Always Someone’s Monster (Battle Crows MC 1)

Hell, even Jeremiah, Haggard’s uncle on his father’s side, had women all over him. Something he didn’t want, according to Clem, because he was recently divorced like Haggard was—if you counted being divorced for over a year recent—but where Haggard had at least what I would call a ‘decent’ divorce, Jeremiah had not.

Jeremiah’s divorce was raw, ugly, and his ex-wife still went out of her way daily to make his life a living hell.

Though he was Haggard’s age, Jeremiah looked a bit older. The lines around his eyes were more deeply set, and there was a wariness to his eyes that spoke of exhaustion.

With my eyes on Jeremiah, I shook my head to Haggard’s question and said, “Jeremiah looks like he is doing a little better.”

Lies.

He looked like shit.

But wasn’t one supposed to lie when it came to how someone looked when they looked that bad?

Haggard snorted and picked up a beer for himself, flicking the top with his fingernails and failing to get it open.

Noticing his plight, I reached forward and held out my hand.

He handed me his beer and I opened the tab easily before handing it back to him.

“Thanks,” he grumbled. “Cut my nails today and can’t open shit.”

I snorted. “That’s unfortunate.”

“And as to your comment about Jeremiah, the only reason I would agree with you about him looking better is because, honestly, he does. At least, better than he did. At least he’s out here getting a break. I haven’t seen him in fucking months because he’s working himself so hard to pay off the alimony that Rachel requested and was granted through the court,” he commented.

“How much alimony are we talking?” I asked curiously.

“Enough that she doesn’t have to work anymore at all,” he grumbled. “Which puts him in a bind because they still own fifty percent of their business together.”

That was also unfortunate to hear.

When Rachel and Jeremiah split, they’d gone to court to discuss how the company would be split between them, only to have the judge tell them to figure it out.

Because they both owned an electric company together, one that was insanely big and important to a lot of Texas, the judge pretty much told them to suck it up and deal with each other, and not disrupt the workings of thirty-five counties over their petty problems.

Except, when she was granted alimony, that meant that Rachel didn’t have to work anymore, which put even more work onto Jeremiah’s shoulders.

That freakin’ sucked.

Together, we fell into step with each other as we made our way farther into the party.

“Thief!” Cannel cried, breaking into our discussion on whether Rachel actually needed alimony or not.

Haggard’s head whipped around as he saw his sister. He grinned at her and said, “Yeah?”

“I just wanted to tell you I love you,” she yelled over everyone.

She was sitting in her husband, Will’s, lap. She was cuddled into him and holding a margarita that looked to be as big as Will’s head.

“She’s drunk as fuck,” I teased as Haggard hollered he loved her back. “But I’m so happy to see her drunk as fuck.”

“Same,” he answered gruffly. “Didn’t think I’d ever get that again.”

I knew he didn’t.

It was so sad to see him when Cannel was missing. At his darkest, he’d been consumed, searching for her in his every spare second.

Secretly, I knew that was what had broken Haggard and Trista’s marriage.

Trista wanted Haggard and the family to write Cannel off. Only, the Crows didn’t write their own off.

They dug and dug and dug until finally they got what they wanted.

It was sad that they weren’t the ones to find her in the long run. But none of them were going to complain, not one single bit.

Not when the end results were the same.

But over that year, I’d witnessed Haggard change, too.

He’d gone from that carefree guy that set my heart on fire to a man possessed that was kind of mean, but in a good way.

A hot way.

A ‘I fell in love with him when he was still married’ kind of way.

Haggard led me to the seats that were on the outskirts of the bonfire, staying with me the entire way.

I didn’t question my good fortune.

Instead, I happily took up the seat next to him and relished our ability to talk while being at a boisterous party.

For the next half an hour, he drank two more beers, while I finally succumbed and drank one. We spoke about Clem and her schooling. Me and mine—which wasn’t going so well. I didn’t want to go to school. Honestly, I’d been in school for the longest of times, and I was still no closer to figuring out a major than I had been when I started at nineteen.

It was a mystery if I’d ever graduate of something—unless it was a degree in art, something I already had the credits for.