“Hey, sweet cheeks!” Saylor yelled through the phone.
“Hey, girl!” Reilly called back, now wearing a grin.
“Is my brother boning you right now?”
“No, we’re at the garage,” Reilly answered with an exaggerated pout. As if Saylor could see her. Rev shook his head.
“Oh, damn. I hoped you two would hook up.”
“Saylor. Jesus fuck. Don’t say shit like that,” Rev growled.
“Why? It’s true. You two would make beautiful babies.”
“Fuck! I ain’t havin’ babies. We’re not hookin’ up. That’s not why the fuck I’m callin’.”
She laughed. “So, then, spit it the hell out, big brother. Cassie wants me to put together some meal in the Crockpot—”
“Yeah, okay, don’t give a fuck about Crockpots. Got somethin’ more important to tell you.”
“What’s more important than Cream Cheese Chicken over rice? That shit is banging. Just like you two should be doing.”
“Didn’t know you wanted your brother to die,” Rev said dryly.
“Reilly, your pussy is worth dying for, right?” Saylor asked. “I bet she’s got a bomb ass pussy.”
“Saylor!” Rev yelled, now avoiding looking at Reilly who was laughing so hard she was crying. “Need to tell you somethin’. Stop fuckin’ around.”
“Okay, what? Spill. Wait. Hey, Reilly, you need to come to The Barn tonight. We need to get smashed and then have a contest on which one of us can get more of the guys to pop boners without us even touching them.”
“What the fuck,” Rev muttered. “She ain’t comin’ to The Barn for that shit. You two ain’t gettin’ smashed and you better not be fuckin’ with the guys like that. Especially those goddamn prospects. Don’t be the reason I gotta slice one of those fuckers’ throats for steppin’ out of line ‘cause you’re fuckin’ teasin’ them.”
“You’re no fun.”
Rev sucked in a long breath to cool off his temper.
“I’ll text you later,” Reilly said.
He twisted his head toward her. “The fuck you will.”
Reilly frowned.
So did he.
“Okay, I have shit to do. What do you want, brother, if you’re not calling me to tell me that you and Reilly are knocking boots?”
Rev sighed. He needed to get this conversation back on track so he could get it out and over with. “Got a phone call.”
“So?”
“Matthew called.”
Dead silence followed. After a few seconds, he heard a shuddered breath. Yeah, for Saylor, suddenly this phone call was no longer fun and games. “Why?”
“Said the motherfucker’s dyin’.”
Reilly jerked against him and the hand covering his on her thigh squeezed tight.
His sister simply answered with, “Good.”
“He wants me to go there.”
“He who?”
“Matthew.”
In the silence that followed, Rev could hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
Finally, Saylor asked quietly, “Just you?”
“Told them you were dead.”
Reilly gasped and Saylor made a choking sound.
Rev quickly added, “They don’t know you’re here with me,” to help prevent any panic.
It wasn’t fear or panic he heard in her voice, it was seething anger when she asked, “Why the fuck would they want you there? Why would he?”
Rev scraped a thumbnail across his forehead and sighed, struggling to keep his own anger in check. “Don’t know. Think our uncle contacted me on his own. Our wonderful, lovin’ father probably don’t know. ‘Cause I can’t imagine he asked for me.” If he asked for anyone, it would be for Saylor. Sarah.
“You’re not going, are you?”
He twisted a hand back and forth along the back of his neck. “Don’t know.”
“Well, I’m glad you told them I’m dead because there’s no way you’ll catch me near that fucking place. The next time I see that bastard, it’ll be in hell.”
The call ended but not before he heard her sob.
Did he make a mistake by telling her? Maybe he should’ve left her in the dark and not drug out the nightmare of her past.
But then, maybe he shouldn’t have returned Matthew’s call in the first place.
Why did he?
Why?
Worse, why would he even think about going back there?
If he did, could he even do it alone? Without Saylor? But, in truth, he’d never force her to go. To take her back to the place that caused her nightmares.
Caused them both nightmares for years.
He had successfully put it all behind him.
Until the phone call.
If he was smart, he wouldn’t go.
If he was smart, he never would have called Matthew back.
If he was smart, he would’ve burned that note.
Apparently, someone forgot to remind him that he wasn’t smart.
Chapter Two
Reilly didn’t know what to say. From where she sat, that whole conversation between Rev and Saylor was confusing at best.
She wasn’t sure if she should be upset or angry. Not at him, but for him. When she had stepped outside and saw his shoulders hunched, his head hidden in his folded arms and his phone on the table next to a still smoldering pot pipe, she knew something was very wrong.
Whoever the person was whose name and number she’d written on that slip of paper had given him some sort of bad news. She wouldn’t have even known that Rev was Michael Schmidt if the caller hadn’t happen to mention that Michael might be using the name Mickey.