“WhichBishop?” I drag Andi back when she gets a little too enthusiastic and places herself between me and Eric’s gun. “Which Bishop, Eric? Because last I heard, they both bit it.”
“What happened to your leg?” Like he trusts my leg to keep me slow, he steps back and allows me to climb onto the porch. He looks me up and down, then arches his neck and studies Andi. “What happened to his leg?”
“Bear attack.” She shrugs. “It was so unfortunate, but that’s what happens when you steal a bear’s picnic lunch. Now we know.”
“Now we know.” Eric’s playful smile, the smile I remember from a few nights hanging with these guys, turns up a couple notches and extinguishes the flames in his eyes. “Seriously, what happened?”
“Hayes got me.” As soon as my words register in Eric’s brain, I tug Andi back when his gun hand flexes. “The night he took the sisters, I got hurt. A week after that, they took my leg before it killed me.”
“Nobody told us that,” he snaps. “Nobody told us shit. You need a…” He blows out a breath of uncertainty. “You need to sit or something? Need a hand?”
“Not a hand, but I could use a leg.”
“Riley?!” Andi smacks my arm and almost tackles me to the side when she throws her arms around my stomach. “Jesus, that was like, your first ever leg joke. You’ve got jokes.” She looks to Eric. “He’s got jokes!”
“Alright.” Chuckling, he drops his gun and pushes the front door wide open. “Whatever. I feel like a dick making you stand. Come in for a sec and sit down. I wanna hear your side of the story.”
“Which Bishop, Eric? I just got word, but don’t know which one is–”
“Jay’s gone.” As soon as I move through the front door, I stop on Kane standing at the bottom of the stairs in a similar position as me; with a hand clasped tightly in his, and a woman’s body tucked close behind his back. Jess Lenaghan is not meek or small, she’s the lawyer that was going to bat for this thug in the middle of a police station four months ago, but now she stays behind him. She’s not hiding, so much as she’s holding him close. She’s refusing to let him go. “Jay didn’t make it,” he repeats. “What are you doing here?”
“Jay’s gone?” It’s a standoff of men and women; me at the front door, Kane at the bottom of his stairs, and Eric in the middle. Kane’s girl is platinum blonde, and mine is raven haired. Kane’s world is dark and dangerous, and mine, before losing my leg, was light and as shallow as they come.
We’re opposites in every way.
But we still worked for the same team, and we both mourn for the same man. I mourned their deaths while I sat alone in a shitty hospital room and wished the same fate for myself, but now Kane’s back, and mourning for Jay starts all over again. Twice the potency. Twice the ache. “He didn’t make it?”
“Nope, but I don’t wanna talk about it. If you have nothing pressing to discuss right now, I’d rather you leave.”
“Jess?” Andi leans around me, clutches to my hand, and makes a silly face when Kane angles his body to shield her. “You okay back there? Are the barbarians holding you against your will? Or is it more of a sex slave thing where you need more private time after a few months apart?”
“I’m here because I want to be.” She steps around him,un-shielding herself, and making Kane scowl. “I just got him back, so maybe you could come back in a couple years. We’re not done catching up.”
“The sex thing.” Andi looks to me. “It’s the sex thing, so maybe we should respect their w–”
“I’m not here to take anyone away.” My leg aches from standing for so long without crutches or so much as a stick to lean on, and with my bodies’ attempts to shield Dee rather than use her to keep me up, sweat breaks out on my brow. “Can I sit for a minute? I’m about to fall on my ass, and I’d rather not do that here.”
“You could just get in the car and sit there,” Kane offers. “I bet that would be comfortable for you.”
“You’re really rude.” Andi points a finger, but when the thug lifts a dangerous brow, she changes her statement. “Okay, you’re a little bit rude. You don’t have to be rude.”
“I was dead until yesterday, Conner. My girl thought I was dead until yesterday. We’re not done talking.”
“How do you know my name?” She turns to me. “How does he know my name?”
“It’s their job to know who’s around. Don’t worry about it.” I pull her back again. “I’d really like a chance to talk, Bish. In my world, you were dead until three minutes ago. Now you’re back, but you’re telling me Jay is still dead. All I know is I was conscripted into a war I never started, found brothers in arms, lost those brothers, took a bullet to the belly, lost a leg, and now here we are, and I still have no fucking answers. My boss doesn’t trust me anymore. My leg is in a lab somewhere on its own. I nearly lost my girl because of my own shitty attitude. And today I find out you’re not dead at all.” I throw a hand up to distract myself from my shaking leg. Its about to fail. I’m about to drop and sprawl onto the hard floor. “I just want answers, Bish. I need closure.”
* * *
Ledto the living room when Kane gives him the go-ahead, Eric tosses bags and shit to the floor and makes space for Andi and I to sit. Kane leads Jess into the room, sits on the arm of the recliner to my left, and shields her some more when she slides onto the chair and brings her bare legs up.
“You get twenty minutes. That’s it. You ask your questions, then you leave. We don’t have beef, but Jess is my priority right now, and you’re getting in the way of that.”
“You stood in front of me,” Jess whispers. Leaning around Kane, her eyes meet mine. “You got shot right in front of me. I never asked if you were okay.”
“And the fact you took her bullets is the only reason you get your twenty minutes.” Kane’s dark eyes blaze. He’s like a cocaine addict, and he’s hanging out for his hit. Jess is his hit, and our turning up here has blocked him from getting it. “Ask your questions.”
“Jay?”