Page 41 of The Kings of Kearny

Gran cackled like this was the most fun she’d had in years, then slipped her arm through Jennifer’s as they followed Liam. Jakob and I stayed where we were, staring after them with that particular brand of long-suffering look reserved for children with embarrassing elders.

Molly chose that moment to jump on me. I nearly fell over backward.

“Yes, hi. It’s nice to meet you too.” I shot up a deflecting hand. “No, you may not lick my open mouth.”

“Down, Molly,” Jakob said.

She dropped back to all fours and weaved between us, tail shaking so fast that her whole body wiggled.

“You brought me home,” I said.

Jakob shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s the safest place I could think of.”

Oof. Nope. Not going to analyze that statement right now. “Won’t I be putting your parents at risk?”

He turned to me with his signaturefuck youface. He looked pissed off, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t and that this was just how his facial features registered any strong emotion. Angry? Scowl. Confused? Scowl. Turned on? Scowl, but make it look sexy.

“You didn’t see the bikes?” he asked.

“I didn’t get a chance to look at them,” I said. I’d been a little preoccupied with the fact that he wanted me to stay with his family.

He jerked his head in the direction of the Harley’s, and I dutifully turned toward them. Dead center on each gas tank was an emblem with a pair of stylized, tattered wings spread wide. In the middle of them sat a grinning skull wearing a motorcycle helmet. I didn’t grow up in the MC community, but even being new to it, I recognized the design. It was the patch for the Specters, one of the largest and most notorious outlaw motorcycle clubs in the country. They were right up there with the Big Four on the FBI’s watch list.

I turned back to Jakob. “Your parents are in the Specters?”

He nodded. “My father is a founding member.”

My next exhale came out sounding more like a wheeze. It felt like he’d just gut-punched me. Suddenly I was less touched that Jakob had brought us here and more terrified. This was why everyone was afraid of him. Not only was he frightening in his own right, but piss Jakob off, and you pissed off daddy. If Liam was a founding member, he was arguably one of the most dangerous men in the state, if not the country. No one would want to make an enemy out of that man. Not unless they were suicidal.

I looked past Jakob. His parents were leading Gran through the front door. Molly, not wanting to miss out on the excitement, went tearing up the walkway after them. Gran said something to Liam, and he glanced back at Jakob and me with a wily look on his face. He nodded and turned back to Gran. Gran said something else and nudged him in the ribs, and he threw back his head and laughed. His whole face lit up with it. The sight did nothing to stem the fear flowing through my veins.

I turned back to Jakob. I wasn’t about to insult him by insinuating that his parents were a danger to my grandmother, but I had to know that she was safe. “Promise me that Gran will be okay here.”

He met my gaze with steady, unflinching focus. “She’ll be okay here.”

It would have to do for now. If he was lying, if his parents did anything to hurt my gran, I’d call in a favor or two with friends still in the service and reap my revenge on the entire Larson clan, to hell with the consequences.

Deep down, I didn’t think it would come to that. And the fact that I trusted Jakob with my grandmother’s safety scared me more than anything else had today.

~*~

LIAM LARSON CROSSEDhis arms over his chest and stared at his son. “So, after Krista went inside, what did you do?”

The three of us stood in the Larsons’ beautiful Italian-style kitchen. Just outside, visible through the massive, sliding glass wall that faced the river, Gran and Jennifer sat on the back patio, sipping lemonade as they chatted. The sun was starting to dip toward the horizon, and the day had taken on a sort of hazy golden glow.

Jakob leaned against the marble counter. “We waited.”

Liam cocked his head sideways and grinned at me. I tried not to squirm.

“My son must really trust you if he stayed put outside,” he said.

“We needed to find out what was going on with Dr. Perez,” I told him. “I had a decent chance of getting that information out of the receptionist.”

“When did you start suspecting the guard with you?” he asked.

He had the same intensity as his son. It made it hard to meet his eyes as I answered him. “When it became clear that the receptionist was wary of him. Annie’s pretty tough. She didn’t even buy my sob story about Jakob yesterday, so when I realized she was rattled, I knew something was wrong. Then I noticed he wasn’t wearing a name tag.”

“You have good instincts,” Liam said, and between his smile and open praise, my cheeks started to feel a little warm. “What happened in the elevator?”

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