Page 70 of What Burns Between
“Nah.” He shakes his head, fingers rubbing his chin. “Anyone asks, we can pass it off because of her injuries.”
"What's goin' on, brother?" I shift sideways a little to place myself between him and the garage. Steal his attention back from Minion idling in the yard, preparing to leave.
"Nothin’." The fucking shutters go down, his face setting to stone once more.I almost fucking had him."I'll catch up with you when you get back."
"Sure." Hooking the keys in my pocket, I jerk them out and swing the metal into my palm. "Anythin’ you might have forgotten to tell me about tonight?" If he's fucking distractedenough to remember he assigned me and Minion to cover his fucking son's ass, then what the hell else have I missed?
“Volkov’s lot have got eight cartons. Six marked, two unmarked. The unmarked ones?—“
"Come back here. You said that."
Tyke's eyes narrow. "Then no. I don't think there's anything else. Just watch that shady asshole. Check the contents, even if it's taped."
"I'll make them repack it if it is."
“And don’t let Jamie out of the truck.” He turns to watch Minion’s girl as she climbs into the Ford, her father’s headlight illuminating the Associate patch on her back.
“She knows what to do, brother.”
"Good." Something intense and foreign flickers through his gaze before he slaps me hard on the arm. "Ride safe."
I give my brother, our President, a mock salute and then spin on my heel. Each step I take toward the garage sets the rock in my gut a little harder, a little deeper.
The last time Tyke behaved like this, someone died.
I just fucking pray that tonight, it's not me.
27
TYKE
My knuckles raplightly against her door, jaw working an invisible knot while I wait to see if my daughter will hear me out. Shit got real between us all when her mother left, and as ashamed as I am to admit it, some nights, just knowing I still had my kids on my side was all that got me through.
I’d found the woman who wore my patch fucking around behind my back, and because of it, I’d had to lay a man out, strip him of his colors, and deliver a beating that would see him permanently walk with a limp for the rest of his life.
I hated every inch of my goddamn tainted soul in that moment. Hated who’d I’d become.
The fact my little girl still looked at me as though I was her hero was the only damn thing that kept the bullets in my gun.
“You gonna come in or stand there all night looking like a kicked puppy?”
I snap out of my funk, tearing my gaze from the dented and scratched floorboards to find Maddie’s solemn face in the narrow gap of her door. The click of a controller and gunfire filter from behind her.
“You okay if I do?”
“Do what? Stay there?” She lifts an eyebrow. “Do whatever sets your nuts on fire, Daddy. I don’t care.”
I shake my head, mouth pressed in a firm line while I push her door open and let myself in.
She smirks, returning to her nest amongst a mess of pink and black blankets atop her bed. Part girly girl, part biker brat. She never could pick one side of the line to stand on.
Harvey sits perched on the foot of the bed, his bottom lip pinched between his teeth while he snipes enemies on the screen before him.There goes the opportunity to ask about Deo.I stash my discord with my daughter’s dating choices away for tomorrow and study the TV. “What you playin’?”
“Call of Duty,” Harvey answers without looking up. “Want a turn?”
“Wouldn’t want to embarrass you with my incredible skill.” I stare dead-eyed at him until he laughs.
“Right on, old man. Whatever.”