Page 23 of The Secret's Out

Glarin’, I asked, “Can you?”

He snorted. “Yeah, even if I did get jealous, I’d fuckin’ hide it ‘cause I’d do anything to have Josie. I’ve always wanted her. I’ll be in her, my smell will be on her skin, and I’ll be on her mind, even if she’s with you. Are you cool with all that?”

“You’re the only other brother I’d let this shit happen with. Fuck, we’ve both been hard for her for a fuckin’ long time. This is the best option so we both get to enjoy all that is Josie...if she goes for it in the end. So to answer your question, yeah, I can handle it. You?”

“Hell yeah.” He smiled. I shared a grin with him and then pulled my phone from my pocket. “You get our shit packed. I’ll call Talon and then we ride back to Josie at her work.”

“We ain’t sleepin’ here?”

Scrunching up my nose, I gave him a ‘what do you think’ look.

He chuckled and said, “Lookin’ forward to bein’ around our woman twenty-four seven.”

“We take it easy for a while, yeah?”

“Course,” he replied before walking outta the kitchen.

With my phone to my ear, I waited for Talon to answer and he did after three rings with, “Talk.”

“Situation’s fucked up. Some guys at her school think she’s their play thing. Always in her space and teasing her. We roughed one up today when we saw it. Fuck, Talon, she had a look of terror in her eyes...until she saw us. The one today said he’d back off, but apparently, there’s a bigger arsehole we have to deal with.”

“Then deal.”

“We will, but now we have Josie sayin’ she doesn’t want us to stay, doesn’t want you put out by having two of your employees takin’ a break. She was gonna ring you herself and ask for a prospect to come here. She realises she needs help now, thank fuck.”

“She’s too damn nice. Tell her you’re both staying. I need men at the Caroline Springs charter. Memphis tells me shit’s goin’ down there, so I’ve been thinkin’ anyway to send brothers his way. After Josie’s shit is dealt with, you head to the compound. I’m also sendin’ Dodge your way with Dallas, as well as Saxon. He’ll be finished with his probation time of being a prospect soon anyway. Lan is also gettin’ promoted to a position in that area, so if you need help, he’ll have your back.”

Lan was Stoke’s cousin and a detective. He used to be a stickler for rules, but ever since shit went down with Malinda, he’s been a different person. He was still a cop, but since realizing we didn’t deal in bad shit, he made the choice to have the Hawks members’ backs if any crap like that went down again.

“Done. Though, boss, she’s thinkin’ of movin’ back after her schoolin’ is done. She’s gonna try and finish early.”

“We want her back, but don’t she like it there?”

“Not sure. I think ‘cause of all her shit, she’s scared...but hell, we’ve only been around her today, and Billy and I can see she’s grown. She’s a minx when she wants to be. Those fuckers are what’s holding our Josie back.”

“Our?”

Shit.

“Fuck, brother—”

“I mean—”

“I know what you mean,” Talon growled. “Christ, we all see you and Billy have a thing for her and she has one for the both of you. She’ll wake up soon enough. But either of you fuck her up in any way...I’ll deal with you.”

“What’re you sayin’, boss?” I got the ‘he’d deal with us’ part, but the rest.

“I’m saying, Josie needs to live her life how she wants it. I was wrong in telling you to get her back here. I think she was ready to come home because she thinks you boys are her home. She doesn’t realise it yet. She thinks her home is her ‘rents and Zara and Mattie. But it ain’t. It’s the two of you and it has been since she set her eyes on you two. If this shit in the Caroline Springs charter is deep and fucked up as I think it is, then I need the both of you there for a while. Josie will soon see that her home is with the two of you, so I’m guessin’ she won’t be makin’ that move back to Ballarat unless you’re both with her.”

Consider my fuckin’ fucked-up mind blown.

“I... Fuck, I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Don’t say anything. Just know you’d both better make my sister-in-law’s world a happy one.”

“That’s what we’re aiming for already.”

“Good. I’ll have Dodge bring more of your shit and Billy’s,” he barked and then hung up the phone.

---