Firestorm (Sons of Templar MC #2)(78)

I stood also. “Hey. Brock this is Keltan. Keltan, this is Brock,” I said with a shaky voice.

Keltan stepped forward with a smile. If Ian had told him about a certain biker he wasn’t letting on. “Good to meet you, bro,” he said, holding out his hand.

Brock’s face was blank but he shook Keltan’s hand. “You too,” he grunted.

“Keltan’s a friend of Gwen’s,” I explained once they had released each other’s hands. Brock nodded, moving to stand beside me, his hand lightly coming to my waist.

“Sweet, you here from New Zealand?” Brock asked with a friendly tone, taking my beer to have a sip.

Keltan watched this but he didn’t betray a thing. “Nah, man, I’m here from deployment. Just finished my last tour,” he explained. Brock stilled, realization flowing through him.

We didn’t get to carry on this awkward conversation as the front door flew open again, Gwen bursting into the room. I could have kissed her. She carefully set down her baby carrier and squealed. “Keltan!” She ran into his arms

I detached from a stiff Brock to get a wide-eyed Belle out of her carrier. She made a snuffling noise as I picked her up, then quieted. I used to be nervous at holding such a breakable human, now I was a pro. As long as she didn’t projectile vomit on me.

Keltan grinned and somehow managed not to spill his beer as she descended on him, his arms going around her. “Hey G,” he said into her hair.

They stayed like that for a moment before she released him, smacking him on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming, you *?” she scolded.

Keltan grinned. “Wanted to surprise you. Think you won that one, with your girl telling me you popped out a kid and got hitched,” he teased, his eyes going to the baby in my arms.

Gwen’s eyes followed, her eyes twinkling.

“Yeah, well, no one was as surprised as I was. I never expected to be a wife and mother at twenty-six, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” she said seriously.

“Wanna hold her?” I gestured with my eyes. Keltan looked slightly panicked as I stepped forward with the baby in my arms. You would have thought I was holding an explosive.

“Shit, I’ll just look for now. I don’t want to f*ckin’ drop her or anything,” he said seriously.

Gwen laughed, taking her daughter out of my arms. “She’s pretty resilient. I heard your mum dropped you as a kid and you’re fine—only minor brain damage,” she teased.

Keltan looked down at the baby in her arms and he softened. His large hand stroked her little cheek tenderly. “Yeah, well, let’s not forget the time Ian whacked your head on a car door. It only affected your hand-eye coordination,” he shot back, the air in the room changing at the mention of his name.

Gwen’s eyes instantly filled with tears and I froze in place, mindful of Brock’s arms around my shoulders, which had tightened.

“I’m so sorry, Ace, I promised you I would take care of him over there. I f*ckin’ broke my promise,” he muttered, his voice hard.

Gwen shook her head furiously as if she was trying to shake away the tears. “Don’t you dare blame yourself, Keltan Brooke. I know you would have taken a bullet for him,” she choked out.

“Come on, babe, let’s give them a moment,” Brock muttered in my ear, his voice flat. I nodded, feeling like an intruder in this moment.

Keltan’s eyes shot to us as we made to leave the room. “Hey, don’t go. I’ve got something for you,” he told me, his voice stronger than before. He glanced back at Gwen. “For both of you.”

He motioned for us to sit down, helping Gwen and the baby to the couch.

“I’ve got to make a call,” Brock told me quietly before leaving the room with a chin lift to Keltan. I was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do, so I sat.

Keltan took a deep breath. “Ian and I, we had each other’s backs over there in that shithole. Shit, I wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t for your brother,” Keltan told Gwen, who was as white as a sheet. “As much as we both wanted to get back here in one piece, we knew there was a chance we wouldn’t. Knew we’d be leaving people behind if we didn’t.” He looked to Gwen, then me.

I was finding it hard to breathe.

“Ian was prepared. He was determined as f*ck to make it back to his family but he made arrangements for if he didn’t.” Keltan reached into his pocket to retrieve two crumpled envelopes. “Made me promise that if anything happened to him that I’d deliver these. And that I’d take care of his girls. I intend to keep both of those promises,” he declared fiercely.

Gwen had tears running down her cheeks and was clutching her daughter.

I was staring blankly at the envelope in Keltan’s hands. He got up and held it out to me. “He wrote this for you as soon as he got back last year. Made me swear on the f*ckin’ fate of the All Blacks’ World Cup game that it would make its way to you,” he told me.

I stared at the envelope, wishing I didn’t have to take it. My shaking hand took it from Keltan’s grasp. I set in in my lap, not looking at it. It was an emotional grenade.

Keltan handed one to Gwen who snatched it off him, then stared at it as if she unsure of what to do with it. She looked back up at Keltan. “Were you—” she started, then her breath hitched. “Were you there when it happened?” she asked brokenly.