“Like he did before?” she scoffed lightly, before turning her face away from me.

I gave her that and didn’t start an argument, no matter how badly I wanted to set her straight. The man did his best, and he was broken up about it. There was no use pointing fingers at people who weren’t to blame, especially if Farrah had already forgiven him.

“You’ve got brass ones, girl,” Slider called to Callie from across the table, a smirk on his face.

“My name is Callie.”

“Know what your name is, but you threatened to kick me in the balls earlier, so I think I’ll call you girl.”

“Whatever.” She looked away from him with her nose up, and I couldn’t stop my lips from pulling into a grin. Brass ones.

“Girl,” Slider’s voice lowered, “I’m glad my daughter has you on her side. Ain’t many people that would stand up to a man like me.”

“I didn’t help when it mattered,” she confessed quietly.

“There was nothing you could do to stop it,” he answered, leaning forward across the counter. “Girl like you might think she can take on the world, but she’d be wrong. Don’t know her, but I have a feeling your friend is a whole lot like me—keeps her cards close to her chest. Doubt you even knew what was happening.” His voice lowered to an intense whisper, “You ain’t to blame for that.”

He leaned back and turned to Poet who was watching the scene with a thoughtful look on his face. “Need a smoke.”

As Slider left the room, Poet came to stand in front of Callie and reached down to run his hand along her hair in a soft gesture.

“Definitely not the same little girl I met a year ago,” he told her tenderly. “You keep fighting back, Callie. Proud’a you.” Then he followed Slider out of the house.

“Holy shit,” Callie commented, looking up at me in wonder.

“Yeah, Sugar. Looks like you have the seal of approval from two of the scariest men in the United States.”

Chapter 48

Callie

Asa and most of the men left the house that night around dinner time. I knew where they were going—all of us knew, but no one said a word about it. They just got up as a unit and started for the door at a certain time without any words spoken. Echo went with Asa, which didn’t surprise me, but what did surprise me was that Poet stayed with us.

He sat on our couch, calm and relaxed, watching some motorcycle show on cable, and didn’t pay any attention to Farrah and me when I brought her out for dinner so I could change the sheets on my bed. She was getting up and around more after her shower, but she hadn’t left my room while Slider was there. I didn’t blame her; he hadn’t exactly endeared himself during their five-minute conversation.

I wanted to sit with Poet and ask him how he’d been, but I never got the chance. Farrah stuck to me like glue that night, jumping at shadows and any noise outside of the ordinary. She tried to play it off, and wasn’t outwardly clingy, but when she stood outside the bathroom door while I did my business, I wanted to cry for her. She reminded me of myself, and it brought me back to a time I’d tried my hardest to forget.

The men were only gone a couple hours before I heard the roar of bikes outside. Farrah stood so close to me we were almost touching as Poet unlocked the front door, letting the men file in. I was watching for Asa, and the minute I saw his face, I took an involuntary step forward.

He looked wrecked.

He came right for me without pausing for a second, and knocked into me hard enough that I lost my balance and had to wrap my arms around his neck to keep from falling. He didn’t stop there, though. He took another step, knocking my legs out from under me as he grabbed my thighs and wrapped me around him. Echo was doing the same thing to Farrah, though much gentler, and our eyes met over their heads.

Asa buried his face in my neck and took a long inhale as I pulled the rubber band out of his hair so I could run my fingers through it. I wasn’t sure how to soothe him, but I tried my best as I tightened my arms and legs.

“Slider and the boys are heading to a hotel for the night,” he growled into my neck, his voice husky and deep. “Echo’s using your car to take Farrah home with him.”

He lifted his head as I turned mine toward Farrah, preparing to argue.

“He needs his woman tonight and she needs him. Ain’t nothing for you to protect her from.” I nodded once, looking down into his face, and my chest burned at his next words. “He needs his woman and I need mine. You gonna give that to me?”

“Yeah, Asa,” I murmured back gently, running my fingers into the hair behind his ear. “You can have whatever you need.”

“Good,” he growled, before setting me down and walking away.

I stood in the middle of the living room and watched the men around me. Their faces were drawn and their jaws were tight, but not one of them said a word about what had happened. Asa and Slider rounded them up, and when Slider was the only one left, I watched him walk to Farrah and put a hand on her shoulder. He whispered something to her that I couldn’t hear, but I saw her nod into Echo’s chest before Slider leaned forward and dropped a soft kiss on the back of her head. Then he was gone.

Echo and Farrah left right after everyone else, and as I locked the door behind them I felt Asa move in against my back.

“Need you, Callie,” he mumbled into my neck, pulling my shirt over my head without letting me turn away from the door. His hands pushed and pulled roughly at me, stripping off my clothes efficiently, until I was standing completely naked. I heard his belt clink as he unfastened it, but I didn’t move from my position.