Page 154 of Dagger

She was the total opposite of my mom. Taller, willowy, blonde hair, green eyes, and softly spoken until riled. I likedher for him. Mom had moved on, and I didn’t want my pop unhappy or lonely. At the beginning, I was suspicious of how he’d hankered after her when he was married, but after hearing the full story, I reckoned he’d done right by my ma until she ended up meeting somebody and asking for a divorce.

I slid my arm across Cara’s shoulders. “Mornin’, ladies. You set?”

“Sick bay’s ready,” Sophie informed me. “All the beds are made up, sutures are ready, bags of blood are sitting at room temperature, and everything’s sterilized. We’re good to go.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Have you heard from Atlas?”

“Nah,” I told her gently. “But I spoke to Dad. He told me our SAA’s having the time of his life, shooting and hollering. His exact words included kid and candy store.”

Sophie beamed.

My stare slid to Elise. “Pop’s okay, too, reliving his old military days, gut to the dirt, rifle in hand. He thinks he’s twenty-one again.” My voice lowered. “Watch him when he gets back; he may think his libido’s twenty-one, too, and no fucker wants that.”

Elise’s cheeks turned pink, and right then, I knew exactly why my dad was obsessed with her. She was beautiful and so sweet; she made my molars ache.

A thought came to me, and I glanced around the bar. “Where’s Layla?”

“Down the Cell with Spokes,” Cara told me. “He offered to show her how to handle an M4. I think she nearly pissed her pants and not with fright.”

“Jesus,” I muttered. “Bowie’s gonna flip.”

“You could always try and stop her,” Sophie suggested.

I shrugged. “Nah. Bowie may flip, but I think it’s ace. As long as she stays low and outta trouble, I’ve got no issue with her poppin’ off a few rounds. She’s a good shot, and she knows whatshe’s doin’.” I glanced at Cara. “Who’s got Wilder and the other kids?”

“Who do you think?” she replied. “Mary Poppins aka Iris. They’re already down the Cell.”

“What would we do without her?” I asked just as my cell phone rang. I dug into my pocket and looked at the display before answering. “Yo, Colt.”

“They’re a minute away,” he advised me. “Get everybody in place.”

“Got it,” I confirmed, just as my heart jerked with a sudden attack of nerves. I ended the call and declared, “It’s showtime, ladies.” I leaned down, touching Cara’s mouth with mine. “Go, Wildcat.”

“Oh, alright,” she grumbled, blowing me a kiss before moving back toward the bar to grab Kennedy and guide her toward the corridor leading to the Cell, her ass swaying as she went.

My eyes were glued to my woman and my gut dropped.

The pressure was on. There were men outside who wanted to destroy the way we lived our lives. They wanted to hurt people and given half a chance, I knew they’d hurt my family.

I’d never let it happen because these days, I breathed easy and slept like a baby.

My Wildcat gave me non-stop shit and kept me on my toes, and I fucking loved it. There was never a dull moment with Cara Landry. She made me laugh, made me think, and challenged my ass every day. She’d given me a son and a home, and most of all, she’d given me peace.

When Pop told me he was thinking of handing me the gavel, I felt a flash of panic. The same night, I relayed it to Cara, and we went to bed and talked for hours about what we could do to expand the businesses. We decided to look at opening new chapters, giving them the means to open branches of thebuilding contractors, restaurants, and bars, and eventually, take them from regional to national.

Cara had so much faith in me that it made me feel like a king, and over the course of the night, the panic faded, and instead, a world of possibilities opened up for us.

Arrow appeared at my side and jerked his head in the direction of the windows. “We ready?”

Reaching into my cut, I pulled out the Ruger Grandpa Bandit left me when he died and asked, “Are the boys in position on the roof?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Tex is holding up, too.”

My chest twisted at the thought of my brother, who not long ago had been shot in the stomach. He’d gotten out of bed the day before and decided he wanted in. Right then, he was up on the roof with an M4 and snacks.

Go figure.

“Cash!” Chaps called out. “They’re here.”

Gut churning, I walked over to the bar, grabbed my radio, and clicked the side button to talk to Tex. “Remember, brother. Wait until they’re on our property. As soon as they step onto our land, they’ll trip the cameras.”

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