Page 5 of In Too Deep

She leans against the bedroom doorframe, and I notice she looks relaxed, probably the red wine she’s been drinking. I take a moment to examine her. She is quite beautiful and breathtaking. I can understand why Keith fell so deeply in love with her. Shit, any man would be out of his mind not to. Her smile could light up a room, and for some reason, I find myself making a promise to see that she smiles more often.

“Yeah, he had a big day. I wanted to keep him home, but he insisted on going to school, and they had an excursion to the zoo. He’s beat.”

Nodding, I turn to look down at his relaxed facial expression as he sleeps. Standing with the book in hand, I place it back into the kid-size bookshelf covered with car stickers, and then I take one last look at Harry before leaving the bedroom.

Theresa tiptoes over to the bed and kisses him on his forehead before she tucks the sheets up under his chin. “I love you, Harry.” She turns on the lamp beside his bed, walks out of the room, and switches the light off before she closes the door.

We make our way down the stairs and into her living room once again. Two full wine glasses sit on the coffee table, so I take a seat on the couch and grab one glass, taking a mouthful.

Photographs of Keith surround me, and my eyes land on one to the left that is in a silver frame. It’s a photo of Keith and Theresa on their wedding day. Wanting a closer look, I pick it up and bring it to my eyes.

As Keith explained it, he proposed to Theresa straight out of college, and they married young. He couldn’t wait to start a family. When Harry was born, Keith wanted another baby right away. However, Theresa wanted to wait because her career was taking off, and she didn’t want to lose the opportunity. She wasone of the youngest police officers to pass the exam—something that Keith was very proud of. Placing the photograph back down on the table, I take another sip of the wine as Theresa sits beside me, grabbing her glass. She faces me, so I do the same, giving her my attention.

She brings the glass to her lips, takes a sip, and says, “What I’m about to ask of you, Cole, is hard for me to do. But I wouldn’t ask this if I didn’t think you were the right person.”

Her words interest me, so I put my glass down and give her my full attention.

“Whatever you need from me, Theresa, my answer is yes...”

She smiles, tilting her head.

“You might not say that when you hear what I want to ask.”

I shrug. “Doesn’t make a difference to me. You know I’m always here.”

She nods, then sits up against the armrest of the chair.

“What are your plans at the moment? Are you taking another mission?”

For some reason, I get the impression that she’s trying to lighten the mood before she tells me exactly what she wants.

Shaking my head, I explain to her how the military thought it best to take some time off, and I decided to take their advice. I tell her how I am working on my bike and just taking a break.

“But if I know you well, Cole, and how I knew Keith, you need the military. Life without it is lonely.”

My eyes look around the room, and I think about her words. She’s right. I do need it, but being here for her and Harry is something I need more.

I want to tell her that, but I don’t want her to think that I’m giving up my needs for hers. I promised Keith I’d look after them, and I’m going to follow through on it.

“You’re right. The military is my life, and yes, it can get quite lonely, but I have friends here that I’m catching up with. I’veeven gotten my Harley out of the garage and started working on it again. I hope I can take a ride now and then with my boys who have left the military too.”

Her eyebrows raise. “You have? You’re going to ride again? I remember how you and Keith used to take those rides with Cayden, Luke, and Bryce. The expression on your faces when you returned was pure happiness,” she says, smiling and taking another sip of her wine.

I smile with her, remembering those days. I will treasure them forever. Luke, Cayden, and Bryce are three of my closest friends who were either discharged or served their time in the military and got a job elsewhere, but Keith and I continued on.

Even when we had a break and would come home, we would still catch up and take rides around Toronto with our motorcycles. Sometimes, we would go away for weekends camping, fishing, and enjoying the open road. Something I am going to miss sharing with him.

Being home after serving was a hard task. Keith at least had his wife and baby at home. However, I had no wife or kid to come home to. My mom and dad are still alive and live four hours away. I visit now and then, but my life is here in Toronto.

Prior to my life in the military, I owned a mechanic shop with Cayden. He and I went to college together. We had the same interest in cars, and Cayden grew up working at his father’s garage. Since I knew a lot about them, we saved some money and opened our own business.

We met Luke and Bryce on our second mission, and they ended up in my squad, where they served under me. Once I learned where they were from and found out they only lived fifteen minutes away, we made sure we kept in touch. We were close, and if they weren’t at my house, they were at the garage visiting and helping work on some cars.

My thoughts return to the present when Theresa says, “I’m working on a case at the moment.”

My ears pick up. She takes a sip of her wine and continues, “The Royal Bastards MC.”

My eyes widen. The RBMC is a notorious motorcycle club known for a lot of bad shit that goes on here in Toronto. I’ve heard stories about murders that have happened due to the RBMC, but the RCMP has never had enough evidence to bring them down. Last I heard, they were involved in trafficking women, and the RCMP was close to bringing the president of the MC down, but at the last minute, one of the main witnesses was killed while they were under witness protection.

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