I found her crying in her bed, curled up in a ball.
I didn’t hesitate crawling into the bed beside her, boots and all.
“Are you okay?” I asked, gathering her up into my arms.
She curled into me, tears soaking my shirt.
“Would you still love me if I were a tree?”
There was a long pause as I took in her watery words.
“Um.” I hesitated, unsure where she was going with this, and unwilling to make her cry harder. “Yes.”
She snickered, unable to help herself.
“There’s this place that you can order trees from. You put the ashes in the tree, and then plant it.” She paused. “I was thinking about doing that with some of Faye’s ashes. And now, I have to think about what to do with my grandfather’s soon, too.”
I tugged her closer, burying my nose in her sweet-smelling hair.
“When the time comes, honey, I’ll plant every fuckin’ tree you want me to. I’ll even buy a plot of land that you can plant it on, build a house so you can see it every day, and then keep it well-manicured so you can visit it any time you feel the need.” I nuzzled her throat.
She sighed and then wiped her nose on my t-shirt.
There was a long pause and then, “That’s gross. Sorry.”
I chuckled darkly. “I’ll deal with it this one time.”
She tilted her head back until her bloodshot, tear-filled eyes met mine in the near darkness.
“I love you, Price Crow.”
I pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “I love you and your snotty nose, too.”
CHAPTER 24
Happenis: when his dick makes you happy.
-Text from Sabrina to Price
PRICE
There were men pounding at the door by eight in the morning the next day, and I was more than a little miffed to be pulled from my sleep after only going to bed at three that morning.
I’d stayed up with Sabrina as she told me every single story she could think of about her grandfather.
Needless to say, when I made my way out to the front room and saw Daniel doing the same, I was not the happiest in the world.
In fact, the gun in my pants and the anger in my eyes were obvious signs.
Even worse, when I opened the door, it was to find three very pissed-off men on the doorstep.
Ones obviously related to Cole.
The father, and the two brothers.
Men who wanted to check for my wife’s virginity because they were fuckin’ gross.
“Can I help you?” I asked curiously.
Cole’s father narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I want to talk to the old man that shot my fuckin’ son!”
“Do you not want to talk to the person that saw him strangling his wife?” I asked. “The one that was an eyewitness to what happened?”
The man narrowed his eyes, and the two brothers moved from foot to foot nervously.
Whether it was due to their discomfort at the visit, or anticipation of what was to come, I didn’t know.
“Dad…” Brother one, on Cole’s father’s left, said. “Maybe we should go home.”
Brother two snorted but said nothing. “I’ll go home when…”
“Dad?” Sabrina’s voice was hoarse. “Dad, come here.”
Daniel left, giving Cole’s father a narrow-eyed look, before heading toward his daughter.
When they disappeared into the back of the house, I had a feeling that something was seriously wrong.
Which was why I did my best to get rid of them.
“I know you’re angry,” I told the three men. “But he was literally holding a gun to her head. I’m sorry that it came down to it, but I’m not sorry that he’s gone. Now you have a decision to make. You can leave, and know that it wasn’t something that DS wanted to do, but had to do to protect his grandchild. Or you can pursue this, and the Battle Crows MC will utterly destroy you and everything you hold dear. Choose wisely.”
“You can’t do anything in this town,” Cole’s father growled. “You can’t…”
“He can,” I heard from behind the Cole trio.
Easton.
Cole’s father whirled around, a look of anger on his face that disappeared when he saw all of my brothers and MC coming up the sidewalk at his back.
They’d arrived in silence, showing off military backgrounds that enabled them to move quietly enough that they came as a surprise to everyone but me.
“It may not seem like it,” I heard Haggard say. “But we’re more than capable of handling whatever needs to be handled. Now, please leave. There’s been one death over the last day that’s senseless. Don’t make it two.”
“Dad. We need to go,” Brother two finally said. “You know that Cole wasn’t right. You know that what he did was wrong. It’s time to admit it and not follow the same path.”
Agreed.
Brother one agreed as well.
It was Cole’s father that disagreed.
I could read it in his eyes.
Which was why I dropped the indifferent mask from my face, and let him see the killer that I kept hidden.