“Our son is sitting right here,” Lily shot back. “That’s enough. I’m glad you’re here, but maybe we can catch up later, okay?”
“Come on,” Mark said, tugging me away.
“I want to go back to the room,” I said quietly as he led me through the tables. I refused to cry in front of everyone and I could feel the tears stinging the back of my nose.
As soon as Mark had closed the bedroom door behind us, I spun to face him. “What the fuck?” I said, my voice shaking. “Seriously. What the fuck? This is why I didn’t want to come back here. This is exactly why.”
“You held your own,” he said crossing his arms over his chest. “Breathe, baby.”
“Fucking Rose,” I gritted out. “I couldn’t get one fucking conversation with my sister, not even one, without her snarky ass commentary.”
“It’s like instinct for her,” he said calmly. “You know that. It’s always been that way. The minute she thinks Lily’s in trouble, she steps in.”
“In trouble from me?” I said, pointing at myself. “Me. Her sister.”
“Didn’t say it was logical,” he replied.
“And Leo,” I hissed.
“Let’s leave that one for now,” he said grimly.
“What?” I paused in my ranting to meet his eyes.
“You were holdin’ your own,” he replied. “So I didn’t knock his teeth down his throat—but it was a close thing. So, baby, I’ll stand here all day and listen to you get this shit off your chest, but I’d rather leave the Leo conversation for a different time. When he’s not within walkin’ distance.”
My lips twitched. “You wanted to knock his teeth down his throat?” I said, raising my eyebrows.
“The fact that he’s breathin’ your air makes me want to do that,” Mark grumbled. “That shit he was sayin’ just intensified the urge.”
“I hate it here,” I said with a sigh.
“It’ll calm down,” he reassured me. “Give it some time.”
Olive started to fuss, so I dropped onto the bed and pulled my t-shirt up to nurse, glad for the distraction as my heart rate finally started to slow down.
“What was that jealousy shit about?” Mark asked, laying down beside me.
I grimaced. “Rose’s boyfriend refused to have kids—which is why they broke up. They must be back together now.”
“Cec,” he groaned.
“I know, okay?” I said defensively. “She shouldn’t have called you Mouth.”
“That’s why you said it?” he asked, leaning up on his elbow.
“She can fuck with me all she wants, but she’s sure as hell not going to fuck with you,” I replied flatly.
Mark chuckled. “That name stopped bothering me a long ass time ago,” he said, patting my leg. “Right about the time I realized just how much you liked my mouth.”
Chapter 22
Mark
Cecilia grinned at me slyly, and just as I rose up to kiss her, my phone rang.
“Fuck,” I muttered, pulling it out of my pocket. I glanced at the screen. “I gotta get this.”
I stood from the bed and kissed Cec on the top of her head as I answered.
“What’s up?” I asked, walking toward the door.
Most of the time, I wouldn’t care if Cecilia sat on my lap with her ear pressed to the phone—but the fact that Wilson was calling me so soon after Forrest had heard from him made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Warren’s phone was shut off,” Wilson replied in frustration. “It was like two hours man—that’s it.”
“And you didn’t say somethin’?” I barked, striding down the hallway.
“It was two fucking hours,” he ground out.
“And?”
“He must have a goddamn helicopter,” Wilson said grimly. “Because he is currently in Eugene.”
I came to a stop with my hand on the door leading to the field behind the clubhouse. “Say again?”
“Drake Warren’s cell phone is in Eugene, according to the GPS coordinates I just uploaded.”
My mind raced. How close was he? I glanced back at the room where I’d left Cecilia and Olive. “You got anything more precise?”
“With the technology at my disposal, that’s not possible,” Wilson replied. “Shit, Chief,” he said, his words coming out far more informal than usual, making him sound like the kid he was. “I fucked up.”
“Call Forrest and fill him in on the particulars,” I said, spinning on my heel and striding back toward the center of the club. I didn’t have it in me to offer him absolution—not when the devil was knocking on our goddamn door.
I found Casper and Dragon standing at the bar. As soon as I got close, their conversation stopped, and both men looked up in surprise when I joined them.
“Warren’s in Eugene,” I ground out.
“Course he is,” Dragon said, watching me closely. “You surprised by this?”
“Warning would have been nice,” I replied.
Casper chuckled. “Yeah, man, it always is.” He slapped me on the shoulder. “You’ve been spoiled with gadgets and backup too long. Welcome back to reality, where fuckers jump outta the shadows.”