Page 104 of The Kings of Kearny

“Thank you,” she said.

Thank you?

Belatedly, I hugged her back. “Um... you’re welcome?”

She let me go and stepped back. “He needed to hear that. I think he might have even listened to you.”

“You sure I didn’t just make everything worse?”

She shook her head. “Only the fear of losing Jakob could snap him out of this, and I think your comment about Jakob never smiling around him drove that point home.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

She gave me a sad smile. “I can’t like the way you spoke to him, but the hard fact is that someone needed to say it.”

I nodded, feeling like I’d dodged a bullet. “Where’s Gran?”

“Packing. Will she be okay at her sister’s?”

“Yeah. She’ll probably be better there. No offense.”

“None taken,” Jennifer said. “I’m sure all the memories she has of her sister and brother-in-law will help ground her. It was the same with my mam. She always did better when we had family visiting from the old country.”

“Thank you so much for taking care of Gran the past few days,” I said. “I was so worried about so much, but knowing she was here with you helped me more than I can say.”

Jennifer grinned. “You’re a sweet girl underneath that tough shell. Just like my Jakob. Make sure to say goodbye to him before you leave.”

“I will.”

“And give him a chance, will you?”

I smiled back at her. “I’ll think about it.”

Jennifer laughed. “Go ahead and take all the time you think you need.” From the way she said it, it sounded like she thought I was silly for taking any time at all. She moved past me back down the hall toward Liam’s office. Pausing, she threw over her shoulder, “And don’t worry. I’ll make sure Liam signs your check before you go.”

“I heard that!” he shouted.

Jennifer’s face hardened as she turned back around. “You’re about to hear a lot worse!”

I fled from the sound of their raised voices, down into the basement. The stairs dropped me in the middle of a wide-open space. To one side was a living room with big, comfy couches, a huge flat-screen TV, a pool table, foosball, and even a small bar in the corner. The other side was taken up by a home gym.

Jakob had changed into shorts. The tattoos covering his upper body were slicked in sweat and gleamed in the overhead lighting as he beat the ever-loving shit out of a punching bag. He hadn’t noticed me yet, so I paused for a few minutes and watched him. The muscles of his arms and back flexed as he landed a punch, an uppercut, and then a cross. He stepped back, opening space between him and his imaginary opponent, then spun on his planted foot and aimed a roundhouse kick at the punching bag that hit hard enough to take someone’s head off.

Jesus.

I swallowed back a wave of lust. I must be edging closer toward darkness all on my own because standing here watching him didn’t make me fear him. It made me long to see how much damage this amount of training and power could do to another human.

Of coursethat’swhen he caught sight of me and turned around, and I knew, Iknewfrom the way he sucked in a harsh breath that I was wearing my Fuck Me In Public face.

I shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts. Why had I come down here again? Oh right. “Gran and I are about to take off.”

Jakob stayed where he was, chest heaving, sweat streaming down his big body. Thank God. I didn’t trust myself if he came any closer.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To my great aunt and uncle’s place up near Austin.”

“Will you text me the address?”

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