“Don’t be flippant. You know exactly what I mean. The dogs saved you this time. Will they be able to do it again? What if the next time they are armed? What if they have more on their mind then shattering some windows?”
“Alright, I get it,” she groaned. “You don’t have to scare me any more than I already am.”
“Good.”
“Since we’re here and you’re apparently talking to me again, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Before you do, I apologize for being a shithead the last couple of days,” I said. “I was an idiot. I don’t have any right to be upset with you for telling your brother. I’m glad you did. I’m glad it’s out in the open. Keeping a secret made it feel wrong. This isn’t wrong. I’m sorry I was short with you that night. It had been a hell of a day and I took it out on the wrong person.”
“I get it,” she said. “I yelled at Rich for being a jerk about it. He can be so bossy.”
“He cares about you,” I said. “He’s looking out for you.”
“I know. And tonight is probably not the night to say I don’t need anyone to look out for me, but I don’t. Not when it comes to stuff like this. I know what I want.”
“Am I what you want?” I asked with a smile.
“Stop. You’re such a needy man.”
“What did you want to ask me?” I asked.
“Before I get to that, what did you and my dad talk about?”
“He was worried you wouldn’t want to talk to him again,” I explained. “He just has a lot of guilt and shame about the way things have been. I told him he didn’t have to worry about that. Did you guys talk things out?”
“Yes. Did he tell you what she did?”
“Nope,” I said with a shake of my head. “I didn’t think it was my business to ask.”
“She sold his fucking house,” she hissed.
“How did she manage to do that?”
“She’s a witch,” Thea muttered. “She got him drunk, must have used one of her partners in crime to feed him a line of bullshit, and it’s done. He signed away his house to one of those all-cash places. He has to be out this weekend or something. He found out she blocked our numbers in his phone. He’s done with her, but now he’s homeless. I’m going to call Rich in the morning and fill him in. I promised my dad we would help him out tomorrow. And I want to be there to make sure Stacey doesn’t pull any bullshit with him. This time, I will take her down. I will kick her ass.”
“My little fighter,” I teased.
“She deserves it all.”
“I agree,” I said. “Do you want me to come with you guys? Backup?”
“We’ll be okay. I’ll take my dogs back home before we go.”
“Don’t bother,” I said. “They can stay here. The backyard is fenced. If they’re like this, I can handle it. I’ve got work to do, so I’ll just be in my office.”
“Really?” she asked with surprise. “You would really do that for me?”
“Absolutely,” I assured her.
She kissed me. “Thank you.”
“Do you want another drink?” I asked.
“This was really good,” she said. “I would love another.”
“Two minutes,” I said and got to my feet.
“When you come back, I’m going to ask you that question,” she called out.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but it made me think I was in trouble for something. I just couldn’t figure out what I might have done wrong.