Page 48 of Ghost

“Alright, then.” Grim lifted his glass and took a sip. “You’re gonna have to be in two places at once, and that shit ain’t easy.Zeke is our best prospect. When you’re here, he needs to be there. Never leave them alone.”

“Understood.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer, but I asked the question that had been weighing on all our minds since the night Kay’s house burned down. “What do you think’s gonna happen with this Carmine mess?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Carmine’s a smart guy. He might find a way out of this, but if he doesn’t, there’ll be hell to pay.”

“Knowing our luck, it’ll be the latter.”

“Maybe, but don’t let it stop you from doing what needs to be done.” He finished off his drink before saying, “Get the girl settled but be ready. It’s only a matter of time before the shit hits the fan, and we’re gonna need you here and ready.”

I nodded, then said, “You got it.”

I left the bar and went down the hall to find Cricket. As I’d hoped, I found her and Toby in their room, and from the looks of it, they’d already started packing. After a few seconds, Cricket noticed me standing in the doorway and gave me one of her smiles. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Toby never looked up. He just kept pulling his clothes out of the dresser and shoving them into his bag. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or just ready to be done packing. “You two good in here?”

“Yeah, we’re just getting a few things together.”

I glanced over at Toby as I asked, “So, you two talked?”

“We did.”

“And?”

“It went okay.” She gave me a playful grimace. “We didn’t agree on everything, but we did agree that we can’t stay at the clubhouse forever.”

“That’s a start.”

“Yes, but like me, Toby still has some reservations.”

“Anything that I can do or say to help with those?”

“I think it’s one of those things where we have to find out for ourselves.”

“I’m not following.”

“How you are about certain things.”

“Such as?”

“Just day-to-day things, like how you do certain things around the house. Are you a night owl or an early bird? Do you eat standing up, or do you sit at the table? And...”

“What do you do when you get mad?” Toby interrupted.

“When I get mad?”

“Yeah.” The trepidation in Toby’s eyes tugged at me. “Do you throw stuff? Do you shout and cuss? Do you hit?”

“Where’s this coming from?”

“Just curious.”

“Hmm. Well, I ain’t gonna lie. I can get pretty fired up over a tight football game, especially one between the Razorbacks and Tennessee. If we’re losing, I might do a little yelling and toss out a few choice words here and there. And if someone crosses a line with a brother, I’ll be the first to have his back, and if that means throwing a punch, I’ll throw one. But I’d never put my hands on a woman or a kid. I’m just not built like that, and I have a strong disdain for anyone who is.”

“Disdain?”

“I want to put ‘em six feet under.”

“Ghost,” Cricket scolded.

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