eyes as she whispered to her, rocking from side to side. Then, in a split second, her expression changed, and she lifted her head. Determination lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders as she handed Olive back to Farrah and kissed her mom quickly on the cheek.
Without a word to me, she strode out the front door. If I hadn’t turned back to Farrah in that exact moment, I would’ve missed the terror in her eyes as she watched her daughter leave. Within a heartbeat, her expression changed exactly the way Cecilia’s had, and her chin tipped up. Even though I’d noticed the resemblance between the two women before, for some reason, witnessing this moment rocked me.
“I’ll bring her home,” I told Farrah, kissing the side of her head with affection that I hadn’t felt in years. Leaning down further, I kissed Olive, too. “Be back soon, best friend.”
When I got outside, Casper was waiting for me at the hood of the moving truck.
“You hold back about five minutes,” he said. “Give us time to take separate routes and still casually meet up at our place before you.”
“Got it,” I said. “You put everything I need into the cab?”
“Everything,” Casper confirmed. “Down to the brass knuckles and the grenade, you crazy motherfucker.”
“I like to plan for any eventuality,” I replied, glancing at Cecilia’s pale face through the windshield.
“Just try not to fuck up my yard with that thing,” Casper griped as he stalked toward his bike. He turned back and grinned. “Be real careful on those curves near the house, yeah? Don’t take ’em too fast.”
I jerked my head in agreement.
Casper’s calm fed my own and I felt myself falling into a familiar zone as I opened the driver’s side door and climbed into the truck’s cab. Cecilia was still staring blankly out the windshield, and I gave her knee a squeeze as I bent down to pull my bag of supplies onto the seat between us. Opening it up, I matched the list in my head to the contents of the bag. Then I did it again as bikes fired up, and one by one, Aces left the safety of the compound.
I checked my watch.
Cecilia inhaled a long breath and let it out the same way, her hands fisted in her lap.
I started the truck and checked the gas gauge. Full.
I checked my watch again.
“Hey,” I said, getting CeeCee’s attention. She was grinding her teeth so hard that the tiny muscle in her cheek flexed when she turned to look at me.
I’d planned on saying something funny or dirty to soothe her nerves a little, but one look in her eyes, and I knew it wouldn’t even be possible. Instead, I reached out and wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and tugged her toward me until I could reach her mouth with mine.
The kiss was hot and deep and desperate and filthy from the moment our lips made contact, and I sucked the feeling deep, letting it set fires under my skin and sharpen my focus.
I didn’t let go of her neck as I pulled away from the kiss, keeping our faces only inches apart.
“Do exactly what we planned,” I said, my voice gravelly. “No matter what happens.”
She nodded.
“Give me the words, Cec,” I insisted.
“I’ll try,” she whispered back. “We have to go. Now.”
I closed my eyes in frustration and nodded as I let her go, the world tilting as I realized that, for the rest of my life, I was going to have a partner that didn’t make promises she couldn’t keep—even if it meant scaring the shit out of me.
Chapter 23
Cecilia
Taking a deep breath, I sat back in my seat, shifting a little as the vest I was wearing pressed uncomfortably against my waist. Its presence was more terrifying than comforting, because it reminded me of the large expanse of my body that it didn’t cover. It also told me that Mark’s team fully believed that what we were doing was going to work. I was about to be thrown into a situation that I felt fully unprepared for. I felt like a sacrificial lamb.
As we drove the familiar road between the club and my parents’ house, I glanced at Mark’s profile and got a feeling of déjà vu. How many times had we driven this particular stretch of road, racing to my house to be alone when I knew the house was empty?