“Of course. He’ll be fine. And they’ll love him,” she reassured me.
“Okay then,” I said with a happy curl of my lips. There was nothing in the world I loved more than my son. His happiness brought me happiness.
At my answer, he inhaled the rest of his food and jumped down.
“Hey,” I warned.
“Sorry. May I be excused?” The contrite tone of his little voice tugged at my heartstrings, but I was trying to raise him right.
“Of course. Thank you.”
He raced off to put his plate in the dishwasher where Kira showed him to put it. Then he left with her, full of suppressed excitement.
Boldly, I returned my attention to my former friend.
“Look, Jasmine. It’s been a really long few days. This is between me and your brother. What I will tell you is that things were manipulated between us years ago and neither one of us knew it. Now we’re gonna try to figure out how to work things so Angel can be in Trace’s life. Anything else is between us.” Done talking, I took care of my dishes. “I hope you and I can be friends again.”
Without waiting for her answer, I left the kitchen and found my way back to the rooms Angel had put me and Trace in. The windows were high, so while I could see daylight, it was difficult to look out.
Taking in the room, I thought about turning on the television, but nothing appealed to me. The shared bathroom between the two rooms was my next destination, and I splashed cool water over my face.
Deciding I needed a nice hot shower, I closed both doors and stripped. I dropped my head as the water heated up. Once steam rose from above the doors, I stepped in. Hot water washed over me, and I struggled to breathe. Too much had happened in too short of a time.
I’d been a strong woman. I’d dealt with a pregnancy and childbirth alone at the age of twenty. I’d raised my son to be a good person. At least, I believed I had done the best I could.
Fighting off his innuendos, his advances, his filth, I’d dealt with Lester Damon’s bullshit. For years. In fact, he was the sole reason I owned a gun—the one I’d shot Angel with.
I’d taken classes and became an excellent shot. Hell, I could shoot any gun put in my hands. It had become my single guilty pleasure.
Over the years, I’d dated a few times but nothing serious. None of them were someone I could see as a father figure for Trace. Maybe because none of them could live up to the memories I’d carried with me of his father.
Despite everything, I’d been a right badass. Until now.
I was crumbling, and I hated it.
“SendMeAnAngel”—HighlySuspect
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked the brothers already in the room. We’d grabbed Phoenix and Hawk from the dayroom as we went to the chapel.
“Let me call Raptor so he can fill you, Ghost, and Phoenix in on what went down while you were gone.” Voodoo pulled out his phone and made the call.
Hawk dropped to one of the chairs. “For once in my fucking life, I’d like shit to go smooth. Is that too much to ask?” he huffed and ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.
“Does this have to do with why the automatic gate is off?” I asked as I pulled up a chair.
“Yeah, it does” was all Hawk would admit. Facet appeared fidgety, and I knew it wasn’t good. Voodoo met my gaze when he hung up with Raptor and I knew he was carrying guilt for not telling me himself.
Raptor came in wiping his hands with a shop rag. It was still weird to see him with longer hair, and I almost chuckled despite the tension in the air. Squirrel slipped in and quietly sat at the table, and Kicker followed. Everyone else was at work or out of town.
“So this is unofficial since Venom is gone and several members can’t be here, but there have been some things that came up while you boys were gone.” Raptor looked tired. I knew he had his own shit going on with his ex and their kid, and stepping up into Venom’s shoes added to it. I imagined it was probably wearing on him, and I truly felt his pain.
“Yeah?” Ghost prompted.
Raptor’s gaze shot to me. “You need to chill when I tell you this.”
Not words that were comforting, so of course I was immediately on edge. I nodded, hoping I could control myself at whatever he had to say.
“Your sister’s apartment was ransacked. We haven’t told her. Whoever your dad is into for the money seems to be lower echelon of someone bigger. No real intel skills or they would’ve known she was supposed to be out of town. Then again, maybe they found out she didn’t go to Hawaii and were looking for clues as to where she is. Your father also stopped by again demanding to see you. We told him you didn’t want to talk,” Raptor said, then leaned his forearms on the table.