Page 82 of Kane

“Thank you, guys, for including me in your Christmas dinner, but I need to get home.” He kept his eyes on Mandy as he tilted his head toward the door. “Will you walk me out, babe?”

She raised her eyebrows but did as he asked. “Everything okay?”

He shook his head. “Something’s wrong. I need to find out what. But after this, I’m out.” Grabbing his jacket from the hook on the wall near the front door, he pulled a small box from an inside pocket. “Hold on to this. You can open it when I come back to you tonight.”

Her face lit up, then her lower lip shot out as she shook the box gently. “No. You can’t make me wait. You’re just mean.”

Leaning forward, he took a quick bite of her bottom lip. “As if I could ever tell you no. Fine, open it, but then I really do have to go.”

Grinning widely, she ripped off the paper and peered inside the box. A breath escaped her as she pulled out the delicate silver chain. Attached were two entwined hearts. One was silver, engraved with the wordsI Love You; the other was white gold, marked with the wordForever.“I love it.” Her voice cracked a little at the end. “Will you put it on me?” She lifted her hair and presented him with the back of her neck.

His big fingers were clumsy handling the tiny clasp, but after two or three tries, he managed to get it fastened. “All done.” He kissed her neck. “Tonight, you can wear it for me and nothing else.”

When she turned back toward him, her eyes already sparked with heat. “You can count on it.”

Images of Mandy waiting for him in her bed kept him warm on the icy drive back to the clubhouse. It also kept him from speculating much about whatever crisis had inspired the text calling him home.

It never even occurred to him the plaintive wail of sirens could be headed to the same destination he was. At least, he didn’t realize it, until he turned the corner onto the clubhouse street and an array of red and blue flashing lights nearly blinded him.

At least six police cars lit up the night from their haphazard parking spots around the house. Two ambulances were on the lawn, backed up to the walkway outside the front door.

Mama V knelt in the grass, sobbing, her face tilted up to the sky. His father, shell-shocked, sat cross-legged on the ground beside her. His expression remained blank, even as Kane approached. But when his mom caught sight of him, she let out a keening cry and wrapped her arms around his legs.

He squatted to her eye level. “What’s happening? Mama, what’s going on?”

“My baby. My baby,” she cried. It barely even sounded like his mom, her voice broken and raspy.

He wasn’t getting any answers here. Pulling out of her grip, he moved toward the open front door to the house. He barely made it two steps before a gurney blocked his path. Two EMTs were rushing someone out of the house. He recognized Cue’s bald head instantly. One of the medics called out his vitals.

All at once, his eyes took in the broken windows. The bullet holes scattered across the front of the house. The blood on his mother’s clothes.

The EMTs quickly rolled the gurney around him, spiriting Cue Ball to the ambulance and revealing a second crew not far behind. The team in the back moved slower. A sheet covered the body on their gurney.

“Hey,” he called out. “Who is that?” An officer appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. “Let mego. I need to see who it is.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” the cop said firmly. “You’re going to need to step back and let the men work.”

“You don’t understand.” Panic rose. “This is my family.” The second gurney rolled past. “You have to tell me. Who—” He swallowed his next words as the wheels bounced off the sidewalk into the grass, and a man’s hand slid out from beneath the white sheet speckled with blood.

Twenty-four hours later, the scorpion drawing was still there.

He sunk to the ground, only a few feet away from the spot where his mother still wept.

His brother was dead. And he wouldn’t rest until somebody fucking paid for it.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

Amanda

Amanda ran her fingers along the outline of one of the hearts on her pendant. Wearing the necklace, she couldn’t tell whether it was the one engravedI Love YouorForever. It didn’t matter. Either one alone was enough to make her heart fill to bursting.

She didn’t bother to hide the wide grin on her face when she returned to the table from walking Kane out. Knowing the entire family was watching, she plucked the spoon out of Mike’s bowl and stuffed a bite of butter pecan ice cream in her mouth. Bliss.

“What the hell, woman?” Her brother tried to swipe the spoon back. “Get your own.”

“Oh, give her a break, hon.” Cindy shot her a wink. “She’s got a reason to celebrate.”

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