much to him. I shouldn’t have mattered that much. But I did because he was right about one thing. I was meant to be his and he was always meant to be mine too. There was no denying that after all of our years together and the ones we spent wishing we were.
Chapter 6
Two Weeks
Ever
The sound of a motorcycle rumbling into my driveaway used to bring me comfort knowing that my man was coming home once again. Unfortunately, I knew the sound his bike made and while close, the one that pulled into my driveway wasn’t it. I glanced out the window to see my brother-in-law, Jay, kicking his stand down and climbing off of his Harley after shutting it down. My stomach dipped with the disappointment I felt. I also wondered what it meant. Christina and Jay still lived in North Georgia, about five hours away from here, so the fact that he was here couldn’t mean good things.
“Ever,” he called out as I moved to open the front door for him.
“Jay,” I responded as he moved inside and immediately pulled me into a hug.
“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner. Dad just told me a couple of days ago and I had to get someone to cover for me on the tour.” Jay worked security for Redemption Inc., a company run by the female motorcycle club his wife was a member of. The type of security he specialized in was concert security, more to the point, personal concert security for some pretty big headlining bands.
“You didn’t have to come,” I told him.
“I did, and we both know it.” He leaned back and took in my appearance. “Have you been getting any sleep at all?” I knew what he was seeing. The dark circles under my eyes had become a part of my normal, everyday appearance. My unbrushed hair was just another example of how I was letting myself go in favor of taking care of the girls and worrying over my husband. Hell, I hadn’t even been to work in the past two weeks. The guys had been good about getting my appointments rescheduled or taking on some of my clients when they were able. We had a new woman in the studio, Sarah Pienaar, who was pretty close to my own style of art, so she had actually picked up quite a few of them. I just glanced around desperately, hoping the room would have something for me to tell Jay, because honestly, there were no words left in my brain. Just worry.
“What the hell am I supposed to tell my kids?”
“Just be patient,” he tried to soothe. “We found evidence that he’s still alive,” my brother-in-law informed me. At least it was more than anyone else had bothered to share in the past couple of days.
“Be patient?” I asked him. “Their father was supposed to be home weeks ago. How do you think I should explain that to your nieces, Jay?”
He sighed heavily. “I don’t know what to tell you here. We have evidence that my brother is alive and being held by The Trinity Group somewhere. I don’t know much more than that, but it’s better than nothing. We’re working on finding him, Ev. We won’t give up, I promise.”
I rolled my eyes, hearing yet another promise form one more person who had let me down over the years. I hoped he was right though because I sincerely didn’t know what in the hell I was going to tell my kids if their father never made it back to us. Hell, I didn’t know what I was going to tell my heart. I couldn’t lose him. Deck was my everything.
“I know my word doesn’t mean shit to you. I know that you may have forgiven me and moved past everything, but that doesn’t mean you ever have to trust me again. I get it. He’s my brother though. I already lost one brother to stupid club bullshit. I’m not about to lose another. Even if you don’t trust that I’d keep my word for you, trust that I would keep it for him, for my nieces, and for the little one you’re growing in your belly. I will do whatever is in my power to bring Deck back home where he belongs. While I’m in town, if you need anything, you let me know right away!” Once he said his peace, Jay didn’t stick around. Instead, he took off, most likely heading for the clubhouse. I