“What happened?”Quinn asked.
“Clive, the club’s sergeant-at-arms, staked a claim on Joy when she wasn’t even legal yet.Raped her.Told everyone in the club she was his.It happened while we were out partying and being stupid.That night fucked everything up between her and Dane, who’d been dating on the down low.And me, who’d been perving on her, wishing I was Dane and…well, you know most of the rest.Everything imploded and we volunteered to go overseas.We’ve let her down so many fucking times…” Walker put his face in his hands and leaned his elbows on the table.The stakes were so much higher now that Joy was here, willing to walk away,andshe had a child.
There could be no more mistakes.
Either by them entangling her in their affairs, or by deserting her when they shouldn’t.
Every time he and Dane had shared a woman, Walker had imagined she was Joy.It was one reason he’d insisted they never sleep with the same woman more than once.It wasn’t fair to act like he wanted a relationship with anyone other than the single person they couldn’t have.
And as for Dane, Walker suspected the other guy went along with their arrangement because he didn’t trust himself to take care of his partner.Not since Clive had attacked Joy, and shattered Dane’s confidence along with his sense of self-worth.
They were a hot fucking mess.All of them.
“You have a chance to make it right now,” Trevon said quietly.
“Maybe we would if it was only up to us, but there’s more going on.”Walker stood and began to pace.“My dear old dad is pissed that I don’t want to follow in his footsteps.He has this twisted way of thinking, or maybe it’s true in his world, about the importance of reputations.And by leaving…he feels I’ve taken away some of his clout.What does it say that his own son doesn’t care to be part of his empire, you know?And now that Joy bailed too, it looks twice as bad.He’s not going to stand for that kind of disrespect.”
“Sounds like he needs to get over himself,” Kason said.
“Maybe, but you guys need to be aware that if we stay, there’s a chance shit could get ugly.I don’t want to bring trouble to Hot Rides, or Middletown for that matter.”Walker got to the point he’d been working up to.It hurt to admit it, but they had a right to know the truth and decide what to do about it up front.
“You’renot doing anything except trying to live your life in peace,” Quinn said.“If your father or people from his organization bring trouble, then we’ll deal with them.The three of you and that precious baby better not be going anywhere or I’ll be the one who takes offense.Not because I’ll feel slighted or because of some petty ego-stroking bullshit.But because you belong here.With us.”
Relief flooded Walker’s veins, making his knees wobble as Quinn spoke his own feelings aloud.They truly were in sync.Thank God.
Gavyn was grinning at Quinn.“Sometimes you remind me so much of your brother, kid.Barracuda would be proud, you know.No, heisproud of the man you’ve become.”
“Thanks,” Quinn said with a hint of a boyish smile.“But seriously, we can take care of ourselves, and those around us.I hope you know that by now, Walker.”
Kyra nodded at that.“After everything that happened to me, I can promise I never felt as safe as when I was here.Hopefully Joy will come to know that security as well.”
Van turned toward Walker and said, “Between me and Jordan, we can be proactive.We have plenty of staff and he has connections.We’ll beef up security at the two shops until we see how things are going to play out.Sound good?”
“Yeah, absolutely.”Walker breathed deep for the first time since Joy had walked through the garage door.If they stuck together, they just might be able to pull this off.
Van ran the security team for Kason Cox and the rest of his band.Jordan, given his background and his intimate relationship with the lead singer, had recently taken over personally guarding Kason’s body while Van focused on protecting Kyra.Even Walker and Dane had lent a hand until her stalker had been apprehended.
Jordan leaned in.“Long term, exposing Wildfire and helping bring them down once and for all is going to be the best protection you can buy yourself.If you’re willing to talk, I probably know some people who would like to listen to what you have to say about the workings of your father’s operation.Set him up for some RICO stuff, you know?Your call.I know that could make things worse temporarily, but…it could be the way out for good.”
Walker would have to think about that.
The long pause in their conversation started to turn awkward.
“Okay, so…what other excuses do you have?Let’s hear them so we can tell you why you’re being stupid.”Wren laughed, drawing appreciative glances from Jordan and Kason.“Look, Jordan was pretty much the king of denial and I eventually cracked him.I can wear you down too.”
“Hey—” Jordan acted offended though they all knew it was true.
Except Walker’s objections weren’t excuses if they were real issues.He didn’t mind sharing another with his friends.Hopefully they could help him find a way around each of the things that had seemed insurmountable to him in the dead of night.This one might be trickiest of all.
“Joy’s worried about making it on her own.She resents accepting help from us.She’s stubborn as fuck.”Walker clenched his teeth.In fact, the only person he knew that was more hardheaded than himself was Joy.If she put her foot down about taking handouts, he wouldn’t be able to give her a damn thing.“Thing is, she’s also super sheltered.In Wildfire she was essentially a trophy, and doesn’t really have anything to fall back on when it comes to experience or getting a job.”
“Well, I have a solution for that.”Devra grinned.“I’ll be looking for servers for the restaurant soon.I’d like to have our grand opening in about two months.If that’s not too short of a maternity leave for her, she doesn’t mind working hard for crappy pay, she thinks she can put up with a mouthy Yemeni woman as a boss, and doesn’t mind eating a ton of food I’m going to beg her to taste-test because I’m paranoid and only want the best for the restaurant…she should consider herself hired.”
“Seriously?”Walker stood, unable to contain his excitement.“You would do that on my word alone?”
“Hell yes.”Devra smiled kind of sadly as she looked over at her husband, Trevon.“We know what it’s like to face hard times.If Quinn hadn’t taken a chance on us and hired Trevon, who knows where we’d be today?It would mean a lot to me if I could give someone else an opportunity to steer their life in the direction they’d like to go.”
Walker didn’t mean to crush her, but he wrapped Devra in a hug tight enough that she squeaked.He lifted her and swung her around, relieved and ecstatic that he could have at least that bit of good news to give Joy when he returned.