The Marked Men Series Books 1–6: Rule, Jet, Rome, Nash, Rowdy, Asa. Jay Crownover
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simple badassness, made us act right. No one went against Uncle Phil, and to this day he was our go-to grown-up when we couldn’t get our act together on our own.
“One of these days you’re just going to have to give up the ghost, Jet. It doesn’t make any sense to keep trying to pull her away from him if she’s dug in that deep.”
“I know, but she’s my mom and I can’t seem to stop.”
He muttered a swear word and I heard him talking to someone else. “We’re all going bowling. You should meet us at Lucky Strike on Sixteenth.”
“Why bowling?”
“Because football is over and Rule is pacing the apartment like a caged tiger. It’s driving me nuts. Rowdy will be there in twenty, plus they have beer. What else are we going to do on a Sunday?”
I really wasn’t in the mood, but hanging out by myself was sure to be a recipe for disaster in my current mood. “Did you call Cora and see if she wants to go? She’s been acting a little off the last couple days.”
“No answer. I left her a couple messages, though.”
I frowned because she had been home when I left, moping around the kitchen about something. The shop was closed on Sundays, so I knew she didn’t have to work, and it wasn’t like her to blow off a call from any of the guys.
“Let me swing by the house and see what’s going on with her, and then I’ll hit you back.”
“Sure thing. By the way, that was a real shit thing to pull last night at the show. Ayden is a down chick; you’re lucky she didn’t hang you up by your balls afterward.”
“I know. I apologized. We’re working on trying to figure something out.”
“Good, because if Rule doesn’t break you in half for messing with her, I will.”
I didn’t need him to warn me twice. She wasn’t a groupie, a stranger who no one cared if I blew off and forgot about from one heartbeat to the next. She was a girl that was woven into the fabric of our lives, into the pattern of our unit, and if I hurt her on purpose they wouldn’t let it go lightly. The ironic thing was that she was more than capable of taking care of herself and that the threats from the guys were completely unnecessary.
I shoved the phone in the console and cranked Morbid Angel on the radio as I ran back across town to check on Cora. The screaming lyrics and insane bass made some of the anger still floating around under the surface burn out. I could hate my dad all I wanted, I could beg my mom to leave until I was blue in the face, but things were never going to change and it just couldn’t be my cross to bear forever. I had built my life trying to live beyond the legacy my dad had left me. Now I was starting to see it was well past time to start living it based on the legacy I was making for myself.
I parked on the street with every intention of just running in real quickly to see what the little blond fireball was up to. As I was climbing out of the car, the front door to the house slammed open and a guy I didn’t recognize came flying down the front steps, with Cora hot on his heels. I felt my jaw drop open when I noticed she was waving a Taser around and screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs. I went to move, to run after the guy, but before either of us could get to him, he threw a leg over a motorcycle that was parked at the curb and took off like a bat out of hell. I tried to look at the license plate, but Cora threw her tiny frame at my chest so hard that I fell back a step and almost toppled over.
“What the hell?”
She was shaking a little and I took the Taser out of her hand just in case she accidentally stunned me.
“I don’t know. Someone knocked on the door and I just thought it was a neighbor or a solicitor. I mean, come on, this is Denver, not Brooklyn; that crap isn’t supposed to happen here. As soon as the door was open, he shoved me back and started coming into the house. I ran to the kitchen, because I still have all the stuff I bought for protection when Shaw lived here and was worried about her ex. He came after me and kept asking where it was.”
I shook my head in confusion because she was talking a mile a minute. “Where what was?”
“I don’t know. Just it. He freaked when he saw the Taser and I think he heard your car pull up. He took off.”
“We should call the cops.” I patted her back because I could feel her quivering. Cora was a tough chick, and not very much rattled her, but having a stranger force his way into her home had to have been terrifying. She puffed out a little breath against my chest where she was tucked and she thunked a fist on my ribs.
“No.”
“What? Why the hell not?”
“Because they can’t do anything. He didn’t take anything and never got a chance to put his hands on me. They’ll come poke around and tell us tough shit. I’m an idiot for opening the door anyway. I know better than that.”
I set her away from me with a sharp frown. “You could have been seriously hurt.”
She waved a hand in front of me. “No, I couldn’t have been. He was after something, not after me. It just spooked me, is all. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you went to play nice with Ayd.”
I didn’t like it one bit. Everything inside me said call the police, that one girl I cared about had already been put through the ringer by a loose cannon. I wasn’t about to let it happen again. I picked her up in a full body hug that had her squealing and laughing at the same time. “You need to be careful, Cora. We wouldn’t know what to do without you.”
She scoffed. “You really think I’m about to let you guys roam around this city unsupervised? The female population of Denver would never survive it. We have to be sure to tell Ayd to be careful. I don’t know what would have happened if she had been home and not me.”
I liked that thought even less. I don’t know how all the fury and fire that I barely kept banked would stay contained if something happened to Ayden. If I let it go, not only would I go up in flames but there was a chance I would end up burning anyone close to me to dust as well.
“I don’t like this, Cora. I want both of you to be safe.” She hooked her arm through mine.
“It’ll be fine, Jet. Seriously, he probably just had the wrong house, or was looking for money for drugs or something. No place is perfect and we can take care of ourselves. You never answered me”—her crazy eyes narrowed at me—“did you fix things with Ayden?”
I sighed and let her drag me into the house. “Sort of. I apologized for being an asshat last night and told her I couldn’t fight this thing between us anymore. I don’t know what that looks like to her but I can take it day by day for now.”
“She was okay with that?”
“I guess, Honestly, I think that’s the only way she’s okay with it. She’s a hard chick to pin down.”
“Don’t be stupid, Jet. You have a lot to offer anyone. The cool thing is Ayden isn’t the type to take it all. She can provide for herself, and be happy just taking what she wants from you. It’s up to you to make her see just how much you’re willing to give and how much better she is off with the entire package. Make her want to be pinned down and not just in the sexy, fun way.”
I just looked at her in silence. This little pixie ran us all ragged and at times I think she had our lives figured out far better than we did.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She tapped me on the chin with her finger.
“Good.”
“The guys all went bowling. Do you want to go? Nash was worried you weren’t answering your phone, so I decided to come and check on you.”
She scrunched up her nose and ran a hand over her spiky blond hair. “No. I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day. Plus, I had a pretty good sulk going before the breaking-and-entering portion of the day. I think I’d like to finish it.”