Page 132 of Starting Over

“No more lies. No more secrets.” I nodded, pulling away. “You ever fucking hit me again, I will knock you on your ass, and I don’t care who’s watching.”

I walked past him, opening the church doors. I heard his laughter behind me and knew that given a bit more time, everything would be back to normal.

Or so I thought. What I would learn in a few weeks was that my life would never be normal again.

We had made it through Christmas; King had apologized to Beck. He let Blade have his say and took it like the badass he was, allowing his brothers to witness.

That was what made a good leader. That was Mom and Dad’s influence, short as it was. He acknowledged when he was wrong and took responsibility for it.

Eamon never took responsibility. I couldn’t imagine Sal doing it either. And ultimately, that was why we did what we did. Why we kept him from knowing who he really was.

It was the age-old debate. Nature vs. Nurture.

Despite never knowing who his real parents were, King still took to a life of crime like his father. But he made the decision to get out, living a life our parents would be proud of. The truth was, both were important. There needed to be a balance.

Now it was New Year’s Eve, and we were letting the old shit go. Making room for new shit. Just like every year. We were no closer to learning anything about the woman we found, except for her name.

Heidi Davis, twenty-two years old. She was younger than we thought. A college student from Scottsbluff. How she’d ended up here, we didn’t know yet.

I was still waiting on the autopsy to learn the cause of death.

For now, I was at the clubhouse. Maureen wanted to ring in the New Year with the girls. And Diamond Creek wasn’t exactly a metropolis of activity, even on a night like tonight. Still, I had taken the day shift. I was too fucking old to be up all night, pulling people over.

So, I sat on a bar stool, waiting for Maureen. She had asked me to meet her here. The room was full. All the brothers werehere with the women, and even the kids would be partying with us for a bit.

Once the kids went to bed, Maureen and I would leave as well. I didn’t want her here when the lights went down.

I had my beer halfway to my lips when the clubhouse door burst open, slamming against the wall.

“You goddamn son of a bitch!”

Someone immediately lowered the music, and everyone turned to see who would walk in screaming like she did. I didn’t need to turn to see who it was.

I knew that voice.

Slowly spinning on my stool, I faced my woman.

“Hey, gorgeous—”

“Don’t! Don’t say a fucking word.”

I hadn’t realized she’d brought Tucker with her, until I heard him growling at her feet. Which was odd because he never growled at me anymore. But he was feeding off her anger, making it known that despite how much he loved me, she was still his person.

“Hey, Maureen, everything ok?” King hesitantly asked.

“No, it is not fucking ok.” Piercing me with her angry, rage filled eyes I actually felt fear. I quickly thought about what I could have possibly done to incite her wrath. But nothing came to mind. In fact, I was late to work this morning because I stayed in bed to give her not two but four fucking orgasms. What the hell did she have to be mad about?

“Do you know how old I am?”

“Don’t answer that, Sheriff.”

“It’s a trap.”

“Abort, abort.”

I heard the warnings called out around me, but I disregarded them. I had this.

“Of course I know how old you are, baby. You’re in your prime. There is no one sexier than you.”

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