Now he had a team of eight, not counting the three who did background checks and other searches, and his clerical staff of two. “What I might’ve lost in technique I’ve gained in motivation,” he said.
“And you think I care? Come on—blood in, blood out. You know how the game’s played. Winner takes all, Skin.”
Virgil winced at his old nickname. It reminded him of the years he’d been driven by rage, rage not so different from what he was feeling right now. “Call Ink off and let bygones be bygones, or I’ll bring the fight to your front door, and then it’ll be too late for peace.”
“Ink?
That broken-down crazy bastard had already caused too much damage. “He’s one of yours. You need to do something about him before this goes any farther.”
“There’s nothing I can do. Your sister’s probably already dead.”
Fighting a sudden impulse to break something, Virgil returned to the window and let his forehead fall against the glass. “For your own sake, you’d better hope that’s not true.”
“I’m not scared of you, Skin. You want me? Come get me. If you show up here it’ll save me the trouble of finding you.” He lowered his voice. “Because I
Something inside him snapped. Whirling, Virgil threw the first object he could grab, which happened to be his stapler. It landed against the wall, creating a sizable dent and a loud thud. “You won’t touch anyone else. You won’t have the chance,” he said, and hung up.
Sandra, his administrative assistant knocked at the door. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Covering his face, he stood perfectly still, grappling for control before he threw something else. She knew his background, his real name. He’d told her so she’d be extra careful about releasing any of his personal information to people who called, but she’d probably never really believed the threat he lived with. Most people couldn’t even fathom what it was like.
“Can you hear me?” she asked, louder.
“Oh. Good. Okay. Well, did you want to go over those contracts with me now?”
“No.” He couldn’t think about business. He couldn’t think about anything except the fact that he’d have to leave right away, despite the impending birth of his daughter. He had to stop The Crew before anyone else got hurt. It might mean he’d miss the delivery, but he had no choice. Neither he nor Laurel was in a position to run again. If he couldn’t convince Horse to bury the hatchet, he had to stop him some other way, even if it meant putting a bullet in his head.
His assistant knocked again. He’d assumed she’d gone back to her desk. “What now?”
There was a brief hesitation. No doubt she was surprised. He never treated her rudely.
“Have I done something wrong?” she asked.
He cursed under his breath but managed a solid, “No, it’s me. I’m sorry.”
That seemed to make it better. Her voice sounded more strident when she spoke again. “Mr. Winn is here. He’d like to see you.”
Mr. Winn owned a liquor store and wanted to beef up security beyond the single guard Virgil provided on weekends. “Tell him I’m dealing with a family emergency and won’t be able to meet today.”
There was a pause and then a drawn out, “Okay…”
“And, Sandra?” he said before she could move away.
“Yes?”
“Clear my calendar. I’m going to be gone for a couple of days.”
At this she opened the door and peered into the room, her face flushed with excitement. “Is it the baby? Is your wife in labor?”
He prayed Peyton could manage on her own and that nothing would happen to their daughter. Or their son. Or anyone else he loved. As soon as he dropped off Laurel’s kids, Rex would be flying back to Montana to look out for Laurel, and Virgil would be in L.A. He’d have to move Peyton, Brady, Jake and Mia into a motel until he could get back. They could order room service and swim in a heated pool. That was the upside. The downside was that he didn’t know how long he’d have to be gone. “Not yet.”
Sandra’s smile faded as she glanced at the damage the stapler had done to the wall. “So…where are you going?”
“I have a job to do.”
“A protection job?”
“Yes.”
Nonplussed, she let go of the handle and the door swung wider. “But we don’t have any jobs scheduled for out of town. You haven’t accepted one of those in weeks.”
“I can’t get out of this.”
“Is it what you were telling me about before? About…the people in L.A.?”
With a nod, he grabbed his keys, left the stapler where it had fallen and walked right past Mr. Winn before taking the stairs two at a time and hurrying into the parking lot. Breaking the news to Peyton wasn’t going to be easy. But he had to get on the next available flight.
22
While Myles went upstairs to change out of his uniform, Vivian walked around the main floor. Except for the section of living room visible from the front door, she’d never seen the inside of his house before. The coziness of it, the family portraits, the ceramics and drawings Marley had created, reminded her of what so many women wanted—a home and family, a steady relationship, a place to call their own, safety and security. Even the expansive, unused deck out back appealed to Vivian because it symbolized a man’s love for his wife— Myles’s commitment to Amber Rose as he cared for her in those last months.
Vivian wanted the same kind of love and commitment. And from the same man. Sure, she’d stayed in Pineview because of Claire, the gals at the Thursday-night book group, Myles’s daughter, who was so willing to babysit, Nana Vera and all the others. She’d also stayed because she loved her home, and her children were happy here. But all these things wouldn’t have been enough, wouldn’t have motivated her to take the risks she was taking now. It was Sheriff King she hadn’t been able to leave. She was afraid she’d never meet another man like him, one who so closely fit her ideal of what a husband and father should be. If not for him, she probably would’ve gone to New York and considered herself lucky to have escaped The Crew yet again, lucky to be reunited with her brother.
But living near Virgil didn’t hold the same attraction if it meant living without Myles. She’d fantasized about the sheriff far too many times to walk away from the hope that’d taken root inside her, especially after making love with him at the cabin. Maybe she’d chased that desire into a corner, but it was still there. Despite all her denials, she’d allowed herself to believe, at least on some level, that they had a chance of becoming a couple. She was fighting for that chance, fighting to establish the family she’d always wanted. That went beyond a house. After finding him on her doorstep when she returned, she understood that he was what she’d been looking for all along.
Only now he’d taken a giant step away from her. Had she been crazy to send her children to New York, to take a gamble on trying to have it all?
“You hungry?”
Startled by the sound of his voice, she turned away from a portrait of Amber Rose to find him standing at the foot of the stairs. She hadn’t heard him come down because she’d been studying the photograph of his wife with
