Craving Cecilia (The Aces' Sons 6)

She paused, looking at the cans. “Yep. All good until next year.”

“I let the boys know we’re here,” Casper said, coming back into the kitchen. The space was getting really crowded with all four of us in there. “They found Mack, and said he’s in pretty rough shape, but the doctors are working on him. Rose is physically okay, but takin’ all of it hard.”

“Uh, yeah,” Farrah said. “She was fucking kidnapped.”

“It sounds like she held her own,” Casper said with a small sigh. “Now they’re just waitin’ on news from the doctors.”

“You told them not to mention where we are?” I said, hating that I had to. We knew there was a mole in the Sacramento chapter, and we couldn’t just assume that’s where it ended.

“I did,” Casper replied. He looked at Cecilia. “The boys know what’s happenin’ down here, but they’re keepin’ it to themselves. Once we’re home, we can decide who needs to know what.”

Cecilia nodded.

“Can’t keep this level of shit to ourselves,” Casper continued. “Even though you asked me to.”

Cecilia nodded again before pulling out of my arms. Crossing her arms over her chest, she left the room, closing herself into the tiny bathroom.

“Keeping this to ourselves seems counterproductive at this point,” Farrah said, leaning back against the counter. “We’ve got other kids back home wondering what the hell is going on. Charlie we can keep in the dark—but Lily’s not going to be put off much longer.”

“Now that things are calming down a little back home, I think Lil’s gonna have her hands full with Rose. We got time,” Casper replied.

“I just wish she didn’t feel so determined to keep everything a secret,” Farrah said, looking at the bathroom door. “It’s not like she’ll be able to keep things to herself once we get back.”

“She knows,” I said quietly. “She’s struggling with that, too.”

“We love her. Her aunts and uncles and cousins love her. Her sisters and brother and nephews love her. It’s like she’s forgotten that.”

“There’s a lot of hurt feelings on both sides, I think,” I said quietly as Cec came out of the bathroom.

“We’re going to have to figure out the food situation,” Farrah said without missing a beat. “We’ve got some canned stuff, but not enough to feed all of us.”

“I can send Lu later,” I replied. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, we heard the sound of a car out front. I barely got an arm wrapped around Cecilia’s waist as she bolted for the door.

“Let your dad get it,” I said as she tried to pull away. “Give him just a second.”

Casper looked out the window, then unlocked the front door and swung it wide.

“How was the drive?” he called out as we all moved toward the front of the house.

Cecilia slumped back against me as she realized it was Eli and Lu walking up the steps, not Forrest.

“All good,” Eli said. “Your boy’s right behind us—I think he was making an extra loop.”

Casper nodded as the sound of Cam’s bike came from the end of the driveway.

“Forrest get here yet?” Lu asked as she came inside.

“Not yet,” I replied.

Cecilia dropped onto the recliner, covering her face with her hands.

“She needs a break,” Lu said quietly to me. “I can’t imagine how she’s still upright.”

“No idea,” I replied. “I just keep thinking if we can get her home, she can rest. But I don’t know. There’s a lot of history up there, so she’ll be safe, but—”

“Emotionally, it’s a minefield,” Lu said in understanding. “Well, we’ll deal with that when it comes.”

My phone rang in my pocket and for a second, I froze.

“Answer it, dumbass,” Lu said, shoving me lightly.

Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I checked the caller ID.

“How’s it going?” I asked Josiah as I walked out to stand on the back deck.

“We’re on the road,” he replied.

“He even bought me road snacks!” Eph sang happily.

“Oh, great,” I muttered. “I’m on speakerphone.”

Josiah laughed. “We got her stuff packed up,” he said. “Did you know she keeps a bug-out bag? No shit. Found it in her closet. Spare change of clothes, extra magazines for a .37, shotgun and a box of shells, couple of burner phones, the works.”

“I’m guessing that was a gift from her dad.”

“Father of the Year,” Josiah said approvingly.

“No doubt,” Eph agreed.

“You’re headed north?” I asked.

“Yeah, man. We’ll be in Eugene tomorrow. What do you want us to do when we get there?”

“Get a cheap room and wait,” I said. “Not sure when we’ll be there, but we’ll get there eventually.”

“You know, rainy ass Oregon is not where I’d choose to go on a winter vacation,” Eph said conversationally. “I like the sun.”

“Yeah, man, I get it,” I said with a sigh.

“Just fuckin’ with you,” Eph said with a laugh. “I’ll be a happy man if I can find a place with a hot tub and room service.”