Until Talon (Until Him 4)

“Come on, you two.” The woman I’m guessing is their mom wraps her arms around both girls, leading them toward the living room off the kitchen. As I watch them walk away, my hands ball into fists, because I know Bax was right. What happened at our build and what happened here are connected. There is no way they can’t be, which means someone is trying to get back at me. There is no other explanation, considering Mia just moved to town a few months ago.

“You must be Talon.”

I focus on the man suddenly standing in front of me and attempt to pull myself together, when all I really want to do is shove my hand through the fucking wall.

“Chaz, right?” I ask, anger making my voice gruff. He holds out his hand, and I clasp his tightly. “Hate meeting you like this.”

“Me too, but I’m glad my girl was with you and not here when whoever did this came through.” He lets go of my hand to wave his around.

“I was thinking the same thing,” I tell him then look over my shoulder when I hear someone enter the house and lock eyes with my cousin Cobi. “Your mom mentioned this afternoon that you were working tonight.” I give him a one-armed hug as we clasp hands, and then I step back and motion between him and Chaz. “This is my girl’s dad. Chaz, this is my cousin, Cobi Mayson.”

“We already met,” Chaz says, then asks, “Did any of the neighbors hear or see anything?”

“The ones who answered their doors didn’t, but someone will be back around tomorrow evening around dinner to talk to her neighbors and canvas the area for any kind of cameras that might have caught anything.”

“Someone had to have heard something,” Chaz tells him, turning to walk toward the kitchen with us following him. When I see the cabinets smashed, dishes broken, and appliances destroyed, the anger I felt when I walked into our build is amplified tenfold. “They weren’t quiet, and they weren’t looking for things to steal. This is pure anger.”

“I agree, and I wish I could give you peace of mind by telling you we know who did this, but we don’t,” Cobi says quietly while looking between Chaz and me. “All I can say right now is I wouldn’t suggest anyone staying here tonight or until there’s a security system put in place.”

“They’ll stay with me,” I tell him, not even bothering to look at Chaz for his approval.

“That’d be smart,” Cobi replies, sounding relieved. “My guys and I will do a sweep every few hours just to make sure it’s quiet tonight.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”

“Anytime,” he mutters, resting his hand on the counter that I notice is chipped along the edge, like someone didn’t have the strength to smash it like they wanted to. “I promise we will do everything within our power to find out who did this.”

“Thank you,” Chaz tells him quietly.

“No problem. Get some rest, and we’ll be in touch.” He lifts his chin before heading out of sight.

I look to the living room, where I can see Mia, Cece, and their mom huddled together over the back of the couch. “I know all this is fresh, but I think it’d be smart to get everyone out of the house,” I say, turning toward Chaz.

“Right.” He sighs. “I’ll find a hotel to book us.”

“That’s not happening.” I clench my teeth as he pulls his phone out. “Mia isn’t going to want to be away from her sister tonight, but I don’t want her out of sight. I’ll understand if you and your wife don’t feel comfortable staying at my house, but neither of the girls will be staying with you, so you’ll only need one room.”

Studying me for a minute, he sighs again. “Do you have space for all of us? Because like you, I’m not about to be away from my girls, especially tonight.”

“I have the space,” I tell him. “You’ll just have to help me make some beds.”

“I can do that,” he murmurs then lifts his chin to the living room. “I would say we should pack for them, but I doubt that would go over well.”

“I’m gonna guess you’re right about that,” I agree.

“All right.” He pats my shoulder. “I’ll break up their huddle and get them moving.”

“While you do that, I’m gonna do a walk-through to make sure everything is locked up.” When he nods, we go our separate ways. I go through the house, checking all the windows and the doors, and as I see the extent of the damage, I try to figure out who I could have angered enough to do this to a home where a family obviously lives and how this is connected to what went down with me.