Page 35 of Shiner's Light

“You find anything, I wanna know,” Shiner remarks.

“You’ll know,” Keys confirms. “I’m also looking deeper into both Tessa and Rubi. The whole situation with them isn’t sitting well in my gut, and I intend to figure that shit out.”

“If those bitches are behind this, I want them accounted for it,” Shiner grinds out.

“What about the prospects?” I whisper, keeping my voice low enough for only him and Keys to hear me. “Storm was going to talk to Blow about it, but you might want to look at them too.”

“Don’t worry, Olly,” Keys grumbles, his eyes softening as he turns that hard gaze of his toward me. “If it was one of them, I’ll find out, and we’ll deal with them. No one fucks with us and gets away with it.”

“Come on, Olive, let’s go see Milo,” Shiner says, kissing the side of my head and wrapping his arms firmly around me, keeping me at his side. Not once since he got back with Milo has he let me go, and I suppose he won’t anytime soon.

However, soon enough, he’ll have no choice because there’s no way I’m going to let him set himself up as bait.

* * *

“Daddy, I’m scared,” Milo’s voice trembles.

He’d finally woken up just as we stepped into his room. Since then, he’s clung to both Shiner and me. Mostly to his dad, though I can only imagine what his little mind must have been thinking while going through the nightmare he endured.

He’s still too little to understand the horrors of it. I mean, his own mother left him there with a bomb strapped to his little body.

“I know, kiddo, but you’re safe now, and I’m not gonna let anything else happen to you,” Shiner murmurs gently, curling Milo closer to him. “We’re going to hang right here, watch a movie, and I’m ordering you pizza.”

Milo’s head pops up, and his eyes are wide. “Peppies on it and no veggies?”

“You want pepperoni? I thought you would want only cheese.” Shiner grins.

“I want peppies.” Milo pauses, puts a finger to his chin, and nods. “With extra cwhezz.”

“No pizza is a pizza without extra cheese, kiddo.”

A grin pulls at my lips, and I soak up every second I can of the sweetness with this little boy. Seeing the way Shiner is with Milo and how much this little boy looks up to his dad. To him, Shiner is a superhero.

This right here is why I will do what I’m going to do. Milo shouldn’t be without his dad. They have each other, and that’s what matters.

CHAPTER TWENTY

SHINER

Something’s up with Olive. You can see it in her eyes. The way her mind is spinning. Whatever it is she’s planning, I’m gonna have to keep a close eye on her ‘cause she’s not going to tell me. I know if I ask, she’ll lie.

Sitting with my brothers in church, I come to terms with this. On the way in here, I told the two prospects to watch out for her. I didn’t want her to sneak out of the clubhouse again. Not that she could get away without being caught again. She could, but I’m not about to let that happen. Keys put a camera on that section where the fence is cut.

He had thought we might be able to find out who snipped the fence and catch them.

For now, though, we’re going to deal with the other bullshit that needs to come first.

“I went through all of the security footage and didn’t find anyone who shouldn’t have been near a brother’s room. None of the fallen harlots were in the hallway unless they were with a brother. Footage showed prospects where they were supposed to be,” Keys reports. “I figured it was too good to be true with all the bullshit landing in our lap, so I decided to do some more checking and found a glitch in my system.” Normally Keys is pretty laid back, however, someone fucking with his system isn’t something anyone should do. Not unless they want to be gutted. The bastard is six foot three and built like he plays defensive tackle for the Titans.

“Did you get the glitch fixed?” Blow demands.

“Damn right, I did. Fuckers thought they were smart enough to try and sabotage my toys, but I always have the system running two different ways. The first is the one I check on a daily basis. The second is a just-in-case scenario as this one. Found the culprit, and you ain’t gonna believe who it is,” Key sneers. “Hell, I couldn’t believe it myself.”

“You gonna tell us any day now?” I grumble, sitting on the edge of my seat, ready to jump into action at any given moment.

“First off, I’m saying this right now, the fucker is a dead man walking already. He’s been dead to us all for years now. Second, he’s been in prison up until three months ago,” Keys states, looking damn near uncomfortable. He takes a breath and finishes giving the name of the man in question. “Harpoon.”

My gut clenches tight, and dread seeps in my veins. Several of my brothers speak up in outrage.

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