The meeting with Nightingale verified all my worries. Lee Nightingale and his team cost a lot, and not just hourly. They also charged expenses.

That said, I was there so I sallied forth, gave him my story and his face got kinda scary. He then told me he knew my dad, knew Shy, and he’d “look into shit” (his words). I told him I wasn’t comfortable with him “looking into shit” unless I paid him. So we made a deal. I gave him a retainer which was the totality of my savings, and that wasn’t dinky. I’d been putting money in and not taking it out since Dad took me to the bank to set up my savings account when I was eleven. I’d meant to use it to help set up the house I would share with Jason, which didn’t come about. I then lamented losing it because it would have helped with the down payment on the house I bought with Shy and I would have felt better, doing my part. Alas, by then, it was gone.

So we made our deal, Lee told me they’d look into shit, keep track of time and expenses, and call me when the money ran out.

Not surprisingly, since the case was very cold, ages ago he’d called me and told me the money had run out.

Therefore, I thought it was over. It was disappointing and perhaps a stupid waste of money, but I held onto the fact that I tried to do something important for Shy, something huge, even though it didn’t work out and he’d never know I did it.

Now, taking in the room, the vibe, all of the angry eyes on me, including Shy’s, I had a feeling he knew.

I just didn’t understand why Shy, and everyone, was so freaking angry.

“You forget to tell me somethin’, babe?” Shy asked when I came to an uncertain halt.

“Uh…” My eyes slid to Lee Nightingale, who looked scary but he kinda was that way normally. He was just one of those men who gave off the vibe you didn’t mess with him. This didn’t take away from the fact that he was tall, dark, built, and seriously hot. He was still scary. My eyes went back to Shy. “Not really.”

His eyes narrowed on me. “Not really?”

That was the wrong answer, I could tell.

“Well, um… no. I mean, obviously you know I hired Lee to, uh… look into things, which, by the way”—I chanced a disapproving look at Nightingale hoping he wouldn’t take offense“—I thought was confidential.”

“Shit went down, wasn’t on your dime. If you’re not paying, it’s not your case, you’re not my client, so it’s no longer confidential,” Lee explained to me, and that made sense. It sucked with Shy’s present mood but it made sense.

“You hired him to find that motherfucker,” Shy pushed into our conversation and I looked back at him.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “But—”

“Wound like that never closes, you tear it wider? What the fuck, Tabby?” Shy bit out.

His words slashed through me.

That wasn’t what I was trying to do. He had to know that.

“I thought I was—” I started but didn’t finish.

“You thought you were what?” Shy clipped, his words harsh, coming from someplace ugly.

A place he’d clearly been keeping locked down and I’d inadvertently opened.

God, why hadn’t I listened to Natalie when she told me not to hire Lee Nightingale?

I had to go into damage control. I just had no clue how.

Still, I had to try.

“I… you…” I looked around then back at Shy, knowing what I had to say, needing to tell him what he exposed when he talked about his family and thinking he wouldn’t want an audience. So I asked, “Can we talk about this somewhere else?”

“No, darlin’, you talk about this shit here,” Dad growled, and I turned surprised eyes to him to see he looked just as angry as he sounded. “After Shy gets what he needs outta you, I’ll be askin’ some questions about why you took shit like this outside the family.”

What?

“I—” I started.

“Tabby, eyes to me,” Shy ordered tersely and when I looked back at him, he repeated, “What the fuck?”

“You talked about them,” I explained.

“Yeah. So?” he clipped.

I studied him wondering how this had turned so bad.

Then I tried, “You… you were doing a lot for me. I wanted to do something for you.”

“So you fuck me up?” he asked and I flinched.

It took a lot but I recovered and pointed out carefully, “Obviously, I didn’t think I was doing that, Shy. I thought I was giving you closure.”

“Well, you didn’t think right, sugar. You didn’t give me closure, you reopened a nightmare,” Shy fired back.

“How?” I whispered and looked around. “How?” I repeated then I looked at Lee. “What’s going on?”

“We found him,” Lee told me.

Oh my God!

“Seriously?” I whispered.

“Seriously,” he didn’t whisper.

“You’re sure?” I pushed.

“Absolutely,” he stated firmly.

“I see you’re not gettin’ this, darlin’,” Dad put in at this point and his voice was now gruff but gentle. He was also angry at me, but he saw I didn’t understand why so at least he was giving me a break. “Nightingale’s got this guy in his holding room and now he has a difficult decision to make ’cause he knows we got a job to do. We also got a relationship with Nightingale and his team. If we don’t agree on what goes down now, there’ll be friction. We try to avoid friction. But there’s only one thing that can go down now, so if we can’t negotiate with Nightingale, we got a problem.”

I didn’t get it.

Then I got it.

Just like Natalie said, the Club wanted this guy so Shy’s loss could be avenged, and Lee Nightingale knew it and he might not be hip to being involved, even on the periphery, of what they had planned.

“This is not a we,” Shy declared, his furious gaze now on Dad. “This is a me.”

“Brother, this is a we,” Dad told him.

“Was,” Shy spat the word out. “If this shit happened a coupla months ago. Now this is mine.” Dad’s brows snapped together, but it was Hop who spoke.

“This is not somethin’ a brother does alone.”

Shy looked to him. “Yeah it is. This is about me. My family. I deal.”

“You got another family now,” Dog put in.

“I do?” Shy asked and my heart sank. “Didn’t feel that way when you all made your call about Tabby.”

Oh God! There it was.

Something bad was getting worse. I knew that by Shy’s words, the tightening of the mouths of some of the men and others looking away and shuffling their motorcycle-booted feet.

Shy looked to Lee. “You turn him over to me.”

Okay, there it was again. Now it was even worse!

“Authorities would make him pay longer, Cage,” Lee said quietly.

“Authorities didn’t get their mom and dad popped. You turn him over to me,” Shy shot back.

“Shy—” I started and his eyes sliced to me.

“Quiet, Tabby, we’ll have our words later.”

Okay, and now it was even worse.

I decided the best thing to do at that juncture was shut up, so I did.

Shy looked to Lee. “You turn him over to me. Whatever happens, whatever blowback, it’s on me. Not you, and this does not have fuck all to do with Chaos.”

I turned pleading eyes to Dad, but Dad had his eyes locked on Dog. Then he moved his gaze to Lee.

It was then Lee said to Shy, “Don’t make a mess.”

Oh God, God, God!

Worse!

Shy jerked up his chin.

“Usual Chaos drop-off, bring him there. I’ll be waiting,” Shy ordered.

Usual Chaos drop-off?

Yikes!

I didn’t have a chance to process the scariness of that. Shy shifted, his eyes moved through me, through the brothers, all of this like we weren’t even there and he prowled out of the Compound.

I will repeat: his eyes moved through me.

Never, not once, not even back in the day when I had a crush on him and he was too old for me, did Shy make me feel invisible.

Never.

My feet moved to launch me toward Shy, but I didn’t even get a step in before Dad’s hand locked on my arm.

I tipped my eyes up to look at him.

“Go home, darlin’, wait it out. It’ll be okay,” he said softly.

“I think he’s going to—”

Dad’s face dipped close, his eyes were dark, intense, he was feeling a lot of things but still his gaze was somehow gentle on me, and he reiterated, “Go home, Tabby. I got this. The brothers have this. It’ll all be okay.” He held my eyes and when I licked my lip he whispered, “Tab, trust me.”

“I don’t want to be visiting him in the penitentiary,” I whispered back.

“You won’t,” Dad told me.

“You either,” I went on.

“You won’t be doin’ that either,” Dad assured me.

“Or anyone,” I carried on.

Dad’s look, still gentle, flashed with impatience. “Tabby, honey, your message is clear. I get you but we got this. Do you think we don’t got this?”

I held his eyes.

Then I nodded.

He had this.

I hoped.

“Okay, Dad.”

“Got shit to do, darlin’. Go home.” His fingers tightened on my arm, they didn’t hurt but they sent a message. “Your man will be home tonight.”

I stared up at Dad and read it in his eyes.

My man would be home that night. What would happen when he got there was up to me, but my dad and his brothers were going to get him back to me.

I nodded.

He held my eyes before he said, “I see your play and it was filled with beauty. But, darlin’, I’ll say this once, we won’t go over this ground again. Shit like this is kept in the family.”

I got him. Boy, did I get him.

Luckily, there was only one man who murdered Shy’s parents and thus messed up his life, so this wouldn’t happen again.

“You won’t have to say it again, Dad,” I assured him.