Page 12 of Exile and Embrace

Three years without touching a woman, and she is the first one I happen to be around. The woman that I’ve thought about every night in my bunk for the last three years. The one woman I should stay away from.

I don’t know what happened between her and my brother, but knowing Declan, it must have been bad.

No wonder she doesn’t want anything to do with me either. She’s nice to me, but I doubt that she is ever going to be my friend.

I open the passenger door before taking the envelope and wallet out of my back pocket. I slide into the leather seat and shut the door. “Thank you for picking me up,”

“I have my reasons for doing it.” Ava’s tone is hollow as she stares straight ahead. Her knuckles are white as she grips the wheel. “I’ve got a suitcase in the trunk for you. Picked up everything you said you needed in that message.”

“How much do I owe you?” I look at the side mirror as we pull away from the prison. As we go, the massive stone building fades into the horizon.

“Don’t worry about it. You can pay me back by doing the first grocery run.”

I nod, glancing out the window as we get onto the highway. “We have to make a stop for weapons first. I don’t want to be out there and not have any connections to get weapons. I still have a few people who don’t hate me here.”

Ava keeps her eyes on the road, the corner of her mouth tipping upward as she taps a finger on the wheel. “Lift the backseat.”

I raise an eyebrow but do as she says, taking off the seatbelt and turning in my seat to slide my fingers along the bottom edge of the backseat until I find a small button. As soon as it’s pressed, a latch releases, and the seat lifts slightly. I push it the rest of the way up, my eyes widening at the small arsenal in the hidden compartment.

“What is all this?”

Ava smirks. “Weapons. You said you wanted some. I happen to have some.”

I hate to admit it, but I’m impressed.

The Ava I know is a quiet woman. She stays out of trouble and never carries a weapon. Yet, here she is, several guns in a hidden compartment of her car and a variety of knives stashed among them.

“How did you manage to get those?” I ask, wondering if there is a serial number still etched onto any of them.

“I have connections.” She moves into the fast lane and hits the accelerator. “Well, my brother-in-law has some connections, and he was willing to hook me up.”

“Does he know you’re with me?”

“No. I had him fix up my car a little while ago. I thought that I needed some protection, and he was more than willing to oblige.”

My shoulders sag a little. One less thing to worry about. No one can know where I’m headed.

But another question pops up.

“Do you know how to shoot?” I lower the seat back into place. The latch locks, and the arsenal disappears. I turn to sit back properly and buckle up again.

“Yeah. Brother-in-law taught me that too.”

Who is this brother-in-law of hers?

I want to ask so bad, but it’s clear she’s being intentionally vague, so I’ll save it for another time.

For now all I can do is assume she’s connected to one of the low-level gangs or my father would’ve mentioned her in recent years.

Declan’s ex having cartel ties is not something my father would ever ignore.

“You know, this is the last chance for you to back out of our deal,” I say as we leave Nashville in the rearview mirror. “I won’t blame you for not wanting to do it. The job I have to get done is dangerous, and while I’ll try my best to keep you safe, I can’t promise that I’ll be able to.”

There is a part of me that hopes she does back out of the deal. The last thing I want to do is play house with my brother’s ex.

I might not have known her well when she was with Declan, but I saw her often enough.

Often enough to know that she was his, and he was willing to do whatever it took to make sure another man didn’t even look at her. He once killed one of our guys for mentioning that Ava was hot.

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