Page 52 of Tanner (Dirty Misfits MC 5)
She rubbed her stomach to prove her point and my heart ached for her. My heart ached for Cheyenne, and the fact that she’d have to stay at Sloane’s a little while longer than just this weekend. It made me sick to think that Summer and myself wouldn’t be able to have our family back together under one roof until that sick bastard of a man was finally handled the way he deserved to be handled.
But then, Finn spoke up. “So, I know I don’t talk about my family much, but I might have a place we can all go.”
Archer blinked. “What’s that got to do with your family?”
Brooks chuckled. “I know.”
Finn shot him a look before he licked his lips. “My family has done well for themselves. They’ve pinched pennies when they needed to and splurged when they deserved it. Anyway, they have a house here in Santa Barbara that they’ve failed to sell time and time again because they always price the damn thing too high. You’d think flipping houses would teach them that shit, but no.”
Josie clicked her tongue. “Where’s the house?”
Finn sighed. “That’s the only issue. It’s not like it’s out in the middle of nowhere. It’s on the ocean, with its own private stretch of beach, so there’s less angles to defend. But it is in a gated community. So, if we are attacked—”
“There are civilians everywhere,” I murmured.
“That might keep them from attacking, though,” Summer said as she stood up. “I mean, they know we won’t call the police, but civilians definitely will.”
Cole nodded. “It might play in our favor.”
Raven coughed a bit to clear her throat. “And there’s no harm in going to see the place. Right?”
Finn smiled. “Right.”
Brooks shrugged his shoulders. “Since it was your idea, you lead the way, then.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Molly said.
We all paused before Summer took her hand. “I know what you’re thinking, and we can’t. Not until things cool down, anyway.”
Her eyes watered. “But it’s supposed to storm tonight. Everything will be ruined.”
Cole sat down beside her and rubbed her back. “The roof wasn’t damaged. It’ll protect what’s left of our things until we can come back and get them. But we have to get somewhere safe. We’re sitting ducks, and for all we know they’re currently trying to mount an attack while we’re down.”
I dipped down and wiped Molly’s tears off her cheeks. “I’ll come back with you. Me, and Tanner, and Cole. We’ll all come back in the morning once the smoke and everything is cleared out by the rain and we’ll pick through what’s here. Okay?”
She sighed so heavily her shoulders slumped. “Okay.”
After gathering everyone together and getting on the backs of bikes, we loaded up what we could in one of the spare cars and fell in line behind Finn. I chose to drive one of the cars with Molly in the passenger’s seat, since she was a bit too big to ride on the back of Cole’s bike with her growing stomach. And the further we got from the warehouse, the easier it became to breathe.
But once we wove our way through town and ended up in front of a hair of beautiful, sparkling wrought iron gates, my eyes widened.
“Wait, we’re going in here?” I asked.
“Jesus,” Molly said breathlessly, “these houses have to be at least a mil and a half or so.”
I gawked at the gorgeous houses as we cruised down the road. People peered out their windows to figure out what in the world was kicking up all of the noise they heard. Some of them waved at us while others grimaced as our disturbance. But, as we traveled easily down the road, I watched Finn turn into the roundabout driveway of the last house on the left.
And I was stunned at the beauty of this place.
“Good God,” I whispered.
Molly snickered. “How do you think the guys are feeling right now?”
And Tanner answered our question when he stepped out of his car and threw his hands in the air.
“What the fuck, Finn!?”
I barked with laughter as I slid out of the car. “Seriously, Finn. This house is gorgeous.”
Cole rushed to help Molly out of the car and Tanner came to get me. All of the engines to our vehicles went silent, and other than the sounds of the city in the background we could all hear the waves of the ocean in the backyard.
“Okay,” Finn said as he trotted up to us, “so my family’s got a bit of money. Big deal.”
Brooks gawked. “Big deal? Dude, this place could hold twice the size of our crew.”
Cole grinned. “You didn’t tell us your parents were rich as fuck.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “Because they aren’t. Yes, they have money, but they didn’t come from it. When my parents married, they didn’t even have the money to pay the courthouse for the marriage certificate. Mom had to put it on her almost-maxed-out credit card.”
