“Hey.” I reach out and squeeze his shoulder. “You’re family. You’re my family and that makes you club family.”
“Thanks.”
“I mean it.”
“I know you do.” He blows out a long, slow breath. “You’ve given me a lot. A place to live. A new career or two.” He chuckles.
“You’re really talented.”
“Charlotte’s the only other person who ever thought so.” He shifts his gaze to the side. “She claims our dad did, but I don’t remember it that way.”
The big brother role comes easily to me. Always has. “Well, now a lot of other people know it too.” I slap his shoulder. “Bronze has been a friend of the club for years—before my time, even. I wouldn’t stick my neck out if I didn’t believe in you. And Rock, well, I wouldn’t have risked my president’s wrath.”
“Merlin wouldn’t have pissed on me if I were on fire.”
“Yeah, but your uncle is a dick. Forget him.”
“He’s certainly forgotten us.” He tucks his hands in his pockets and stares at the ground. “He barely ever texts or calls her.”
Good. I promised Merlin a world of hurt if he contacted Charlotte without clearing it with me first.
“Did you tell him to stay away?” Carter asks. “Assert your biker dominion over my sister?”
I choose my words carefully, knowing how much Charlotte wants her little brother kept out of biker business. He’s also been lied to enough and deserves at least a piece of the truth. “He hurt your sister. He made things right the best he could, but I don’t trust him near her.” I hesitate and try to tamp down my anger. “He’s still family. If she wants to see him, she can. I just don’t want her alone with him ever again.”
He nods slowly. “Thank you.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t want you alone with him either.”
He kicks his toe against a tuft of grass. “Doubt that’ll ever be an issue.”
He’s right. For his own personal fucked-up reasons, Merlin was always cruel to Carter. “That’s probably a good thing.”
The corners of Carter’s mouth twitch. “True that.” He holds out his fist and I tap my knuckles against his.
I lift my chin at the full sleeve of tattoos crawling up his left arm. “You’re gonna run out of room soon.”
“Nah.” He studies the artwork as if he’s amazed to find it branded into his skin. “I always wanted to do something like this, but I didn’t want Uncle Chuck to think I was trying to be like him or something. Now, I just don’t give a fuck.”
“It’s a beautiful feeling when that last fuck finally flies away.” I wave my hand through the air like it’s a bird flapping its wings.
His expression loses some of the sadness that had crept over him. “What are we celebrating tonight?”
“Starting a new business venture in Slater County.”
“So Wolf Knights are out of Slater. Totally?”
I take a few beats to answer. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Duh.” He rolls his eyes. “I may try to blend into the wallpaper, but I still have ears.”
“We don’t have wallpaper.”
He chuckles. “Seriously, so is that Lost King territory now?”
“Looks that way.”
“Good.”