I went up on my tiptoes as Tiny reached down to plant a kiss on my cheek. "You're a sight for sore eyes, honey," he said. "Sly summon ya?"
I nodded. A shadow crossed Tiny's eyes and I cocked my head.
"Everyone okay?" I asked.
Tiny nodded. "He's in the back. You can go on and let yourself in." He pursed his lips together and gave me a solid pat on the arm as I walked by. I couldn't imagine what the hell was so serious to give Tiny that look on his face. Maybe I should have gotten here earlier after all. Shaking my head, I walked through the bar and headed for Sly's office.
He waited for me at his desk, peering over some paperwork with reading glasses perched at the edge of his nose. He tore them off his face and threw them on the desk the second I walked in, making me snort with laughter.
"Don't worry," I said. "I'll keep your secret, old man."
"Forty isn't old," he said as he rose and stepped around the desk. He gave me a quick hug and settled back, perching himself on the edge of the desk. He gestured to the chairs around the conference table. I shook my head.
"I can't stay long," I said. "Sorry it took me so long to make it out. It was a rough one last night. Wrong way driver. Took out a minivan. Took me a while to fall asleep this morning and even longer to wake back up again."
Sly muttered obscenities under his breath. "Kids?"
I shook my head. "All adults. And only one fatality besides the driver. Could have been a whole lot worse."
"Good." Sly crossed his arms in front of him. His gaze settled on the floor. If Tiny's demeanor at the door hadn't been enough to set off warning bells, Sly's sure was.
"What's going on, Samuel?" I said, knowing full well he hated it when I used his given name. I was pretty sure I was one of only about three people alive who still knew it. "What's so serious you couldn't just tell me over the phone?"
It could have been anything. Usually, Sly only called me like this if someone got hurt. Thankfully, whatever activities the Great Wolves M.C. engaged in over the years, the more questionable stuff seemed to be behind them. Every once in a while though, he'd have me meet him at the gym to convince one fighter or the other to see a doctor if it wasn't something I could help out with.
"I didn't want to tell you until it was an actual done deal. I didn't see the point in upsetting you for something that might not even happen. So many things could have gone wrong."
"What?" I practically shouted it.
"Ava, it's Dex."
Sly took a breath. He was steeling himself to tell me more and in that moment, it felt like a trap door had opened beneath my feet. So many times, over so many years, I had expected we would have this conversation. Sly would say those exact words to me and I had even rehearsed what I might say, how I might react next. I shut my eyes tight then opened them again. I squared my shoulders and turned to face him, bracing for the words I'd always known would come.
He's dead. There was an accident. Someone finally got to him. In the shower ... in the exercise yard ... in the chow line ...
I'd imagined a thousand different ways it could happen even though Sly always told me Dex had protection. I was prepared for this. I had learned to put it behind me. It didn't mean it wouldn't hurt when the thing I feared finally became reality. And it was over. We were done. Dex himself had made that very clear the last time I'd tried to go to him almost thirteen years ago. This can't touch me. Not anymore. I couldn't let it.
"Ava, are you listening? Are you hearing me? He's out. He's finally out. Dex has come home."
I blinked hard and reminded myself to breathe. Out. Not dead. He said out?
"What? How?"
Sly smiled, flashing me a row of straight white teeth. I called him Mr. Charming when he did it. He had a deep dimple in his left cheek and I could spot his moves a mile away when he closed in on some girl. I had to save Joleen from it more times than I could count although I was pretty sure the two of them had hooked up behind my back.
"It's a long story and it isn't mine to tell. But some new evidence came to light. It's over. He's out and all of his charges have been dropped. He's home. I wanted you to hear it from me. I don't know what he plans to do ... if he plans to get a hold of you. I thought you'd want to be prepared if he did."
My knees felt weak. It was like I was in some dream. I couldn't be hearing this. It couldn't be true. Something in my face must have worried Sly because he came to me. He put a hand at the middle of my back. No. This can't touch me. Not anymore.
"Are you okay? Ava? I'm sorry. Maybe I bungled it."
I looked up at him and nodded. Dammit. I didn't want to cry. I'd shut so many things off when it came to Dex, things that hurt, and I was afraid what might happen if I let them in. I reached up and hugged Sly. His eyes misted with tears and it hit me how much he'd been holding in too. Dex had been the love of my life once upon a time but Sly loved him like a brother. I could move on, or try to. Sly had to run the club without him, pick up the pieces in the wake of Blackie Murphy's bad deeds. I knew what a burden that had been for him.
"I'm so happy for you, Sly," I said. "I just can't believe it. It's just kind of a lot."
His shoulders shook with laughter as he drew me in for a deeper hug and my back arched into it. In some ways, Sly was like my brother too. He never said as much, but I knew Dex had made him swear to take care of me when he went away. The Great Wolves took their oaths seriously and Sly Cullinan was someone I knew I could trust with my life.
Movement registered from the corner of my eye and I felt Sly's back stiffen. I came down off my tip toes and turned. Dex himself loomed in the doorway like a mountain.
My God.
He was huge and strong. His green eyes flashed and the room had no air. My heart tripped behind my ribcage and blood roared in my ears. He looked from me to Sly, working the muscles of his strong jaw. Three steps, maybe four, and I could cross the room and touch him. Was he here? Was he real? He was very real, so different but exactly the same. He was still dark and dangerous like the first time I saw him, standing there in his leather cut, ripped jeans and black motorcycle boots. He was bigger, broader through the shoulders, his biceps bulged as he clenched and unclenched his fists. His eyes finally settled on Sly and filled with red menace.
Sensing the coiled danger in Dex's posture, Sly shifted to put his body between Dex and me. Just that small movement seemed to confirm something for Dex. His shoulders dropped and he turned and walked out of the room. This wasn't happening. This wasn't real. Dex McLain didn't get to just walk back into a room where I was standing then walk back out again.
"Shit," Sly said in a voice barely above a whisper. He turned to me. "Do you want to do this now? Do you want to talk to him? Just give me five minutes to unfuck this little Three's Company moment we're having and you can have the room."
I couldn't help it: I laughed. My voice was higher pitched than I recognized and Sly's eyes narrowed when he heard me. He rubbed my shoulder and patted me on the back. The whole thing was absurd. An hour ago my life was normal and settled. Well, not settled. But more than it had been for me since my deployment ended. In the span of ten minutes, Sly had upended it with his news and then Dex walked back in and exploded everything into a million pieces.
"You think five minutes is all you're going to need?"
Sly shook his head, sighed and smiled. "Yeah. Maybe ten. Fifteen tops."
I nodded and slid my phone out of my back pocket. God. It was such a normal thing to do. I wondered how I could get my fingers-my brain-to work in the wake of the bomb that just went off in my life. "I don't think I'm going to be able to concentrate on anything else until I do. Shit, I don't know how I will even after that. Pray for a very slow, injury-free night in Green Bluff, will you?"
Sly gave me a mock salute and ran toward the door. When he swung it open, I heard glass crashing to the ground and Charlie Brogan's gravelly bellow. My guess was the rest of the Wolves were already trying to set Dex straight. I took a breath and tried to will my heart back to its normal position in the center of my chest.
Joleen answered on the first ring. "Hey, hon," I said. My voice still sounded higher than it should. "Can you cover me for about an hour tonight? Something's come up and I'm going to be a little late. I promise I'll make it up to you."
Joleen sighed on the other end of the phone but I knew what her answer was going to be. In the "cover me" bank, I was way up on deposits. I decided to sweeten the pot for her a little just the same. "I'll make it worth your while, I promise."
"I'm maxed out on overtime for the month already." Joleen laughed. "What did you have in mind?"
I craned my neck to see into the bar but whatever was happening out there, I couldn't get my eyes on Sly or Dex.
"I'm at the Wolf Den," I said. "Sly Cullinan was asking about you-"
"Done!" Joleen barked into the phone before I could finish my sentence. "Take all the time you need. Shit, take the whole night off."
In spite of the chaos I knew was about to swirl around me, Joleen's laughter was infectious and I was lucky to call her my friend, so I said so. "Thanks. I don't think I'll need the whole night."