tell him if he ever hits me again, I will find a way to pay him back.”
“He hit you?” gasped Laura. There was a long silence.
“Well no,” he admitted but the way he said it didn’t really convince her. Now she was unsure. “He came close a couple of times. I want to go back to our house and live our life. You can get your groove on all you want, but, last time I checked, the both of us inherited that house. I am not letting some biker dude kick me out.”
“Lucas,” Laura pleaded.
“Later,” he said.
“Lucas if you’re upset, I went on a date,” she began.
“No,” he replied. “I’m sorry if that’s what it sounded like. I am exhausted. I worked my ass off last night.”
Laura had to adjust to her kid brother cursing. “I am sure you did. That was a lot of work to accomplish in such a short period of time, but you should be proud of yourself you did it,” she said.
“I should be glad I kicked that guy’s ass,” he said. “I got to put the mixed martial arts stuff to good use.”
Laura sat up straight. “You mean all the stuff the Knights’ Disciples have been teaching you? You used that against that boy last night? Is that how it happened? You learned some stuff and then you set him up to send a message to the gang that Lucas Mills can take care of himself?”
“Bingo,” he replied.
“Lucas,” she scolded.
“You don’t have to live with the reputation of being a wuss, Laura. That’s death where a gang’s concerned.”
“You’re not member of a gang. You’re a member of the Knights’ Disciples or going to be,” she said.
“Look, I said I’m sorry for my attitude. I am about to hit the sack and get some sleep. Have a good time on your date. I am fine,” he said and he hung up the phone.
Laura did not have a good feeling. She too was burnt out. It was a great day, but they did so much in a short period of time on not the best sleep in the world. She was thinking she would go home after all. Maybe she would ask Will if they could go back to their old place. She was thinking they could have some of the club members camp there until they could sort things out. As beautiful as their suite was – and it was practically palatial – Laura just wanted to go home. She went over to an overstuff chair that had its own ottoman, put her feet up, and waited. She had fallen asleep when Will walked in the door. The sleep had been full and she wasn’t quite sure how long she had been out.
“Oh my gosh, what time is it?” she panicked.
He chuckled. “Not late. We just got here about twenty minutes ago. Is my baby exhausted?” he asked.
Suddenly Laura wasn’t sure if she liked him. Things turned for her that quickly. “No,” she said coldly. “It was just a simple question.”
He tilted his head to express his surprise for her tone. “You want to crawl into bed? You tired?” he asked. Laura was silent. She stared at the floor. “You want to go home?”
“I want to go to my house. My car is at your house. I want to go pick up Lucas and I just want to go home.”
Now he was silent. He studied her. “Can I ask what’s going on or do you feel like sharing that with me?” he asked.
“Did you hit Lucas?” she asked in an extremely restrained tone.
“No, I did not hit Lucas.” Will’s voice immediately had an edge. She had offended him. “Why don’t you say in complete thoughts and phrases what it is that is going on instead of inferring something by asking random questions, okay?”
“Boy, you are condescending,” she said.
In a word he chastised her. “Ohhhh.” Silence fell between them.
Any magic that they had felt up until they walked into Carl’s Little House was completely turned. Laura had completely forgotten that she and her brother had been targeted by a ruthless local street gang and Will Shriner was the lifeline to their protection from
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