Page 36 of Starting Over

“What is your issue?” King asked.

Cash sat quietly, not saying a word, as my brother and I glared at each other.

“My issue is the fucking Irish Mob. My issue is, every goddamn time a woman moves to this town, everything goes to shit.” I pointed at him and growled. “Bring up my daughter again and I will knock you on your ass.”

Cash chuckled.

“Dec, you need to get laid. You’re wound tighter than a fucking clock.” King stood and walked around his desk, stopping in front of me. “Today is Thanksgiving. Be thankful for the daughter you found and the grandchild you have on the way, and let the other bullshit go for one fucking day, please!”

He walked out the door, leaving me in his office with Cash.

“He’s right. Today is not the day for this shit.”

“You aren’t worried?” I asked, knowing he didn’t always agree with his president.

“About the Mob? Absofuckinglutely, but nothing we can do until something happens.” He stood up, finished his drink, and slapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s go eat.”

I followed him down the hall to the main room, where the tables were all set with decorations for the holiday. Someone hadgone all out, and by the way she was flitting around the room, my guess was Ellie.

She was newly married to Ryder, my daughter’s childhood friend. They’d married about two weeks ago in a rush ceremony, to avoid her parents forcing her into a marriage she didn’t want.

It may be illegal here, but that shit was still prevalent among the rich families throughout the country.

I looked around the room, telling myself I was tracking who all was here, because a cop was never truly off duty.

The truth was, I was looking for her.

I hadn’t seen her yet. Despite wanting her to leave, I wanted to let my eyes feast on her, just for a moment.

“Dad.”

Turning around, I found my daughter waiting for me. “We’re sitting over here,” she said, pointing to one of the many round tables in the room. The food was set up like a buffet, but each table was set with a place setting.

“This place looks great,” I commented.

“It does. Ellie took over decorating. I think she thought we were terrible at it, given what it looked like the day she got married.” My daughter laughed.

I remembered that day a few weeks ago, and Ellie would be justified in that thought. The place looked horrendous. Red, black, green, and gold decorations everywhere.

Not exactly wedding colors.

I followed her to the table and sat down. She sat to my right, with an open seat to my left that my brother would sit in. There were eight seats at each table. I imagined they would all be full once everyone settled in.

King dropped down into the seat next to me, and Cash, Rachel, and Blade also joined us. I wasn’t surprised when Maureen sat down next to King. She had connected with him in a way that made my skin itch. Though she had been here a week,I wasn’t surprised she hadn’t connected with the women. They were all much younger than her.

What did surprise me was when Tank sat next to her. He was a big bastard, but when I watched him lean over and say something to Maureen that only she heard, I wanted to lay him out.

I watched her face light up with a smile at whatever he said, and I was immediately taken back to my childhood.

“Hey, Reenie.”

“Hi, Declan.” She blushed, her eyes dropping to the floor.

She always acted shy around me, but I didn’t know why. Duane said it was because she liked me, but she barely spoke to me.

I liked her, though.

When I saw her with her friends, she was always laughing and talking. She wasn’t quiet, like when I was around. I wanted to see her smile more. I wanted her to smile at me like she smiled at her friends.

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