Page 65 of Born to Scar

“Hey, you were at the strip club,” Indy greets Ken, tilting her head, looking at him as he strides into the kitchen.

Ken nods. “Yeah.” He chuckles. “Sorry about that, again. Ken.” He introduces himself and pushes his hand out.

She laughs and holds hers out. “Indy. Really, don’t be.”

“You met him at the strip club?” I ask, confused.

“Uh, no. Not exactly…” She chuckles.

I cock my eyebrow, and she gives me her sweet smile.

“He interrupted her while she was kissing my neck in the back that night. I’m still pretty pissed about it. You know how much I like it,” Cam chides, looking at Ken.

I nod as Ken barks a laugh. Indy shakes her head, turning her attention back to the food.

CHAPTER 28

CAM

Jay plates the food while I deliver it to the island. We rarely use the dining table, but the island is big enough to easily fit us all. “Thanks for doing this, Indy. It looks amazing.” I kiss her cheek, dropping a plate in front of her.

“Of course. I wish I had more time to do it. I enjoy cooking.” I know she does. I wish she had a more normal schedule like Jay and me. Not only for her to cook, but to simply have more time with her.

“Holy fuck!” Ken exclaims. Indy turns to him with a smile. “This is great! Are you Italian?”

“No,” the three of us answer in unison.

“I have Greek roots. It would show through more if I left my hair black,” she laughs, flipping the bottom of her long hair. “The men who are like fathers to me taught me how to cook. They aren’t Italian either. But they are very cultured for being the head degenerates.” Her joke has Ken chuckling.

This lightness won’t last. And I’m grasping on to it as long as I can. We’re going to tell Indy everything tonight. I’m not sure how this will go. She hasn’t healed from her past. She ran from it. From what Jay said about her today, this may be as ready as she’ll ever be for it. Her reading every journal in that box in one day is a feat in itself, but not losing herself in them is even greater.

After we finish dinner, Jay and I remove everything from the island and counters in the kitchen. She likes to throw things. The tumbler she hurled at my head the night I met her is a stark reminder of that lesson. Kia tried to tell me it wasn’t on purpose, but I saw it in her eyes. The only thing not on purpose was her missing my skull.

“What are you doing?” she asks, looking around, confused.

Jay stops and turns to her with his brow arched. “We are taking your arsenal away,” he answers, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Her brows furrow, then her eyes widen. “Okay, yeah. That’s fair,” she says, chuckling.

Ken eyes us. “She likes to throw things when she’s upset,” I clarify. He softly laughs and nods. “I almost took a glass tumbler to the head the night I met her. In all fairness, the driver who totaled her bike wouldn’t have been there had I not shown up, so…” I throw my arms in the air.

Jared loses his shit and recounts, “Kia said ‘that wasn’t on purpose’”—doing a damn good job mimicking his voice—“but you could see it all over her face that it was a hundred percent on purpose.” He continues through his laughing fit. I roll my eyes, removing the last of any loose items.

The silence is heavy as we all silently take our seats around the island. I clear my throat, turning my body to face her completely. The air is thick and uneasy. “Because of your father’s visit last night, I thought we needed to show you some things now. We can’t wait anymore.”

“He was here?” Ken asks.

I shake my head. “No, he showed up at the bar again. He brought her a bunch of her mother’s journals.”

“Really? Do they have dates?” Ken asks, and Indy nods. “May I see them?”

“Sure.” She shrugs. “I’ll grab them when we’re done.”

“He threatened her. He’s trying to use us to get to her. He said he wants to talk to her and that he will force her to, one way or another.”

Ken sits up straighter, his eyebrows shooting to the top of his head. Indy is staring at him, taking in every reaction he’s having, while picking at her nails. That’s the first sign of her being overwhelmed, and we haven’t even told her anything yet. Jay takes her hands into his, stopping her. She huffs but lets him keep them.

“Your father’s file is loaded with reports,” Ken starts.