Free Punishing Me (Shaft on Tour #6) by Cat Mason

his chest.
    Hunter
looks down at the icing covered dog and laughs. “Hey, Chase?” he asks, waggling
his brows at her. “Wanna help me wash my wiener?”
    “I’ll
bathe the kid,” she corrects him, taking Jazzie from his arms. “You handle your
own wiener.”
    Following
her out of the room, Hunter stops beside me and pats my shoulder. “Just remember,
bro, there’s a reason I call ya Deuce, and it’s not because you’re the shit. Ya
feel me?” he asks, his lip twitching in an attempt to keep a straight face.
    “Movie
night in the den!” Aiden whoops, fist pumping the air as he leaps to his feet.
“Whoever has the remote gets first pick!” The room clears faster than grocery
store shelves before a snowstorm. No one wants to participate in another of his
zombie flick nights. Poor Daisy didn’t sleep for two days after he binge
watched three seasons of The Walking Dead during their last break in
tour dates.
    “You
wanna try that again?” Henry asks, once we are alone. “I asked you a simple
question. I expect an answer, not attitude.”
    “Sure
thing,” I fire back. I can’t see beyond my anger and frustration at the
situation. “As soon as you tell me who’s bright fuckin’ idea it was to let a
band member go around unprotected? With Ireland on the front of nearly every
gossip rag hanging at the grocery store checkout, I’d think we’d be keepin’ a
tight leash on everyone this week. It’s lucky that Jazz and I were the ones
that found her down in that part of town and not a van full of press or some
crazy person.”
    “Well,
Deuce,” he says, leaning back in his chair. “Since I am the one in charge here,
let me bring you up to speed. Ireland caused a shit storm. Jared quit because
he was fed up with her bullshit; I have spent the better part of today on the
phone tryin’ to get someone who hasn’t already written her off as a lost
cause.” Scrubbing a hand over his face, he blows out a frustrated breath.
“Look, I’m gonna level with you. Jared is gone, Mike is down in Tuscaloosa with
his kid, and I can’t possibly be in seventeen places at once. I had all but hoped
Ireland would be comatose with tour exhaustion and at least give me a day or
two to take a breath and find someone who can handle her ass.”
    “No
one will agree that she is a bigger pain in the ass than me,” I admit, taking a
chair and sitting at the table across from him. “Doesn’t change anything
though.”
    “Well,”
Henry says, smiling smugly. “If you think you can handle things better than me,
have at it.”
    “Wait,
what?” I ask, my heart nearly stopping dead in my chest. “You’re gonna have to
repeat that. I thought for a second that you were telling me to handle
something important. Aren’t I here as like some kind of Shaft approved court
jester? Comic relief?” I ask, knowing, more often than not, they see me as a
joke. I am the big dope, good for a laugh, but never taken seriously.
    Sometimes,
it sucks being so hilarious and awesome…
    Leaning
up in his chair, Henry places his arms on the table. “If that’s how I saw you,
I would never leave you in charge here while the rest of us are out on tour.
Hell, I wouldn’t even let you walk Bits and we all know I can’t stand that evil
fucker.” His face becomes serious, but his eyes soften. “I’m hard on you, but
for good reason. You may think I left you with some fool’s errand while I’m off
having a blast on tour, but that’s not it at all. I don’t trust anyone with our
family’s lives more than you, Dominick. If you don’t believe me, go ask anyone
else in the house. They’ll agree with me and say the same damn thing.”
    “Okay,”
I reply, unable to hide my shock. Guilt churns in my gut. I should tell him
about Rae. This is my chance to lay it all out, but I can’t. Henry looks so
worn, so stretched thin, that I can bring myself to say the words. Instead, I
do the next best thing. Taking a breath, I look him straight in the eye.