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My angry snarl only made him laugh. Bastard.
“Don’t act like you don’t want to. She’s so young; she could call you Daddy, and it’d be believable.”
“Gage, I swear to God, if you don’t shut the fuck up.”
He leaned against the desk, smirking at me. “This is going to be fun.”
I glared at him.
He took a drink and looked at Six. “You got a look at her yet?”
He nodded.
“She’s even got his favorite hair color.”
Six knew better than to join in with Gage. I might not be able to get Gage on the ground before his lightning-fast reflexes had his Glock at my head, but Six I could take.
“Lighten up, Levi. She’s just a pretty little girl who needs someone to save her,” Gage drawled. “It’s the perfect scenario for your fucking kinks.”
I stood up and headed for the door while Gage cackled with laughter. Stupid fucker needed to go back to his goddamn house. I wasn’t in the mood for his shit. What I hated more was, he was right. He knew me too damn well. Before Shiloh, we’d shared countless women, and he knew what I liked. But this wasn’t a sex game. This was real, and in real life, that shit came with strings I didn’t want.
Aspen’s personal belongings had arrived, and I’d sent them to Gage’s old bedroom. The other option had been to send her to the third floor, but it scared me for her to be that far away. What if she had some heart issue and needed someone? Trinity was in the basement at night. So, Aspen would be across the hall from me. Which made this feel even more like I was in charge of her. I couldn’t let this fuck with my head.
I had stayed away from her most of the morning, trying to make sure everything was taken care of for her. Huck had handled getting Kitty’s—Irish’s body from the morgue. I was going to have to discuss what Aspen wanted done with her sister next, and I fucking hated the idea of doing it. She was going to be upset and probably cry. I hated it when she cried. I wasn’t good with that. It was something out of my control, and I fucking despised that feeling.
Trinity had taken Aspen out to the pool while I dealt with getting a cardiologist set up to come here and meet with me about her condition, having Irish’s place cleaned and her things packed and stored, then taking care of financials and bills she had left behind.
When I stepped out onto the back patio, my gaze swung to Aspen and Trinity sitting under an umbrella table with glasses of lemonade. Aspen’s shoulders weren’t tense, like they had been earlier, and she appeared more relaxed. I had Trinity to thank for that. Proof she was better at this than me.
As if she could sense my presence, Aspen turned her head, and her eyes locked on me before a smile touched her face. The last time I had seen her smile was three weeks ago. It was a fucking relief to see her doing so now. Talking about what she wanted to do with her sister’s body would wipe that beautiful smile right off, and that was the absolute last thing I wanted to do, but Huck was waiting on her decision so he could move forward.
“I hate to break this up, but Aspen’s things have arrived, and I’ve got some things to discuss with her,” I told them.
Trinity reached over and squeezed Aspen’s hand. I was sure Huck had already texted her and she knew exactly what I had to speak with Aspen about. Still wearing my sweats that hung low on her hips even though they were tied as tightly as they would go and my T-shirt that she’d knotted up at her back, showing a little sliver of skin at her waist and the top of her exposed hips, she stood up. Her tits swayed slightly under the navy cotton shirt, giving away the fact that she didn’t have a bra on. I needed her to get one of those out of her bags and put it on. I didn’t like the idea of the other guys seeing her tits. Especially fucking Kye. Aspen’s tits were just like he liked them—big and natural. On her small frame, they appeared even larger.
Tearing my gaze off her chest and back to her face, I waited on her to reach me. “You can get changed into some of your clothing first if you want,” I told her.
“Okay,” she replied, blushing, as if she knew I’d been checking out her tits.
Dammit. She didn’t need to know I was looking at her tits. This thing was platonic. My dick just needed to understand that. She would be horrified if she knew the dirty shit I would do to her.
I placed my hand on her lower back and led her back inside the house. Thankfully, no one was in the kitchen as we passed through, and I got her back upstairs and to Gage’s old room without Kye showing up.
“This is going to be your room,” I told her. “All your items should be in the boxes.”
She looked around at the large room, similar to my own, and then the pile of boxes, a few duffel bags with a matching flowery pattern, and one pink suitcase. Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep sigh. This conversation wasn’t going to make it easier on her either.
“We need to talk about Irish’s funeral details. It will be private with armed guards, for obvious reasons. I want you to be free to mourn your sister in safety and peace,” I began, and her eyes started to fill with tears. Dammit, I hated this. “I need to know if you want her buried in a casket or if you want her cremated.”
Aspen covered her face with both her hands, and a small sob shook her shoulders. Shit, I should have kept Trinity with me for this. I reached for her and held her against my chest. I’d known this was going to be hard on her, but knowing it and seeing it were two different things. She moved her hands from her face and buried her face against my chest as her hands fisted my shirt.
I worried that her crying like this was bad for her heart. I needed the fucking cardiologist here to tell me exactly what I should be careful about. How to keep her safe. If putting this kind of shit on her was bad for her health, I needed to know.
She turned her head, pressing her cheek against my chest. “She wanted to be cremated. She always said that she was too claustrophobic to handle being buried underground.” She paused, and a sad laugh escaped her. “I would tease her about the fact that she would be dead and therefore not know she was underground. She’d threaten to come haunt me if I buried her, but that was just teasing because we both knew—or always thought—that it would be me—” She stopped before finishing that sentence.
A sledge hammer might as well have been slammed against my chest. Holy hell. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. The fact that she was going to say that they always knew it would be Aspen who died first because of her heart hit me in a way I hadn’t expected. The cardiologist was coming today. I had to get answers.
“We’ll get her cremated, then plan a ceremony here since there will be no need for a burial. It’ll be safer that way.”
