Page 132 of Deserter

“Lou’s been trying to get ahold of Celia and can’t. Now, you can hang out here and lose your shit over what that might mean, or you can hop on your bike and ride back. Consider it a pre-homecoming party.”

Slim was right. I wasn’t going to be able to help the club transition if I was hung up on thoughts of my wife.

Celia and I had been meeting at crappy motels along the interstate to avoid drawing unwanted attention over the years. Wolverine would find the place and he and Lucy would stay with the girls while she was with me.

It wasn’t ideal.

Hell, if I had to wager a guess, I’d say she left feeling like one of the club whores. She deserved better than that.

This time around, I’d do it right.

Just me and her.

No distractions.

The warmth I’d sought under the shower head finally flooded my body and left me fighting back tears.

I was going home.

* * *

The latch on the master bathroom window had been broken for as long as I could remember. It was one of those things I’d been meaning to fix, but on a night like tonight, I was glad I hadn’t.

Hawk was somewhere out front, yet here I was, creeping around my house like a burglar. I didn’t want my guys knowing I was in town again.

I raised the window quietly and climbed through, my boots landing with a soft thud in the clawfoot tub below.

“Take one more step and I’ll shoot,” a voice hissed in the dark.

“You sure you wanna do that, princess?”

“Jamie?”

I chuckled as I straightened to my full height. “There someone else callin’ you princess?”

She gasped and I strained to see her in the dark. “You still got the .38 pointed at my head?”

“Yes.” I heard her smile. “Wanna tell me why you’re breaking into my house in the middle of the night?”

This time I grinned. “Your house? Well, that’s news to me, darlin’. I could’ve sworn it was our house—”

“You just left town two days ago. Did something happen?” She moved closer to the tub and reached out to touch my chest. “Are you hurt?”

“Why haven’t you returned Louisa’s calls? She’s worried about you.”

Her hand dropped. “You rode all this way just to ask me that? Jamie, you could’ve just called.” When I stayed silent, she added, “I’ve been a little busy—and we’ve been spending time with my parents.”

I ran my tongue across my teeth and took a deep breath. “You didn’t think to mention that to me a couple of days ago? Like, ‘Hey, Jamie, you know those pricks who made my life a living hell? Well, I’m gonna take your daughters over to visit them.’ Seriously?”

I blinked against the sudden brightness as she flipped the light switch on. When my eyes adjusted, I found her standing near the sink, one hand on her hip and the other still holding the damn gun.

“Jesus fuck, Celia, put the gun down and talk to me.” This was not the reception I’d expected, but it was probably the one I deserved.

“Talk to you?” she hissed. “Okay, you wanna know why I didn’t tell you? Because within five minutes of seeing me, we were naked, and I didn’t really feel that it was an appropriate time. When you were done having sex with me, I had to leave so I could get back home to our girls. And the fun didn’t stop there—”

Her voice broke off and she sucked in a ragged breath. “Dakota wanted to know what a ‘hole’ was because her little neighborhood friend said that’s what her mommy thinks I am.”

“The bitch who saw you in my car?” I growled. She bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll go over there right now. Have a little chat.”

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