Page 52

I nodded. Striker stepped away to help Mia and Hawk hang the banner evenly, but it was really to give us a little space. She leaned against the bar next to me. “What kind of business?” she asked.

“Booze for shifters,” I said with a half-smile.

“I thought shifters couldn’t get drunk.”

“Exactly. So, there’s a hell of a market for it. Hawk found some guys who figured out how to distill spirits and brew beer that works on shifters, and we jumped on the investment. Projections look really good.”

“So, it’s a legitimate business,” she said slowly.

I nodded. “Yep. More than that. This is the clan’s way out of the criminal life. Permanently.”

“Seriously?” Her eyes widened. “You’ll be done ?”

“I didn’t want to tell you before everything was locked in,” I said. “Just in case something fell through. But all the paperwork is signed, the soft launch went insanely well, and now…” I gestured around the bar. “Now we’re celebrating the beginning of the rest of our lives.”

Harley exhaled a big breath, and tipped forward so her forehead was against my shoulder. “Wow. That… That’s huge, Steph.”

“I know. I want this life to be safe for you, and for Dylan and Bella, too.”

“I’m glad I won’t have to worry about you getting carted off to jail,” she said. Then she leaned back with a sigh. The concerned expression on her face rekindled the disappointment and guilt in my gut. This was a step in the right direction, but I knew it wasn’t enough.

“But what about Sean?” she asked. “What are we going to do about him?”

“I’m working on it.”

“What if he shows up tonight?”

“He won’t. He’s not that stupid.”

“How can you predict what he’ll do? After what he did yesterday?”

She was right. I hated that she was right. My dragon growled with frustration. Sean was hard to read, but he was still my brother—my twin. I had some insight into his behavior. Didn’t I?

“If anyone else had done that to me and Dylan, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Harley said. “They’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere, like those guys Striker took care of , right?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Steph, it kind of is that simple,” Harley said in a small voice.

“I know he’s your brother, and I know this is hard for you, but I can’t have Dylan in that kind of danger.

Ever. If I had any sense…” She sighed and cut her gaze to the side.

“If I had any sense, I’d be on my way back to Atlanta right now.

That’s what any reasonable woman in my position would do. ”

“Harley—”

“I told you we’d leave if there was any danger like this. I told you that, and still…”

“I know,” I said. “I’m handling it. I promise.”

“Steph, you keep saying that.”

“I’m handling everything.” I gestured around the bar. “This hasn’t been easy. But it’s for us. For all of us. I’m setting up the businesses, and I’m handling Sean. Please trust me.”

There was a long pause as Harley’s blue eyes searched my face. “I’m trying,” she said. “I’m really trying.”

“Ace, the rest of the supplies are here,” Striker said. “Gotta get to unloading.”

“All right.” I looked back at Harley, and her arms were crossed over her chest, face pinched. When I touched her cheek, she didn’t pull away. Instead, she turned her face into the touch and kissed my palm briefly.

“Are you coming tonight?” I asked.

She nodded. “Seems like it’ll be the safest place to be.”

“Might have a good time, too.”

She laughed. “I’m going back to the house to get some work done. Good luck with the setup.”

“Call me if you need anything,” I said.

Harley waved at Mia and Hawk, then left the clubhouse.

Striker caught my eye and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

I nodded, and he left to escort Harley home, just in case.

I rubbed my temples. There was still a lot left to do to get ready for the celebration tonight.

I took another swig of coffee, then headed outside to start unloading the kegs.

I didn’t see Harley all day. There was always something to be done at the clubhouse when I was there.

When I wasn’t setting up for the celebration, I was chatting with clan members I hadn’t seen in a while, meeting members of the Night Shift team they’d hired with our investment money, or accepting warm congratulations about Dylan’s successful alpha introduction.

There was always something to do as the clan alpha. But my dragon only wanted to be with Harley.

By the time the sun set, my exhaustion and frustration had caught up with me.

The last thing I wanted to do was plaster on a smile for more people and celebrate the launch of our business.

My own reluctance pissed me off even further.

This was supposed to be a big deal. If anything, I should’ve been in the mood to celebrate Hawk’s success in pulling off this deal. Hell, he’d done the bulk of the work.

“Thanks,” I muttered to the Night Shift guy working the bar as he slid a whiskey in front of me. The clubhouse bar was beginning to fill with people. I needed to get my head together to be the present, attentive alpha the clan needed right now.

“You look like you’re having a blast.” Hawk sidled up to me and knocked his shoulder against mine. He gestured at the bartender, who slid him a drink as well. “Your good mood lasted longer than I expected.”

“I’m fine,” I grumbled. It was no use trying to blow off my brother, though.

“I saw you talking to Harley this morning.” He swirled the whiskey in his glass. “She was talking about yesterday, right?”

“You overheard?”

“No, I have eyes and a brain. What’d she say?”

“I’m afraid she’s going to go back to Atlanta,” I admitted. “Sooner rather than later. This whole distillery thing was supposed to be…”

“A big win for us,” Hawk supplied. “And proof to Harley that she should stick around.”

“Yeah. And Sean fucking ruined that.” I picked up my whiskey and tossed the shot back. The liquor burned all the way down. Fuck, I hadn’t had booze I could feel since I was a kid. I gestured at the bartender, and he poured another finger over the same ice cube.

“Can’t say I blame her for being freaked out,” Hawk said.

“That’s the worst part,” I said. “I know she’s right. She said herself she should’ve already left.”

“Damn.” Hawk squeezed my shoulder. “Well, she hasn’t left yet, has she?”

“Yet,” I muttered, then threw back my second drink, too.

“We’ve still got time,” Hawk said. “We’ll deal with Sean.”

I knew what it would take. Did Hawk? The whiskey burned through my veins, loosening some of the tension in my muscles, but not doing a damn thing to improve my mood. “We’re gonna have to kill him, you know.”

Hawk fell silent. Laughter rang out around us, but it was like Hawk and I were cocooned away from it in the far corner of the bar.

“Would you have done it yesterday?” Hawk asked. “If you’d been there?”

“Yeah,” I said without hesitation. If anyone threatened Dylan in front of me, they’d be dead before they hit the ground. “You’d do the same for Bella.”*-to have to kill him. He’s still… he’s still our fucking brother, you know?”

“I know,” Hawk said. “And he’d kill us both if it meant he could be the clan alpha.”

I slumped closer to the bar. Before I could get too lost in my head, Mia’s loud, bright laugh wafted over the ambient noise of the crowd.

I looked up. During the short time Hawk and I had been in the corner, the clubhouse had filled up with clan members and locals as well.

Night Shift had invited a hell of a lot of people, too. “You made it!” Mia said brightly.

“Of course,” Harley said warmly. My dragon’s hearing picked up her voice over the crowd easily.

“Come on, let me fix you something to drink,” Mia said. “ Not the dragon stuff. The regular stuff. Dylan, Peter’s out in the back,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,??????????yard playing with Zoey, you want to join him?”

“Yeah!” Dylan said. He threw me a gleeful wave before he darted out the door.

Harley’s gaze followed Dylan’s. Our eyes locked, and she offered me a small smile.

The hesitance in her expression was like a knife twisting in my heart.

But before I could climb off my stool and go to her, Mia swept her into the crowd.

Then, clan guys were on either side of me, and another round of drinks appeared.

Striker offered a cheers to Tank, whose black eye had quickly become purple, and was nearly swollen shut.

I threw back another drink. This one burned less.

My limbs felt looser. My laughter came easier.

Shit, this whiskey really worked.

As the night rolled on, the drinks kept flowing. Harley always seemed just out of reach, wrapped up in conversation with other shifters or Lakeview locals, always smiling, always laughing. She had a natural charm. People gravitated toward her.

I was pulled into conversation after conversation, offered congratulations, and even got pitched a few new business ideas.

I kept the smile on my face as I shook hands and took more drinks.

Shots, mixed drinks, flights of beer. It made it easier to ignore the whine and ache of my dragon.

It numbed the guilt eating me up inside.

It was late in the evening. Hours had slid by, lightning-fast and molasses-slow at the same time.

Some of the other dragons were heading outside for a late-night shift, and suddenly the idea of wind against my scales was extremely appealing.

My dragon was quiet in my chest, though.

It was like the alcohol had knocked him out.

I turned toward the door, but I moved a little too fast. The room tilted and I stumbled over a bar stool, knocking it to the floor with a clatter.

“Whoa.” Harley’s soft voice cut through the haze. “Think you better slow down there, Steph.”

“I’m fine.” I regained my balance with one hand on the bar, then gestured toward the bartender for another round.

“Hey, seriously.” Harley grasped my forearm, her blue eyes sharp as they bored into me. “You’ve had enough.”