Page 17 of In It for the Long Ride

A few hours later, I heard the rocks shift as someone turned off the main road and crawled up the drive.

“Blaze, get inside,” I called, as my frustration and anxiety collided.

He jerked his head toward me with a surprised expression, and cast a glance back to the long, olive-green Buick that was approaching, but in the end, he darted inside like I asked.

As the car slowed and parked, I finally made out Montana and Easy in the front seat. I didn’t wait for him to open the door. I shot off the porch leaving him no option but to scramble from the car just as quickly if he wanted to meet me in any way that would allow him to defend himself.

I grabbed the door and tried to slam it shut as he stood between the door and the frame. Carl’s hand shot out, shovingit back open. He danced around the door and grappled with my hands as I fought to slap the face off of him.

“How dare you!” I wildly shrieked. “How dare you leave me alone with a child and no means of getting him to help should he need it, or worse yet… at the mercy of the mob!”

“Aunt Daisy,” Easy quietly pleaded from the other side of me.

I’d been winding myself up since I realized the car was missing. There was no calming down. I kicked Carl in the shin and slapped his shoulder and hair in a frantic effort to connect with his face. After about the third swing, Easy hooked his arms under mine, and curled upward, so I was yanked off the ground and left to dangle from his six-foot frame.

“Aunt Daisy, I need you to stop.” He steeled and projected his voice, as they’d no doubt taught him to do in the military.

Neither of my nephews had ever spoken harshly to me. Yes, there had been teenage outbursts, but I’d navigated them well enough. They’d never been aggressive and certainly had never taken any authoritative stances. I was the normal voice of reason in our family!

“Aunt Daisy, Blaze is watching,” he whispered, his tone going tender.

I slumped in his arms, the fight immediately knocked out of me. All I could do was dangle and cry. I hated being out of control. There was safety in control.

Easy held me until I came back to myself. He wasn’t Easy the former president of the Steel Disciples at that moment, he was my nephew. My Eric. I spun in his arms and gathered him into a hug while I sobbed on his chest.

“I need you. You can’t be spun out right now. You can’t be a mess. We need you,” I pitifully blubbered.

“I’m here,” he promised. “I’m here, Aunt Daisy.”

He wiped the tears from my face and stared into my eyes. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust that he would stay offthe drugs and help us through this thing. I wanted to believe that he’d get his wife back, that the mob would go away, that we could all live happily ever after… but goddamn it, every day made that goal harder to reach. Something was forever happening. Tragedy. Loss. Betrayal. Those were the perfect storms for a tortured soul like his. I knew the demons that haunted him. I knew them almost as well as he did. I’d been there cheering him on, supporting him, and praying for the best for over a decade now.

He led me into the house, where Carl had Blaze set up with a bag of popcorn in front of a laptop.

The moment I smelled it, I wanted to tear into him for leaving us without food, but I didn’t have the energy. The kitchen counter was littered with duffle bags and grocery sacks.

“Where is my car?” I managed, once Carl returned to the kitchen and Blaze was invested in whatever he was watching.

“We got rid of it.” Eric redirected my attention back to him.

“We…” I locked onto that word. “You helped him rob me.”

How I kept my words scarcely above a whisper, I’ll never know. I wanted to shout at him, to throttle him, but in the end, I just shook with rage and quietly fumed.

“No.” Eric filled a glass with water and set it in front of me. “I realized that the Valentino’s have resources much like we do. Should something go wrong, and they discover who is in their midst…”

He spoke slowly and avoided mentioning Crystal or Oak by name. I understood that it was because Blaze was nearby.

“They will do a background check. They will see her social media. They will realize there is someone else to be used as a pawn.” Easy continued, only pausing long enough to pointedly stare at Blaze, “And they will hunt him. They will hunt you. They will access the records through a corrupt party or hacking and they will know addresses, license plates, all of that. So, I got ridof the car. I protected you. Not robbed you. I would never wrong you. You and that boy, the wife they took from me… ya’ll are the only fucking family I got left. I’m here. I’m in it, Aunt Daisy. I ain’t going anywhere until he’s in hell or a jail cell. Even if it means I’m sitting there beside him. I’m okay with that.”

He shook his head and nodded until I closed my eyes and gathered my face in my hands. I rubbed at my tears, but they just kept coming. I didn’t want to think of him dead or in jail. I didn’t want any of this.

“I need to lie down.” I stood up and fled the room before he could object.

Chapter 8

Daisy

Carl’s voicewas something that will forever haunt me. He had a deep tone and a drawl that made every word he uttered sound incredibly sexy. He could discuss the weather and most of the girls that follow the club would still have that stupid grin on their faces. I’d like to think I was different. We were an item once upon a time, after all.

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