Page 79 of Iron

I hadn’t noticed anything that sent up red flags, but I knew I wasn’t perfect. I could have missed something. Or shit could have been happenin’ when I wasn’t around to see it. Plus, I had a lot of people to keep an eye on right now. More so than normal because of what had happened. You never did know how death would affect someone. And sure, we were a bunch of hard-ass, gruff men that wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in someone to protect each other, but that didn’t mean that losing one of our own didn’t cut deep.

“No. I don’t think she even notices. The girls are looking out for her too. Claire has spent some nights with Abigail in her room.”

“Good,” I said with a nod.

I didn’t know about that. I felt like I should have.

Was I slipping? I didn’t want to think I was, and while I realized I was only one person, I couldn’t help but feel like I slept easier at night when I knew everything that was going on.

“Have you heard from Connor?” he asked after we both finished off the last of our sandwiches.

“No, and I hope I fuckin’ don’t. No word means nothing is going on. We need to lay low for a few though, just in case. Don’t give Mullins or anyone a reason to look our way.”

“I agree.” He took a deep breath then changed the subject. “How is Petra’s woman doing?”

“Petra doesn’t tell me much.” I gave him a look saying that he should know better. “But she did say Midori hasn’t come out of her apartment much. Petra has her other girls and her head bodyguard keepin’ an eye on the girl. I think seein’ that hit her hard. You remember your first dead body?”

His eyes slid to the side and I knew he was thinking about it. Just like I was thinkin’ about mine.

“Now just imagine if you didn’t live the kind of life we did. At least we knew that day was gonna come at some point,” I finished with a nod as I blinked myself back to the present.

“Yeah,” he grunted. “You’re right.”

There was a light, hesitant knock on the door.

“She didn’t trust you to make sure I ate, I guess,” I said with a laugh knowing who was on the other side of the door.

“Guess not,” he chuckled.

“Come in.”

“Hey, Iron,” Abigail said walking in with Sparrow on her hip. I couldn’t believe how fast these damn kids were growin’.

“I ate it,” I said as her eyes darted down to the empty paper plate still sitting on my desk with a few scattered crumbs. “Thank you, darlin’.”

She smiled brightly at me but there was something missing in it. It hadn’t been as wide as it once was.

I wouldn’t lie, it made me sad. I hoped that one day she’d get that back.

“Alright, I got stuff to do,” Mason said as he got to his feet and tossed his plate in the trashcan beside my desk. “Thank you, Abigail. Sandwich was good.”

He hugged her, placing a quick kiss on the top of her head, then he was out the door.

“You okay?” I asked her once the door was closed again.

“Sure,” she said. “I thought you might want a little time with Sparrow.”

She moved around the desk and I happily took the alert kid. Sparrow’s little fingers automatically went to my beard and Abigail giggled.

“Where’s Chry?”

“Up at the garage with Ky,” she said with a playful eye roll.

“Of course,” I said with a smile.

I knew Ky wanted that hunk of junk car he was working on so he could fix it up with Chry. Every chance he got, he had the kid in that garage showing him everything. Chry was still young and though he was excited, it didn’t hold his attention for long. Ky was more patient than I would have thought he would be. He knew when it was time to quit and do something else with the kid. I knew it was going to take a while to get the car done, but I didn’t care.

“You got a minute?” I asked her.