The Fight for Forever: The Legend Trilogy, Book 3 (Legend Trilogy #3)(7)

Scarlett meets me around the front of the Bronco, and I hand her the keys.

“Will you get him settled? I need to talk to Hal before I come up.”

Scarlett’s pale, drawn face guts me all over again. She shouldn’t have experienced what happened tonight. None of this ever should have touched her. I should have killed Moses years ago.

This is all my fucking fault.

I stole that truck. Sold the shit. Got Jorie killed and Bump shot.

I might as well be a fucking wrecking ball, and now Scarlett’s life is becoming unrecognizable because of my destruction.

“Of course. Whatever you need, cowboy.”

Her nickname for me is a balm. But no matter how much I want to let it soothe me, I can’t. There are way too fucking many sins I’m answering for tonight. I’ve earned the pain clawing me apart, and haven’t suffered enough for the chaos I’ve caused.

“I’ll be up soon.”

I don’t lean in to kiss her, but she presses her lips to mine anyway.

I don’t deserve her.

As soon as she’s gone, I walk over to the SUV. Hal is at the tailgate, unearthing something from beneath the carpet. As I expected, it’s a small arsenal.

“No one will get through me tonight, Legend. You have my word.”

“Or me.”

The voice comes from the darkness, and both Hal and I tense as footsteps crunch in the gravel.

“Who is that?” Hal asks, reaching for a gun.

I put my hand on his to stop him from grabbing it.

Big Mike steps into the pool of light. “This is my property. My people. And no one, not even some gangster from Mississippi, is going to come up here and cause trouble in my house.”

“Big Mike, meet Hal, Scarlett’s new full-time security. Hal, this is Big Mike, Q’s dad and the craziest Puerto Rican I’ve ever known.”

Big Mike lifts his chin at Hal. “Damn right. I’ll pull up a chair and sit here all night if I need to.”

“What about Joanie?”

“She’s staying with Melanie tonight at Dani and Tony’s while they’re out on the town. I’m at your disposal.”

I walk over to Big Mike. “I appreciate it, but Hal’s got it covered. No need for you to sit out here all night.”

“Q called and told me everything. I think there’s plenty of reason to.” He glances at the chairs he and Bump leave out front so they can shoot the shit. “I’ll take one of those. No arguing with me, Gabe. You’re family. We take care of our own.”

A wave of gratitude that again, I do not fucking deserve, washes over me. “Thank you. No arguing tonight.”

“Good. Now, you go on about your night. We got this down here.”

I reach out to shake his hand, but he wraps his big beefy arms around me instead and claps my back hard.

“Go get some sleep. Q says we’re talking shit through in the morning.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that Q isn’t calling the shots on this, but I’m too fucking beat.

“I’ll see you in the morning. Both of you.” I shake Hal’s hand, and then I head for the door into the service station and lock the dead bolt behind me.

As I take the stairs, I can’t help but replay what the hell happened tonight. Moses at my desk. Bump with a gun to his head. Seeing the barrel pointed at Scarlett.

Fuck. I’ve dreamed it before. And in my nightmares, it ended in a bloodbath. I should at least be grateful that my worst fears didn’t come true.

I stop outside Bump’s apartment, but his voice is coming from my place, so I move down the hall. When I open my door, I find both him and Scarlett in the middle of the living room, surrounded by pillows, blankets, and couch cushions.

Bump built a fort out of two cushions and a blanket, and he’s tucked inside with his long legs sticking out. He’s smiling from ear to ear, and it stops me in my tracks.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Scarlett says from her position on the floor next to a blanket pile. “I told Bump we could have a sleepover.”

“Isn’t this awesome, Gabe? I made a cave! I’m gonna sleep in it. And you and Scarlett can have the air mattress. I just don’t know where it is. You still have it, right? From that time I slept on your floor?”

I meet Scarlett’s warm gray gaze with more fucking gratitude. “Good idea, ladybug. A sleepover is exactly what we need.”

She rises and comes to me as Bump lowers the blanket to hide himself in his cave. Scarlett wraps her arms around my sides. “I thought it’d be better if we were all together tonight,” she whispers.

The warmth of her body against mine settles some of the chaos in my mind. I could have lost her tonight. I breathe in the scent of her skin and hair, and close my eyes. “You were right. Thank you.”

She shifts, and my lids lift to see her staring up at me. “We’re going to figure this out. We’re a team. You’re not going to push me away and give me some bullshit excuse that it’s to keep me safe. I’m part of this, whether you want me to be or not. Okay?”

I rest my forehead against hers. “I don’t know what to say right now. Give me a few hours to process all this shit. We’ll sort it out tomorrow.” I press a kiss to the tip of her nose, and she nods.

“I can handle that. Now . . . where’s that air mattress?”