Page 47 of Revenge

“Not talkin’ about him. Worse. Word on the street is Governor Loren’s daughter was seen hitting up a club with your boy over there.” He tilts his head in Axel’s direction. “If I found this out, you know damn well they’ll be gunning for all three of your asses.”

“It’s nothing I can’t manage,” I assure my brother and then turn my attention to Carl. “You let me worry about all that.”

“How? By doing somethin’ stupid and gettin’ caught? This isn’t gonna just go away, man. You get locked up again I won’t be in there to have your back. They’d eat white boys like your brothers for breakfast and you fucking know it.” Carl crosses his arms over his chest and eyes me like some dumb motherfucker who was born yesterday. He’s beginning to piss me off.

“I said I’ll handle it.” My fist comes down on the table hard enough to get my point across, but not hard enough to draw Charlee’s attention.

He puts his hands up in surrender before dropping them back to his sides. “Okay, I’ll let it go.” He points a finger in my face. “But you get any blowback, I was never fuckin’ involved.”

“Fair enough.”

“Besides, looks to me like you might have your hands full of other things right now anyhow.” He lights a cigarette and leans back in his chair as his lips curl into a wide grin.

“Leave it alone, brother.”

He shakes his head, not affected in the least by my anger. Typical Carl. Which is good because it makes what I have to ask him next that much easier.

“I need another favor.”

“Oh, really?”

“We’re going hunting and I don’t want to leave her here alone. After what happened I have a bad feeling.”

“Sure, I can babysit. I’m great at watching. The kiddies love me.” He winks. There’s no mistaking what he’s getting at and I squash that shit down fast.

“You lay so much as a finger on her, I’ll cut it off and make you choke on it.”

He doesn’t say another word and I don’t wait for him to. He knows better. Conversation over, I go back to watching Charlee. There’s a light on her face that wasn’t there before, and a slight pang of guilt hits me. She looks so happy and carefree as she and Axel fix lunch, making me feel like a bastard. It’s my fault she’s in the middle of this in the first place. Hopefully she’ll forgive me for leaving her behind.

Her soft laughter fills the air, hitting me right in the center of my chest. Seeing her stand in my kitchen like she belongs there has my insides doing weird shit. This girl is something else and when this bullshit is all over, I’m not sure what I’m going to do because if there’s one thing I do know, it’s that my brothers are right. I can’t let her go.

After lunch, we end up shooting the shit for a few hours and just hanging out. Things are pretty low key. It isn’t until later in the night when we’re grabbing our jackets that Charlee realizes something’s up.

“What’s going on?” Her green eyes are wide and on alert as she watches Axel and Zane walk out the front door. She’s not dumb. Lying will only make it worse, so I go with abrupt honesty.

“We’re leaving. We’ll be back.” I’m not giving her more information than that or she’ll try to stop me.

“Like hell, you’re leaving me behind.” Her hands go to her hips and I brace for the shit storm that’s coming. Judging by the red staining her cheeks, it’s going to be an all-out war.

“This isn’t up for discussion, Charlee.”

“Don’t you ‘Charlee’ me.” She jabs the tip of her finger into my chest. “I’m coming with you and you can’t stop me.”

“You’re staying here where it’s safe. Can you behave while I’m gone?”

“No. I won’t.”

“Wrong answer.” I dip forward and dig my shoulder into her hip as I lift her off the floor. She should know that if she throws down the gauntlet, I’m gonna win.

“Put me down, Asher!” Her tiny fists pound into my back, but I don’t even feel it. It doesn’t stop her from trying, though. “I swear I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t.”

“Be good while I’m gone, Princess.” I slam the door and lock her inside, but it isn’t long before her door becomes the substitute for my back. Those fists of hers are doing their damnedest to break through. I tap down the slight pang of guilt creeping into my gut and face Carl. “She doesn’t come out until we’re long gone and you don’t let her out of your sight. She’s too stubborn not to hotwire your car and go out looking for us.”

A horn honks from outside, letting me know my brothers are as anxious as I am to get this done.

Carl leans against the wall next to her door, as she continues to pound on it. “She won’t leave this house. You have my word on that.”

With that, I nod and walk out the door. The only thing playing in the back of my mind is that I’m almost done. One more and it’ll all be over. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy, though. Nothing ever is.

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