Especially Vinnie’s.
* * *
Talon almost doesn’t recognize me with my lighter, shorter hair. Tina cut it in a blunt, shoulder-length bob, and I’m in love with it.
“Nice to see you alive and well,” he says, pulling me in for a warm hug. “You look amazing, baby cuz.”
“Thanks, Talon,” I say as he takes the seat next to me at Rift.
“How have you been?”
“Good,” I say, enjoying just being in his presence. “Does this mean you’re going to see me more often now, instead of being MIA?”
“Sorry,” he says, green eyes gentling. “I was looking out for you from the sidelines. I knew Vinnie was taking good care of you.” He looks down at my almost empty glass. “Can I get you another drink?”
“No, I’m good.”
“I’m going to take all the money out of your accounts for you,” he tells me, ordering a drink from the bartender. “Luckily your father took precautions and gave us both access to the shell company accounts. I’ll open a new account with a fake name, or I’ll send it to Vinnie’s account.”
“I guess he put both of us on there in case one of us ended up dead,” I say, bitterness lacing my tone. I sigh.
“I don’t want all of it,” I tell him. “Just enough for a house and to keep me going until I get a job, you can give the rest to charity.”
His eyebrows rise. “You want only one mil?”
My eyes widen. “Is that how much a house is these days? I don’t need that much.”
“I’m not sending you anything less than that,” he grumbles, looking unhappy about it. “You choose the charities you want me to put the money into, and I’ll handle it.”
I tilt my head to the side and say, “Actually, give some to the Wind Dragons too. They can do whatever they want with it.”
Talon suddenly looks amused. “They have plenty of money, but if you insist.”
“I do.”
“Consider it done,” he says, sipping on his drink.
“How come you didn’t have to pay?” I ask.
“I have a tab here,” he explains, glancing around the bar. “Where is Vinnie anyway? I thought he’d be loitering around you.”
“He’s in the VIP room, thought he’d let us catch up,” I say, smirking. “Not like he can’t see us through the cameras anyway.”
Talon looks toward the cameras and gives them the finger.
“Mature,” I chide, my twitching lip contesting my words. “I think we should plan to catch up every other week at least. Anna tells me the two of you are close.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, we are. She’ll take good care of you. I know you didn’t know the story about her father, and you had enough on your plate. Plus it was better for you that you went in without knowing my history with everyone. Not everyone loves me as much as you do, Shayla.”
“Trust me, I know,” I tease, resting my hand on his arm. “Did you sort out the shit going on in your club?”
“Working on it,” he says, grimacing.
“You sure you’re all right though?” I ask, squeezing his arm before letting go. “We could always fake your death. That seems to be the way to get out of things these days.”
He barks out a laugh. “My problems aren’t that big, Shayla. Nothing I can’t handle, just need some time to figure out a few things, you know?”
I study my cousin. He’s handsome, funny and kind, and also very intelligent, much more so than the average person, although you probably wouldn’t guess that about him. In fact, in primary school, he was put in all the classes for gifted children. The thing about Talon though is that his mind is usually working overtime, and that’s not always a good thing. He analyzes everything, and he sees things in an almost clinical way. He loves—yes, I know he loves me—but I’ve never seen him love a woman. Although he seems stressed out, he does seem a little lighter for some reason. I wonder if maybe he met someone.
“You know I’m always here for you if you need me,” I say softly. “You helped save me, now let me save you for once.”
“I’m the man here, Shayla,” he gently reprimands. “It’s my job to protect you. It’s your job to be happy and annoy the shit out of that man of yours.”
“Sexist pig,” I grumble, rolling my eyes. “Some things never change, do they, Talon?”
“You tell me,” he says, putting his hand over his chest. “You ended up with a Wind Dragon. What? None of the Wild Men were good enough for you?”
“You didn’t let any of your men even breathe in my direction,” I say, eyes narrowing to slits. “I remember you told Ranger off for even looking at me for more than a few seconds. Quite a jump from that to letting another biker from another MC watch over me, don’t you think?”
Vinnie told me that he thinks Talon set us up on purpose, so that Vinnie and his club would protect me. I wouldn’t put it past him. And while I should be angry at his meddling and his schemes, I can’t be, because without it I wouldn’t have Vinnie.
“Desperate times, baby cuz, desperate times.”
He smirks into his drink.
“I’ll bet,” I reply, shaking my head at him. “Your scheming really knows no bounds, does it?”
“I do what I have to, Shayla, to protect the ones I love. There aren’t many of them, so I have to keep you all safe.”