Page 59 of Puck Blocked
I laugh but stop immediately when my stomach feels like it’s going to rip open. “Ow, don’t make me laugh.” I curse at him under my breath.
“Ignore him, Tanna. We’re driving back to Vancouver. Come on.” Luke guides me over to the open door.
“Where did all these cars and people come from?” I ask him.
“Courtesy of the Monroe family.” Luke shrugs, and I lower my voice.
“They’re all mobsters?”
“They all work for Gray’s dad,” Luke says with a smirk. In other words, yeah, they’re all mobsters.
“Okay.” I climb into the car and Luke slides in after me.
“There isn’t anything I won’t do to protect you. I’m not letting what happened in the cemetery ever happen again.” He picks up my hand, entwining our fingers as he rests our joined palms on his thigh.
“It’s not your fault,” I remind him for what feels like the thousandth time. All I get in response is a grunt.
As the car pulls away from the hospital, I lean my head on Luke’s shoulder. The drive back to Vancouver is a few hours, so I might as well get as comfortable as I can. I close my eyes and work through deciphering the puzzle that is my life at the moment. The only conclusion I can come up with is the one where I have to find my mother. I need to know what Sean knew, why he felt like he had to protect me from her… Or was it from someone else?
I have no idea where to start, but maybe if I go through Sean’s things, I might find something. The only problem is all of his things are at my father’s house.
I lift my head and look up at Luke. “Do you think you can get those boxes from my dad’s garage? The stuff you packed up from your college dorm? Sean’s stuff?”
“I can ask him. What are you looking for?”
“I need to find my mother,” I explain. “I don’t know what Sean uncovered when he tracked her down, and I know she doesn’t deserve my efforts to find her when she’s done nothing to find me. But I need to know. Something isn’t right.”
“Okay, I’ll look into it.” Luke kisses my forehead and pulls me back against his side.
“Thank you.”
I could go to my dad’s. He’d let me in. I’m sure of that. I just can’t face him yet. I’m not ready to address that bag of emotions. It’s something I need to try to work through with Dr. West first. Maybe then I can face it head-on.
I look down at my left hand, the gold band staring back at me. I’m married, and instead of basking in our marital bliss, Luke and I have been stuck in a hospital room all week.
“I’m going to buy you a better ring. With a huge diamond that aliens on Mars will be able to see and know that you’re my wife.” Luke brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses my ring finger.
“I don’t want a new ring. I like this one,” I tell him.
Chapter Thirty
The first thing I notice when we get home is the increased security Gray has arranged. He tried to convince me to bring Montana to his place. That we’d be better off staying together. I couldn’t do that, though. He has a little girl to consider and whatever danger is chasing Montana, well, I don’t want it touching Gray’s daughter. I need to be able to focus on my wife. I can’t have distractions.
I called the team and asked for a timeout, so to speak. And let’s just say that neither Coach nor Mr. Monroe was on board with that request. They have, however, agreed to let me bring Montana everywhere I go. It was either that, or I’d have to call my lawyer and find a way to pull out of my contract. I don’t want to, but I’m not leaving her alone. Ever again if I can help it.
“Thanks for everything,” I tell Gray, after I’ve tucked Montana into our bed, telling her I was going to get her a cup of hot chocolate and see our guests out.
“No need to thank me,” he says.
“You’ll call, yeah? If you guys find anything?” I ask. He and Vinny have been trying to track Andrew all week. We know it was him at the cemetery. The plates on the car he used were fakes, but the guys managed to track the car down to a town two hours north of Vancouver. Liliana also called in a favor with her father, who is the Don of one of the five families of New York.
We have two crime families looking for this fucker, and he’s still in the wind. I’m finding it hard to believe that he’s intelligent enough to keep hiding. He’ll fuck up eventually, and when he does, we’ll be ready to pounce. Until then, Montana is not leaving this house without a fucking convoy of protection around her.
“You’ll be the first to know,” Gray assures me.
I walk him out to the front door and then head into the kitchen. Where I turn the kettle on and pile a shit-ton of hot chocolate mix into a mug. Looking out the back window, I see three of the Monroe soldiers posted in the yard.
What would I do right now if I didn’t have the connections I do? Would I run? Hire personal security?
