Really? I know that I can’t expect nightly phone calls and declarations of love, but the man hasn’t done a single damn thing to reach out to me since he left.
“My point is that I am not your problem and I don’t want to be. I have my own shit going on, and I don’t need or want you Lanes getting involved.”
I see Jared rise from the corner of my eye and struggle not to break the staring contest that Miah and I have going on.
Jared intimidates me a little. No matter how kind he’s been trying to be to me, I can’t forget that of all the Lane brothers, Roman always warned me to tread lightly with this one. He seems to think that Jared isn’t as stable as he may appear, which makes me laugh now considering he looks intense enough to rip heads off…on a good day.
But I’m not scared—not that much. I’m just being cautious when I slowly slide to my feet and eye the door, calculating my chances of actually making it to the car before one of these behemoths catch me.
“I wouldn’t. Jared runs faster than you assume, and the man has a hair-trigger temper,” Miah warns, killing my hopes. “Now sit back down so we can talk.”
I obey. Even though I want to run like hell and scurry back to my little hidden hole and lick my wounds, I know he’s right. Roman warned me not to underestimate these men, and I think I may have when I assumed that coming here would go unnoticed.
“What’s to talk about? I just found out my father was murdered and the man I…had a quickie relationship with is a man who is nowhere to be found.”
That makes them both frown, and I see Miah shake his head before turning back to me with a smile so soft, I feel my heart kick up and start racing.
He looks so much like Roman that I have this howling urge to trust him and just do whatever he asks me to—just the way I did whenever Roman got that silver tongue of his out.
But I don’t trust anyone right now. At least I know I shouldn’t when he opens his mouth and says something I don’t want to hear.
“Honey, we saw you puking your guts up in that office, and I saw the crackers and ginger ale on your front seat. I think it’s about time for you to stop playing tough and just accept that you can’t do this on your own anymore. Your dad…he’s gone, and Roman could be too if we don’t move quickly. You can’t afford to be in the wind with some of the stuff that’s going down right now, and we won’t let you even if you don’t agree. Your baby is more important than pride or independence and you know it.”
“Jeremiah, I can’t…”
I can’t be surrounded by his family with the knowledge that the man they trust and love, the man I love and once trusted, could be a traitor to his loved one, as well as his country.
Just thinking about the possibility hurts and makes that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach start churning anew.
“Dollface, Ma has been worried sick about you, Trace is about ready to start climbing the walls and come get you herself, and if I have to listen to Clari rant and rave in her pregnant state about how we’re not doing our duty by you…just come home with us, alright?” Miah says, letting out an aggrieved sigh that makes me think about what these men were like as impressionable little boys.
I can’t say no. They’d take me anyway. Instead of arguing, I nod and accept things as they are.
For now.
When I’m able to think past the worry and the sadness, I’ll figure out a plan and split like Roman told me to.
Dammit. Roman, you have a lot to make up for here, I think as I rise from the cruddy kitchen table and follow the two men out the door.
Chapter Two
Melissa
I am literally in hell. The worst part of it all is that it’s one of those nice hells that are so sweet, I keep running my tongue over my teeth to check for rot.
I mean, how is it possible for a family to be this nice, loving, and supportive without wanting to kill each other? Roman warned me that his people are like the opposite of the Dobson clan, but come on!
Here I am trapped at the Lane residence and the whole clan won’t leave me alone. Make one baby with a dick that they consider theirs and apparently you’re in for life.
And by that I mean Judith Lane has already attempted to drag me up to a closet for “fittings” and keeps trying to scope out my finger for some odd reason.
And not the one I’m dying to flip them all after I learned that I am locked inside this enormous family estate…
Of course, there’s also baby talk and plans for a nursery that I have no intention of using. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all great, I guess, but I’m more of the biker chick who works in a bar and rents her house like normal people do.