Page 44 of Seizing Mack
Then she broke eye contact and the moment was over.
Nick mentally kicked himself for not taking advantage of the moment, but perhaps it was better that he hadn’t. Anticipation was supposed to be a good thing, right? Next time, however, he wouldn’t hesitate.
They said goodnight. He watched her drive away, feeling better than he had a couple of hours earlier. Not much had changed. He was still going home to an empty house. He still had to deal with the fact that the Necromancers were selling drugs to kids. His precious Shelby belonged to someone else and his sister had gone and gotten married without him knowing. But inside, he felt ... lighter.
And it was all because of Mack.
She was an excellent listener. Beautiful, intelligent, well-spoken, strong. Passionate about what she loved – and didn’t. And he’d only scratched the surface. He couldn’t wait to dig deeper, discover more. Now that he’d taken that first step, he was anxious to keep going.
The same instincts that made him a good detective suggested that Mack was interested, too, but he wasn’t sure he could trust that. He’d been out of the game for a long time. It was also possible that his own wishful thinking was influencing his perception. The one thing he did know for certain was that he wanted to see where this thing with Mack would lead.
He thought about texting her when he got back to his place. Nothing quick, just something quick to confirm that he’d enjoyed the evening and wanted to see her again. Then he was going to do a thorough background check on Miles Grayson, his newbrother-in-law.
He’d no sooner walked in the door, however, than his cell phone went off.
“Nick? Sam Brown. I need you to get over to the hospital. It’s Jesse.”
Nick turned around and got right back into his car, his stomach clenching into a knot. “On my way. Is he okay?”
“I’ll fill you in when you get here.”
Nick made it to the hospital in record time. He found Sam Brown waiting for him. “What happened?”
Sam’s face was grim. “Apparently, Jesse Sr. isn’t willing to let go so easily. He sent some of his club brethren over to the house to remind his wife of that. Jesse Jr. tried to show them the door, got a few broken bones and some nice bruises for his troubles. Luckily, the mother called 9-1-1 the moment she saw them at the door and help arrived before they could do any worse. She’s with Jesse now.”
“Jesus. The attackers?”
“Got two of them in custody, but I don’t know how long they’re going to stay there. The club’s got some slick lawyer already pushing to get them out. More restraining orders are being drafted as we speak, but...”
Chief Brown didn’t have to finish that statement. They already knew what the Necromancers thought of restraining orders. From his research, Nick knew the club had their own set of laws, and those were the only ones that mattered. Among them: women and children claimed by patched members belonged to those members to do with as they pleased, period. It was misogyny at its worst.
“We’ve got to get them somewhere safe until we take care of this. Somewhere off the grid where the Necromancers won’t be able to get to them.”
“Agreed.” Sam rubbed at his jaw, now covered in thick, reddish-brown stubble. “I’ve got a hunting cabin up in Potter County.”
“That’ll do. I can take them up as soon as the doc releases Jesse.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll call Gail, have her gather up supplies to take with you.”
