Takedown Teague (Caged #1)(62)

Husband or not.

Apparently they had been doing it for generations, which meant more and more often, the children they did have were more closely related to each other than the generation before, and their numbers were beginning to dwindle again. Cousins marrying cousins was common enough, but they were starting to have other relations intermingle as well.

“Brandon is technically Nikki’s uncle,” Tria told me. She sat down opposite me on the couch and handed me a refilled glass of apple juice. “They aren’t so far apart in age—her grandmother had him just a few years before Nikki’s mother gave birth to her. She says she loves him, but there is part of me that thinks it’s just because she was brought up there.”

“You were brought up there, too. So why aren’t you doing the same thing?”

“I certainly heard it enough,” Tria said. “But things were always different for me.”

“Because you weren’t born there?” I asked.

“Well…partially,” she said as she cringed. “I mean, I obviously didn’t fit in with everyone else. I was…accepted…but with reluctance, you know?”

I didn’t, but I nodded anyway.

“Leo is the leader of the council, so whatever he says goes. He said I was his daughter, so everyone kind of had to accept me. Still, I knew I was different, and even though I was young when it happened, I still remembered living outside of Beals with my mom and then in foster care. Even my dad was more a fringe member of the community.”

“What would your dad have thought of all this?” I wondered aloud.

“I don’t think he would have approved,” Tria said as she shook her head. “I know there were a lot of things he and Leo disagreed about, and sometimes they even argued. I don’t think Dad knew about a lot of the things the council decided. It doesn’t matter now, though. I have to go back.”

Tria had to physically stop me from grabbing my jacket and heading out the door.

“What are you doing?” she cried.

“I’m going to find that f*ckhead Harrison and do what I told him I’d do—shove his severed dick down his throat!”

“Liam! You don’t even know where he is!”

“I know how to read a f*cking map!” I shook my arm to get her hand off me.

“You can’t just drive up there and beat him up!”

“Why not?”

“Well,” Tria said as she tilted her head to the side, “you don’t own a car for starters.”

Ok, I had to give her that point. I ran my hand through my hair and huffed out a breath. I let her take hold of my arm again and lead me back to the couch.

“I can take care of it,” Tria said.

“How exactly are you going to do that—blunt object or firearm?”

“Keith doesn’t matter.” She shook her head and looked down at her hands in her lap. “This is about Nikki. I have to go back. I need to be there for her.”

“No, you don’t,” I said. I placed my glass on the coffee table and sat on the edge of the couch cushion. I turned myself sideways to face her. “Don’t go back.”

“I can’t just ignore what’s going on with her,” she told me. “Nikki is going to go through with this, and she wants me there.”

It all sounded like a bunch of bullshit to me.

“It’s just that douchebag’s way to get you back there so he can keep you from returning.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” she agreed. “I’m sure he knows I would do anything for Nikki. Still, it’s not like he can keep me from leaving.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. She didn’t believe a word she was saying, and it showed.

“I have to go,” she whispered. “Nikki risked everything for me. I owe her.”

I stood up.

“I’m going with you.” I felt myself stand just a little taller, the decision solidifying my resolve. There was no way I was going to have her go halfway across the country on her own. There was no way I was going to let her be that far away from me with that * in the vicinity.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tria muttered as she shook her head.

“Don’t f*cking say that!” I exploded. “I f*cking hate it when you say that! I’m going with you!”

“You most certainly are not!” she yelled right back at me. She stood up and placed her fists on her hips. “I’m not going to go there to help Nikki just to end up having to play interference between you and Keith the whole time!”

“I won’t start anything,” I promised. I might not start anything, but I’d end it, and “starting” was kind of a subjective thing. If he happened to look at me wrong, well, that would be like him starting something.

“My ass,” Tria replied. She grabbed both empty glasses and headed into the kitchen.

I followed her and watched her carefully wash each of the glasses before she grabbed a towel to dry them inside and out. She seemed to be taking extra care to get every single drop of water off of them before putting them in the cabinet. When she turned to me and glared with her arms crossed, her breath came out in a huff that moved her hair around.

“I’m going,” I repeated.

“No.”