Page 4 of Fallen Dove
Before I could fire back at Thorn’s smirk, the door opened again.
I didn’t have to look up to feel it.The air shifted, lighter and sharper at the same time, like the room had been holding its breath.Shoes tapped across the entry mat.
I lifted my head.
Adley walked in.Blonde hair with dark roots, half-up, half-down so the shorter pieces framed her face.She wore a cropped olive-green sweater with a cropped Lords Social Shirt under it that flashed a sliver of skin when she moved.Blue jeans that fit like they were made for her, and black sneakers that had seen some miles.She stopped just short of the bar.She took in the whole place with a sweep of her eyes, steady and calm, like she was already figuring out how she fit into it.
My heart dropped clean to my feet the second I saw her.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like Adley.Hell no.That was never the problem.The problem was that she was Slayer’s daughter.That fact alone was a brick wall between us.One I couldn’t climb over without getting buried alive.Respect, loyalty, the code.It wasn’t just words to me.It was survival.Slayer was my brother, and my family.Crossing that line would be the same as betraying him.
I told myself it had been fourteen years since that night, fourteen years since she kissed me.Time was enough to change everything.She should have forgotten about me and that kiss.She had been in Chicago.The city of every opportunity at her fingertips.She had brought up the kiss at Christmas, but I was hopeful I had shut her down again.
But standing there, I couldn’t lie to myself.Adley wasn’t a kid anymore.She’d grown.Every curve of her was filled out, and her confidence wrapped around her like armor.Drop-dead gorgeous.Curvy in all the ways that made a man’s blood run hot.God damn.
“Adley!”Thorn shouted, and jumped off his stool like he’d just won a prize.“Just the person I was thinking about.”He strolled right over, slung an arm around her shoulders like he owned her space.“How do you feel about inventory?”
Jesus Christ.These damn Fallen Lords kids did whatever the hell they wanted.
Before Adley could even answer, the door swung open again and more voices filled the space.Bay, Calla, and Penny strutted in like a storm of youth and noise.
Speak of the devil.The rest of the Fallen Lords kids that I relied on to keep this place running.Calla, Nickel and Karmen’s daughter.Penny, Maniac’s spitfire kid.Bay, best friends with Fox, Wrecker’s boy.
“Thank goodness it’s finally your first day,” Calla said, and lifted her hands like Adley had just saved her.“I’m glad to see you survived a week with Alice and Meg.”
Adley laughed, and nudged Thorn with her elbow until he finally backed off a step.“You know it’s always an adventure when Alice and Meg get together.”She grinned.“Did you hear about the turtles?”
Calla’s brows shot up.“No.Did Alice try to free one from the petting zoo?”
“That would be normal,” Adley said, deadpan.“And it wasn’t Alice doing it.”
“Meg?”Calla asked.
“Nope,” Adley said again, popping the P.“It was King.”
Thorn laughed so loud it bounced off the pool tables.“The crazy wore off on him.”
“The same thing’s happening with Wrecker,” Bay chimed in.“Fox was telling me about him talking to Priscilla in the pasture the other day.”
“I think the crazy has reached all of the OGs,” Penny said with a smirk.
“OGs?”I asked, voice sharper than I intended.
They all turned toward me at once.My eyes went straight to Adley.I couldn’t stop them.She looked… grown up.Standing there next to Bay, Calla, Penny, and Thorn, she didn’t just look older; she looked like a woman.
“Our moms and dads,” Penny said, and tipped her head to the side.“And I guess you and Junior.You guys are getting old, too.”
The group broke into laughter, except Adley.She met my gaze instead.For a second too long, our eyes locked, the air between us stretching tight.My chest tightened with something I didn’t want to name.
I shook my head, and forced myself to remember the rules.No staring.No closer than five feet.Only work.
“Enough talking,” I said firmly.“We open soon, and this place isn’t ready.Tables need wiped down, Bay.Axe alleys need reset, Thorn.”
Thorn groaned like I’d sentenced him to death.“Why can’t Arlo do that?He loves hanging around the throwing lanes.”
I ignored him.He could complain all he wanted; he’d still do it.“Penny, give Adley the rundown of everything, then help Bay.”
Penny saluted, with a grin wide.“You got it, old man.”
