Page 14 of Tye

Tragically, I still lived at home with Mom and Reuben, but Pops had offered me fifty acres to build on earlier this year. I’d yet to pick my spot out, but I would when we all returned. That was something to look forward to.

Tonight, I’d eat with my family, aware this may be the last time we sit down together. The next time we all met, some of us might be missing. Shit, if things go wrong, we might never return here. Fury would hunt them down, and I shuddered to think what he would do to them. Actually, considering my existence, I had a good idea what he’d do. Such vileness couldn’t be allowed to exist anymore.

???

Mom hugged me tightly as we said goodbye.

Damn, this was harder than I believed it would be. I’d made my siblings promise to behave and given them a treat each, and then I’d embraced Reuben. But letting Mom go was hard. We were so close, and this was tearing me apart. I was almost ready to say I’d join them, but I couldn’t because I wanted Fury’s head.

‘If they’re old enough to bleed, then they can breed’ was Fury’s mantra. Fuck, I’d make him bleed. That was for sure. Fucking lunatic.

With a wrench, I released Mom and watched her enter the private plane.

“Demi, you can change your mind,” Uncle Deke said.

“Nice try, Uncle Deke, but I’m coming with you.”

“Sweet girl…” Uncle Carter began to speak, and I shook my head.

“No. My mind’s made up. I need to see this through. Fury’s threat has been over me since my birth. My family is fucked up, and I need this. Listen, please, I have to put the evil Fury represents in the ground,” I interrupted, and I knew they heard the pleading in my voice.

“Okay, honey, just stick close,” Uncle Deke said as he hugged me. Quietly, we watched the private plane take off with our families on board, and I felt a pang.

As far back as I could remember, my family had all lived at the Double M Ranch. Only Uncle Deke had been consistently missing from our lives. There’d never been a time when we’d been apart.

This was a feeling I couldn’t explain: a sense of loss, hurt, and anger. Despite him not being present, Fury interfered with my life. When I put a bullet in Fury’s skull, I’d look him in the eyes and spit in his face.

Ice

Grunt, Spike, and his grandsons would be here shortly. They’d be arriving at Reading Hall to stay for a while. Spike had been made well aware that they’d have security guards shadowing them. Trust had to be earned, and none of Spike’s family had earned shit yet.

They were coming in tonight when it was dark, and Mom was in a tizzy, not because they were due, but because Spike announced he was bringing one more person with him.

Mom was making up another room while I watched the kids from the sofa. It had been a week since West had slammed me into the ice and basically tried to kill me.

His career was over. The cops had charged West for assault and battery and second-degree attempted murder. The NHL had suspended him, and he was facing a lifelong ban. In addition, Mom had set her lawyers on him, and now we were suing. Unluckily for West, he did not have a family, so Mom was taking him to the cleaners. If West had a wife or kids, Mom wouldn’t have gone after him so hard. The money would be donated to the charity that my siblings and I had created. West was so fucked, he didn’t even have to bend over.

The Blackhawks were also suing the Armourers, so lawsuits abounded at the moment.

But a week on, my headache lingered, and I still had blurry vision sometimes, which Doc Paul assured me was due to the concussion and fracture. My body was a mess of bruises, which just showed how hard I’d hit the ice. I was frustrated as fuck because I couldn’t bathe or shower on my own.

Mom had hired a male nurse, and I’d point blank refused to let him anywhere near me. So, she paid him six months up front and sent him packing before hiring a female. My brothers loved it. Martha was at least fifty, and my dick certainly wasn’t going to misbehave around her. Everyone thought it was hysterical: of all the hot young nurses out for private hire, Mom had employed the equivalent of my grandma.

Fuckin’ typical of my luck.

As I was sulking, hidden in the den and resting, I heard voices and caught Mom and Liz’s tones. I guessed our guests had arrived. Unable to move far on my own due to dizziness, I stayed where I was. If anybody wanted to meet me, which I doubted, they could locate me here. The pain was just as bad as a week ago, so nope, I wasn’t putting myself out. Especially for Volcano, whom I didn’t trust.

The younger kids disappeared at the sound of voices, and I ended up dozing on the sofa until the door shut loudly.

Startled awake, I opened my eyes and saw a pretty young woman standing there, staring. Oh, this was more like it!

Her hair was a rich chestnut brown, and she had clear blue eyes. She was slender, with a trim waist and curving hips, and her breasts were a definite handful. Yup, this was the nurse of my dreams.

“Sorry, I was unaware someone was here,” she said, and her voice reminded me of melted chocolate.

“Aren’t you looking for me?” I asked, slightly puzzled. Wasn’t she my new nurse?

“Why would I be?”