Page 22 of Cannon

She arched a brow. “That’s all I get? ‘Out’?”

“The less you know, the better.”

“Cannon…” Her voice dropped. “You just got back home. I don’t like the way you stormed out of here last night. You can’t be out here moving reckless.”

“I’m not.” I exhaled through my nose and glanced around. This kitchen felt too tight all of a sudden. “But I did get a job.”

That stopped her cold. “What kind of job?”

“Security at the Sylk Road.”

“At a strip club?” she asked. “That’s not a good look for you. You just got out…”

“Stop reminding me every two seconds. And it’ll pay decently. Enough for me to get my own place. You know ain’t nobody hiring ex-cons.”

“Cannon, you can’t risk this. One slip and you’re gone again. Just stay here. The boys love having you around. I love having you around.”

“I’m not staying here, Reese,” I said, cutting through the noise. “I appreciate you and all, but I gotta go. I can’t keep living in Gage’s house pretending shit is sweet.”

“You don’t have to pretend. This is your home too.”

“No. It’s your home. His house. I’m just passing through.”

Her jaw tightened. I saw the hurt flash in her eyes before she looked down at the spoon in her hand like it could ground her. She knew that I was stubborn. I’ve always been this way. You’d think by now she would just accept that I am this way.

“Besides,” I added, “I’m not tryna be the cause of another argument between y’all. He ain’t never liked me.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t like you. He just doesn’t know you.”

“And he never will, because I def don’t like him.”

“I wish you would try to get along with him.”

“I’m good.”

“Cannon, please.”

“If I stay here, Imma end up breaking his jaw. For the sake of you and those boys, it’s best I get my own place as soon as possible.”

“You are just like Daddy.”

I shrugged my shoulders. I was stubborn like him. It’s funny. We didn’t share genetics but we were very similar in so many ways. I missed him and felt terrible that I was the reason he was no longer here.

“Uncle Cannon!” Hunter’s voice cut through the room like a lifeline.

I turned just as he and Josiah came rushing into the kitchen, both of them beaming like they hadn’t seen me in years.

“Guess what happened at school!” Josiah said, practically bouncing.

I suppressed my thoughts and forced my mouth into something like a smile.

“Tell me.”

I let the boys talk, their little voices fill the air and distract me long enough to keep from snapping. But the second they turned their attention to their after-school snacks, I grabbed the keys and walked out.

I needed to clear my head. The barrage of thoughts about my missing millions overtook me and I needed to get out of the house.

The screen door slammed behind me, and I walked. Fast. Angry. Jaw tight. The thought of not being able to access that money was driving me crazy. It can’t be lost forever. I once read about a guy who paid a hacker to hack into his account because he lost his password. That was a last resort though. Maybe once the dust was settled around Tyran’s death, Draya would allow me to look through his shit to see if the password was written somewhere.