Chapter Twenty-Four

"W oman, will you sit the hell down?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Spencer," Kaitlyn warns.

"Spencer?" Wrath laughs.

Natalie smacks him in the stomach. "Be nice."

"I'm sorry, it's just weird hearing everyone's given names, and to be honest, I forgot his was Spencer," he says, protesting.

"Hey, I get it. I grew up in a clubhouse. I think I probably only know a handful of the guys' real names," Kaitlyn says as she falls into my lap. "So what happens now?"

"Now, we go home, and I lock this one in our house for a week," Reaper says as he pulls Natalie into his side.

He runs his scruff over her neck, making her giggle. "Reaper, we're in public."

"We're not in public, we're with our family." Reaper backs off. "Later."

"What about you, Midnight? Do you have any plans?" Colt asks.

Midnight has his head tilted back and his eyes closed. "I'm going home and sleeping for forty-eight hours and then hopefully getting my kids after I check on the shop."

"Tara says the shop has been busy, but they are handling it. Jerico and Elle have been kicking ass," Wrath tells him.

"I appreciate you coming down to help. I know you lost time with them by being here," I tell Midnight. "Really, I'm thankful that all of you came down here. I don't know if we could have done it without you guys."

"You would do the same for me, but you're welcome, and for the record, you guys would have figured it out on your own," Midnight says.

"You coming home with us?" Wrath asks Fang.

"I figured I would stay around here until Colt and Kaitlyn decide what their plan is." He looks at us. "As long as that's okay with you two."

"Works for me," I tell him.

Kaitlyn nods and smiles at my friend. "I'm good with that."

"Have you guys gotten your plane tickets yet?" I ask.

Reaper shakes his head. "We fly out tomorrow. I contemplated just taking the SUV and making the drive, but then I remembered how long the drive was and decided a few hours holed up in a plane was better than almost twenty."

"I don't know why you don't like flying, it's not bad," Natalie says.

"Because there is nothing natural about being that high up in a metal tube," Wrath tells her.

Natalie rolls her eyes. "You guys are ridiculous. Back me up, Kaitlyn, flying isn't that bad, right?"

Kaitlyn shrugs. "I wouldn't know. I've never been on a plane before."

I squeeze Kaitlyn's leg. "We'll have to rectify that."

"That we will," she says quietly and smiles.

Kolby starts to fuss, breaking the moment. Kaitlyn starts to move off of me, but Midnight waves her away.

"I got him," he says as he scoops him up, cuddling him into his chest. "What's up, little man?"

Kolby coos.

"Man, I miss when my kids were this little. At this age, they are just happy having you close. Now my kids are little hellions."

"Like their father," Wrath quips when Reaper's phone rings.

"Sorry, I need to take this." He gets up off the couch and excuses himself from the room.

"You know what I'm excited to do when we get home?" Natalie says while looking at Wrath.

"What?"

"Picking up our boxing lessons. It's been too long since I took you down," she says, her lips twitching.

Wrath scoffs. "You don't take me down."

"Are you sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure I have."

Kaitlyn laughsat the way they bicker. "You guys act like brother and sister."

Natalie perks up. "That's totally a compliment, thank you!"

Reaper walks back into the room.

"Hey, who was that, babe?" Natalie says as she turns to look at him, and her eyes narrow. "What's wrong?"

Everyone turns and looks at Reaper, who's as pale as a ghost.

"What happened?" Wrath asks as he slides forward on the couch.

Reaper clears his throat. "That was Trigger. Elenore passed away this morning."

I tense as Kaitlyn squeezes my arm.

Goddamn. My heart clenches at the thought of what Honk is going through. Fuck, and Harlee will now have to live without a mother.

"What?" Midnight asks.

"Shit," Fang curses.

"No. No. That's not possible," Natalie says, rapidly shaking her head.

Reaper makes his way over to her and pulls her into his arms. "It's true, babe. She's gone. Trigger's booking us plane tickets as we speak."

"But how can that be? She was at the hospital! Oh my god. Honk and Harlee, they must be devastated." She sobs as Reaper holds her.

"Babe," I say quietly, getting Kaitlyn's attention. "I need to go home with them. I need to pay my respects."

"I'll go with you."

My head whips toward her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's the right thing to do. Besides, where you go, I go."

I lean forward and give her a hard kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

I turn to Reaper. "Can you have Trigger book tickets for us as well? Shit, does anyone know what we need to do to fly with a baby?"

"Just bring a copy of his birth certificate, but he's young enough that he can fly for free by sitting on your lap," Midnight tells us.

"What about you, Fang? You staying or coming with?" Wrath asks.

Fang nods. "I'll come. She was always good to me. It's the least I could do."

"Colt, don't forget to tell Savage you'll be heading home for a bit. That way someone knows where you are if they need you," Midnight tells me.

"Shit, I hadn't even thought about that. Thank you," I tell him.

"Okay, Trigger can get us out of here in four hours. We're going to head back to the hotel and grab our shit. Meet you guys at the airport?" Reaper asks, looking up at me.

"Works for us." I nod as Kaitlyn slips off my lap.

"I'm going to go start packing now. I'll see you guys soon," she tells them as she slips out of the room.

"We'll meet you there," I tell them as they head out.

I pull my phone out of my pocket to start making calls. The question is, where do I even start?

"Socks, underwear, pants, dress for the funeral…what am I missing?" I murmur to myself as I scan the contents of my bag.

Toothbrush.

I rush into the master bathroom and grab my toothbrush and a travel-sized toothpaste they gave me during my last dental appointment. Walking back into the bedroom, I drop them into my bag.

Okay, that's it. If I need anything else, I'll just pick it up in Vegas. It will be fine.

I run my hand through my hair.

This is it. I've thought about going to Vegas with Colt a dozen times since he came back into my life, but now that I'm about to go it feels…real.

I'm actually going.

I'll be in his world and staying at his house.

Does he even have a house?

"Hey, Colt."

"Yeah?" he yells out from Kolby's room.

"Where are we staying in Vegas?"

Colt walks into the bedroom, frowning. "We're staying at my place, why?"

"Because I just realized I didn't know if you lived at the clubhouse or if you had a place somewhere else."

Colt walks toward me and rubs my arms. "I have a room at the clubhouse, but if you want, we could always get a hotel."

"The clubhouse is fine, but what about a place for Kolby to sleep?" I ask as I chew on my lip.

"Tara is pulling one of the pack ‘n plays out of storage and getting it cleaned up for us. It's not perfect, but it will make do until we decide what we want to do."

"Okay."

"You good now? Any more ridiculous questions?" he teases.

I gently push his chest, making him laugh. "Shut up and get out of here."

I turn around to grab my bag.

"Hey, babe," he says, making me look over my shoulder. "I know I already said it, but thank you for coming with me."

"You're welcome."

I smile, watching him walk away. God, I love him , I think as I rub my chest. Sighing, I reach for my bag, only to pause. Shit, I know what I was forgetting. Heels. I need heels for the funeral.

I rush into my closet and grab the closest black pair of wedges. These will work. I head back into my bedroom and shove them into my bag.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in," I say over my shoulder as I zip my bag.

"Hey, sweetheart."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I ask my dad as he steps into my bedroom.

"Colt told me you were going out of town for a little bit. Since you weren't going to be able to make it over, I thought I'd come over and check on you since I haven't gotten to since everything went down."

Guilt eats at me. My father almost died. I wanted to see him in the hospital, but with how I was feeling, I couldn't get myself to leave Kolby or Colt.

When did he go from the most important man in my life to the third? I guess when Kolby was born.

"How are you doing, Dad?" I ask as I sit on the edge of my bed.

His lips twitch as he sits down next to me. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"You just lost your wife, and you were shot."

"And you were kidnapped by your mother," he points out.

"Honestly, I don't know how I feel or if it has really hit me what happened. It all just happened so fast, and my main concern was Kolby," I confess.

Dad reaches out and squeezes my arm. "Which it should be. Your son should be your main concern."

"What about you?"

He smiles sadly. "I don't think it's quite hit me yet. We had our issues, but I loved your mother."

My heart clenches.

I shake my head as tears fall down my cheeks. "I'm sorry, Dad. I can't imagine. You two were married for so long."

"We were," he says gruffly. "Look, sweetheart, I need to apologize to you."

"For what?"

Pain fills his eyes. "I feel like this is all my fault. Your mother, she had her issues, and for years I knew and ignored them. I failed you, Katie bug."

I shake my head and squeeze his hand. "No, Dad, you didn't fail me at all. There is nothing you could have done. Nothing. This isn't on you."

"But you were caught in the crossfire."

"Dad, even if Mom wasn't involved, that doesn't mean it wouldn't have happened. Morgue was hyper fixated on me. Something would have happened whether we liked it or not."

Dad shakes his head. "It was so much worse than I thought, Katie bug. I went through his place."

I raise my hand, making him pause. "I don't want to know what you found. I think I'm better off not knowing, honestly."

Dad clears his and nods. "What's the plan now?"

I give him a weak smile. "Now we go to Vegas for a few days. His brother needs him."

"Have you thought about staying up there?"

My eyes widen at his suggestion. I never thought he would ask that.

"Dad, I can't leave you. Especially after all of this," I protest. "You need me."

"Katie bug, listen to me."

I interrupt him. "No, Dad, don't be ridiculous."

"Kaitlyn, I need you to listen to me," he says, using my full name, which he never does.

"Okay," I whisper.

"I want you to start living your life and doing what makes you happy. If you like Vegas and want a fresh start, then I won't blame you for moving up there. If you want to come home, that's fine too. I just want you to give Vegas a fair shake. I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to live where so many traumatic things happened to you."

"But I'd miss you." The argument sounds weak even to my own ears.

Dad raises a brow. "Do you really think if you moved up there, I wouldn't be up there every chance I get? You can always visit me too. This will always be your home."

"Do you think we should move up there?" I gnaw at my bottom lip.

"I think you need to do what's best for your family. No matter what it may be."

"I love you, Daddy."

He pulls me into his arms and murmurs against my hair, "I love you too."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Colt says.

"What's up?" I ask as I pull away from Dad, wiping my face.

"It's time to go."

Dad slaps his thighs and stands. "I'll let you guys head out." He steps forward and holds his hand out. "Son, you'll take care of them for me?"

I almost gasp at him calling Colt son. It's as good as accepting him into the family. It's his way of letting me know that he trusts Colt. That he approves of him.

It means everything to me.

Colt slaps his hand into his. "With my life."

A beautiful smile crosses my dad's face. "You're a good man, Spencer Brown. I don't know if I could have picked a better one for my little girl."

"Thank you."

A feeling of rightness flows through my veins.

I really couldn't have picked a better man if I had tried.