“Leukemia. He was ten, she was twelve.”
Shit. Well, he’d asked. “Are her parents in Mercy too?”
Sawyer sent him a cynical smile. “Her father is, but he checked out of all their lives when her mother died. Come on, let’s go.”
Kai was about to ask more, but then he realized that he was being far too curious about her life. He didn’t need to know about her family set-up, and he shouldn’t care. Emotional distance, Manning. Heard about the concept, bud?
Jack followed their progress as they moved down the bar, but before they reached Flick and Pippa he lifted his hand to grab their attention. They stopped and Kai immediately noticed Jack’s hands were flat on the bar. He did an internal eye roll when Jack jerked his head, silently ordering him to step forward.
God, he was too old for this shit. He narrowed his eyes at Flick's brother. He’d allow him a certain amount of leeway—he understood the concept of big brothers being protective of little sisters—but if he swung he’d take him down.
Jack leaned across the bar to get up close and personal. “You’d better tread lightly, dude, because we’re watching you. You cause her to break so much as a nail and you’re history.”
Kai understood a threat when he heard one and he generally didn’t respond well to them. He thought about telling Jack that he could try but quickly realized he’d be adding gas to an already hot fire.
Mercy was his place of business, he was already being gossiped about and, yeah, he was too old for this shit. Besides, while he might not have any siblings, he had Sawyer and Axl, and he’d hurt anyone who hurt them. And Reagan was the closest he had to a sister and he’d obliterate anyone who hurt her, so, on that basis, he decided to cut Jake a little slack.
He gave Jack a brief nod. “Understood.”
“Good. Want a beer?” Jack asked. And the matter was over—unless, of course, he did something to cause Flick to break a nail. He wouldn’t because he was going to avoid the damn woman as much as possible.
When they reached the corner of the bar, Sawyer introduced Kai to Pippa. Kai opened his mouth to greet Flick as well but she leaned across Pippa and grabbed the tail of his shirt to yank him to her side.
“Hello to you too,” he drawled.
“You’re supposed to be gone!” she hissed. “You said you were leaving.”
“I was, but my plans changed at the last minute.”
“What happened?” Flick demanded in a frustrated whisper. “The only reason we—I…you know—did what we did, was because you were leaving!”
“Sawyer needs to leave town, so I need to stay,” Kai said, his voice low and directed so that she was the only one who could hear it.
lick looked horrified and his ego deflated a point or two. "For how long?" she demanded.
"At least two weeks, that's how long Sawyer will be away for."
Flick sent Sawyer a quick look and frowned. “Where’s he going?”
Kai took a sip from his beer bottle. “If he wants you to know then I’m sure he’ll tell you.”
“That’s annoying.” Flick placed her glass on the bar and rolled her head on her shoulders. She lifted her head, looked at Sawyer, and raised her voice. “Why are you leaving town, bud?”
Pain-filtered annoyance flicked into his friend’s eyes, although his face remained inscrutable. “Doug.”
It was just one word but the groans from Jack and the two women told Kai that they were familiar with Sawyer’s family problems. They were probably more connected to him than he was. Why did that make him feel envious, even just a little bit? They lived here, shared his time, ate with him, and socialized with him. He didn’t. His choice.
“Possession again?” Flick asked the question quietly, compassion in her voice.
Over her head, Sawyer’s eyes met his, and Kai expected him to explain. Sawyer just smiled tightly and nodded. “Yeah.”
Kai understood Sawyer’s reticence, there was no point in explaining the rape charges until he'd gathered all the facts. In truth, he wouldn’t have even explained why he was leaving town. Sawyer’s communication skills were far superior to his.
“The kid needs his ass kicked,” Jack grumbled from behind the bar.
“Probably. Can we talk about something else?” Sawyer asked, his shoulders so tight that they were halfway up to his ears.
Flick smiled sympathetically and nodded. Unfortunately, her idea of changing the subject was to turn her attention onto him. “You broke my dog!”