Page 24 of Redemption

And other than Nadine cooking my favorite dinner that night, no one said a word about either my absence or my return. Mylifelong friends acted like I had only been gone a matter of days, and no one ever mentioned Grace.

Life went on, almost uninterrupted.

Dad died.

Bridget left for college.

Nadine moved away.

Bridget returned a few years later, with big plans to launder money for the MC.

And me? I just sat in my dad’s chair and pretended I was happy.

But I wasn’t. I wasn’t anything really, until this woman showed up with orders to dig up our property and made my blood start to flow again.

Just then, a comment Oak made weeks ago pops into my thoughts. The delay I set in motion worked better than I expected, but the dig starts next week, and I’ve been lax about getting reports from Oak and Crasher and their progress with that radar machine.

“Babe?” I whisper, gently kissing Sloane on her forehead as I try to slide out from under her. Smiling at her grumble, I tuck the blanket all around her but wait for her eyes to open. “Hey, I’ve got to go handle something. Have your Pops drive you to work, and I’ll check in with the mechanic then call you later, alright?”

“Mmmhmm, top step,” she murmurs, reminding me about the odd piece of faulty carpentry her grandfather never bothered to fix.

Heading downstairs, there’s only one soft light on in the kitchen as I make sure the bottom lock is secured when I head out to my bike.

Riding up to the clubhouse, I start to wonder what Sloane will want to do – stay with her grandfather or move over here. There’s plenty of land, so I have zero issue with building her a house on the property.

“Have you heard from Bridget?” I ask Swann after parking my bike near the entrance. He grounds his cigar against the brick wall at his back before answering me.

“She texted when she was getting on the connecting flight and said she’d call you in the morning,” he tells me. “You good with Sloane?”

“I’m making her mine,” I let him know, pleased when he gives me a nod of approval.

“Good. Evon’s been asking after her and I didn’t know what to say.”

“Is Oak still up? We need to talk, and I could use your help on this,” I tell him.

Swann opens the door and gestures across the room, where Oak has a topless woman resting on each of his legs. The moment he sees my face, he snaps into action, gently standing them up before coming to join us.

I tilt my head in the direction of my office, knowing that they’ll follow me.

“What’s happening with the radar contraption?” I ask as we’re sitting down.

“The GPR, ground penetrating …” Oak starts before he sees theI don’t give a shitlook on my face. “Well, it’s a highly advanced piece of equipment, so we had a bit of a learning curve, but I think we have it figured out now.”

Swann snorts in amusement, and once I see the thunderous look on Oak’s face, I know I’m missing a good story.

“Anything you want to add?” I ask Swann.

“Well, the model we borrowed, it retails close to six figures, right? Because of the depth we needed, since it had to penetrate below the gas lines, so it’sfairlyhigh tech,” he drawls out, shifting his eyes sideways to Oak. “Crasher and Oak were working on it and trying to figure out the system and the monitor …”

“Okay! Evon figured it out! Enough already!” Oak admits, balling up his fists in frustration.

My eyes flick between their faces, and I finally realize that the pride on Swann’s face is perfectly countered by the embarrassment on Oak’s.

My hand to God, I try to keep a straight face—then I throw my head back, laughing louder than I have in a long time.

“You’re telling me that a four-year-old outwitted Crasher?”

“Yeah, brother, I’m giving her an extra fifteen minutes of screen time a day now,” Swann tells me, twisting the knife in deeper.

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