Cole: The Wounded Sons, Leah Sharelle [the reading list .TXT] 📗

“And you want to go with her?”

Willow nodded her head slowly, her eyes sad, but the stubborn tilt of her chin gave me pause. Low loves our family, but she wanted to get on with her life, and for some reason, she decided that Queenscliff and the new compound for the Wounded Souls was the place to do it.

“I will be going as soon as the construction is finished. They are going to need help and I am willing to fill any role that is needed.” I recognised the stubborn tone, the way she sat ramrod straight staring at me, daring me to tell her no. That was not my job, Willow was old enough to make her own decisions at twenty-one, but fuck, leaving town to live at the new Club? Dad was going to have a lot to say about that.

“What about your degree? Shouldn’t you get a job in that field?”

Willow choked out a laugh. “My Art degree, you mean? No, Cole, I don’t want to get a job in that field,” she muttered sarcastically, “I love painting and drawing but making a living from it is harder than finding a needle in a haystack. I grew up in an MC, and I am more than qualified to help run the practical side of things.”

I studied my sister with narrowed eyes and wondered for the first time where the hell I had been while she grew up. Have I been so focused on my own job and shit that I didn’t even bother to notice that Willow was drowning in the shielded bubble she lives in at the compound? For the first time, I was seeing the woman in front of me, not the cute, little girl that used to look up at her big brothers with nothing less than hero worship.

Reaching across the table, I gathered her hands in mine, holding them gently. Every cell in my body screamed at me to make sure she stayed here, in Ballarat, with the protection of the Club at her back, but who was I to insist on that? Shiloh and Booth knew what they were doing setting up a second charter. They would not even consider it if they didn’t have a list of good men to lead the Club in this new direction. I wasn’t privy to that information, not holding an officer patch, but I knew that the Club had everything handled.

Sighing, I gave Willow a chin lift.

“If that is what you want, Low, then I will help you with Dad. My only advice is you don’t lead with wanting to have sex as an argument to let you go—that will just get you locked up in a room until you are thirty.”

A giggle erupted from Low, her eyes taking back the sparkle I liked better than the deep sadness she was showing me.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she promised, giving my fingers a squeeze, “I have to go call Meagan and tell her I am definitely moving with her.” Without waiting for me to answer her, Low let me go and charged out of her seat, her hand already reaching in her back pocket for her phone.

Chuckling at my sister’s exuberance, I picked up my beer and brought the cold, frothy glass to my lips to take a sip when my eyes caught sight of the shiniest waterfall of black hair. Hair I remembered tickling the skin on my thighs and falling over my face like a shield while she rode me until we nearly died from exhaustion. The same hair I remembered stroking my fingers through just before I fell into an alcohol and sex marathon-induced sleep.

Taking a slow gulp of the frothy, amber drink, my earlier idea replaced the conversation I’d just had with Willow.

Time to make some plans of my own.

CHAPTER SIX

OAKLEE

The atmosphere in the Bar and Grill was insane and exactly what I needed after the hectic day I’d had. Once Memphis got out in front of the crowd of readers, it was hours of taking photos, handing out books and swag, and all while keeping one eye on my boss. Thank god it was only a small one-on-one signing at the book store and not one of those huge gatherings at a convention centre Memphis got invited to on a regular basis. She rarely accepted, but she has attended a couple since I started working for her, and I really hated them.

From the minute I send the acceptance, the hard work begins to make sure everything Memphis needs to keep her safe and comfortable is in place and understood by the organisers. Social media posts ready, promotion companies are lined up, and basically, I run myself ragged dotting i’s and crossing t’s.

Today’s event wasn’t that kind of anxiety-ridden job, but with Creed pacing in the background watching my every move not only for Memphis but several times, I caught him with his eyes on me. Watching me with those all-seeing onyx black eyes, and he saw right through me, making me even more anxious.

“You know, if I wanted to sit here and watch you stress, we could have done that somewhere where we didn’t have to pay eight bucks a beer,” Thayer drawled sarcastically, pulling me out of my head.

“Huh?” Looking over the table at my friend to see her smiling smugly at me. “Let me guess, you are thinking about Cole?”

Feeling myself blush, I poked my tongue out at her then giggled when she held up her middle finger at me.

Thayer and I met not long after I finished my last stay in hospital. Thayer was outside of the hospital frantically trying to gather a bunch of papers that had escaped from the huge backpack at her feet. Without even thinking about it, I jumped into action and helped her, and just like that, I found not only a friend but my bestie. She was three years younger than me, small,