“If you could hurry,” she said, her voice a little wobbly. “That would be good.”
“Everything alright?” I asked, pushing down on the gas pedal. Unfortunately, we were on a residential street, so there was only so much I could do.
“My son has a temper,” was all she said.
As soon as we were parked, Nadine was out of the car and striding up the front walkway. For an old lady she was fast as hell. She didn’t knock on the front door the way I would’ve, she just opened it up and strode inside without pausing. Since she didn’t ask me to stay in the car, I took that as an invitation to follow her inside. What we found would be the source of my nightmares for years.
Chapter 5
Dragon
Present Day
“Sounds like the old lady had some brass ones,” I muttered.
I’d heard a lot of tales about the old days. Men liked to talk when they were drunk, and most of them told stories the way a fisherman brags about the size of his catch—if the story seemed unbelievable, even better—but I’d never heard this one before. It surprised me that Vera and Charlie had never mentioned her grandmother, especially if she’d been as ballsy as Poet was describing.
“Yes, queen,” my baby girl sang, raising her hands into the air like some evangelical preacher. I had no fucking clue what Trix was doing, so I ignored her.
“She did,” Poet said, nodding. A little smile played around his lips.
“You do what you have to,” Amy said simply.
“Bet she fucked him up,” Hawk muttered, making me grin. I loved all the girls, especially my little warrior, but Hawk cracked me up. Tommy picked a good one.
“I doubt she had to with Slider there,” my wife replied, leaning more heavily against my side. Once upon a time, Brenna had been a wild drunk. These days, she fit more into the moody drunk camp. I didn’t mind it. I’d had my fair share of both wild and moody and I couldn’t say I liked one better than the other—she was still the best lay I’d ever had either way.
“To Vera’s grandma, who clearly taught her granddaughter a thing or two,” Lily said. She lifted her drink into the air. “And to Vera.”
“To Vera,” we all repeated, raising our drinks.
“So, what happened when they got inside the house?” Leo asked, leaning back in his chair.
Poet made a scoffing noise and shook his head. “The place was a mess. Broken lamps and overturned tables. Charlie said it looked like they’d been robbed.”
“But they hadn’t,” Brenna said knowingly. I pulled my woman a little tighter against me and kissed her head. She understood what Vera had gone through, and while the younger girls around the table waited on pins and needles to hear what happened next, my Brenna already knew. I wasn’t sure what I believed in, but I thanked God daily that my wife had survived and found her way home to me.
“No,” Poet replied, meeting his daughter’s eyes. “They hadn’t.”
Farrah sighed. “I think I need another drink for this.”
“I’ll get it,” Casper told her, squeezing her shoulder before walking away.
“It was bad,” Poet said, with a small nod. “Charlie didn’t go into detail about it. Always figured he didn’t want to relive it.”
“Vera told me,” Amy said, glancing at her husband. “But only once, when we’d had quite a bit to drink.”
“We know she was okay, though,” Rose said. She was curled up against her mother. Rose was grown, but more than any of the other kids, I noticed that she still stuck pretty close to her parents. Wasn’t sure why, though.
“Eventually,” Poet said gently.
“But it got worse before it got better,” Amy said. “Much worse.”
“Just tell us what happened,” Farrah said as Casper handed her a new drink. She was playing it cool, but my life depended on watching people, and Casper’s wife was stung pretty damn tight. She was dying to hear the story, even if she pretended like it was no big deal.
“By the time Charlie and Nadine got there Vera’s pop was in a full on rage,” Poet replied.
“And Vera had put up a hell of a fight,” Amy chimed in.
“Which explains the broken furniture,” Grease said. “Good for her.”
“Yes,” Amy confirmed.
“Jesus,” Casper muttered. “What a nightmare.”
“Did Slider beat the shit out of her dad?” Hawk asked, leaning forward in her chair to rest her elbows on the table. One arm missed it completely and she almost smacked her face on the table before she caught herself. I glanced between her and Tommy realizing they were both flying high and chuckled under my breath. Whatever they had, I needed to get some of that. Hell, maybe it would help me get some fucking sleep.
“He did,” Amy said, nodding.
“A knight on a fucking Harley,” Rose muttered, rolling her eyes.