Page 40 of Torn Souls

Oaklynn’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink that has me wondering how far down the color goes. She looks shyly at Huck, but I don’t feel even a hint of jealousy.

It’s not like I would be able to share our woman with just anyone. The thought of some random man even looking at Oaklynn makes me see red and my fingers twitch to grab my gun. It would only take a few murders for people to get the picture.

But I wouldn’t even think twice about it.

When the front door opens again, I smirk because I know Maxim and Baker will be walking in together. Their competitiveness wouldn’t’ allow anything less.

“I can’t believe you cut me off like that,” Baker growls.

Maxim walks into the kitchen as he throws over his shoulder, “You always say you’re a better driver, but who pulled up first? It’s not my fault that you’re not as good as you think you are.”

“You’re going to kill someone someday,” Baker snarks.

Maxim barks out a laugh knowing full well we’ve all killed our fair share. Sure, that’s not what he meant, but it’s still funny.

Oaklynn giggles and the four of us freeze and look over at her. When she notices our attention, she freezes in place and the smile on her lips falls slowly.

“It’s funny because you’re already killers,” Oaklynn blurts and then gasps as she slaps her hands over her mouth.

Huck throws his head back as he laughs hard. The rest of us are too shocked to know how to react. What the fuck have they been up to this afternoon?

I might not have felt any jealousy earlier, but the thought of them having some sort of inside joke has me seething. With my jaw clenched tight, I take some deep breaths.

Huck calms and glances at Oaklynn like she’s everything. “I showed our woman my secret room and explained a little bit about what I’ve been working on and what my role is around here.”

Maxim, shocking the hell out of me, steps forward and grunts, “You did what?”

Huck doesn’t look at all apologetic as he explains, “We can’t expect Oaklynn to trust us if we aren’t willing to trust her. She can handle the truth and I’m not going to allow her to be more vulnerable because she’s been left in the dark.”

“I already knew my father wasn’t a good man,” Oaklynn points out.

She sounds like she’s talking about the weather, and I hate that for her. But I’m not surprised she’s able to accept who her father really is and let him go this easily.

Hopefully, she won’t resent us when the day comes to kill him.

Even though he’s an abusive asshole, he is still her dad. That means something, even if what it means now is darkness and pain.

She grumbles, a hint of bitterness in her voice, “And he’s a broke man which means he’s going to try and get money out of you immediately. Once he knows that I’m here, he’s going to be even more eager about doing business with you.”

“I’m going to be calling him tomorrow to let him know you’re here and that you’ll soon be my wife, but you don’t need to worry about him,” I tell our woman as I straighten up to my full height.

Shocking the fuck out of me, she glares at me even though I can see the fear in her eyes. “I do,” she insists. “He’s my father.I don’t believe that I’m responsible for his actions, but I do have a vested interest in making sure that he’s no longer a threat to me or anyone else. While there was no way for me to know, I feel partially complicit in the lives that he’s ruined.”

My chest cracks open and I close the distance between us with long strides. She doesn’t flinch away when I reach up and cup her face in my hands. “You are not responsible for your father’s actions.”

“I know,” she whispers, “but that doesn’t make me feel like I didn’t benefit from the pain of someone else. I didn’t know about it, but it still hurts to know it was happening behind my back. And this time he tried to pull me into his bullshit by using me as a bargaining chip now that he’s broke,” even I can hear the bitterness in my voice.

“I’m glad he did,” I admit, my words filled with sincerity.

Her brown eyes sparkle and I know she can hear the compliment and awe underneath my words. I get lost in her eyes for a moment, everything in me looking forward to being able to look into them every day for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, Baker is there, hooking an arm around our woman’s waist and pulls her away from me. I narrow my eyes at him, the threat obvious, but he simply ignores me.

“Too much heavy stuff, little bee,” he murmurs.

When he nips at her shoulder, she lets out a small yelp of surprise that quickly becomes laughter filled with joy. The way she looks at him—a mix of adoration and annoyance—has me grinning.

This is family, the one I’ve always wanted and dreamed about.

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