Page 152 of Five Fingers of Death

“Would you be?”

He shook his head. “No, but I’m not the one who’s trying to kill my friends.” He clapped me on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Get your shit together before you get one of us killed on this job.”

I gave a curt nod and headed out, ignoring the worried look Lock shot my way. I thought about what Johnny said and realized he was right. I was fooling myself if I thought Izzy was ready to look after Carli, not that I was going to ask her. But she wasn’t ready. Hell, I was just getting her to admit that she really liked Carli. She had so many issues surrounding kids, but that wasn’t the crux of her problems. Yes, she had gone through therapy and was still continuing that, but her issues wouldn’t be worked out anytime soon. She was just learning what it was like to be on her own and make her own decisions. Expecting anything more than that was just asking too much.

I pushed my front door open and smiled as Carli came running over to me with her arms spread wide. She still looked sick, but at least she wasn’t throwing up.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, baby girl,” I grinned, pulling her into my arms. “How are you?”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“No throwing up!”

“Are you ready to eat?”

She grimaced, shaking her head at me. “Uh-uh. Can we watch a movie?”

Izzy walked into the living room holding a cup of coffee. “Hey. How was the meeting?”

“It was fine, but I need to go out of town.” I gave my attention to Carli once again. “Would you mind staying with Tahlia while I’m gone?”

“Really?” she gasped, her eyes lighting up. “I love Tahlia!”

And that was the only reason I felt comfortable going out of town, but the hurt look on Izzy’s face caught me off guard. I didn’t think she would care, but now that I heard everyone’s concerns, I knew I had to discuss this with Izzy.

“Why don’t you run upstairs and pack a bag?”

“Can I bring my blanket?”

“Yep.”

“And my bear?”

“You know you can.”

“And my dinosaur?”

I gave her an admonishing look. “Go pack your bag.”

Without another word, she ran upstairs, leaving me alone with Izzy.

“So, when are you leaving?” she asked, her eyes avoiding me.

“Pretty soon.”

She nodded, taking a drink of her coffee.

“Izzy, we should talk.”

She flinched, taking a seat on the couch. “Yeah, sure. What did you want to talk about?”

Sighing, I took a seat beside her and held her hand.

“Wow, it must be bad,” she teased.

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