Page 73 of Bleeding Blackheart

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Gunner.”

“Why not?”

Calling my father sounds logical, but it’s too easy. It’s not a part of his game. “My father doesn’t want us to callhim. If he did, he would’ve called us when we showed up at the house yesterday. If we call, he’ll just make things harder on us. We need to find him ourselves. Or find his next clue.”

Gunner sighs and rotates his wrists back and forth while he grips the wheel. “So he’s not gonna make this easy.”

“Nothing with Mason is easy. Everything with him is a challenge. A taxing, grueling war until you feel like you have nothing left.”

Gunner pauses and rolls up the windows. “Are you saying you don’t think he’ll be there?”

I want to tell Gunner yes, of course my father will be there, because I know that’ll make him happy. But my gut tells me it’s not true. “I don’t think he’ll be there. I think something will be there, but not him. I don’t know. I feel like things are just getting started.”

My cowboy loosens his grip on the wheel. “We’ll find him. It might not be today. Might not be tomorrow. But we will. He can’t run forever. He’ll get tired, and if I need to get Colt and Dallas involved, I know they’ll drop everything to help us.”

The fact that Gunner has friends that are so loyal to him makes me happier than I can express. It makes me think of Charlotte and how she would’ve done anything for me.

But I lost Charlotte by putting her in harm’s way. I won’t do the same to Gunner’s friends. “Let’s see if we can do this without them. I’d hate for anyone to get hurt because of me.”

Gunner pulls my hand in his lap, lacing his fingers through mine. “They wouldn’t get hurt because of you. It would be because of me. You are a part of me now, Montana. And my boys would die for you just like I would.”

When we’re an hour away from the casino, we stop at a little diner off the road for a late lunch. Gunner keeps his hand on mine when we go inside, and when we’re seated, he sits on the same side of the booth as me.

I rest my head on his shoulder, peering at his menu. “Can I ask you something personal?”

Gunner kisses my head while he flips through the laminated, leather-bound pages. “Anything, baby.”

I open my mouth, but my question gets lodged in the back of my throat like a stuck piece of food. I shouldn’t ask him this. It’s rude. Maybe not rude, but it’s very personal. And I don’t want him to think I’m prying. There’s also probably a better time to ask him than right now.

He reaches under the table, squeezing my knee through my black skinny jeans. “Are you going to ask me today or tomorrow, little fox?”

I squeeze my eyes shut and blurt it out in a hushed voice. “Why did you get a vasectomy?”

Gunner’s menu falls out of his hands, and he looks down at me. “I’m sorry?”

My neck heats, and I lift my head off of him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Gunner pops my leg under the table. “Quit saying sorry all the fucking time. I just didn’t know if I heard you correctly. I, uh—I got one shortly after Margaret died.”

I remember the story Gunner told me about his baby, and my heart breaks again. “I’m so—I understand. It’s okay to not want kids.”

He picks his menu back up. “I never said I didn’t want kids.”

I wait for him to explain, but when he doesn’t, I pick up my own menu and sit in our comfortable silence.

Once Gunner gets back on the road, I feel myself starting to drift. I wanted to be awake when we got to Vegas, butsome rest would probably do me good. We can kill my father, and then I can do normal things again like get a cell phone and a driver’s license.

My eyelids start to close on their own, and by the time I open them, we’re pulling up to the casino. We get out quickly, leaving our car somewhere out of the way. It’s not comfortable traveling with so much cash, but this is hopefully only temporary.

Gunner keeps his hand on my low back, holding me close to him. He’s not supposed to bring any weapons in here, but he refused to come in empty-handed, so he’s wearing one of his guns under his denim jacket.

He slides his hand around me, casually wrapping it around my waist when we get in near a crowd of people. “Have you ever been here before?”

I start to get anxious from the loud chatter and noises from the equipment. “My father brought me here once. I was his date for the grand opening.”

It was ten years ago. Not too long after I turned eighteen. “We should try and go to his office.”

Gunner squeezes my hip. “Are you okay with the fact that you might see him in a minute?”

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