“Unlike his Daddy!” Slade screamed.
“Hush!” Diana said. I could just see her pushing him away. “Sorry about that, sis. What have you two been doing?”
“Just relaxing, really. Jeremiah likes his cartoons, doesn’t he? We just lazed around the house again today. We did have a visitor, though.”
“A visitor? What are you talking about? Who?”
“Well, I was wondering if you knew him actually. His name’s Hawk. Said he was just passing through, exploring. Really charming guy.”
“That’s weird,” she said.
“What’s weird?” Slade asked.
“Someone named Hawk stopped by the house.”
“Nobody just fucking stops by the house, what are you talking about? We live in the middle of nowhere. Nobody should be on the property,” Slade bellowed.
“I’m sure it was nothing,” I said. “He was perfectly polite, really. He didn’t seem dangerous or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. He said he lived around here a long time ago. He was really nice.”
“Hmm,” Diana said. I heard her whispering to Slade, but couldn’t understand what she was saying. “And you said you thought you heard something the other day, too? You asked if it was Jeremiah, remember?”
“Yeah, I did,” I said. “It’s just, well, there was this book. I thought I left it outside when I went to bed, but when I woke up, it was inside.”
I declined to tell her it was open with a gifted feather on top.
“That’s weird, Evie, why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“I just thought it was Jeremiah. And the twigs and the rocks, I figured that was the owls. Everything’s fine, I promise.”
“Twigs and rocks?”
“Never mind,” I said, feeling foolish. “Look, everything is okay, I promise, sis. I just thought you might know the guy. He seemed harmless. If anything else gets weird, I’ll let you know, okay?”
“I don’t know…”
“Diana, we’re fine. Now, go have another drink and bang your man on the beach or something.”
“I’m going to call you again first thing in the morning, okay?”
“Sure, of course,” I said. “And I’ll tell you the same thing. Everything’s fine.”
“Okay, sis, I love you,” she said.
“Love you, too,” I said, quickly hanging up the phone. For the rest of the evening, I felt terrible for worrying her. I shouldn’t have mentioned Hawk, at least not until she got home.
A thick fog had moved into the forest this evening, and by the time the sun set over the trees, it engulfed any view I had of the tree line, the view just disappearing into a haze.
For hours, I sat out on the porch with Oliver and Olivia perched on the porch railing nearby, listening to the quiet of the night, wishing, waiting.
“If you’re out there, come back, please,” I whispered, the vision of Hawk’s ghostly eyes haunting me.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SLADE
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, as soon as Diana hung up the phone with Evie.
“I don’t know, that was really weird,” she said. “The other day she asked me if Jeremiah ever sleepwalked, because she thought she heard a noise. But just now, she said a man was just walking through there, exploring.”
“Well, that’s bullshit,” I said. Nobody just walked through our fucking property. “I don’t like this.”
Diana looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“I guess we have to go home,” she said.
Fuck. The thing I hated most in this entire fucked up world — and trust me, there was a lot to hate — but seeing my old lady cry was the absolute worst. Especially when she was looking so smokin’ hot in that damned black string bikini she was wearing that barely covered a thing.
It was just flat out wrong.
But so was someone sniffing around the clubhouse. Especially when it was completely unprotected.
“I never should have left Evie alone,” I said. “I had a bad feeling about this.”
The tears in Diana’s eyes swelled and spilled over onto her perfect little apple cheeks.
Fuck!
“I’ll start packing,” she said, standing up from the bed. She stumbled a little, which wasn’t surprising because we’d both been a little more than tipsy since we arrived in Hawaii. Those frilly fucking drinks with the umbrellas had done me in. Of course, I was blaming it on the heat.
“Wait,” I said, pulling her into my arms. “Let me think for a minute.”
The thing is, Diana had been begging for this vacation for a few years now. We were both so busy with work, we could never make it happen. When Grace and Ryder decided we all needed a vacation, Diana was overjoyed and worked her ass off to get the time off from work so she could come along. If Evie hadn’t graciously stepped up and offered to watch our boy, we wouldn’t have been able to make it happen.
Or, we’d have brought him with us, which would have resulted in a hell of a lot less sex than I planned on having this week.
I pulled away slightly, looking down at my beautiful love and lifted her chin. Her bright blue eyes were wet with tears. I brushed my lips against hers.
“Stop crying, baby,” I said. “I’ll fix this.”
“How?”
“I have an idea,” I said. “Stay here. I’ll be right back. And when I do get back, I’m going to pull every string on this fucking bikini until it’s falling off of you. And then do you know what I’m going to do?”
She sniffed and smiled, “What?”
“I’m going to lick every inch of your naked, salty skin and fuck you until you’re screaming my name at the top of your lungs.”
“Promise?” she asked, with a teasing smile.
“Oh, baby,” I said, kissing her again. “I fucking promise. I’ll be right back.”
“Slade?” she called, as I reached the door.
“Yeah, babe?” I turned back.
“You’re really good to me. And you’re a good dad.” she said. “Thank you.”
“Trust me, babe, it’s all my pleasure. I’m a selfish prick, you know that. I can’t stand to see you cry, and I’d do anything to make you happy.”
She shook her head, and I was so pleased to see those tears dry up and that smile on her face.
“I’ll be back,” I said, closing the door behind me and thundering down the hallway of our hotel. We’d rented out an entire floor for ourselves and the Gods were scattered amongst all the different rooms.
In my head, the different Gods flipped through like a spinning rolodex, as I tried to decide who I was going to send back home. Nobody was going to be happy about it, but I didn’t really give a fuck.
It’s my fucking son.
Within seconds, I knew who it would be.
I banged on his hotel door, hoping he was there and not out on the beach somewhere. I wanted to get back to Diana as fast as possible, not have to go out slinging fucking sand to find him.
Shadow answered right away.
“Hey, boss,” he said. Fuck, he was big. That’s why I chose him, though. His entire body filled the doorframe. His hulking body was hunched over, just so he could look through the door. “What’s up?”
“Shadow, we gotta talk,” I said, walking into the room. “You alone?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Why aren’t you out getting wasted or something?”
“I don’t know, man,” he said, his voice a low, slow drawl. “Guess I was just enjoying the air conditioning and the solitude. Don’t get much time alone at the clubhouse and for fuck’s sake, is it always this goddamned hot here?”
“I guess,” I shrugged. “It is really fucking hot. I think I got a sunburn on my dick, actually.”
“I don’t even want to know how that happened,” he quipped.
“Yeah, I’ll spare you the details. But listen, I’ve got something for you to do and you may not be happy about it.”
“I’d do any
thing for you, boss.”
I stared across at him, knowing I’d made the right decision. Shadow was a stand-up dude and was perfect for the job.
“Well, I need you to go back home.”
“Okay…”
“I know we just got here. I know we’re supposed to be on vacation and all that shit. But here’s the deal. You know Evie and Jeremiah are there alone. I thought they’d be just fine, but turns out some prick has been sniffing around. Evie said he wasn’t threatening or anything, but I don’t like it.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Just go back and stay with them.”
“Sure,” he nodded, slowly. “Can I ask why you picked me?”
“Because you’re the biggest motherfucker we’ve got. And it’s my boy.”
He nodded again, pursing his lips.
“Hmm,” he said. “I guess I am.”
“So, you cool with this?”
“Yeah, boss,” he nodded. “Of course. I’ll get on the next plane back.”
“I appreciate it, man,” I said. “Sorry about this.”
“Don’t be,” he replied. “I’m happy to do it and to tell you the truth, this shit really isn’t my scene.”
“You’re the best, Shadow,” I said. “You stay in touch with me.”
“Will do, boss.”
“Alright, I gotta get back to Diana,” I said, just the thought of what was waiting for me giving me a chubby.
“I’ll call you as soon as I get back home,” he said. “Let you know everything’s cool.”
“Sounds good,” I said, starting for the door.
But then it dawned on me.
Shit.
Shadow and Evie, practically all alone in the woods together…
I turned back and stood in front of him. He towered over me. It would have been menacing to any other man, but you know I’m not afraid of shit.
“One more thing, man.”
“Shoot.”
“I like you, Shadow, you know that. I wouldn’t send you if I didn’t trust you to do the job.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“But there’s one thing. If you lay a finger on Evie, I’m going to have to kill you.”
“Slade, I wouldn’t do that.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. But I know how shit works. You’re a man. She’s a woman. But she’s also my sister-in-law, you got it? I’ll fucking kill you, and I won’t even feel bad about it.”
“Understood,” he nodded. “I’ll keep things professional. I’ll consider Evie a client.”
“You’d better.”
“Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll take good care of them,” he assured me. I nodded and left him to pack, knowing full well that staying professional was a lot harder than he thought it was.
Hell, almost all of us had hooked up with a client at some point.
I hoped like hell he could keep it in his pants, though, because I wasn’t looking forward to burying that behemoth.
When I got back to our room, Diana was lying on the bed waiting for me, just as I hoped she’d be.
I untied her like a Christmas present I’d waited my whole life to receive.
And then I devoured her, every last, delicious inch of her…
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SHADOW
Well, shit.
Chalk this up to the shortest vacation ever.
Not that I minded.
Fuck this place. A goddamned tourist trap, is what it was. Everything cost an arm and a leg. Just walking down the damned street felt like you were swimming through flames, it was that damned hot.
See, I’m a Western Oregon boy. And in Oregon, at least on my side of the state, weather like this just doesn’t happen. Sure, we get about a week of blistering heat in the summer, but then it’s gone and we’re back to our beloved cloudy skies and balmy wind.
And everyone said the beaches here were going to be filled with sexy bikini-clad women, but mostly they were filled with beer-bellied dad bods and unruly toddlers.
So, yeah, when I said this wasn’t my scene, I meant it.
My idea of a vacation is snuggling up by a fire in a mountain cabin while being completely snowed in and cut off from the rest of the world.
Yeah, total opposite of this shit-show.
I was actually relieved to get out of here.
I booked the next flight out, packed my shit, told the other Gods that I was able to locate what was up, grabbed a Lyft and was at the airport in an hours time.
“Good riddance,” I thought, as the plane took off. It was a beautiful view but I was more than ready to say goodbye to it.
Mostly, though, I was happy to have a chance to prove myself.
I’d joined up with the Gods with the rest of my crew and I couldn’t have been more proud to do so. The work that we do gives my worthless life meaning. A purpose that I didn’t have before.
Now, I can lift my head with pride, knowing I’m giving something back to the world, instead of just taking. I wake up wondering who’s life I can make better each day, instead of wondering how much money I can make or who I’m going to have to screw over to get it.
Life is good now.
I never thought I’d say that.
I never thought I’d say that leaving Hawaii either, but never say never, right?
One thing I do know, though, is that I’m going to respect Slade’s wishes and keep things completely professional.
I’ve met Evie before. I know how hot she is. I’ve seen those eyes, those curves, seen the way she flirts with a few of the guys. As far as I know, she’s never hooked up with any of them, though. I suspect that’s mostly because she’s Slade sister-in-law and nobody wants to incur the wrath of Slade.
And I certainly don’t intend to be the first idiot that does that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
EVIE
A strong breeze ripped through the forest, leaves raining down on us as we traipsed down the trails in our mud boots. The rain had left the forest floor soft and squishy, but the multi-colored leaves provided a little blanket for us to walk on.
The rain let up today, finally allowing us a chance to escape the cabin and explore a new trail. Of course, Jeremiah knew this one well, but it was new to me. I was impressed with his confidence in the woods at his age.
Slade and Diana had invested a lot of time and love in fostering the confidence he had in himself, and it showed. The more time I spent with him, the more I fell in love with him. He was smart, like his mother, and sassy as hell, like his father, not to mention daring and fearless.
They’d done an amazing job and I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever have a chance at a family like that.
I’d done my best to put Hawk out of my mind today. There was no use in wasting time thinking about someone who might as well as have been a ghost. I’d never see him again, and I knew that.
Despite the fact that he was occasionally popping up here and there, I’d done a pretty good job of just concentrating on Jeremiah. The beauty of the Tillamook forest helped, as well.
“Should we head back?” I asked Jeremiah, as he carried a long stick he’d found and had used to poke piles of leaves all day.
“Sure, I guess so,” he said. “I could stay out here all day.”
“You ever thought of becoming a forest ranger or something, when you grow up?”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. “But I’ll probably be a God, like Daddy.”
“Right,” I nodded. “That makes sense, I guess.”
We turned around and headed back towards the cabin, Oliver and Olivia swooping along behind us, flying from tree to tree along the way. Jeremiah started skipping, and I followed along, immediately tripping and catching myself just before I almost landed in the mud, which made me begin to laugh. Jeremiah and I were giggling up a storm by the time we broke through the tree line behind the cabin.
We kicked off our boots at the back door and headed inside. We were hanging up ou
r coats when I heard footsteps upstairs.
Fear shot up into my heart like a gun had gone off inside me.
“Stay here,” I hissed to Jeremiah. “Don’t move.”
With wide eyes, he stood silently, nodding.
I grabbed an old baseball bat Slade had left lying next to the back door and slowly inched around the corner and into the empty living room. The boards creaked over my head and my heart raced. I stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath, assessing the situation.
Perhaps the last thing I needed to do was leave Jeremiah alone and confront an intruder.
I turned around to go back to him just as the footsteps neared the staircase I was standing directly under. They moved quickly down the stairs, and I knew I didn’t have time to flee.
I stood with my back against the wall, brandishing the bat in front of my heaving chest. The sound of the footsteps grew nearer and I realized that I had my eyes closed. My lids flew open just as a huge shadow washed over me.
I swung wildly.
As hard as I could.
The bat flew through the air and hit flesh, then fell out of my hands, landing on the floor with a succession of loud clanging bangs, followed quickly by a muffled grunt of pain.
The figure doubled over and I scrambled to pick up the bat again. My fingers curled around the base, just as a huge hand snatched it away. He stood up and a huge roar came out of him.
“What the fuck!” The room shuddered with his shout. My eyes flew to his face and I froze.
“Shadow!”
“Evie, what the hell!” He groaned, rubbing his abdomen. “Why didn’t you just call out? Fuck! You hit me!”
“You scared me!”
It was true. He’d scared the hell out of me. In fact, I was trembling like a leaf and filled with anger, all at the same time.
“Why are you here? It’s your own fault! You made me hit you!” I shouted, defending myself. Jeremiah rounded the corner, his little confused face turning to glee when he saw Shadow.
“Shadow!” he shouted. “You’re here!”
“Hey, little buddy,” Shadow said, kneeling down and giving him a hug, before turning back to me, his eyes still filled with anger.
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