“Surely they could’ve found someone down there?” Before the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back. I tried not to question their club stuff.
Angel simply grunted but didn’t reply. I decided to keep a still tongue.
My dad had joined them outside, and Ghost handed him a cold beer. To see him getting along with the guys he’d been so worried about was a good feeling. I had yet to tell Angel about my dad and his mom. There hadn’t ever seemed a good time to bring it up. Maybe it actually would be best if I let Dad tell him—when he was ready.
Angel stepped up behind me, and his strong arms slipped around me to cradle my baby bump. His chin rested on my shoulder.
“Shouldn’t you be cooking the food?” I teased.
He snorted a laugh. “Yeah, right, try to get Phoenix away from the grill.”
“We have a pretty amazing family, don’t we?” I said quietly, and I squeezed his arms tighter to my waist. My heart was so full, it was on the verge of bursting.
“Hell, yeah, we do.”
“Declan, I appreciate you guys taking Chains with you,” Venom said as they stood off to the side while everyone was eating.
“Hey, no problem. He’s helping us out because we’re in a bit of a bind, so I appreciate it. Anything I should know, though?” Declan asked as he raised his bottle to take a drink.
“Let’s say he just needs some time away from here to get his head straight,” Venom said as he shot a side-eye toward where Chains was talking with Blade and Kicker.
My teeth were grinding.
Chains hadn’t admitted to anything with Jasmine, but I wasn’t a fucking fool. When Voodoo suggested we send him to Flagstaff, I readily agreed. Because quite frankly, I was on the verge of punching him in the eye if he sent one more broody look in her direction.
Jasmine was finally acting more herself, but she still had moments where she closed herself off and wouldn’t interact. I’d walked in on a whispered argument between them a few weeks ago and confronted him, but he clammed up and wouldn’t tell me what was going on. Tensions had only increased since then.
Add to that, my father had started calling and stopping by, trying to get me or Jasmine to meet up with him. He looked like hell, but I couldn’t say it broke my heart. Neither of us had anything to say to him, but he wasn’t taking a hint.
“Well, he can stay as long as he needs to,” Declan replied. They started to discuss some shit that they had coming up when they got back, and I stepped away because Korrie’s dad was motioning me over.
He’d stepped to the corner of the yard to take a call but was now off the phone and rubbing his palm over his mouth nervously.
“What’s up?” I asked with a furrowed brow.
He shot a glance to where Korrie was laughing with the other ol’ ladies and they were doing the belly rub thing that girls always did. Okay, fine, I couldn’t keep my hands off her either. She was not only beautiful when she was pregnant, I was constantly in awe of the fact that she was carrying my child.
Again.
A shaking hand ran through his hair, causing it to stick up wildly. “Just got a call from an old friend. Eugenia was killed in prison last night.”
Keeping my expression blank, I stared at him. “Is that right?”
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” he asked me.
My brows rose in what I hoped was a proper show of surprise. “Now how would I know what’s going on with her? Korrie wrote her off.”
He held my gaze, then gave a partial shake of his head. “It might be a good idea if we don’t mention it to her right away. It’s my grandson’s birthday.”
“And she’s pregnant,” I solemnly added.
He raised a single brow and blinked. Innocently, I shrugged and took a drink of my beer.
“Sounds reasonable,” he finally agreed in a mild tone. “Except they’ll probably call to notify her today or tomorrow.”
“No they won’t. I got her a new phone and number last month.” I grinned.
We stood there quietly watching the woman we both loved as she laughed with her new extended family.