Page 68 of Myla: The Hawthornes

“Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Leo said. “Either you killed him and the feds are after you or you didn’t and the Smiths are.”

“Smiths are easier to deal with,” Will said easily.

My phone started ringing in my pocket, and almost immediately after, Tommy’s did too.

Myla.

“I’m fine,” I answered.

“The police are here,” she replied quietly. “Not normal police. Fancy police in suits.”

“Shit.”

“They barely glanced at us when they came in. They went straight back.”

“Be there in a minute.” I shoved the phone in my pocket as Tommy spoke.

“Looks like the FBI has come callin’.” He looked at Will. “You got this?”

“Yep.”

“Heather and Lil will meet us downstairs,” Tommy told Leo. He looked at me. “Keep your mouth shut.”

I just nodded. He didn’t have to tell me, and we both knew it.

“I’ll head out with you,” Bas said. “I’m gonna get back to the house.”

“Everyone’s at the motel,” Gray replied as they headed toward the stairs. “Sent ’em when I started gettin’ callbacks and realized what we were dealin’ with.”

My mind raced as everyone but Titus, Will, and I disappeared down the stairs. I was going to have to face Aoife and the clusterfuck her life had become, and on top of that, I had no clue what the FBI was saying to Richie, but I doubted it was anything friendly. I needed to keep my shit together. I didn’t have a record. It wasn’t that I hadn’t skirted the law on occasion—or regularly if I was being honest about it—but I’d never been caught. Never even been fingerprinted.

Titus was the same, but he never realized that his brothers made sure that was the case. He worked the clean side of the garage and was assigned to guard duties when it was his turn, but we kept him clear of the shit that got dicey. He had a woman and kids at home, and while he wasn’t alone in that, Noel was different. She wasn’t made to hold down the fort if her man got sent down for any amount of time. None of us thought less of her for it, if anything, we felt protective. Any Ace in our chapter would’ve cut our arm off to keep her safe in the little bubble she and Titus had created. After what she’d lived through, she deserved it.

We took our time heading back inside, but the minute we stepped into the waiting area, I knew by the tension in the room that the FBI was still back with Richie.

“What’s going on?” Saoirse asked, jumping to her feet. “Richie started whispering to Aoife and she made me leave the room.”

“Sersh,” I mumbled, meeting Myla’s eyes. She was strung tight as a wire, sitting primly at the edge of her seat.

“No, Molly said those guys in suits are from the FBI,” Saoirse said shrilly. “What is going on?”

“Your brother-in-law is neck deep in bad shit,” Will said gruffly, making his way over to Molly.

“Richie?” Saoirse asked dubiously.

“He fucked up, Sersh,” I said, my voice low as I moved toward her. “You heard what he was sayin’ in there. We’ll talk later.”

“We’ll talk now,” she replied stubbornly.

“We’ll talk when there aren’t FBI agents wanderin’ the fuckin’ halls, all right?” I snapped.

“No way did Richie do something illegal,” she whispered, dropping back into her seat.“No freaking way.”

“Let’s hope that’s what Richie’s sayin’,” Titus muttered to me as he headed over to Noel.

“I’ll go back and see what’s goin’ on, okay?” I told Saoirse. “Stay here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she spat, crossing her arms over her chest.

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