Unveiled Wishes (Iron Shield MC #2)

9. Dont Picture the Future

Chapter 9

Don't Picture the Future

H ow

Emily had just texted that she was off the plane and heading towards the baggage claim where I waited for her.

I’d spent the drive to the airport thinking about this morning. I had seen none of this coming, and it made me wonder: had I missed it all those years ago, or had I just put blinders on because I didn’t want to question it? Either way, it didn’t matter. I could see it all clearly now.

My best friend wanted my sister, and surprisingly, I was okay with that. If it had been any other brother, my fists might have clenched just at the thought. My loyalty ran through my blood, and I didn’t have a problem laying down my life for any of them. However, I could name at least four brothers who were complete assholes. I wouldn’t want that for Em. Zook would take care of her, and that was all I could ask for. If I was wrong, and he mistreated her, I’d step in and beat his ass.

My lips smirked as I thought about ways I could play matchmaker. My sister wouldn’t rock the boat. She kept saying that she was here to visit me for Christmas, but I didn’t think she was being honest with herself. Zook wouldn’t make a move because he didn’t want to be the reason that her visit didn’t go well. Christmas was the season of miracles. If that didn’t work, I could always use the mistletoe that was hanging on the kitchen door to my advantage.

I was watching the escalator when I saw her at the top. Emily. My kid sister was no longer a kid. She wore a navy-blue blazer with a cream blouse underneath, and jeans with at least four-inch heels. The gold chain with the blue star I had bought her for her eighteenth birthday hung from her neck.

She was on her way down when she caught sight of me. Shifting her winter coat to her other arm, she waved. “Eric!”

I couldn’t help but smile, glad that she was here. Zook’s discharge had come first, and I had made him promise to stick around the base so that I could find him. The day I had officially completed my military service, I had walked out of the base with my duffle bag slung over my shoulder. Zook had been sitting on his bike on the side of the road.

“I heard they were letting the riff-raff out today,” he’d said.

“Yeah, even the military lets go of the scoundrels,” I had replied, smiling as I walked over to him.

I’d climbed on the back of his bike and told him to take me to the dealership. I had bought a bike with cash, and we had hit the road. We hadn’t had any plans, letting the open road decide where we were heading. I could have pulled money from my trust fund, but I had worked odd jobs alongside Zook. It had been the best thing to do as we adjusted to civilian life. We had been working on a construction crew when we heard about the Iron Shield, and the rest was history.

“Em!” I waved back at her, waiting for her to step off the escalator. She walked towards me, wheeling her suitcase, still waving her arm around. I had kept in touch with the occasional phone call or text, but I hadn’t been to New York to see her. Reaching me, she dropped everything to wrap her arms around my back, and I held her close to me. “I missed you, Em. I am so glad you’re here,” I whispered into her ear.

“I am glad I am here, too. It’s been too long,” she said.

“Let’s get out of here. You hungry?” I reached for her suitcase, and she let me grasp the handle as we walked towards the parking garage.

“I could eat,” she said, walking next to me.

I took her to the club’s diner, making small talk on the way there. She told me about the latest New York gossip, and I interjected every now and again. We’d finished cheeseburgers and fries, and now we were relaxing in the booth. I was trying to build up my courage to ask her what I wanted to know.

Finally, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Hey Em? What’s going on with Christopher and the Nelsons?”

“Why do you want to know?” she replied, taking a sip of her soda.

“I thought it was suspicious when you called out of the blue and asked to visit. Don’t get me wrong, I love having you here, but I have to know that you’re alright.” I leaned forward in the booth, trying to invade her space so that she’d talk to me.

“Do you feel guilty that I am still on the path that was set out for me?” Her eyes avoided mine, focusing instead on the way her finger twirled around the top of the plastic glass.

“Yes. No. Maybe. I am not really sure, but I know that something doesn’t feel right, and if I can help, I am going to stick my nose in it.” Suddenly, my mouth was dry. I took a sip of my soda.

“Did you see the article the Nelsons had published in the newspaper about our engagement and the merger?” she asked, raising her head.

“Yeah. Cyph keeps track of any information that pertains to the brothers. He got a hit on the article because of the company.” I took another sip, letting her lead the conversation.

“He never asked me to marry him. Christopher assumed it was time, and the parental units weren’t in town. The Nelsons put that piece out, which is why it didn’t have a picture. I went with it because I wasn’t sure what to do, but I called it off after Thanksgiving. He’s been pressuring me ever since.” She shifted in the booth.

“I wish I would have been there to beat his ass.” Christopher wouldn’t have stood a chance. The only violence he’d ever seen was when that water polo ball had broken his nose in high school.

“No,” she said. “It would have only made it worse, and I took care of it. I told him no, and if Mom and Dad wanted the merger to go through, there were plenty of legal ways to complete the mission.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to put a happy face on for their holiday party, so I called you.” Her lips quirked into a smile at the edges, and I felt mine doing the same thing. As her smile widened, so did mine. If she didn’t want Zook, I’d try to talk her into at least moving here so that I could see her regularly.

“There’s something else I have to know,” I said to her. “What’s going on between you and Zook?”

Her smile disappeared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Emily tilted her chin in defiance.

“You don’t have to protect him. I knew you wrote him letters and sent care packages, but he never told me he caught feelings over the words. It came out this morning over breakfast, and I didn’t see that coming.” I wiped my lips with my napkin for something to do.

“What are you doing right now?” She wrapped her arms around herself.

“I want to know what happened.”

“Nothing happened. He asked if I would write to him, and I did. When the two of you left the military, the letters stopped.” She raised her chin again, trying to protect herself.

“That’s not the story I heard, but I won’t push you. I just want you to know that if you want to be with Zook, I’ll support it.” She looked at me like I was crazy. “Seriously, Em. If you want to be with Zook, I’ll give my blessing.” I sat back in the booth.

“I came to visit you, not him.” Her forehead puckered.

“I know, and I am going to talk you into staying for my selfish reasons.” Taking one last sip of my soda, I said, “I am just saying, hear him out if he gets his head out of his ass.”

***

Zook

“You going to sit out on the porch and wait for them?” Op asked me, grabbing a beer even though it was midmorning.

“Nah, I might go to my room.” I had been honest with How when I had said that I would stay out of the way. Emily was here to visit him, not me, and I wouldn’t do anything to ruin that.

“That won’t look suspicious.” The prospect tending the bar flipped the cap on the beer bottle, setting it in front of Op.

“Don’t care.” I shrugged.

“He gave you permission to claim her. Why aren’t you jumping up and down for joy? Fuck, if I was in your situation, I’d whisk her to my room and not come out until I made amends.”

“I am not you, Op. I broke her heart, and I can’t expect her to walk through those doors and take me back right away, no matter what How thinks. What’s the word for what you do when you fucked up?” I asked him, sitting on the stool facing the bar.

“Beg?” he supplied, taking another sip of his beer.

“Nah, that’s not it. Grovel, maybe?” I paused. “Whatever it is, I can’t do it right now. It’s Christmas, and I refuse to make her trip about our past.”

“Pussy.”

I balled my fist and slugged him in the arm, almost knocking Op off the stool. “Don’t call me a pussy.”

“If she walked through the front door right now, what would you say to her?” Op signaled to the prospect for another beer. Sabre had closed all the club businesses to give the brothers a break. There were also no runs available, so we were all sitting around, twiddling our thumbs.

“I’d apologize profusely. Tell her that the life she painted in her last letter sounded too good to be true, and it scared me shitless. I panicked, and like a dumbfuck, ruined it because all I’ve ever known is chaos and destruction.” I knocked my knuckles against the bar.

“Great. You have your chance to do that now.” He tilted his head towards the front door and slapped me on the shoulder. How had just walked in, wheeling a suitcase. Behind him, all I could hear was a pair of heels clicking on the floor. Emily was here. Fuck.

“If you pass out and fall off the stool, I am not saving you. In fact, I might just claim your girl for myself.” Op was watching me for a reaction.

“Touch her, and I’ll fucking kill you with my bare hands, brother or not.”

I slid off my chair, his laughter following me as I made my way over. There weren’t many brothers in the main room, and How was making introductions.

I circled from behind as he was introducing Emily to DeadZone. I couldn’t have explained it even if I tried, but I was three or four steps behind her when she turned in my direction. It was as if she knew I was there, even though I had been as stealthy as possible.

“Tyler.” My name on her lips was the best sound I’d ever heard. I took a minute to glance at her and that was a mistake. She was stunning, confident, and I could tell she wouldn’t take my shit.

“Em. Welcome to the Iron Shield,” I said, rubbing at the back of my neck sheepishly.

“Thank you. It’s nice to be here. Are my feet supposed to stick to the floor?” She smiled at me.

How bent over, Dead was howling, and I stood there staring at her, dumbfounded. I picked up my foot and then placed it back on the ground. It made a squeaky sound underneath my boot. I tried a few more times, and each pass was louder than the one before.

“Fuck, this is going to be fun.” Dead slapped his leg, walking away from us.

Flo walked through the kitchen door with JR and made her way over to us. Placing her hand on my arm, she said, “I am sorry. The brothers have nothing better to be doing, so I didn’t want to scrub the floors until closer to Christmas.”

“It’s actually kind of fun and reminds me of the movie theatre. You must be Flo?” Emily stuck out her hand to shake, but Flo reached out to hug her as best as she could.

“I am, and this is JR.” She wrapped her pinkie in his little hand and gently made him wave to Em.

“He’s adorable,” Emily cooed.

My imagination raced, trying to picture what my kid with Em would look like. I must not have hidden my thoughts very well because How made faces at me behind Emily’s back. I looked at him as if he was crazy, not getting the message. It wasn’t until Flo squeezed my bicep that the slight twinge brought me back to reality.

“Thank you. He has his uncles wrapped around his little pinkie.” Flo patted my arm again before she let go. “There’s nothing going on until dinner, so I figured you might want a nap this afternoon. How can show you to your room. It’s all ready for you.” Flo smiled.

“Thank you. That sounds nice. It snowed last night, and I left a few hours early to make sure I made it to the airport. They weren’t leaving without me.”

“Come on, princess.” How grabbed the handle of her suitcase and led Em to the spare rooms.

Flo waited until they had reached the hallway before she laughed at me. “If you’re going to win her back, you need to work on your conversation skills. You stood there staring at her, rubbing your foot on the floor.”

I didn’t know why I asked. It came out before she could walk back into the kitchen. “Will you help me?” I asked her. “I don’t know what I am doing.”

“Relax and figure out what you want, and then go from there.” She turned and walked away from me. I went to call out to her again, but she turned around at the kitchen door and watched me. “Sabre didn’t have a choice. He had to decide if he was going to be in JR’s life. You’re the type of man who needs to live in the moment. Don’t think about the future because it’s just going to overwhelm you.” She left, walking through the kitchen door.