Page 44 of Puck (The Lost Boys MC)
“How did you find Pathways, then?” I said breathlessly.
She sighed as she leaned back into her chair. “After the cartel stopped coming after me, I waited for two years. Two years, I went unbothered, so I figured it was safe enough to come home.”
I scoffed. “You’re never safe from them.”
“And that’s what I figured out very quickly. I checked myself into Pathways because I knew it was a safe place to hide. I’d stay clean, I’d get three meals, I’d have a roof over my head, and I’d have protection from the bulk of what the cartel could throw at me. But they still found me, and they still tried to get to me. Had it not been for Brigid–”
I held up my hand and stood to my feet. “Don’t say her name.”
“She saved my life, Jared. Whatever it is you’re angry at her for, forgive her. She saved your mother.”
I looked down upon her and saw the red streaks tainting her face. Her eyes were so puffy that they were almost closed and it tugged at the small part of my heart that hadn’t frozen over yet. If anything else, I felt sorry for her. I felt sorry that she had fallen into a lifestyle that took everything away from her, and I felt sorry for the fact that my sister and I had to pick up the pieces of our lives that she shattered just to keep us safe.
And while I couldn’t forgive her for everything, I wanted to mend my relationship with her.
“Mom?” I asked.
She quickly stood to her feet. “Yes, sweet boy?”
“Could we just… start all—”
“Mom?!” Ruby shrieked.
She turned around and gasped. “Roo!”
And as I watched my sister envelope our mother in the tightest hug imaginable, I watched as thankfulness and relief washed over her features.
Which made me wonder if she had ever been upset with Mom at all for everything she had put us through.
Twenty-Four
Brigid
As I stood at the kitchen window watching Ruby hug her mother, a smile crossed my face. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I crossed my arms over my chest, allowing myself to steep in the mixed moment of Ruby’s happiness.
Even if Puck looked damn near miserable.
“Did you know?”
Stone’s voice popped up behind me and I closed my eyes.
“No,” I said with the shake of my head. “I honestly didn’t know.”
He walked up beside me. “Did you have an inkling of any sort?”
I peeked over at him. “There was a moment where she mentioned her daughter ‘Roo,’ and I wondered for half a millisecond. But outside of that, no.”
He looked over at me. “And that’s the only time she ever mentioned her children’s names?”
I tilted my head. “What are you accusing me of?”
He snickered. “Pretty sure it’s obvious.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek and walked away from the man. The last thing I needed was to be harassed and accused of something I didn’t do. I marched out of the kitchen just as the patio door opened, Lori’s voice flooding the house as her and her daughter chatted up a storm.
I didn’t hear Puck’s voice, though.
“Brigid?” he asked.
I turned around in the living room. “Yes?”
He walked up to me with a somber look on his face. He parted his lips to say something, but the second his eyes locked with mine he closed them. I wondered what he was about to ask. Possibly the same question that Stone had asked?
And as I stood there, staring into the face of the most confusing man on this planet, a familiar hand slipped into my own.
“Hey there, Lori,” I said as a smile crossed my face.
Her eyes darted between me and Puck. “Everything okay over here?”
I snickered. “I should be asking you that question. You good?”
She nodded proudly. “I’m very good. Puck?”
I looked back up into his stone-cold face. “Are you okay, Puck?”
And after he swallowed down whatever he had been thinking, he shook his head. “Not completely, but I’m working on it.”
Stone walked into the room. “Glad you guys are here. We all need to talk.”
Lori peered in his general direction. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”
I squeezed her hand. “Nothing serious, okay? He probably just wants you to tell him what you know about the cartel.”
Stone nodded. “That’s exactly what I want. All I’ve had is secondhand information from the start. I’d like to hear it from the source, if you’re up for it.”
Lori stood with confidence. “Can we do it over food? I’m starving.”
I giggled. “I’ll go whip us up something.”
“Us?” Puck asked.
I shot him a look. “Yes, us. All of us.”
We all piled back into the kitchen and I pulled out things to cook. There were a couple of steaks marinating and multiple eggs that needed to be used up. There were sodas scattered throughout the fridge along with a door full of beer that Puck automatically reached toward. I tried to stay out of his way as everyone else sat at the table, Stone included. And as I worked on our meal in the background, I listened to what Lori had to say.
