“You got her from Mitch,” I ask in disbelief. He shrugs. I reach out and take her. I inspect her then lift my head, and like a rainbow, those beautiful colorful eyes beam down upon me. “You fixed her?”
“No,” he quietly says. “My grams did.”
“Thanks.” I smile up at him, and for the first time, I see Slate Declan’s smile. And if I thought those eyes were pretty before. Wow, it’s amazing what his smile does to them.
CHAPTER FOUR
I yank my sneakers on, grab my purse, and head out the door. I’m only going to the Declan brother’s apartment today to see my girl. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. I do miss my dog, Lady. When I left the Bayou, I couldn’t take her with me, so I left her with Zeke. He assured me that if Slate didn’t want her, he’d take care of her. I asked Emmie about her, but she never did say if she saw Lady at the apartment. I can’t blame her. The girl has nothing but Jax Declan on the brain.
Their apartment is located in the back of JZS, and at midafternoon, the parking lot is empty. I walk around the building, spotting Jax’s truck. Emmie must be here; she didn’t come home last night. Some of the stress leaves me knowing that she’ll be in there. I walk up the stairs. Dammit. My hands are shaking. I know that Slate might be in there, too.
I rap my knuckles on the door. A few seconds pass and the door swings open. Like sex on a stick, Zeke Declan stands in nothing but a pair of jeans with the words Ride the Lightning tattooed on his lower belly. His eyebrow lifts. “Hey, Rayna.”
“Hi, Zeke. How are you doing?”
His head tilts, the dimple in his cheek intensifying with his sexy, polished smile. “I’m good,” he says, and he just keeps smiling. Finally, he opens the door a little wider. “You wanna come in?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say, entering an apartment that’s a lot nicer and cleaner than I ever expected.
Jax and Emmie come walking into the living room. They’re gorgeous together—Emmie blonde and beautiful, and Jax tall and massive in every way, from his confidence to his good looks. “Hey, whatcha doing here,” Emmie says. Her baby-blue eyes go wide. “Wait. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I wave her down. “I just wanted to come over and see Lady,” I glance around. “Where is she?” Both Jax and Zeke look at me with raised brows. “Where’s my girl?”
“Ah…” Jax rubs a hand over his stubbly chin, his near black eyes gazing up at me from beneath lowered lids.
I turn to Zeke, placing my hands on my hips. “Zeke?”
“She’s not here,” he says.
“Not here?”
“She’s, ah…” Jax looks at Zeke then back at me. “I’m sorry,” his deep husky tone softens, “but she’s gone, Rayna.”
“Gone?” My head jerks back. Then, it hits me. “Oh, gone.” Poor Lady, she was going on eleven years old, but I never thought that she might’ve passed away.
Emmie comes over and rubs my shoulder. Again, I’m not sure if she knew and didn’t tell me to protect me. She knows that I don’t like to be coddled.
I sigh, turning to Zeke. “Well, thanks for taking care of her.”
“Wasn’t me, she was Slate’s. Ah, yours, but ya know. Slate was the one who took care of her after you left.”
“Really?” I look over at Emmie. “Is Slate here?”
“No,” Jax says a tad too quick.
“Yes.” Emmie shoots him a questioning look. “He’s here.” She turns back to me. “But I think he’s sleeping.”
“I want to see him. Thank him for taking care of Lady.” A part of me feels bad for using Lady’s death as an excuse, but I know the other reason as to why I came here. And now accepting it, I’m not leaving until I see Slate.
“That’s probably not a good idea,” Jax starts to say.
Emmie grabs my hand. “Come on, I’ll show you where his room is; we’ll check to see if he’s awake yet.”
“Wait,” Zeke and Jax both holler, following us down the hall.
When Emmie stops, Zeke jumps in front of the door. “He’s real grumpy when he gets up. Why don’t you come back a little later—”
Something is off here. I feel it. For some reason, they really don’t want me to go into Slate’s room. “What? Does he have a girl in there with him?”
Zeke’s nose scrunches. “No.”
“Then get out of my way.” I give him a push, and he too easily gives in, moving to the left.
“Rayna,” Jax says from behind me, “you really don’t want to go in there.”