I throw a pineapple at him this time, and I aim lower.
His scream is so worth it.
“Say forbidden one more time and next time it’s going to be a watermelon,” I threaten.
“I didn’t realize you were so violent,” he says from the floor, cupping his nuts.
“Really? She shot Georgia in the foot,” Chains reminds him, then picks up the banana from the floor and starts eating it.
“Hey,” I say when Temper appears. “Where did you go?”
“Your father just called,” he admits, coming to the counter and standing between my legs.
“Why would he call you?” I ask, frowning. “Is he okay? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened, to him anyway. He asked me to open the gate to let him in.”
“He’s here?” I ask, brow furrowing. He lifts me off the table and I follow him to the front door.
“Yeah, said he has something to tell us.”
I’m confused, but curious. Temper said nothing is wrong, but it’s not like Grayson just drops into the clubhouse to have coffee.
I stand at the open door while Temper opens the gate, Grayson’s BMW parking amongst the Knights’ motorcycles and cars. When he gets out, he looks so out of place here, dressed in a sharp black suit.
“Hey,” I say as he approaches. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“A place I never thought I’d be,” he admits. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
I nod, and lead him through the house and out the back door, Temper close behind us. As we all sit outside, I ask him if he wants a beer.
“No thank you,” he replies, eyes softening. “I was wondering if you could tell Skylar to come here, because she needs to be here to hear this.”
“Of course,” I say, and send her a quick message. As far as I know, she’s here and in her room, but a text is still the quickest way to contact anyone in this place. She replies that she will be out in a second.
If Skylar needs to be here, I can think of only one person who ties us all together.
“Is this about Georgia? Did she say something else about me? Is she going to come into work and fly kick me or something?”
“There will be no fly kicking,” he replies in low, serious tone.
Skylar opens the sliding door and sticks her head outside. “Hey, is everything okay?” Her eyes widen when she sees Grayson sitting there. “Hello, there’s a face I didn’t expect to see.”
“Hello, Skylar,” Grayson replies.
I pull out the chair next to me, and she drops into it, a concerned expression on her face. “Okay, you guys are scaring me now. What has happened?”
“It’s your mom,” he says before clearing his throat. “She’s dead.”
Everything and everyone goes silent.
Skylar wraps her arms around herself, brows drawing together. “How?”
I’m wondering the exact same thing. I look at Temper, whose expression is blank, his eyes already on me, watching me.
Grayson said he would take care of things for me.
He wouldn’t have, would he?
“Car crash,” Grayson says, reaching out and touching Skylar’s shoulder. “They found her body this morning near her hotel. She must have been driving home from somewhere.”
I don’t know what to say right now. I mean, I’m not sad by any means. This woman was a threat to everything that I love.
“Are you okay?” I ask Skylar, wrapping my arm around her and offering my support. I can’t imagine how she’s feeling.
“I will be,” she replies with a sad smile.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing, and Georgia isn’t even my mother. This woman was quite the enigma, and nobody could bring her down because of who she was, but now she simply dies in a car crash?
“I don’t even know what to say.” She sighs, rubbing her face. “Was it really an accident?”
She’s asking Grayson what I want to know but didn’t want to ask