The music is too loud, this club is definitely not my scene. 

As much as I can’t stand the thought of the prospect having my kid sister on his radar, we might not have found them so soon if they hadn’t exchanged numbers. 

I scoot my chair closer hoping she will at least spare me a glance.

I’ve fucked up many times in my life but for some reason seeing the hurt in Skyla’s eyes feels different.

“I wanted to apologize. Those girls didn’t mean anything.”

“Don’t.” She snaps. “While I might not like the idea of you being with anyone else we’ve made no promises. Do not belittle me or them by saying it is nothing because I don’t care who you choose to fuck, Xavier, but we are not going to talk about it.”

My shoulders slump forward, I’ve never felt so guilty. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“You know what fucking hurt?! Finding out that you think so little of me that you assumed I’d jump right into bed with James as soon as you left.

“What fucking hurt was going to bed every night hoping that at some point you’d just show up.”

Skyla turns away from me, glancing down at her phone for a second before looking back out at the dancing crowd. She sighs, swiping her face with her hand like I wouldn’t notice.

“Skyla, I know nothing I might say can take back the last few weeks but if you could just give me a chance I swear I’ll make it up to you.” I reach out but think better of trying to touch her and pull my hand back.

I’ve never seen her look more confident and sexy than she had today. Holding her own against Ripper, that is a feat all its own. “When she told me about your date with James-“

“Dinner.” Skyla quickly corrects me.

“Right, dinner. I was pissed and jealous and scared, I didn’t want to face any of my own shit. Thinking the worst of him and you was easier.” Finally swallowing my pride and risking some giant teeth sinking into me I reach out and take her hand. “I’m sorry, Skyla. So fucking sorry.

“I’d take it all back if I could, every minute of the last couple of weeks, just to have you.”

Skyla pulls her hand from mine, stroking the dog’s fur instead. That’s it? I’ve lost her, and I’ll have to let her go.

Getting to my feet, a little too quickly for Diablo’s liking because he jumps up too. I stand in front of her so she has no choice but to look at me. I know I’ll have to work to earn her forgiveness, and that’s fine because I am not giving her up now.

I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips when I guide her to look up at me with the gentle press of a finger under her chin. Her eyes are searching and every wall she’d let me past before is taller and stronger.

“I’m here, okay? Will you let me try to make it up to you?”

I can feel her sigh, and though she nods her answer confidently her eyes give away just how unsure she’s feeling right now. She pulls away from me just as Diablo perks up at someone approaching.

“Hey, I guess you’ve probably figured out I told Xavier too.” Eloise says, bounding over and dragging the prospect behind her by the hand.

“You guess?” Skyla replies, looking between Eloise and I.

“Well you can be mad the whole way home cause times up and they’re kicking out everyone under twenty-one.” Eloise smiles.

“Okay,” Skyla stands, but she’s mindful to keep some distance between us. “Let’s get home then.”

It’s an odd feeling hearing Eloise call Skyla’s place home, though she’s been staying with her almost a month now. Before turning to walk away she looks back at me and the prospect. “Well? The two of you coming or staying here?”

The prospect and I aren’t but a few minutes behind the girls. Skyla’s left the garage door open for us to leave our motorcycles inside it next to her car and left the backdoor propped up in an invitation to let ourselves in.

We make it up the steps and into her apartment in time to hear Skyla telling Eloise to move her stuff to the master bedroom, they can share her bed and will be leaving the prospect and I to fight over the spare bed and couch.

I’d told him to leave his bag at the bottom of the stairs, we’d stay at my place if we weren’t wanted here. She notices the shotgun in my hand long before I lay it on the coffee table, setting her handgun beside it.

“At least Ripper has a bit of sense.” She comments.

Her eyes grow wide when she sees what he’s brought up. Baby Face hands her the guitar and she traces her hand up the back of the neck before her knees give way.

The room is silent for far too long before a choked sob escapes her throat. Skyla’s fingers caress the strings and trace over the body of the instrument. It’s hard to understand her trying to talk through the tears.

“…off the stage while setting up for a set.”

“…ran through the studio and took out everything in their path.”

“…engraved on the neck, it was an anniversary present.”

Skyla manages to peel herself up off the floor, shying away from any of us trying to help or comfort her in anyway. Her bedroom door slams between us and her, Diablo had only just made it in there without losing his tail.

“Guess it might be her husband’s guitar after all, huh?” The prospect says.

“Really?” Eloise shakes her head.

By the time the sun is up it’s probably been only a few hours since I’d passed out. I never thought I’d ever find anything that belonged to Jase other than the few clothes I’d kept, much less one of his beloved instruments.

It felt like having a piece of him back and losing him all over again.

Eloise is sleeping soundly next to me in bed, but no matter how hard I try I can’t get back to sleep. Careful not to disturb her I quietly get dressed, just some jeans and a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled back.

Diablo probably needs to go out anyway.

Once in the living room, neither Xavier or the devil are anywhere to be found. With no other way to clear my head I set about the kitchen to get breakfast made.

“Smells amazing in here.” The young man from the compound says as he wanders in from down the hall.

“It’ll be ready to eat soon.” Assuming he can eat half as much as Xavier does I’ve made a ton of food. “I’m Skyla, by the way, I don’t think I actually introduced myself at all yesterday.”

“Tyler, anything I can do to help?” He smiles.

Declining his help, I’ve already made a stack of pancakes. The breakfast sausage and bacon are almost done and I’ve already fried a couple of eggs the way Xavier like them. “How do you like your eggs?”

“I’m not picky, I’ll eat whatever you put on my plate.” He replies.

Since Xavier’s not back yet I plate them for Tyler, letting him know he should help himself to whatever else he wants. Fresh coffee in the pot, fruit and juice in the fridge. When he settles himself at the counter on a barstool I set the maple syrup in front of him.

“Thanks, Skyla.”

“You can look at me, you know. No more meltdowns, I swear.”

“Sorry,” he smiles, looking up “everything is perfect. Thanks for breakfast.”

Eloise won’t be up for a few more hours, like her brother she can sleep through anything, so I make a small plate for her and cover it with foil before sticking it in the fridge. Xavier’s eggs are on a plate waiting for him to decide what else he wants, and I drop an extra egg into Diablo’s waiting bowl of breakfast.

“Let me know if you need anything else, you’re welcome to join me and bring your plate up to the roof.” I let him know before taking my coffee up the stairs, I’ll eat when I’m done.

It’s only about 7:30am, the morning air is still nice and cool but the beams of a warm sun bring promise of a bright new day.

Just as I settle into my seat, Tyler walks up and takes in the view. He’s brought a bottle of water with him but not his plate.

“Did you get enough to eat? There’s plenty more, please help yourself.”

“I’m good right now,” he laughs nervously “might finish off that bacon soon, though.”

“Why are you even awake, already? It’s Sunday, you should be sleeping in.”

“Me and the other prospects have to get up early to do chores around the compound and clean up the bar. Hopefully no one rats me out for not being there this morning.”

“Well you’re more than welcome to the television down there, and don’t worry about being quiet. Eloise won’t be up for another couple of hours and she could sleep through a bomb going off.” I smile.

Tyler lingers for a few moments like he has something he wants to say but instead he heads back inside. I curl up on my outdoor sofa to finish my coffee the breeze aromatic with the freshly bloomed flowers in the planters around me.

Soon I hear Diablo’s giant feet racing through the level below me and the crunching of his dog food. Smiling to myself, in less than a minute he’s going to be flying up those stairs and greeting me with a tackle.

“You made breakfast?” I hear Xavier ask through the open door.

“No, of course not.” Tyler answers. “Nothing is burnt and the kitchen isn’t on fire. Skyla made it, she’s out on the roof.

“Where the hell have you been?” He asks Xavier.

“Couldn’t sleep so I went for a run, Diablo got excited when I put my shoes on so I took him out with me.” 

Speak of the devil, here he comes. I place my mug down on the table and brace myself just as giant paws pad across the apartment and up to the roof. It never matters if we’ve been apart for minutes or months, Diablo’s greeting is always the same.

“Yes, yes, good morning to you too.” I laugh, dodging sloppy kisses and his giant head nuzzling against me.

Taking a minute to water the plants that need it, my quiet time now definitely over, before heading back in. Tyler has found some action movie to watch in the living room and Xavier is leaning over his plate at the counter inhaling his food.

“Coffee?” I offer.

His only response a quick nod, the food left on his plate being his priority. I begin to clean the kitchen around Xavier, refilling his mug and nibbling on my own breakfast. Once he’s done and the dishwasher has been loaded I get a good look at him for the first time this morning, he doesn’t look like he’s slept at all.

“You look like shit.” I tease.

Xavier shrugs, “thanks.”

“Thanks for taking Diablo out.”

“I think he took me out,” he finally smiles. “I couldn’t sleep so we went for a run.”

“Go shower, use all the hot water. Eloise is still asleep, and I need to check my office phone for any messages.”

“Yeah… okay.” 

After my shower I join the prospect on the couch, Skyla and Diablo are still downstairs.

“What are you watching?” I ask him.

“I don’t even know, I was pretending not to be able to hear you, don’t you two have more to talk about?”

“If only I know how and where to fucking start.”

“Does the dog not scare you? What’s with the guns?” Tyler quietly asks.

“Well with her family being murdered… I just figured it had to do with that, but I’ve never asked. Diablo’s usually chill.” 

“Who was murdered?” Eloise yawns, stepping out of the master bedroom. “Whatcha watching?”

As she plops down on the couch between us I shoot him a warning glare, he better not fucking say anything. If Skyla hasn’t told her I’m sure there is a reason for it. Not to mention Ripper didn’t seem all that surprised that the Hounds might be connected in someway.

“You’re both idiots. Skyla told me what happened to her family already, she kinda had to after her night terrors kept waking me up.

“Did either of you save me any breakfast? I know she wouldn’t dare miss a chance to cook you a meal.” Eloise teases.

“I think she left your plate covered in the fridge.” The prospect pipes up.

Eloise skips into the kitchen, pulling the foil off the plate before popping it into the microwave. Once it’s done she returns to her place between us on the couch. Savagely ripping her pancake apart with her fingers before dipping it into the the syrup.

“Where is Skyla anyway? Don’t tell me you’ve chased her off again already.”

“Downstairs, I’m sure she’ll be back any minute.” I cringe, watching my teenage sister eat like a toddler.

“Well, since neither of you seem to be in a chatty mood, Skyla taught me how to shoot a gun on Friday.” Eloise beams.

“She fucking what?” My voice echoes around the room.

While still stuffing her face with pancakes Eloise excitedly tells me they’d gone to the indoor range about an hour away that law enforcement usually uses for training. They’d gone over all basics and Skyla was, thankfully, very strict about safety.

“I’m definitely not a natural, but it was fun.”

It is in this exact moment that Skyla and Diablo come back through the apartment door. What the fuck was she thinking? Why would Eloise even need to look at gun? Why the hell would she ever need one?

My hands are clenched into fists as I rise to my feet, practically growling “Why the hell did you teach her how to shoot? Who said that was on you?”

Skyla rolls her eyes, looking at Eloise instead of me “Can’t you wait to until I’m around to explain or defend myself before making anymore revelations?”

“I’m sorry, I was excited.” Eloise pouts.

“Yes, Xavier. I taught her how to use a gun and to do so safely. I had no idea what we would be walking into while we were looking for you and I didn’t want her to be scared of them.” Skyla sighs “She needed to know how to use them in case anything went wrong.”

My heart is racing thanks to how pissed off I am, “Why was that up to you?! I should’ve fucking known about this!”

Skyla leans forward poking herself in the chest with a finger, “Because I was fucking here! I’m not the one who was dead to the world for weeks! Don’t worry, there won’t be a fucking next time.”

Turning on her heel, Diablo races through the bedroom door before she slams it behind her.

“You’re such a jackass!” Eloise shoves me. “I didn’t tell you so you could be mad at her, I just wanted to share one of the things you missed out on while you’ve been acting like we don’t exist.”

Letting myself fall back into my seat, Eloise gets up to clean her dishes. I roll my head to the side and watch her doing things the exact way Skyla would. They’ve spent all this time together, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I’ve missed them getting to know each other. Right now I feel like I barely know either of them.

“How was the range? I’ve only shot at empty cans in the back parking lot.” The prospect speaks up, the awkward tension in the air had been suffocating.

“It was really cool, even Diablo went. You’d think a dog would be scared with all the noise but he slept behind us most of the time.” Eloise replies.

“Makes since, he was supposed to be a military service canine.” Trying to join their conversation earns me a glare from Eloise.

“Supposed to be? Then why is he here?”

“She’s the first person to care for him that he hasn’t taken a bite out of.”

The day is still so young and I’ve already gone and fucked it up. I find myself staring at the master bedroom door, I raise my hand to knock before deciding against it. Just as I step back from the door Eloise comes running by and knocks quickly before jumping over the couch.

She has a big, proud smile on her face as I stare at her in shock. I can’t believe she just fucking did that.

“It’s open.” Skyla calls back.