Page 88 of Ordinary Girl

Am I? I said the words, words I’d never said out loud, since Mama’s death. But,amI happy? Really? Or am I just convincing myself I am because there’s nothing else out there?

He comes over to me, and I take a step back, and he stops in his tracks. “I would never hurt you, Ana.”

I believe him. He won’t hurt me. He won’t. “I know.”

“This is a lot for you to take in, I understand that. I do. But you’re my daughter, and I love you, so much.”

“And yet, it took you this long to come back.” I shake my head and take another step away from him. “It’s too late. I can’t do this, I don’twantto do this.”

“You don’t want to see Lars and Lea?”

I shake my head again, I’m confused, and still thrown by his sudden change in demeanor. Which one of these men is real? The one with the cold, dark eyes, or the one who’s standing here pleading with me to forgive him?

“Just go. Please.”

He drops his head, takes a breath, his shoulders tensing again. And when he looks up his expression is full of remorse. “Just think about everything I’ve told you, Ana. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

I don’t have to promise him anything, I won’t do that. So I stay silent, and he sighs, but he does as I ask. He leaves. He closes the front door behind him and I watch as he heads down the path, back to his car. I watch as he says something to the man sitting in the driver’s seat: watch as they drive away. And then I walk around the entire house, checking every door and window, making sure they’re all secure because, while I still believe my father wouldn’t hurt me, I don’t trust him. I never will. He’s come back for me, okay, I get that. But he’s also come back for revenge. He wants to see those who killed Mama brought to akind of justice that terrifies me, because it’s the same kind of justice the Vikings want. The same kind of justiceIwant. There’s trouble brewing, I can feel it. A storm is coming. A bloodbath is on the way. And I’m caught in the middle of it all…

Thirty-Five

Joel

“Do we all understand what’s happening?” Skip lights up another cigarette and leans back in his chair. “We go on Thursday. Kai, Wade, Kasper, your men will deal with the Hawks. Hit them the same way they hit us, I’m not overthinking this shit, we don’t have the time. They’re planning something, we know that much, but we don’t know what or when so we need to act.” He takes a drag on his cigarette before dropping his head. “Me and Joel, we’ll take out Renard and his henchman. We know he’s sent out a call for soldiers, and if those men are coming from the Balke family we sure as shit don’t have time to waste. If they get here before we’ve made a move I can’t guarantee we can pull this off alone. But, just to be on the safe side, I’ve put a call out myself, so we have help on standby. I’ve opened up a handful of safe houses in the surrounding area, and by tomorrow morning we’ll have men of our own lying in wait in case we need them.” He takes another drag on his cigarette. “Weapons are all sorted?”

“Ollie’s got us covered,” Wade says. “Some of his brothers are driving down here tomorrow, me and Kai’ll meet them at the warehouse and bring the weapons back here.”

“We owe them one,” Skip says, glancing behind him, he’s still distracted. And that worries me. This feels like a knee-jerk reaction, but I get that we need to act fast. Emil Renard needs to be out of the picture, more so than the Blackhawks in my opinion. He needs to be out of Ana’s life. “Okay. Are we done here?”

Everyone gets up, leaves, except me. “You sure about this, Skip?”

“Don’t question me, Joel. You know better than that.” Skip’s eyes meet mine, and the frustration – impatience, almost – is evident in his. “You seeing Ana later?” he asks, lighting up another cigarette.

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Just keep an eye on her. Make sure she’s okay.”

“And once this is done, you’re really going?”

“I’m out of here. Yeah. You ready to take over?”

“We haven’t even told the rest of them that you’re leaving. The elders know, but shouldn’t we make sure everyone else is on board?”

“Let’s get this shit out of the way first.” He stubs his cigarette out on the underside of the table. “Go on, get out of here.”

I turn to leave. There’s not much else I can do, Skip’s made his mind up, my reservations don’t count.

“Joel?”

I stop. Turn back around. “Yeah?”

“How did the store opening go?”

“Good. It went good.”

He nods, and I take that as my cue to leave. I need a drink, time to get my head around everything. Did I really ask Ana to move in with me earlier? Jesus, my head really is fucked… and then I see her, standing by the bar talking to Kasper. Man, she’s beautiful, I mean, in my eyes she’s fucking stunning even though she’s only wearing jeans and an oversized white shirt, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, her face devoid of makeup. And when she turns her head and sees me, she smiles the kind of smile no woman has ever thrown my way. And I feel everything.

“Hey.” She leans back against the bar. Kasper’s left us to it, and I slide an arm around her waist and kiss her slowly. I just want to feel her. Taste her.

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