Page 77 of No Apologies
He wasn’t the kind of man that found it easy to admit when he was wrong but he’d been wrong when he tried to push Skylar away. He’d been wrong to deny what he felt for her. He should have claimed her the first time he saw her staring at his mouth while he was talking to her but he hadn’t. Now he had a lot of time to make up for and in the past few days, they had definitely been doing that.
They’d rarely been without each other for more than a few hours. Since Skylar’s salon had been shut down for repairs, she’d been sleeping in late and staying up half the night with him. He’d spent his days working to repair his own shop and he knew that once they were both back open for business that their little vacation from reality would have to end so they’d been enjoying it as much as they could.
Next week they would both go back to work. Cash and Jemma would be home tomorrow. They’d have to take a serious look at the way their lives were all intertwined and make some decisions. Maybe that should have scared him, how fast all of it was happening, but it didn’t because now that he had Skylar the last thing he wanted was to do anything that would make him lose her.
His phone buzzed again and he laughed out loud since he was all alone. Damn, he was happy. Really and truly happy. He couldn’t remember the last time he could have said that. Oh, he put on a good face. He wasn’t the Bomar known for scowling and stomping around all the time. That honor went to Abel with Cash coming in a close second until Jemma walked back into his life. Colt had never been the kind to get down for long but this wasn’t just a good mood. It was so much more than that. For the first time in his life, he had hope. For something good. For something better. For himself.
He was going to make it to the other side. He was going to find his way out of the bullshit Bomar drama. He was going to get and stay clean this time. He was going to beat his demons and he had Skylar to thank for all of it. His angel was pulling him out of his darkness slowly but surely and when she did, they were going to have that someday together he’d been dreaming about.
The phone dinged with a message at the same time he picked it up and his smile fell. Not Skylar. It was a message from Lincoln. He scrolled quickly through his alerts but other than a text from Cash letting him know they were going to make it back to town a little earlier than expected, there was nothing but messages from his girl asking, begging and then demanding that he come home and do bad things to her.
He smirked and thought about typing out something dirty for her but then rethought it. He didn’t want any interruptions when he got Skylar on the phone so he needed to deal with his family first. Then and only then would he call his girl and give her exactly what she wanted.
Colt hit the button for his voicemail as he cleaned up the paint he’d been using. Looking at the wall, it was impossible to tell that it’d had those taunting words spray-painted on it just a few days ago. He was still staring at the blank spot that would be covered in art once it dried when he heard Lincoln’s voice come through the phone.
“Hey. It’s me. Where you at?” There was some background noise, a few other voices and then Lincoln telling someone to shut up before he cleared his throat, “If you’re off with your girl and ignoring me, I’m gonna find ya and beat you upside the head. We’ve got shit going down tonight, cuz. That guy we saw the other day was runnin’ his mouth down at the bar and we have names. We’re hitting them up. If you want in. Call me back.”
The line went dead and Colt stared at the phone in his hand for a long second in shock. First, he couldn’t believe that Lincoln would leave that detailed of a message. Usually his cousin was smarter than that. Nothing traceable meant nothing incriminating. That was the rule. Second, he found it hard to believe the guy they’d tried to beat information out of the other night had any names to give up because of a little liquor. He scratched his head and tried to figure out what felt off about the whole thing but he came up empty.
He knew Skylar didn’t trust Lincoln. That had to be it. Her feelings on the matter were throwing him off. He didn’t trust Lincoln as far as he could throw him when it came to business but they were still family. He didn’t believe his cousin had set him up or attacked his shop. He’d been too damn helpful the last few days and when Colt had declined his money, he hadn’t put up a fight at all. He’d said it was Colt’s business and his call. They were good.
He shook off the strange feeling of unease and hit redial to call his cousin back. As much as he wanted to go home and slip into bed with Skylar he needed to finish this mess with his family first. He had an out. If he told Lincoln that he was already home with his girl, his cousin would give him a pass. He might get some teasing but it would be good natured.
That would be the smart move.
Only, as the phone started to ring, he knew those wouldn’t be the words that came out of his mouth. Whoever Lincoln and the boys were going after, he wanted, needed, to be part of it. It wasn’t logical and it definitely wasn’t healthy but there was something inside of him, something dark, that had his fists balling before the ringing ever ended.
“There you are.” Lincoln picked up in lieu of a greeting, “I was starting to worry.”
“Sorry Mom. I didn’t have my phone on me.” He joked and earned a snort of laughter, “What’s up?”
“Somethings going on. That little prick we visited with the other day is at the bar. He’s been running his mouth. Danny called and told Abel it sounded like they were planning another hit.”
“Danny?” He balked at the mention of their youngest cousin, “What the hell was Danny doing at The Rig in the first place? He’s what? Seventeen?”
“Fuck, C. Don’t act like we weren’t all hangin’ out down there when we were that age.”
“But it’s Danny.”
“Yeah, don’t even get Abel started.” Lincoln chuckled, “Anyway, we’re headed down there now to see what’s up. Where you at?”
“The shop.”
“Good. Stay there.”
Colt frowned, “I thought you’d want me with you tonight.”
“Nah. Keep an eye on your place. We’ve worked our asses off putting it back together. I’m sending Remy over there to sit on it tonight. I called him when I couldn’t reach you. Could be nothin’ but I’d rather have somebody there to watch the shop and I figure you’re going home to your sexy little blonde.”
He rubbed his forehead and ignored the fact that Lincoln had called Skylar sexy. If he thought about that right now, his head might explode. Instead he focused on the important part of what Lincoln was saying.
“You think they’ll come back here tonight?”
“Doubtful. They gotta know Deputy Dickhead is doing drive bys on the hour but you can never be too careful.
“Yeah, I guess.” He felt his shoulders tense, “You don’t think they’d go anywhere else, try to hit us where it hurts, do you?”
“I don’t think they’re stupid enough to touch your girl if that’s what you’re gettin’ at. I told you already, I think her salon was an accident but I don’t expect you to leave her unprotected. I’m sending Remy to cover the shop. Go home. We’ll call you once we know more.”
