Page 50 of The Secret's Out

And I didn’t like him one bit.

Worse, Pick would hate him even more.

I’d seen Cameron’s father’s photo once, and the time was in Pick’s room. The only thing changed about the fucker was his name. I’d seen the photo because Pick had it taped to his wall with six other photos.

They’d been the ones to abuse Pick when he was younger. Pick had already hunted and killed five of them. The last was sitting in that photo with a smug smile. A smile I wanted to wipe off his face with my gun.

Wasn’t my right though.

“That him?” Dallas barked again.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Want me to get rid of him, no trace and then you and Pick can stay clean for your girl?” Dodge offered.

“I’m more than happy to help,” Dallas said.

I shook my head sadly. “You both know of Pick’s past?”

“Yeah, brother,” Dodge said.

“Yeah, was drunk with him one night. He said some shit that he probably doesn’t remember. Fucked-up shit.”

“Yeah, well, that guy there,”—I stabbed the paper with my finger to Cameron’s father’s face; his name written in black ink under the photo Nigel fuckin’ Peterson—“he was one of those guys who fucked Pick up back in the day. I recognised the face, but the name is different.”

Dodge whistled low. “Retribution?”

“’Course and it’s Pick’s right to bring it.” Dallas smiled. “You brothers need help, call upon us.”

“We will. May need someone to watch Josie for us while we pay the nice family a visit and tell Cameron there a few home truths about his daddy.”

“Man, that is fucked up. But I love it.” Dodged chuckled. “Let us know when, brother, and we’ll be there.”

With a chin lift of gratitude, I rolled up the paper and walked outta the place. Pick and I were gonna have to talk and then we’d plan for some payback.

––––––––

Iwas already home sitting on the couch in jeans and nothing else when the front door opened and in walked a smiling Josie, followed by Pick, who was also grinning. Fuck, I didn’t want to ruin his mood straight off. Not when it was the first time I’d seen him so fuckin’ happy.

“Eli,” Josie squeaked.

Raising my brows at her in question, wondering why she was suddenly nervous at seein’ me, I said, “Hey, sweetheart. Have a good day?”

What in the fuck was goin’ on?

She looked over her shoulder to Caden and then back to me and blushed. “Uh-huh. Um, I’ll be back in a second,” she said and then bolted down the hall to her room, closing the door behind her.

Again. What. The. Fuck?

I looked to Caden. He smirked and shrugged. “I’ll go see her. No need to worry.”

Worry? Hell, should I be? Christ, after what they shared that morning, were they gonna tell me there was no room in their lives for a third?

Was I bein’ shot down?

Got rid of?

Jesus, I hadn’t thought of that option ever happenin’. The realisation hit hard and my heart burned at the possibility.

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