks puffed his cheeks out with a sigh. “I meant ‘church’ for all of us.”
Archer furrowed his brow. “Have we done that before?”
I grinned. “With Summer’s eavesdropping skills, we might as well have.”
She pushed me playfully and everyone got a little giggle out of it. But we quickly settled back into “fix it” mode.
“So, anyone got any ideas on where we go from here?” Brooks asked.
Cole packed up his things and stood. “I still say we scatter to the wind a bit. Let the heat die down, literally and metaphorically.”
But Molly shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. If we scatter and they come after us, then it’s just one or two of us against all of them that track us down. That doesn’t seem safe.”
She rubbed her stomach to prove her point and my heart ached for her. My heart ached for Cheyenne, and the fact that she’d have to stay at Sloane’s a little while longer than just this weekend. It made me sick to think that Summer and myself wouldn’t be able to have our family back together under one roof until that sick bastard of a man was finally handled the way he deserved to be handled.
But then, Finn spoke up. “So, I know I don’t talk about my family much, but I might have a place we can all go.”
Archer blinked. “What’s that got to do with your family?”
Brooks chuckled. “I know.”
Finn shot him a look before he licked his lips. “My family has done well for themselves. They’ve pinched pennies when they needed to and splurged when they deserved it. Anyway, they have a house here in Santa Barbara that they’ve failed to sell time and time again because they always price the damn thing too high. You’d think flipping houses would teach them that shit, but no.”
Josie clicked her tongue. “Where’s the house?”
Finn sighed. “That’s the only issue. It’s not like it’s out in the middle of nowhere. It’s on the ocean, with its own private stretch of beach, so there’s less angles to defend. But it is in a gated community. So, if we are attacked—”
“There are civilians everywhere,” I murmured.
“That might keep them from attacking, though,” Summer said as she stood up. “I mean, they know we won’t call the police, but civilians definitely will.”
Cole nodded. “It might play in our favor.”
Raven coughed a bit to clear her throat. “And there’s no harm in going to see the place. Right?”
Finn smiled. “Right.”
Brooks shrugged his shoulders. “Since it was your idea, you lead the way, then.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Molly said.
We all paused before Summer took her hand. “I know what you’re thinking, and we can’t. Not until things cool down, anyway.”
Her eyes watered. “But it’s supposed to storm tonight. Everything will be ruined.”
Cole sat down beside her and rubbed her back. “The roof wasn’t damaged. It’ll protect what’s left of our things until we can come back and get them. But we have to get somewhere safe. We’re sitting ducks, and for all we know they’re currently trying to mount an attack while we’re down.”
I dipped down and wiped Molly’s tears off her cheeks. “I’ll come back with you. Me, and Tanner, and Cole. We’ll all come back in the morning once the smoke and everything is cleared out by the rain and we’ll pick through what’s here. Okay?”
She sighed so heavily her shoulders slumped. “Okay.”
After gathering everyone together and getting on the backs of bikes, we loaded up what we could in one of the spare cars and fell in line behind Finn. I chose to drive one of the cars with Molly in the passenger’s seat, since she was a bit too big to ride on the back of Cole’s bike with her growing stomach. And the further we got from the warehouse, the easier it became to breathe.
But once we wove our way through town and ended up in front of a hair of beautiful, sparkling wrought iron gates, my eyes widened.
“Wait, we’re going in here?” I asked.
“Jesus,” Molly said breathlessly, “these houses have to be at least a mil and a half or so.”
I gawked at the gorgeous houses as we cruised down the road. People peered out their windows to figure out what in the world was kicking up all of the noise they heard. Some of them waved at us while others grimaced as our disturbance. But, as we traveled easily down the road, I watched Finn turn into the roundabout driveway of the last house on the left.
And I was stunned at the beauty of this place.
“Good God,” I whispered.
Molly snickered. “How do you think the guys are feeling right now?”
And Tanner answered our question when he stepped out of his car and threw his hands in the air.
“What the fuck, Finn!?”
I barked with laughter as I slid out of the car. “Seriously, Finn. This house is gorgeous.”
Cole rushed to help Molly out of the car and Tanner came to get me. All of the engines to our vehicles went silent, and other than the sounds of the city in the background we could all hear the waves of the ocean in the backyard.
“Okay,” Finn said as he trotted up to us, “so my family’s got a bit of money. Big deal.”
Brooks gawked. “Big deal? Dude, this place could hold twice the size of our crew.”
Cole grinned. “You didn’t tell us your parents were rich as fuck.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “Because they aren’t. Yes, they have money, but they didn’t come from it. When my parents married, they didn’t even have the money to pay the courthouse for the marriage certificate. Mom had to put it on her almost-maxed-out credit card.”
“Wow,” I murmured.
Then, Finn dangled a set of keys from his finger. “Want to take a walk around inside?”
We were all eager to get inside and see the palace from the inside. But I wasn’t nearly prepared for the beauty of the place when we entered the foyer. I gasped at the beautiful white marble floors and the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The red accents of crystal in the chandelier itself lent a beautiful pop of color that matched the black-and-red artwork on the walls, and the white marble staircase in front of us matched the white wood banister that followed up either side.
But Brooks caught our attention. “Are your parents not alive, Finn?”
We all turned in the direction of his voice and I saw what he was looking at. I walked over to him and found him staring at a picture of what looked like Finn, but in his earlier years. Behind him were two proud parents, all smiles and dressed to the nines.
And below it was a plaque that simply said, “In Memorium.”
“Finn?” I asked as I turned around.
I found him standing behind us with tears in his eyes. “Yeah. They died a few years back.”
Tanner nodded. “Is that why you live in an apartment and not here?”
Finn shrugged. “I was always a rebellious kid. So much so that it landed me in juvie for my senior year of high school. I guess…”
Raven took his hand. “You figured you didn’t deserve any of this after they passed away.”
He swallowed down his tears and drew in a deep breath. “Anyway, it’s here for us to use if you’d like. I don’t have the heart to sell it off, since it’s kind of the last property they touched. But it doesn’t feel right just… living here. You know, when it’s only me.”
Brooks walked over and hugged him. “Thank you.”
Finn sighed deeply. “You’re welcome.”
I looked up at Tanner. “Wanna go find our room?”
Finn interjected. “Yes, that’s a great idea. Everyone, go find where you’d like to stay. Then, we can figure out what we want to stock the kitchen with.”
“Cole and I got the master suite!” Molly exclaimed as she wobbled quickly for the stairs.
I giggled. “Trust me, no one will fight you on that.”
Tanner threaded our fingers together as he held my hand. “A bathroom is important to us. If there’s any bathrooms with a walk-in shower, we’ll take that bedroom.”
Josie’s hand shot into the air. “I want the room with the jetted tub!”
Brooks chuckled. “I think Raven’s going to want a room with a view, yeah?”
Raven smiled. “You know exactly what I like, handsome.”
I gazed up into Tanner’s face. “Ready to go check out the bathrooms.”
He kissed my forehead. “Let’s do this.”
We walked up the massive stairs hand in hand, and it didn’t take us long to find a bedroom that had a walk-in shower in the bathroom. We claimed one of the rooms without a view as our own and quickly shed our clothes, wanting nothing more than to wash the soot and smoke off our bodies. It shocked me that the water was even on, much less how hot the water poured from the waterfall shower head.
Then, we walked into the stone shower together and held one another after we sat down.
“I think I need to call Sloane,” I said.
Tanner kissed my temple. “Of course. I’m sure you’re worried about Cheyenne.”
I shook my head. “Not about that.”
He paused. “Then, about what?”
I climbed into his lap and tucked my head beneath his chin. “You know damned good and well that she’s the only person that can really help us out right now.”
“Summer, she doesn’t even live in—”
“She’s got ties in the department. She’s traveled into town on numerous occasions to contract out her skills and help the Santa Cruz Police Department. We need her help, and you know it.”
“Then, who’s going to watch after Chey?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Her and I will figure that out. Right after I call her and tell her that we need her help.”
He held me close. “You know I love you, and I support you in everything you want to do, right?”
I reached up and kissed his jawline. “Even this?”
And when he looked down at me, he captured my lips with his own. “Even this.”
