Page 86 of Love Finds Home

“The Russian Bratva.” Joker smiles. “Bet you didn’t see that one coming.”

“Closky was turned?”

“Not in the way you think. He was working for the Pavlov family, and the Allen family was a target. He joined the Army and befriended Daniel with the goal of taking him out as retribution or some shit for ‘The Family’and he failed.”

“Fuck.”

“So, he stayed his bestie and worked with the daughter of the head of the family and they tried to ruin his life. Until he figuredout that part of it and turned the tables. Guy’s an evil fucking genius when it comes to taking other people down.”

“I feel like such an idiot,” I say aloud.

“That’s because you are.” He chuckles. “But seriously, that’s why you’ve been keeping your distance from him? Guilt?”

“I had so much anger and guilt built up inside, I tried to shut down. You know this.”

“When Sarge told me you were here, I knew I was coming this way as soon as I was out. I knew you weren’t good, but I didn’t realize you were holding onto all of that. You were just an asshole. I thought you were grumpy.”

I laugh, the relief and emotions bubbling out as much as I want to keep them in. Now that Elle has found a way to open the gates, the flood of all of it won’t stop.

“I am an asshole.”

“Of course you are,” he laughs with me. “We all are, aren’t we? But you were a smartass asshole when I met you. Cocky, full of yourself, Captain Cross. When I got here, you were just a permanently PMS-ing son of a bitch with a hair trigger, looking for a fight or an argument.”

Looking back, I know he’s telling the truth. I know I wasn’t in a good place. I just didn’t realize how bad that place was until recently.

“She’s doing good things for you,” he tells me earnestly. “She’s done more in three months than any of us have been able to do in years. It’s good to see you smile again.”

“She sees things no one else does. And she calls me on my bullshit. That’s for sure.”

“She has since day one,” he laughs. “I think you need someone like that in your life. Someone that will fight with you and love you simultaneously.”

“She’s good at that,” I chuckle.

“And you know I’m going to tell Danny-boy about this and he’s going to be up your ass. He misses you. The you he knew.”

“I don’t know if he will ever fully come back, but I’d like to talk to him again as the man I am now.”

“He’d like that.”

We sit in silence, both of us watching the dark building, when I get a notification on my phone.

“Huh. Tiny just texted. Said he got a notification there’s a power outage at the apartment. Wanted to know if I was with Elle.”

“And Elle is with Ginny?” Joker asks, paying full attention to me.

“Yeah. They were hanging out and eating pizza.”

“We need to go.”

He’s halfway out of my truck when I get a second notification. The alarm at the shop. “They went to the shop. It’s all good,” I tell him, shaking my phone at him.

He stops, staring at the screen, looking up to make eye contact with me before jumping back in the truck and closing the door. “We need to go. Now.”

“What?” I ask, turning the screen to face me. It’s just the camera feed of the door.

“Go back on the feed,” he says before looking around frantically and hopping back out of the truck, running around to my side, and opening my door.

I’m rewinding the footage and freeze when I see it. Elle and Ginny running up the stairs to the loft and flinging the door open before disappearing inside. And right behind them is a figure silently running up the stairs behind them. My breath freezes as I pray the door caught, but it’s for nothing. They reach out and grab the handle, pulling the door wide open and following the girls inside.

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