Page 26 of One Last Rainy Day
Closing Ginger’s driver’s side door, I add another task to my never-ending fucking to-do list as she smiles at me through the glass before starting her car. As she pulls away, my phone rumbles in my pocket, and I curse, knowing it’s the hospital without bothering to look at the screen. Only thirty minutes or so into the hour I asked for, Delphine’s already terrorized the hospital staff to the point that they’re calling. Glancing through the lobby glass, Tyler spots my summons as I start making my way toward my car. He steps out, making his way toward his truck. “Rain check, it’s important. I’ll get back with you in a few. Don’t stray too far.”
“Where you off to, man?”
“A drunk and disorderlyFrench menacewalks into a hospitaldaysearly for her chemo appointment...I’ll get back to you with the fucking punch line.”
“Shit. Need help?”
“I’m handling it.”
“Let me know if that changes.” When I don’t reply, he curses as he secures his burner phone in his glove box before circling his truck and firing up behind the wheel.
He’s debating following me. I’d bet my fucking hot wheels on it. Delphine is his other Achilles heel, and he’s horrible at hiding it, at least fromme.
Tyler fires up his truck as Sean flies out of the lobby. “Hey, assholes, where the fuck are you going? In case you forgot, I don’twork here anymore!”
“You do today,” I say before taking my wheel, knowing Russell will pull up within half an hour. Firing up my car, I sip my coffee for much-needed fuel before speeding off, my shoulders already tight.
It’s going to be one of those fucking days.
Chapter Fourteen
STARING INTO THEdark lobby of the garage from my seat, I run my knuckles down my wheel, tightening my hold on the burner phone. “I’m asking you to give me an inch, a fucking inch. I can’t just sit back while—”
“You can and you will,” Tobias snaps. “One at a time, Dom, and we need to concentrate on who’sfirst.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking me. Every day you deny me to act is a day wasted.” Another life stolen, innocence lost, and a monster’s victory. But I can’t let on too much about how it’s affecting me. He’s rested the club’s fate in my hands, and if he catches wind of how much my side project is fucking with the job, he may very well snatch it out of my grasp. I need some semblance of control. If Tobias takes the day-to-day away from me, it will be a fate worse than the one I’m living. His silence on the other end of the line tells me he’s contemplating that decision.
“Stop. Don’t even think about it,” I warn.
“If you know what I’m thinking, then why are we having this conversation?”
His accent is getting thicker, and for some reason, itirritates me. Maybe it’s because I don’t want him claiming home to be on that side of the ocean. Though at this point, he’s lived more of his life in France than he has here.
“We can’t risk it, Dom.”
“What they’re doing...what they’re fucking getting away with—”
“Has been happening for endless years and isn’t stopping anytime soon.”
“I get your logic,” I admit begrudgingly.
“Do you?” His tone is full of condescension.
If he’s speaking to Tyler as often as he is to me—and Tyler gives him more reason to worry—I might have already lost my place.
“Don’t fucking do it,” I snap. “I’ll do your bidding. I haven’t moved in on shit. That’s why we’re fucking arguing.”
“Prove it is the right decision. Your time will come, brother.”
“And how many times have I heard that?” I snap, running my knuckles down my wheel in a way that burns. I hear the clink of ice to glass and know then that he’s also not putting a real voice to what’s got him so worked up.
“Any progress on finding him?” I ask in an attempt to get something from him. Our conversations are rare as is, and I know it’s so he can stay focused. For whatever reason, he’s chosen our club’s tipping point to search for his birth father, and I’m trying not to begrudge him for it.
“No,” he replies. “A whisper of something, then silence for fucking days, sometimes weeks.”
“Elusive, huh? An inherited trait,no doubt.”
“I’m trying, Dom.”
