Page 37 of Until Ireland

“I gotta go, Hunter. I’ll be home in twenty, if not sooner.” I hung up before he could get a word in edgewise, then hurried through the bedroom to the stairs. “Mack, I need to run.”

He was there at the landing, watching me. “Everything okay?” His brow quirked in concern.

“I think so. Maybe. I don’t know. I told Hunter I’d meet him at the house.” I smacked a kiss to his lips, hating the fact I was lying to him. A wave of fear washed over me as I stepped away. “I’ll call you later and let you know how things are going and if there was an emergency. Knowing my brothers though, it’s not.”

It wasn’t a coincidence—what happened around me. I already knew that much. No way it was. Add in my bike, and I had a feeling I was being targeted. Had Edgar found me? My heart pounded. A cold sweat broke out at my temple as I trembled.No. No way. He wouldn’t have.Instead of calming down, the idea took root. I couldn’t concentrate. I had to get away.

I started my Coupe and allowed it to idle for a moment before dropping it into drive and exiting Mack’s long driveway. Guilt ate at me as I drove away. We’d had such a good morning until my phone rang. I should’ve turned around and headed back. I should’ve told him everything, but I couldn’t involve him in my issues, especially if they were this serious. He might see it as a sign of me not being stable and end up reconsidering everything. The thought of not having Mack in my life made it hard to breathe. In the short time we’d been together, I was quickly falling in love with him. Now, I was potentially throwing it all away because I couldn’t just tell him about my ex and the bullshit he liked to pull. I sat at the stop sign longer than I should have, trying to get my lungs to function and the blur in my eyes to clear.

Turn around. Go back. Hide at Mack’s house. No one will notice. He definitely won’t care.No. I would. I’d be making a mountain out of a mole hill. I was sure my bike was at the house. Hunter didn’t see it was all. Yeah... I told myself that over and over again on the drive home. When I pulled into the driveway, I found Hunter outside with the back gate ajar. The garage was open. His bike was parked next to Landon’s truck, the Comet was beside it, and...

My Triumph was gone. I parked my car as disbelief filled me. Someone broke into the back area of our house, opened the garage, and went right for my bike. There was at least a hundred grand in vehicles in there and all they took was my primer Triumph that was still a work in progress. My gut twisted. My body felt too heavy with fatigue. I’d say why me, but I wasn’t a whiny bitch like that, so instead I turned the despair into rage.

“Motherfucker!” I yelled, getting out of my car. With a slam of the door, I stormed over to where Hunter stood on the phone with someone. “Are you serious right now? What the fuck?”

He hung up with whoever he’d been talking to then handed me the phone. “I already called the police.”

I snorted. “What exactly have they done?” Between the slashed tires, the smashed windows on my car, the side of my car getting keyed, and now this? “I swear to fuck, if this turns out to be one of yours or Landon’s groupies, I’m fucking done. I’ll buy your asses out of the business and kick you the fuck out of the house.”

Hunter, God love the asshole, took my berating, waiting for me to exhaust myself before asking, “Are you done? Because it wasn’t us. We were here last night by ourselves with Jackson and Waverly, being responsible adults with teens in the house. Whoever got in here knew what the fuck they were doing. The stupid bitches we fuck leave murals over our fucking garage in red paint, not something like this.”

He had a point. “Fuck!”

“What about him?” Hunter didn’t have to say his name. Edgar. I couldn’t speak. A small whine passed my lips as fear raced down my spine. “Damn it, Ire.” He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. “You should have said something.”

Like what? ‘Hey, bros, it looks like he’s back again, but if you want proof, I can’t give it to you.’ Yeah, that wouldn’t fly. If anything, I could still be paranoid. “I’m not sure,” was the best answer I could give him.

“Then we’ll wait and see. Cobi and Franks are on the way to check it out. I didn’t touch anything except for the switch in the house to open the garage.” Hunter sighed. “Coffee is on if you want some. Landon is getting ready to leave now, since the truck will be there in a couple of hours.”

I didn’t want to sit there and drink coffee. I wanted to find the son of a bitch who stole my bike. However, I had raced out of Mack’s place in a hurry, so the caffeine did sound tempting. “Fine. It’ll give me a minute change into my jumpsuit.” I headed inside as Hunter’s phone rang again.

Jackson sat at the table. His textbooks were laid out around as was his laptop. He sipped his coffee and glanced over his computer at me. The look of sorrow in his eyes pissed me off more. He was a sensitive kid. He knew how much we all treasured out little toys and trinkets. I was sure I’d be wearing his same expression if I were in his shoes.

“Morning.” I kissed the top of his head on the way to the coffee maker. “Did you have fun with Waverly?”

He nodded. “We did. Hunter and Landon made us watch stupid ass movies with them all night.” Jackson rolled his eyes. I didn’t blame him, but I could understand why the guys were being attentive when it came to Mack’s little sister.

With my back to him, I grinned. “Sounds amazing for a date. Did they hold your hands too?”

“Fuck off.” Jackson chuckled. “She came over because she finished her midterms and wanted to have a free night.”

“Well, she picked the right place.” I fixed up my coffee, tan and sweet, because I needed the kick of sugar and cream, then I turned to him. “Are you happy with Waverly?”

Jackson got this dopey look on his face, lovesick, was what our mom would’ve called it. I called it twitterpated.

“Yeah, she’s pretty amazing. Did you know she wants to be a neonatal nurse?”

I leaned against the counter as I sipped my coffee. “I didn’t. Sounds pretty intense and noble at the same time.”

“She said one of her cousins was a preemie when she was born, and Waverly could only see her once or twice in the NICU before she came home. Anyway, Waverly said watching the group of nurses care for all those sick and small babies set her on the path to becoming one.” He shrugged. “I think it’s cool.” He took another swallow of his coffee.

“It is.” I drank more of mine as well. “So, how are things at Flame?”

“It’s amazing. Chef has taught me a lot of stuff they haven’t in school. He wants to add more hours but doesn’t want to interfere with my education. Mack’s also a good boss. I’m making more for him in a weekend than I did anywhere else.”

“Good.” I’d have to thank Mack later, if he didn’t chew my head off for running out of the house like I did.

“Sorry about your bike, Ire.” Jackson frowned. “I wish I would’ve heard something—anything, so we could’ve stopped the thief.”

---