And none of the feelings I was having were even remotely good.
For the man who followed Boston Stone was the second to last man I’d ever want to see again in my life.
It was my uncle.
Chapter Seventeen
Gone. Deep.
After Jake watched Josie drive away, he moved to his house, in it and closed the door behind him. He then moved to the stairs, up them and straight to his daughter’s door.
He knocked, waited and opened it, swinging only his torso in when he heard her call, “Yeah?”
She was on her bed on the phone. From the dreamy expression on her face, Jake knew she was talking to Alexi.
“Wrap that up, honey. Family meeting in the kitchen. You can call him back when we’re done,” he ordered.
“Okay, Dad,” she replied easily.
Jake studied her a second before jerking up his chin, swinging back out and closing the door.
He didn’t know if it was Josie’s influence, Alexi or both, but he liked how she was with this kid.
With Noah, she was anxious, unsure of herself, grouchy and a pain in the ass.
With Alexi, she seemed more relaxed, more certain, timidly excited and not at all a pain in the ass.
It might be the kid, but Jake decided to give Josie the credit.
Alexi got her home on time and she was clearly riding the high of the date in a good way throughout the drive to Boston the next day.
But Jake was exercising a father’s prerogative and reserving judgment on Alexi and would keep doing that shit until they broke up or, God forbid, had their first kid in at least ten but hopefully more like twenty years.
On this thought, he turned to the landing and heard the doorbell ring. He was halfway down the stairs when he saw Con walking through the entryway toward the front door.
His son looked up at him as he moved and said, “Got it, Dad.”
“Right,” Jake replied.
When he made it down the stairs, he turned his head and stopped when he saw who was at the door.
At the same time, he heard his son say, “What the hell?”
And he said this because Ellie was standing outside looking up at Conner, her face hesitant, earnest, scared and shy.
“Con, can I talk to you a sec?” she asked cautiously.
Jake waited to see if Conner needed him and as he did, he heard Con reply, his voice clipped, “Living room.”
This was not welcoming but still, Ellie nodded. Conner moved aside to let her in, caught his dad’s eyes and Jake saw he had this. Then again, he usually had it. Unlike Amber, his boy was confident with just about everything.
Jake still gave him a look. Conner returned a shake of his head, closed the front door and moved toward the living room where Ellie had disappeared.
Jake got closer to his son and said low, “Don’t know what that is but we gotta have a family meeting. Sorry, bud, but gotta ask you to do what you can to make it short.”
Conner held his eyes a second before he nodded and moved into the living room, closing the door behind him.
Jake sighed as he walked into the kitchen, taking his phone out of his back pocket. He put it on the charger and went to the fridge, hoping like all f**k Conner dealt with whatever Ellie had going on and quick. He was looking forward to burying Josie deeper into the family fold. He was not looking forward to discussing how he wanted to do that, especially with two teenagers who knew exactly what it meant that he was going to have a woman in his bed.
Luckily, Ethan didn’t get it and probably would just be excited to have Josie around more.
He just hoped Conner and Amber were the same.
They gave no indication they wouldn’t be.
Still, he had far from abstained since he got shot of Ethan’s mom but none of those women had slept in his bed. He’d had them there when the kids weren’t around, but his kids never woke up to his women.
So this conversation was not going to be easy.
He pulled out a beer, twisted off the top, tossed the cap in the trash and took a pull as he started to the family room where he could hear a game playing. He was going to tell Ethan they were having a meeting but he didn’t get that far.
The doorbell went again.
He felt his brows draw together as he looked in that direction then moved in that direction.
He heard nothing from the living room, which he hoped was a good sign.
But he saw through the windows at the top of the door who was standing outside.
“Fuck,” he hissed, not wanting to do it but doing it all the same mostly because he had no choice.
He set his beer on the table beside the door and opened it.
Donna stood outside.
And, someone kill him, she had Ellie’s exact expression of hesitant, earnest, scared and shy. Except it was on the face of a woman thirty years older, it was about something she couldn’t possibly think was going to happen so it was entirely jacked.
He did not let her in. He forced her to take two steps back as he went out and closed the door behind him.
“Now is not a good time,” he growled.
“Jake, we gotta talk,” she said quietly.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But now’s not a good time. You call before you do this shit, Donna. You don’t blindside me.”
She took in a deep breath, lifted a hand and placed it on his chest.
Instantly, he moved to the side, clearing her hand and putting another two feet of distance between them.
Her eyes widened in shock as she dropped her hand.
Fucking hell.
Seriously?
She lifted both hands to her sides, eyes glued to his, and stated, “I f**ked up.”
“We’re not doing this,” he returned immediately.
“Jake—”
“You talkin’ about f**kin’ up with our boy and girl?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. The kids and, well…us.”
“We’ll talk about the kids later. Not now. We’re not talkin’ about us ever seein’ as there is no us to talk about.”
Her expression turned pleading. “Jake, there’s always been an us.”
Jesus.
Whacked.
“Donna, since you kicked my ass out the first time, the us there was was gone.”
“I know I hurt you,” she whispered.
“Woman, that was fourteen years ago.”
“We were happy,” she told him.
“No, Donna. I was happy. You were never happy. You were always searchin’ for something, wanting something, pissed about not finding it or getting it and up in my shit. Those times I was not happy and lookin’ back, havin’ something good now that actually does make me happy, I see it. But none of this shit matters because it’s so over it’s barely a memory.”