“You know they’ll like anything you fix. Okay?”
“All right. If you’re sure.”
“I am. We better get started.” Killyama went to the door, and Train followed, carefully shutting the screen door behind them so it wouldn’t slam shut.
When he was sure her mother couldn’t hear them, Train said, “That can’t be your mother.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“I don’t know why everyone says that when they meet her.”
“You don’t see the differences?” Train lifted a mocking brow. “You’re twice her height, and I don’t think you inherited that attitude you carry around your shoulders from her.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Train jumped out of the way when a hammer fell between them. Looking up, he saw Hammer’s head peeking over the side of the roof.
“Sorry, it slipped out of my hand,” Hammer apologized.
Train wanted to throw it back at him but restrained himself. He waited beside Killyama as Hammer climbed down to retrieve his tool, politely giving it back handle first instead of burying it in the arrogant asshole’s head.
“Is it safe to leave you three working together while I mow?” She stepped between them as they stared at each other challengingly.
“It depends on whether you have another hammer I can defend myself with,” Train drawled. He wouldn’t make the first move to pick a fight with Hammer, but he would be damned if he backed away from one.
Jonas stood overhead with his hands on his hips, watching the standoff. From their contemptuous stance, both of them wanted a confrontation.
Killyama raised her voice. “I invited him here. You can deal with it or leave. If Mama doesn’t hear any work going on, she’ll be out here, wanting to know why.”
“Everything is fine. Go mow,” Hammer gritted out.
“That’s what I wanted to hear. I’m going inside to make some lemonade. All this testosterone is making me hot. Train, anytime you want to take that shirt off, feel free. It’ll give me something to stare at while I mow.”
Killyama was teasing, yet she didn’t go inside to make the lemonade until he nodded that he would ignore the men’s attempts to start a fight.
“The extra hammer is in the toolbox in the back of the Escalade,” Jonas called out as Hammer started climbing the ladder.
Train found the hammer before he followed, keeping a cautious eye for any other missiles to mysteriously go sailing over his head.
The men worked steadily, nailing down the shingles, while he wondered where the lemonade was. That’s when he heard the mower start and saw Killyama driving it through the grassy field.
“Hammer, Jonas, Train, I brought you something to drink.”
Train let Hammer and Jonas go first, worried they would accidently push the ladder over. Once he was safely on the ground, he took the lemonade Peyton handed him.
After Train thanked her, she blushed before going back inside.
“You hurt that little girl, the squad will be searching for two new members.” The warm smile Hammer had worn for Peyton dissolved.
“Killyama isn’t a little girl, and I have no intention of hurting her.”
“You think I’ve forgotten the women you and Shade bragged about fucking when we were on a mission? The times we visited you in Ohio, you weren’t hurting for company there, either. If you think Jonas is going to sit back and watch our girl getting the same treatment as those cunts you claimed for The Last Riders, you better buckle up, because it’s going to take more than a parachute to save you.”
Train set his drink down on the porch bannister, taking off his shirt then turning so Killyama could see his muscular back. “Killyama has no problem taking care of herself. The Last Riders have all tried to guess where she came by the skills to fight the way she does. You two have done an excellent job training her.” He paused before asking, “Which one of you is her father?”
“Crash’s skills let you down again?” Jonas scoffed at Train’s lame attempt to discover who her father was. “Let me make it easy for you. Neither Hammer nor I are her father. A day hasn’t gone by that I wish it were true, but she’s not.”
Train sighed. He had worked with them on missions for years, so he knew that, if Jonas said one of them wasn’t Killyama’s father, they weren’t. Ultimately, it didn’t matter. They considered her their daughter, blood or not.
“I’m not going to apologize for my past. I’m not the only man here who enjoyed a good time. The only reason you and Jonas haven’t settled down yet isn’t because you haven’t met the right women, but because both of you haven’t met the right woman. I can sling mud just as easily, or we can call a truce and admit we want what’s going to make Killyama happy. I promise to do that to the best of my ability, but if you’re expecting me to cut off my left nut to keep you two happy, then I guess we’re all shit out of luck.”