“Omissions of truth you’re okay with?”
I sighed heavily, glancing to one side before I rolled my eyes and looked at him again. “You’re either helping me, or you’re in my way, Sutton. I don’t have time for any counseling. I don’t want it.”
“And if Ayda asksmeif I know what’s going on with you?”
“She won’t.”
“If she does?”
“Tell her whatever the hell you want.”
“You don’t sound too concerned about her feelings.”
“I have a job to do. That’s my main concern at the moment.”
Sutton’s eyes turned down at the corners, his sadness mixed with his frustrations at my apparent lack of feelings. I knew that look. I saw it in all my men every day. I saw it in Ayda every minute I was with her. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand to see pity staring back at me when I looked into the eyes of the people I loved. It made me feel weak, and that wasn’t something I’d ever been comfortable with.
“Don’t lose yourself so much, Tucker that there’s no bringing you back.”
“Thanks, Pops, but I can take care of myself.”
“Yourself is the one person youcan’ttake care of. That’s why you’re spiraling out of control like a fucking idiot.”
I took a step closer, and Howard was smart enough to tense and ease a tentative step back.
“Chief?”
“What?” He swallowed lightly.
“You’re giving me a fucking headache.”
The corners of his mouth twitched as a sardonic grin threatened to take over, but the sound of an old Harley turning the corner had the two of us looking up and assessing our new arrival.
“Right on cue. Your latest partner in crime has arrived,” Sutton whispered.
“Yep.” I sighed again, releasing all the weight from my chest as I watched my dad slow his bike until he came to a complete stop next to us.
Eric Tucker had an air about him that made the worldsit up and take notice. He wore his arrogance like a badge of honor. Since his return, I hadn’t decided if I respected him or loathed him. If people thought I kept my cards close to my chest, I had nothing on this man.
I watched as he swung his leg from the bike, much the same way I always did, before he removed his helmet and hooked it on the back of his seat.
“Drew. Howard.” Eric nodded in our direction, pushing up the sleeves of his flannel shirt until they rested above his elbows, revealing the faded ink on his forearms. For an old man, he was in pretty decent shape.
I could definitely take him if I had to, though.
Something pricked at my spine telling me that one day, I might have to.
“Eric,” Sutton acknowledged, giving him a curt nod.
Dad’s eyes drifted to mine and creased together, studying me like the lab rat experiment of a son I’d always been for him.
“You ready?” he asked me sharply.
“Have been since I was born into this fucked up way of life,” I answered stiffly.
“Good to know.”
Howard paced suddenly, walking in a circle as we waited for his contact to appear. It was a middle-aged woman who turned up wearing her nursing scrubs and a look of panic on her face as she appeared out of nowhere.