Page 116 of Ten Hammers

And yet she’s not.

Shit.

I can tell Mason feels rotten, but that doesn’t absolve him in my eyes. He should feel rotten. I don’t think I’ve ever been so pissed at one of my brothers. Ever.

“Call Tweedledummer, and call Leo, and tell them to get their asses back here. Now.”

I pull out my phone and text Win.

I need to know you’re okay, Darlin’.

I wait for a few seconds but the text doesn’t switch to read.

Which is good if she’s driving, I guess, but damn it all to hell! What if she just took off?

The vindictive little voice inside me whispers that if she did, at least she made off with Mason’s precious Jag. I hope she keys it from hood to bumper.

Too bad that’s not Win’s style.

I am flooded with relief when my phone pings with a response from her.

I’m okay, Cruzie. I’ll be there soon.

My worry lessens, but my anger does not.

I storm through the house banging on doors, telling everyone to get their asses down to the living room. NOW. When we’re all gathered–minus Max and Leo, who are still a couple of minutes out–Jack asks, “What’s up with the theatrics, Cruz?”

He’s just being a little pissant because normally he’s the one that bosses us all around and calls the family meetings.

I glance at Mace and give his dumb ass the tiniest sliver of mercy.

“Let’s wait for Max and Leo,” I say.

He has an accomplice, after all, and Max needs to get his share of the blame. Besides, it kills two birds with one stone if we kick their asses at the same time.

We don’t have to wait long. From the look on Max’s face, I can tell that when Mason texted, and told him to come home, he filled him in on what had gone down.

“What the fuck is happening?” Leo asks. “Where’s our girl?”

Ah, so Max has not filled him in.

“She’s on her way,” I say.

Jack glances at me before turning to Mason. “On her way back from where? You two came back from your date and she left to go…?”

“She didn’t come back with me.” Mason’s looking at his hands.

“Why the fuck not?”

“Apparently there’s a spin-off of 1 Girl, 10 Hammers in the works,” I say flatly, since neither punkass Max nor Mason seem to be racing to confess. “Winnie found out about it somehow and is understandably upset. It’s called Who Wants To Marry A Hammer Brother?”

Jack looks perplexed. “Is there another set of Hammer brothers I don’t know about?”

My eyes flit from one of my brothers to the next. They all appear as clueless as Jack does.

“I mean,” Jack goes on. “None of us knew about this, right?” He turns to Mason. “You were with her when she found out? Did you tell her none of us knew shit about this?”

Mason doesn’t say anything for a minute, but finally Max speaks up. Maybe the hole I was boring into his forehead with my glare did the trick.

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