but Echo felt it. We all did but Echo especially. He had to step up and be our parent. They both left us.”
“Yep, they did,” Gordy said evenly. “They both left and in doing so they inadvertently gave you and your brothers something special. They gave the four of you an unbreakable bond. It goes beyond biology and is rooted in unwavering loyalty. Think about that. The four of you took loss and pain and turned it into beauty. The four of you built an indestructible foundation. Echo gave you that, Sunny. Now you need to learn how to build on it.”
Gordy was correct about one thing for certain—Echo had given me a lot. He’d given his whole life to supporting me, River, and Phoenix. He was our rock, our shield, our shoulder. And I was no longer going to allow him to stand in front of us. It was time for me to step up and stand beside him.
A chill swept over me and it was terrifying.
Completely.
I desperately wanted to fire my barbs. I wanted to call up nasty words that would wound Gordy and make him leave. I wanted to aim all the pent-up hostility inside of me and lash out.
But I couldn’t.
I. Could. Not.
Fucking hell.
Why couldn’t I?
“I dream about Penelope and her dad,” I rushed out. “Not every night. But a lot. I dream about Clive Hutchinson begging me to save his daughter. Then I see him on his knees screaming with blood spattered on his face. He’s covered in her blood.”
“God, Sunny.”
Tortured.
Gordy sounded utterly tortured.
Did friends gut their friends because they couldn’t keep their issues to themselves?
Then J.D. “Gordy” Gordon did something he had never done before. He wrapped his arms around me and crushed me to his chest. His chin tucked and he rested his cheek on the top of my head.
“Jesus Christ. Why didn’t you say anything?”
Shit, now he sounded mad.
“Scratch that, I know why you didn’t say anything. I hope what’s happening here is sinking in, woman. We waited, all of us, for you to give us some indication you were ready for us to push you to open up. You bringing Luke to dinner the other night was the sign we needed. You’ve opened yourself up to him, and while he’s keeping you busy dodging his bullets, we’re gonna sneak in. No more shutting us out. No more bullshit. You’ve gotta trust us with more than your life. And I know that sounds all sort of screwed up but we know you’d catch a bullet for us but you wouldn’t dream of leaning on us for help. That changes now. You can be as bitchy as you want and we’re not backing off this time.”
“Okay.”
Okay? What the hell? Am I crazy?
“Okay, Sunny. I feel it’s important that right now we talk about these dreams. Give Luke a call and tell him I’m taking you out for breakfast.”
“Gordy—”
“No. This isn’t important, it’s im-port-ant. As in, you’re not outta my sight until we go over this. It’s been fuckin’ with your head for months. We’re talking this out.”
Hard. Impassable.
Damn.
“Okay. I’ll follow you and call Luke on the way.”
Gordy gave me a squeeze and let me go.
“Mable’s?”
“As if I’d participate in a heart-to-heart under extreme duress without a stack of chocolate buttermilk pancakes and scrapple.”
Gordy wrinkled his nose.
“You know the rules. No mystery meat at the table.”
“You’re breaking your rule. If you want me to spill my guts, I need high in cholesterol meat products.”
“Whatever,” Gordy grumbled, then ambled to his SUV.
I watched him walk away.
His shoulders were slumped, his head hung, and his gait quick.
Damn.
19
“Yo, Luke,” Drake called my name.
I stopped and took a step backward to the doorway of the conference room.
Jason, Nick, Carter, Drake, Brady, and Hadley were all sitting around the table.
An executive meeting. Or was it a shareholders’ meeting? Whatever it was called the five of them were essentially my bosses. Though Brady was my direct superior since he handled all of the training and that was my main job. There were times I was pulled in for other things like helping Ethan but thankfully that was rare. Sitting in an office wasn’t my favorite thing to do.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Good work on the Harper case,” Nick said.
“Wasn’t much to do on my part. Dylan got the intel.”
Nick shook his head and smiled. “Y’all are the same. None of you like to take credit.”
I didn’t need to ask who “y’all” was. Nick was referring to Matt, Logan, Trey, Drake,