Right now, he’s only in a pair of jeans, not even wearing a shirt, and it takes everything in me not to attack him. I shake my thoughts away because if we go again, I surely won’t be walking right tomorrow.
Seventeen
Leo
“That motherfucking cocksucker. This has Robert Sutton written all over it.” I’m on a conference call with Drake and Slade, letting them know the latest.
“Yep, it does, but in about another two hours, Robert and Cynthia Sutton will be getting nice new silver bracelets,” I hear Bridger interject. He must have walked in when I was having a shit fit.
“I hope those dumbasses don’t get away. It seems to always happen to the people who should be in jail the most. I can’t believe they actually thought unenrolling her would give them enough cash to flee.”
“True enough, but they aren’t going anywhere besides an escorted car, where they’ll be hooked and booked. Cynthia might get off with less charges though. You might want to prepare Tins for that. I have a sinking suspicion she’ll be her first call, before she calls an attorney even,” Slade grunts.
“That won’t be fucking happening. Can Easton redirect the phone call?” Drake takes over the conversation.
“Wait a second, I’m all for redirecting the call. But you know as well as I do that if we take this over without at least letting Tinsley know, the wrath it will create.” I’m apparently the only level-headed guy on this call.
“You are not wrong, brother,” Slade says. I’m shocked he understood where I’m coming from, and him using brother as well. I know there’ve been times Slade didn’t trust me, especially with Taylor’s case. It was only when I took a bullet for her that he realized my days of fucking around were over. The funny thing is, taking this case, or what was once a case, really solidified how much of a brotherhood we all share.
I told Tinsley about my past, how I fucked around even after they brought me into the fold. She wasn’t wrong when she told me I needed to forgive myself. These guys don’t hold grudges, and the past is just that—the fucking past.
“We’ll sit tight, turn the news on, and see if we don’t have a reason to celebrate tonight. Did Easton find out who was being paid to take the hit?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s taken care of. It wasn’t cheap and we owe him, which let me tell you, I don’t really want to owe him shit. There was nothing else we could offer him though. He’s got more money than all of us, including Tinsley combined. We’ll just have to see when he cashes in.” I can hear the annoyance in Slade’s tone. Something tells me it’s going to suck when that happens.
“Thanks, guys, I know this is a lot to take on. Especially with your busy lives. We’ll have you guys over again soon, or maybe we can go out to Travis and Raelynn’s place. Tinsley was saying they have this new thing called goat yoga. She mentioned it before but hasn’t brought it up recently. It’s supposed to help younger kids too. I think these girls might be more dangerous to our wallets than the hit man.” I chuckle thinking about all the plans Tinsley has been talking about. She knows her inheritance is coming, and instead of putting it away for her future or investing to make even more money, she’s talking about opening up a children’s center for boys and girls, using farm animals to help them heal from emotional and physical abuse, or the rare case where their parents are working, and they have no place to go. I truly think she may need to switch to completely different majors. Writing is something I can see her doing, but her true passion is helping others. Much like she needed after her grandfather passed away, when she told me about him and how he never truly loved again after her grandmother passed away ten years before.
I know for a fact if I ever lost Tinsley, I’d never find someone else either. She’s more than my world—she’s my whole damn atmosphere.
“We’re always here for you, baby brother,” Drake says, causing me to laugh. I may be the baby, but we match size for size.
“Aww, that’s so sweet, you calling him baby brother,” Bridger runs his mouth, something he does frequently. No one takes him literally until he’s actually being serious. “But he’s right. We’re all here for each other.”
“Yep, I told you from the beginning, we’re a brotherhood. Just because it’s not by blood doesn’t make it any less true,” Slade states before we all get off the phone.
My next task will be letting Tinsley know what we need to brace for. Hopefully, this will be the last hit she’ll have to deal with.