Page 83 of The Reluctant Siren
“Hey, I have a degree in criminal law. It’s called twentyseasons ofLaw and Order,” Lucas quipped. “And you know I’m right.”
“If this goes any further, we’ll hire a criminal defenseattorney for you, Jensen. Lucas will liaise with a firm in Dallas to hiresomeone good.” Ben Dawson was a carbon copy of his brother when it came tolooks. The only difference he could tell was his hair was slightly shaggierthan his brother’s. Attitude wise they were polar opposites. Like one was adark mirror of the other. “But I trust Lucas to manage this portion.”
“Since I’m not actually trying to fuck anyone over, I haveto ask why the hell you can’t trust me?” Jack was disgruntled by the wholeevening.
“It’s not that we don’t trust you,” Niall began.
“I’m not paying for this asshole’s lawyer.” Chase paced atthe opposite end of the table.
That was an angry man. It would be slightly funny if ChaseDawson wasn’t his girlfriend’s father, and he wasn’t the very asshole he wascomplaining about. Also, it would be way funnier if he didn’t need a lawyer.
Damn, but he was tired. He hadn’t realized how fucking tiredhe was until he got to spend these days with his two favorite people in theworld. The house needed a lot of work, but if he could stay here with the twoof them and never have to go back into the real world again, he would put upwith all of it.
Hamilton would find him. Oh, it might take him a while, butat some point he would end up on Jensen’s doorstep. There was a bill due, andHamilton would ensure it got paid one way or another.
“Oh, you should not trust him,” Lucas told Niall. “He’s lawenforcement, and the case is everything.”
Jack huffed. “Do you honestly believe I would fuck over awoman I’ve known my whole life for a case?”
“If we don’t pay for a lawyer, then Harlow will.” Ben washaving a completely separate conversation with his twin. “Do you not understandthat you’re pushing our daughter away? This is a way to bring her back, to gether to trust you again.”
“Why the hell wouldn’t she trust me?” Chase asked, makingthe question sound like an attack.
Jack pointed to Ben. “See, that’s a dad trying not to makehis kid into an enemy combatant.”
Lucas shrugged. “You chose to rebel by going into the FBI.Have you seen my rap sheet, son? I know exactly why you did that.”
Jack’s head fell back. “I don’t need to hear about yourcocaine days, Papa. Please don’t go into it. You were a rebel. I get it. Myrebellion against your infamous days was to never get my face on the cover of agossip rag. See, rebellion complete.”
Ben ignored the other conversation. “She doesn’t trust youbecause you don’t trust her. Because you act like a massive ass when she’syoung and trying to do things on her own. You know we did that, too. We wentout in the world and made a shit ton of mistakes and grew from them. Well, Idid.”
“You’re so mature, Ben,” Chase said with a huff. “Did youconsider for a second that we went through all that crap so our kids didn’thave to? Greer doesn’t pull this shit.”
“Hey, do not compare her to her sister.” Niall faced Chasedown. “Harlow is her own person, and she loves her sister. Pulling thatcomparison shit puts a wall between them. Is that what you’re trying to do?”
Chase frowned. “Of course that’s not what I’m trying to do.I’m trying to protect her.”
“My choice of profession was not a rebellion.” Jack faceddown the man he called Papa. “It was what I dreamed about doing since I was akid. You have three other offspring. Why don’t you harass them? Oh, yeah.They’re the good ones who stay on the ranch so they can spend the rest of theirlives punching cows.”
Ben pointed to the O’Malley men. “See. Niall’s right.Playing your kids off each other is a terrible idea.”
Lucas finally turned Ben’s way. “I am not playing my kidsoff each other. And Jack is exaggerating. Only one of his siblings even wantsto run the ranch.”
“Yes, I have one brother who is following in Dad’s footstepsand running a ranch. One in law school and my sister is training to be a vet.”Every word was tinged with bitterness. “I’m the bad guy because I wanted out ofthat small town. Also, he wasn’t actually coked up. That would be far too coolfor my papa. It was baby powder. Thatison his rap sheet. The onlyreason he got arrested was he was drunk and threw a punch at the cop that didnot actually land.”
“I made him trip with that punch,” Lucas argued. “He wastrying to avoid me and should have tied his shoelaces, so I don’t think thatshould count as assault. Hah, see—what I needed was a good lawyer.”
“I’m not playing my daughters off each other. I remember ourdad doing that with us.” Chase actually looked hurt. It wasn’t much. Asoftening of his eyes, but he would bet anything the man had his feeling hurt.He looked like the kind of dude who thought of feelings in a singular fashion.Jensen kind of approved. It was easier to deal with the one.
And up until now that feeling had been guilt. If he let thisshit happen to Harlow, it might always be guilt.
The last few days had been something else. He’dbeen…content. Happy. His brain hadn’t been centered on survival, and it wasnice.
Maybe these few days were all he deserved.
“It doesn’t matter what you mean to do, Mr. Dawson,” Niallwas saying. “All that matters is when you say things like that Harlow hearsshe’s not as good as her sister.”
“It’s not about being…” Chase stopped and seemed to have adeep revelation. He looked to his twin, and they had a whole conversationthrough a series of raised brows and tilted heads.
