out loud. Meanwhile they pretended to be so upstanding and all of them had ugly, black souls and a pile of skeletons in their closets.
Patrice couldn’t wait to see her “parents’” faces when Detective Petit told them he was there to take them back to New Orleans to be charged with murder, and conspiracy to commit murder, and blackmail. She hated that it had come to this. She’d loved them...once. But the twenty-six years of lies, deception, and murder had wiped those feelings out and all she felt for them now was contempt. She had contempt for Bernie too, who could have taken care of this all twenty-six years earlier...but at least he was the lesser of the evils and the other two would finally pay for the beautiful life they’d not only snuffed out, but cheated Patrice out of as well.
Gabe parked the car across the street from the house where Patrice had grown up. The two of them got out and stood with their backs against it and watched as the detectives made their way up to the front door. Petit knocked and when the door was opened, Patrice could see the confused face of her uncle. Seconds later, she heard her aunt scream and then she watched them both be handcuffed and led towards the detectives’ car. Her “mother” was almost there when she looked across the street and her eyes met Patrice’s. For a few seconds their eyes were locked and Patrice searched for the remorse she still hoped might be there. Instead, all she saw was rage and if she wasn’t mistaken, her own dear “mother” might have called her a nasty name before she was tucked into the back of the car. Her uncle never made eye contact with her, but she stood there, waiting, until the car drove away back toward New Orleans. She would be there for their trial, and every hearing in between. She planned to do whatever she had to in order to make sure their money and her family name didn’t allow them to skate out of this.
Once the car turned the corner she looked at Gabe and smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything.” She knew he still had to face Blackheart and he would be the one to get an ass chewing, or worse, for her going to Shreveport and talking to Bernie before Blackheart had a chance to get there. But he didn’t seem to be worried about that. He’d put all of his time and effort into making sure she was okay. Even now, still limping on his bandaged foot, he came around the side of the car and put his arms around her. Hugging her tightly he whispered:
“I will do anything for you, anytime, anywhere.”
“I love you,” she whispered back.
“I love you too.” Gabe kissed her and when she broke the kiss she said:
“Did I hear your friend Chance was getting out of the hospital today?”
“Yep. He’s still toothless, but otherwise all better.” Patrice elbowed him lightly in the ribs.
“You’re not going to tease him about that, are you?”
“Hell, yes. It’s about time Pretty Boy wasn’t so pretty, and it’s his fault I nearly got my leg torn off by that gator, so I’ve got to give him hell about something.”
“He did all that for his girl, huh?” Gabe nodded and Patrice hugged him again. “I like it that you guys are so loyal.”
Gabe thought about all the guys back at the club. Most of them had sex with a different girl every night, and sometimes more than one. But he didn’t mind letting her believe they were all as loyal as him and Chance for now, because he never planned on letting her down. He nuzzled his face into her hair and inhaled. He loved the way she smelled. “You ready to go home?”
“Huh-uh. Let’s go make sure your friend doesn’t need anything. Maybe we can take them dinner or something.”
Gabe’s heart warmed. At first he’d been worried about her adjusting to club life and how much his brothers meant to him, but now he had a feeling that she was going to make a damned good old lady...except for the part where she wanted to stick her nose into club business. He chuckled silently and thought, “Her blue-eyed paw can deal with that.” They were definitely both forces to be reckoned with. “I think Chance and Sharon would like that.” She started to walk back around to her side of the car