Roman-1(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(44)
This Mel may be full of piss and vinegar and as nasty as a cattle prod to the ass, but she’s my ornery princess and she’s perfect just the way she is.
Believe me, after the things she did to me two nights ago, there isn’t a thing she can do wrong that would change my perspective. Ever.
And now here we are, back in her element, and it’s so good to see that I don’t even mind tolerating Will’s perpetually grinning mug.
“So, she’s okay after that last attempt?” Will asks, joining me at the bar for a beer while I sip at water and try to keep an eye on my girl without her catching me.
“As okay as she can be, I guess. She threatened to de-ball me this morning, so I’m pretty sure she’s not suffering any lingering effects.”
He chuckles beneath his breath and looks at her with so much affection, I would hit him if not for the brotherly way it’s coming through.
“That’s my darlin’, always quick with her tongue and ready to do violence.”
“My darlin’, asshole. Mine,” I snarl, letting my possessive beast come out.
But only now that she’s out of earshot and not cutting limes with that nasty-looking hunting knife she loves so dearly.
“Yeah? You got your ring on her finger yet, son?” he taunts, making my teeth crack.
“When she’s ready.”
Will considers me for a few minutes and eyes the bar patrons before leaning in and swigging his beer.
“That brother of yours, the one you had following your crazy aunt?”
“Case?”
“That’s the one.”
“What about Case? He’s missing and we’re still looking. Miah’s got men on the hunt and Jared—”
“He’s in town,” Will interjects, finishing his brew and reaching over the bar for another while Mel’s back is turned.
“I saw that! Reach over my bar again and you’ll lose a hand, Sparrow,” Mel threatens from the other end of the bar while keeping her back turned.
“How the hell does she do that? It’s just damn unnatural,” he mutters.
“Will.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to it soon enough, Lane. You know I called in a few brothers from another chapter to keep an eye on things, what with the shit my darlin'’s been through lately.”
Like I could miss it. The place is crawling in leather and bike fumes and I’ve seen enough old ladies grinning and swooning to curdle my damn stomach.
“Yeah. So?”
“So some of my brothers are of your ilk and they’re mighty observant, fellas. They do funny things like take pictures and keep track of faces and such, and one of those faces my boy Gravel took note of two nights ago was a man who not only looks like Case, but also of an old lady who has a bad dye job and an even nastier attitude,” he drawls with a smirk.
The news makes my whole body freeze, and I narrow my eyes at him when all he does is grin again and take a swig of his beer.
“Don’t make me ask.”
“Oh I won’t brother. I’m just waiting for at least two of your brothers to walk through the door so I don’t have to repeat every word again.” He chuckles, laughing outright when the door swings open and Jared comes stalking in with thunder on his face.
Christ. I hate it when this asshole is right.
“You’re going to have Miah up your ass if you do this shit on the regular,” Jared snarls, leaning over the bar to grab a beer.
“Your beer is on the left, Jared!”
We all freeze and I see Jared grin when Will snarls and just shakes his head.
“Not cool.”
“What can I say, man? My sister loves me.”
“Quit it and tell us everything,” I growl, keeping my eyes pinned to Mel as Will repeats what he just told me and drops yet another bombshell.
“His appearance, with a woman I know y’all have been looking for, made me think that maybe he’s not so much her guard as her…associate, shall we say. So I did a little digging and you want to know what I found out?”
Jared is about ready to chew nails and I’m not feeling all that charitable myself when he just smiles and waits for one of us to explode.
“Will.”
“Well it seems that your aunty Lynn went away years ago before she met her dear husband Jerry and produced the spawn of Satan.”
I like that. Miah will like it even more, and I almost choke when I catch Jared texting him while Will keeps stringing us along.
“Good one, be all impressed with yourself already and cut to the chase. She left when she was in college to go tour Europe. I remember Pop saying she was headstrong and wanted to see the world before she settled down.”
“Yeah, well settled down is a bit of an understatement. She got pregnant there and extended her stay or some shit. She came back to the US in her third trimester and gave birth to a little boy at St. Mary’s Presbyterian, an orphanage.”