I sigh and stand, abandoning the Beetle I had been working on. Wiping my stained fingers on a rag beside me, I lean against the car with the phone wedged between my ear and shoulder.
“Tate,” I groan, knowing I’m about to get an earful from him
“Oh, so you do remember me then?” he snarks.
“Look, I’ve been busy working and dealing with this shit and—”
“I didn’t even know you were in danger, Reign.”
“I didn’t want you to worry. Plus, you are always so busy,” I explain.
“Don’t do that. Flip this around and tell me how you would feel if the shoe was on the other foot.”
Fuck, I would go loopy, and I hate it when he’s right. “Okay, fair point. I promise if anything else happens, I will call you.”
He’s quiet for a moment, likely trying to rein his temper in before he gets back to talking. “Are you doing okay? If you need to come stay with me for a little while, you can. You know I have the room—”
I cut him off. “Owen and Trav have already offered. And as I told them, if this escalates, I’ll take one of you up on that, but I really don’t want to leave my home if I can get away with it. It’s been a month since I received the letter. It’s been quiet since then and I’m being careful, I swear. Plus, I have this job now. The commute kind of puts you a little too far away for that to be ideal.”
He sighs but gives in. “Fine, but I’m coming over on Saturday and taking you for a steak dinner. It’s been ages since I’ve been home, but I finally have back-to-back shifts off.”
“Ooh, how can I say no to that? Is this a me-you thing or a family thing?” I question, trying to remember the last time we all managed to go out together. Heck, with two brothers stationed down in Florida, I can’t even remember the last time we were all in the same room.
“I’ll call the others, but you know what it’s like, their calendars are as crazy as mine. Plus, I want to see you with my own two eyes and make sure you really are okay, you know I can always tell. It’s the voodoo.”
I laugh at him, but he’s right. Ever since we’ve been kids, he’s been able to tell when I was lying. He called it his voodoo gift when he was younger, just to freak me out, and it stuck. Even now, all these years later. He always knows, which is going to be a big fucking problem because I’m not all right. Not even close. I can’t sleep. I constantly feel like I’m being watched, even though I never actually see anyone. It’s unnerving and after a month of this shit, it’s starting to wear me down.
I hear a beep in the background and when Tate curses, I assume it’s his SWAT pager. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”
“Stay safe,” I caution him, feeling that niggle of worry I always feel when that damn pager of his goes off.
“You too,” he tosses back before hanging up. I shove my phone in my pocket with a sigh. I both hate and love what he does. I guess I’m the same way with each of my brothers. I’m proud because they work so hard at something they believe in to keep people safe. But every day, I wonder if it could be the last time I hear from them, especially when it comes to Tate.
I’d never tell any of them that. My fears are my issues. And who the hell am I to come between them and doing something they love? But I don’t kid myself either—there have been days I wished I could have just rolled them all up in bubble wrap.
“Yo, Reign.”
I turn at the sound of Derek’s voice.
Derek is my new boss. “Hey, what’s up?” I ask.
“I was going to ask you if you placed that order with Dan for the head gasket because I can’t find a record of it. But now I’m wondering why you look like someone ran over your cat,” he queries in that gruff way of his.
I’d interviewed with eight garages before Derek hired me. As a qualified mechanic with a degree in mechanical engineering, I was more than capable of doing each of the jobs I applied for. Still, because I didn’t wear a penis for the