Page 45 of April 5

"Look at the pictures." Cora sat down across from her.

She glanced down. There was an older man with his arm around a blonde-haired woman in a pantsuit.

"Who are they?" she asked.

"My parents. Your grandparents." Cora pointed. "Your grandpa was eighty years old in that picture. Your grandma was sixty. But at one time, she was eighteen years old, and he was thirty two, fighting against societies weirdness about age-gap relationships, and they made it work."

A snort of laughter came out of her. That was the last thing she'd expected to hear.

Despite her vow that she didn't need an aunt in her life or need any information about the people who were blood-related to her, she studied the picture more closely. The two obviously loved each other. You could tell by the way they stood. He held her close. She leaned into him. Both of them had smiles on their faces.

"Go ahead and scroll through the pictures. I made a file of pictures I thought Ruger would like to see when I set out to find him, but I've never had a chance to show him." Cora sighed. "He always seems disinterested when I talk about my—our parents."

"Yeah, well, can't blame him. Where have they been all these years?" She glanced at her aunt. "Or are they too embarrassed to have a murderer in the family?"

She pushed the phone across the table. This was exactly why she wanted to come to Seaglass Cove. She wanted to see the person who called herself a blood relative and then forget about the relationship.

If she and her dad weren't good enough to include in their lives, then she wanted nothing to do with them, including her aunt. For her, she had a family. Mama Sue was gone now, but she claimed the Havlin bikers. None of them would ever turn their back on her because her dad served time in prison.

"That was a bitchy thing to say." Cora stood and pocketed her phone. "You're big on assuming things about people you don't even know. You're a lot like your dad. Why won't you give me a chance to get to know you?"

She blew out her breath. "Why should I?"

"Because I'm your aunt."

Katrina looked out the window and then back at Cora. "I wasn't raised like you."

"No, but from what I understand, you love the same club that my ol' man loves, and that means we should get along fine, don't you think?" Cora sat back down and motioned for Katrina to sit. "Stop being sus. I'll tell you the truth."

"Finally." Katrina sat back in the chair. "I'm tired of talking."

"My parents died almost two years ago in a car accident." Cora lifted her chin. "There was a year that I didn't have any family. No friends, no relatives, no one. Then, I met Wire."

"But you knew you had a brother," said Katrina.

Cora nodded. "I'm not making excuses for my parents. I don't agree with them letting Ruger walk away from the family and not trying to find him. But as soon as I turned eighteen, I started searching for him. Don't blame me for not being in your life. I was a child at the same time you were a child."

Shit.

Double shit.

Katrina picked up her coffee, now cold, and took a drink. Cora was younger than her by a couple of years. Of course, she couldn't have done anything to find her lost brother. Having lost Mama Sue, she could also understand the feeling of being all alone.

"Can I see the pictures on your phone again?" she asked.

Cora exhaled in relief and handed over her cell. "Does this mean you're not going to push me away?"

Katrina couldn't help but laugh at the stupid grin on Cora's face. The differences between them were right there for anyone to see. Cora was soft and sweet. Katrina was hard and temperamental.

Two blood relatives raised in two completely different lifestyles.

But they had two things in common. Katrina's dad and they both loved a Havlin Motorcycle Club member.

Chapter Twenty

DIO TOSSED A BAG ON the table. Jagger unzipped the duffle and inspected the bundles of cash.

"Any problem?" he asked.

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