Their families were in danger.
Ours.
Not theirs. Ours. I technically have a kid on the way.
The thought lingered with me, even as Scott and Liam continued to discuss plans and consequences of everything that had happened. All I knew was that I needed to get to Miami and fucking fast. Unfortunately, while I needed to get back, I wasn’t willing to die because I hadn’t let my wounds healed properly.
“We’re going to get everyone up to the mansion in Maine to hideout,” Scott said. “We’re going to ride it out accordingly. Burke, I think you should get Emily up there.”
I chuckled. I didn’t know how I felt that Scott considered Emily as much a part of me as Kelly was to Liam. I suppose I should have appreciated it, but it just seemed kind of half-fucked up to me.
“Easier said than done,” I grumbled.
One, we weren’t together. Two, she had a job, something Kelly and Kaylie did not have to deal with. Three…of all the women, she seemed the least likely to listen to any of us. She was just as likely to tell me to fuck off as she was to give me the time of day.
And besides that, would Snake even know that we were a thing?
You really want to take that risk? You want to play with fire like that?
“I’ll see what I can do, but I wouldn’t count on anything.”
“Just do the best you can. Strength in numbers on this one.”
We talked a little bit longer about strategy. We all agreed that Snake was going to bring the fight to us now for everything that had happened. We understood that we needed to do our part to protect our women.
But Emily was not going to be so easily persuaded.
If nothing else, at least I had an excuse now to go and see her in Miami. But just as the last time I’d seen her had ended somewhat awkwardly, I had every reason to think it would be much of the same here.
One Week Later
“Well, I don’t know how you survived that, but you are free to go at any point.”
I nodded my thanks to the doctor. I hadn’t realized it before, lying in bed, but I’d also suffered enough damage to my legs that I needed to use crutches to get out. I fully intended to ditch those by the time I got to Miami to protect Emily—I couldn’t do much on crutches.
I was told to take it easy and let my wounds heal. Honestly, I intended to follow those instructions as best as I could. The problem was if Snake would allow me to have that time off. For that, there was no guarantee.
“Let’s get out of here,” Scott said in the doorway. “We’ve got a plane waiting to take you back to Miami.”
“And you?” I said.
“I’m taking Liam and his family with me to Maine,” he said. “The sooner you can get Emily up there, the better.”
“Fat fucking chance,” I said. “That girl wouldn’t go with me to Jacksonville if I tried.”
“Then it’s up to you to protect her.”
I nodded. We walked in silence to a car Scott had rented—or rather, they walked. I hopped on crutches. When we got inside, it felt like there was something unsaid.
Scott didn’t quite have his DOM fire like he usually did. Even Liam didn’t either. There was a certain sense of finality creeping in that I felt like none of us were willing to outright address, which was a damn shame considering. It needed to be done.
“Listen, Scott,” I said. “What’s the deal with DOM? I know we said we’re going to focus on Snake after this, and I agree, but man. I’m…”
I took a breath.
“I think once we kill the bastard, it’s time to dissolve everything and move on. You two are ahead of me in the family game but I have a kid coming into this world I hope to meet one day.”
Still feels weird to say, considering we’ve never even had sex.
“And while we need to kill Snake, no doubt about it, I think this group’s ready to hang it up.”
“If you weren’t going to say it, I was,” Scott said almost immediately. He hadn’t even needed to think about his words—they just came out. “I just don’t think anyone has had the balls to be first. But I’m with you. We kill Snake, and then we kill DOM.”
Wow.
It was that easy, huh? That was all that it fucking took to end everything?
And yet, by the same token, it felt so right. It was time. The other two had families. I see now it’s impossible to be a member of DOM and have a family.
In our twenties, we would have called ourselves sellouts. Now, I guess time had just changed things.
“Sounds good, boss.”
I realized I wouldn’t be calling him “boss” much longer if we closed DOM.
“Oh, by the way,” Scott said as we pulled up to the airport. “This showed up in one of the P.O. boxes we have.”
He handed me an envelope that would be used to send mail that couldn’t be folded. I opened it quickly and looked inside.
It was the signed parental agreement from Emily.
For something that I’d sent off and hoped would be signed as quickly as possible, it sure suddenly felt…empty.
I’d let my anger get the best of me before in an encounter with Emily. When I ran into her again—because let’s be real, it wasn’t an “if” question, not with Snake seemingly hell bent on personal revenge—I couldn’t let that happen again. Not if I ever wanted us to be something more.
“Everything all good?” Scott asked.
I shook my head.
