"It should be a beautiful weekend," William said. "The past nine months seemed to have dragged. I'm looking forward to two consecutive days of sun."
Mom took a sip of her martini. "We'll be attending the Hill Foundation's Paws for a Cause in Black Hills. You should come," Mom said, and I fixed my eyes on her. "Aubree will be there, and I doubt she wants to be hanging out with her parents the whole time. We'll make a day of it, and have dinner at the club afterwards."
"That sounds great to me." William swiveled in his seat and dropped his gaze to mine. "I mean, if that's alright with you, of course."
There was no use fighting the inevitable. The more time passed, the more I realized that William and I were meant to be together. Cash was just an added bonus in between.
"I'd like that," I answered.
"Great!" William exclaimed, just as Dad's cell phone rang.
Dad took it out of his pocket, and glanced down at the screen. A touch of annoyance streaked his face as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.
"Who is that dear?" Mom asked.
"Not important," Dad responded. "Who would like another round?"
Mom held out her martini glass, and Dad quickly carried it over to the drink cart. He mixed her a drink, and his phone rang again.
"For something not important, they sure are calling a lot," Mom said as he handed her the glass.
"I guess I'd better take it. Excuse me." Dad exited the room, and Mom continued to tell William about the charity event. I couldn't help but laugh. She acted as if she cared about those dogs when, in reality, she was just doing it to look good to her friends, though it was on a much smaller scale than the events we were used to. Dad suggested it, and Mom jumped on it. In Mom's eyes, the smaller the event the more it looked like she actually cared.
Dad came back in the room with a look of disappointment and frustration. "I have to go," he said.
Mom halted her next sip. "What do you mean, ‘you have to go'? We're about to have dinner."
"It was the hospital. Dr. Crayton is in surgery and the surgery is more invasive than he expected. He would like another neurosurgeon on hand."
Dad was the best neurosurgeon in the country, so it wasn't uncommon for him to be called in for second opinions or to help in major surgeries.
"When work calls," William said and stood up. He held his hand out to Dad. "Mr. Harrington, I will see you Saturday." Dad shook William's hand, then leaned over and kissed Mom on the head.
"Hopefully, I won't be too late," he said, before giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"Take your time," I said. "Somebody's life is depending on you.
Dad hurried out the door and Mom, William and I sat down to a very uncomfortable dinner.
Cash
"Where the fuck is the doctor?" Miles growled as I poured more Jack down his throat.
"He's on his way," I assured him. I just hoped the doc took my threat seriously, and would get here sooner rather than later. Though, the minute I brought up filling his family in on our little secret, he jumped on it. He might have thought our deal was a one-time thing, but he couldn't be more wrong. We would hold that shit over his head for the rest of his fucking life.
Besides, it was good to have a surgeon on call, especially when our members had a bad habit of getting shot.
"I wish he'd hurry the fuck up," Miles spat, ripping the bottle out of my hand and downing it.
"No one told your dumb ass to get shot," I said.
"Tell that to the fucking cops who shot me."
Hudson plopped down on a barstool, while Kade and I stayed by the couch with Miles. We were in the fucking clear; the explosion I created did exactly as we hoped. All the cops ran out, leaving behind a rookie to watch over things.
It was easy for Kade to lure him out, but who knew that, when we bolted for it, the bastard would be gun happy? He got Miles right in the shoulder. From the look of it, it was clean, and went straight through, missing any arteries. Still, Miles had a fucking bullet hole in his shoulder and needed to be tended to.
The excitement helped clear my mind of fucking Sunshine. Now that we had nothing to do but wait, she was back in my head. I worried about her, and how she was dealing with the fact she shot that motherfucker. She was an innocent, and shouldn't have that shit in her head. The thing that screwed with my skull most was that I fucking couldn't keep her safe. I sure as hell tried, but if she hadn't shot that bastard, I don't know what would have happened. We could have both been taken out. Thinking about that shit kept me up most nights and made me anxious as hell.
I swore I'd stay away from her, but I wanted to see her just once. Sienna said she was doing well, but I wanted to see it with my own fucking eyes.
The door pushed open and the doc walked in, carrying a black bag.
"Over here, Doc," Kade said, waving him over.
He stormed over, rage in his eyes, and stopped right in front of me. "I told you the last time I saw you that we were through."
"If that was the case, then why the fuck are you here?" I asked, kicking my feet off the table. I stood up and walked toward him. I was a good four inches taller than him, and I could see he was intimidated by me in the way he rocked back on his heels as I approached him.
"You threatened me. What else was I supposed to do?" he questioned as beads of sweat dripped down his face.
"I guess we're not through then until you don't feel threatened anymore. But, since that will only happen if you come clean with your family, your colleagues, and the federal government, it looks like we'll never be through. Might as well face it, Doc. You are a part of us, and that is not going to change any time soon."
"I never should have trusted you thugs. I should have known better."
"We prefer outlaws," Kade interrupted.
"You can call me whatever the fuck you want. Just get this fucking thing out of me," Miles spat, the half a bottle of Jack not even slurring his speech.
"Please," I said with a smile. The Doc gave me a dirty look, and, after a moment, went over to Miles. It was a doctor thing. He couldn't ignore a person in need. The need to help was ingrained into his very being. Even if we didn't have anything over him, I don't think he'd be able to say no.
"It looks like a clean shot," he announced.
"That's what I said," I mumbled, and the doctor shifted his attention to me. "Probably can just pull that sucker right out. Give it a good cleaning, and pump him up with antibiotics."
"Since when did you become a doctor?" he asked.
"I've taken a bullet a few times myself. Didn't always have a doc around to fix us up. I performed surgery on myself, my thigh, after doing research on the Internet."
Shock plastered across the doc's face. "And you healed alright?" he questioned.
"Not even any nerve damage. Just a scar, but the chicks dig that shit, so I'm okay with it."
He looked at me with either disgust or admiration, I couldn't quite tell, but he quickly turned back to Miles. While the doc worked, Kade and I took our asses to the bar and had a beer. "I never thanked you for taking care of that situation at my house," I said, tipping the bottle to my lips and taking a long sip. I smacked my pack of cigarettes on the bar and then slipped one out, before offering it to Kade.
Kade took a stog, and lit it then passed me his lighter. "Don't worry about it. Kind of worked out perfectly, you know? According to Nick, that Argentinian bitch thinks it was the Montamos and, because they have no proof to prove otherwise, the war is between them. Let those fucks kill each other."
I took a pull off my cigarette and leaned back in my chair. "I didn't kill that guy," I said. I thought about it the entire thirteen hour drive to and from fucking Montana. Kade and me didn't do secrets. I could trust my life to him. The minute we stopped telling each other everything was the beginning of a slippery path that neither of us fucking needed.
"What the fuck are you talking about? I cleaned up the body. He was fucking dead."
"I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm saying I wasn't the one who killed him."
The beer bottle in Kade's hand stopped just shy of his lips. He stayed like that for a moment before leaning up and putting the bottle back on the bar. "If you didn't kill him then … " Kade sat straight up on the stool his mouth parting in surprised amusement. "Oh fuck, dude. That prissy bitch killed him?"