I don’t wait around for anything else, but I hear yelling as soon as the heavy wooden door is closed. Completely unnecessary for me to be in there. I know Zane is trying to prove to me I belong, but this is a little too much. I don’t need to be at that table.
The idea of putting my house on the market has my stomach in knots. It means my father will surely come around because his name is on the house, too. He’ll be notified, if he hasn’t already. I knew the calm lately was too good to be true.
“Everything alright,” Ivy asks as soon as I walk back.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” I say, sitting down.
Finn walks over and squats down next to me. “What do you need?”
“Peace, Finn, I need fucking peace.”
“Will a shot help in the meantime?” His green eyes are almost sad looking at me.
I nod and he gets up. Zane has been giving him such a hard time, but he doesn’t deserve it. It wasn’t just him I was able to get past, Zane and Kace slept through it, too. I know Finn feels the guilt of it and I’ve told Z that. He’s not as easily convinced that Finn feels guilty. Seeing him rush me a shot right now, makes me want to talk to Zane again.
“Thanks, Finn.”
He gives both Ivy and me a shot and we toss it back. She lights a cigarette and I close my eyes. “Seriously, Harper, I know you can’t tell me much, but are you alright?”
I open my eyes and look at her. “No, I’m not alright. I am just getting back to myself and my past is still knocking me down. When the fuck is my happily ever after gonna come?”
She smiles as she takes a drag of her cigarette. “Do you really believe in that?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
She lifts her shoulders. “I’ve never seen anyone get one, but I want to believe it happens. If you and Zane can get one, maybe I stand half a chance.”
“Yeah, I want to believe but it’s hard when shit is always burning down around me.”
Peace and happily ever after. Two things I’d love to have but seem to always be out of reach. It makes
me wonder if either truly do exist.
9
Zane
I’ve been watching Harper sleep for hours now. When she told me she found the picture, the smile on her face was everything. But, when I saw all the pictures she hung up in the living room, it got to me. It means a lot that she was thinking of me as much as I was thinking of her. I’m too restless to sleep, so I kiss her temple and go out into the living room. Kace is awake and I look around for Ivy.
“She’s asleep in the guest room,” Kace says.
I nod and sit down. “Why are you up?”
“I don’t fucking know, brother,” he says, scrubbing his face.
“You don’t know, or you don’t wanna talk about it?” I ask.
He rests his muscular arms behind his head and grins. “Don’t wanna talk about it. Why the fuck are you awake?”
“Too much shit on my mind,” I say, lighting a joint. “We need to find out where the fuck these notes are coming from. I don’t think it’s Kingsley, but we still need to figure out why he had his crew attack our innocents. Why the hell hasn’t Brooks been on top of that shit?”
He grabs the joint I pass him, taking a hit. “I don’t fucking know. Maybe you should bring it up tomorrow.”
Everything I bring up is shot down lately. Brooks seems to be spending less and less time at Souls and it has me curious. Shit just isn’t fitting together. He says he wants Kingsley dead, but isn’t actively trying to do anything to find him. He doesn’t seem to care about the notes and he’s all but forgotten about the Vegas Kings tying up our innocents. The more I think about it all, the more pissed off I get.
“Where’s your head at?” Kace asks, breaking my thoughts.
“I feel like we’re missing something. There is something going on with Brooks,” I say.