My thumb tapped on the rim of the beer bottle I held in my hand. The liquid inside was no doubt room temperature at this point. I stared ahead at the various bottles of alcohol behind the run-down bar in the middle of the city of Detroit, lost in thought. Though, the thoughts weren't anything that could string together a possible meaning.

"Rosalind!" I was snapped out of my daydreaming state when I heard my name yelled across the bar, craning my neck enough to see a man walking towards me from behind. He scrunched an eyebrow at my gloomy state and wrenched his way past the people surrounding the seats at the bar, falling down into the one next to me. "You look like hell threw up."

I cocked an eyebrow at him and frowned. "Well, that's no way to greet a lady."

"I don't see any lady around here. Where is she?" The man placed a hand over his eyes and scanned the sea of people around the bar, earning an elbow to the ribs from me. I looked at him expectantly and turned my body on the stool I was sitting on so I was facing him. "What are you doing here, Fowler? Did the police force finally fire your ass?"

Detective Fowler looked back at me and smirked, shaking his head as he leaned an arm on the bar. "You haven't changed at all since the last time I saw you," he looked up and placed a finger to his chin. "Which I recall was with Bobby Mercer when you two decided to assassinate that supposed "spy" within Sweet's organization."

My gaze went dark when Fowler said that. "I told you…I don't associate with that prick anymore-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Fowler stopped me mid-sentence and shot his hands out in front of him, cocking an eyebrow at me. "The guy stood up for you and went to jail because of it. I think you owe him more gratitude than that for literally saving your ass from a trip to the badhouse."

I broke my gaze from Fowler's and looked behind the bar again, feeling overwhelmed by the images that were coming back to my mind. Victor Sweet, the supposed undercover boss who was controlling literally all of the city of Detroit, planned a secret assassination of one of Bobby's brothers, Jeremiah, who was in deep with the boss. Bobby caught wind of the plan however and sought to kill the person before he got to Jeremiah. I, being one of Bobby's longtime friends, couldn't refuse to help him with his plan and went along with him to murder the pawn. Bobby and I had run from the cops as long as we could, but Fowler and his men knew exactly who to turn to when a murder came up and they arrested Bobby. Keeping to his word that I wouldn't be blamed for the incident, Bobby took all of the charges and went to prison. This meant bad news for me in the long run, however. I was working alongside Sweet collecting money from his clients and when he heard I was in on the murder he cut me off, telling me that he would have me killed when I least expected it. Since that day, I cut off all ties with Bobby and the Mercer brothers, attempting to keep myself low profile.

"I'll take the silence as a feeling of regret and guilt washing over you," Fowler smirked and leaned back against the bar, looking out into the sea of people and then jumping forward a bit soon after. "Ah, speak of the devil…"

"I knew I'd find you here, you asshole." All of the blood felt like it had drained from my body when I heard his voice. I craned my neck to look behind me at the man walking towards us, taking in his slick-backed hair and grungy work clothes. I whipped my head back around and sunk low on the barstool, attempting to make myself as unnoticeable as possible.

"Ah, I see you haven't changed since you were out in the field popping bullets into every man that looked at you the wrong way…or should I say you still are?" Fowler smirked at Bobby and leaned back on the bar again, earning an annoyed roll of the eyes from Bobby. "I told you, you need evidence to convict me, you dick."

Fowler frowned at Bobby and shook his head. "Is that anyway to talk in front of a lady, Mercer? I would expect more from you in front of Miss Jackson here."

Fucking asshole. I seethed at Fowler for calling me out and glared at him from the corner of my eyes, refusing to turn around and let Bobby see me. I felt eyes on my back as Fowler smirked excitedly at me.

"Jackson?" The name left his mouth in a confused manner and he scratched the back of his neck, staring at the back of my leather jacket-clad body. "That's not…"

Fowler let out a laugh. "Indeed it is. Poor Ros here has been avoiding you since the day she popped one in-"

"You better shut your fucking dick sucking mouth before I put one in you, Fowler." I snarled at Fowler and he lost it, laughing loudly and doubling over in his seat. I glared at him as I heard a snort from behind me, turning my head to look at Bobby for the first time in four years. His eyes met mine and he smirked. "Yeah…that's Ros alright. I'd know that filthy sailor mouth a mile away."

I sighed in defeat and turned my body fully around in my seat, crossing my legs and arms across my chest. I gave a slight nod to Bobby and then looked at the ground as he smiled. "Long time no see, Rosalind."

"For a reason…" I mumbled to myself as Bobby continued to smile at me, Fowler regaining his composure and sitting straight again. He cleared his throat and then looked up at Bobby. "What brings your guilty ass here, Mercer? Looking for one of Sweet's fuckups again?"

Bobby tore his gaze from mine and shot a disgusted look in Fowler's direction. "No, you fucking dick. Have some fucking respect for me in my time of grievin'."

I cocked an eyebrow at Bobby when he said that, wondering what he meant. Fowler snorted at him and waved him off. "What the fuck could be so horrible in your life-"

"Bobby…is it Evelyn?" I cut Fowler off and stared at Bobby, watching as he brought his gaze to mine and then shot it down to the floor, keeping his voice low.

"She's dead, Ros."

If there was one thing that kept me coming back to the Mercer house it was Evelyn Mercer. She had become the foster mother to all four of the Mercer boys and she was the sweetest, most generous person I had ever met. Her death struck me harder than anything that had ever happened in my life, and I had to be by her side one last time. When Bobby invited me to the funeral, I didn't hesitate to say yes, absolutely yes. Returning to the Mercer home would also mean I would get to see all four of the Mercer boys together since four years ago. I didn't want to admit it, but I missed all of them.

I closed the door of my black Dodge Ram and locked it, pulling my leather jacket tighter around my body and letting out a sigh into the frosty Detroit air. I looked back and forth down the street as I crossed the road slowly towards the Mercer house, seeing people scattered throughout the yard and inside the house.

"Rosalind?" I looked around the house and then spotted the wild hair I remembered all too well. Jack Mercer, who was the youngest of the four, smiled widely at me and walked over.

I couldn't help but smile at the slept-in style he still had. "Jackie boy. It's been a while."

"Try four years. Ros, you shouldn't have just stopped talking to us like that." Jack looked at me with a slight frown, crossing his arms over his chest. I broke my gaze from his and looked at the ground, scrunching the snow beneath my boot on the sidewalk. "I know…"

A moment of silence passed between us before I felt two arms wrap around my form. I looked up to come face to chest with Jack, his chin resting on the top of my head. "I forgive you, though. You were always my favorite of Bobby's girlfriends."

I pushed away from Jack and looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow. "Jack, I was never his girlfriend. We just kill-"

I stopped myself and bit my tongue, not knowing if Jack was aware of the situation that went down with Bobby and I four years ago. He cocked his head to the side and scrunched his eyebrows, looking at me. "Really? Bobby talked a hell of a lot about you, though…"

"We were just really good friends, Jack." I chuckled nervously and patted down the front of his shirt, hoping to get away from the conversation. Jack placed his hands on my shoulders and gave me a nonconvinced look. "What happened then? I mean, you don't just stop talking to-"

"Jack, share the goddam girl, will ya?" Jack and I both turned to see Bobby walking up to us, a smirk on his face. I sighed in relief, knowing I wouldn't have to finish the conversation with Jack.

"Rosalind's here, Bobby. Surprise, right?" Jack guided me by my shoulders to Bobby, standing me in front of him. I cocked an amused eyebrow at Jack and then looked at Bobby, seeing he was rolling his eyes. "I'm the one who invited her, you fairy."

Jack scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at Bobby and looked down at me, moving his gaze back to Bobby's. "What-"

"Go greet some of the other guests. Ros and I have a lot of catching up to do." Bobby shot Jack a look and Jack reluctantly nodded, pulling me into a hug. "I'm glad to see you again, Rosalind."

"Same here, Jackie boy." I wrapped my arms as tightly as I could around Jack's form before pulling away. I watched him walk back towards the house before I heard Bobby clear his throat from beside me. I looked over at him expectantly and saw him looking between his raised hand and my body. I cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "You okay there, Bobby?"

He looked startled that I spoke to him when he looked up at me, but then shook it off, dropping his hand back to his side. He shook his head and then looked out into the street. "It's been so long…I don't know whether to hug ya or give ya a strong handshake."

I looked at him and lowered my chin to my chest, looking over at the people chatting by a drink table in the backyard. "That depends…why did you do it?"

Bobby looked over at me in questioning, his brow scrunching. "Do what?"

"Take all of the blame for me," I slowly brought my gaze over to meet his. "I could have taken some of that off of you, Bobby. You never would have gotten that long of a sentence since I was still on Fowler's good side-"

"I don't want to talk about that, Rosalind. That's not important-"

"Like hell it isn't! It's the entire reason I stopped talking to you! I got let go from-" I slammed my jaw shut after I realized I almost let it slip to Bobby that I had worked for Sweet, my gaze shooting to the sidewalk. After all these years, Bobby still didn't know my entire story. Like Bobby I was an orphan moving from foster home to foster home. I was an unruly child and it wasn't long before foster parents were forced to say they were unwilling to work with me. Victor Sweet, however, knew how to deal with me and knew what he could turn my unruliness into: a no-bullshit funds collector who threatened to kill you if you couldn't pay the boss.

Bobby stared at me when I completely cut myself off, slowly sliding his hands into his pockets. "Let go from what, Ros?"

"Just drop it, Bobby-"

"Rosalind." His tone was hard and I finally looked up at him, my unruly streak taking my body over once again. "It's not important right now, Bobby. I don't want to talk about it-"

"Rosalind, I swear to fucking god, if you keep things regarding that day from me-"

"Woah, Bobby! Take it easy! You see the woman for the first time after four years and you decide to scream at her? Jesus." I looked over to see Angel walking towards us, his face in an annoyed look and his hands out in front of him. He stopped next to a glaring Bobby and looked over at me, his face immediately going soft. "Rosalind, how have you been, sweetheart?"

"Oh, so you finally show up after three fucking months and you treat me like shit, then turn around and act like that woman's a fucking innocent child!" Bobby smacked Angel over the back of the head and earned a hard glare from the other brother.

"Yeah, what brings you back, Angel?" I smiled at him and crossed my arms, watching as his face contorted into a wide smile. "Oh, you know-"

"Yeah, I know who the fuck it is," Bobby cut him off and placed the back of his hand to his forehead, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. "It's La Vida Loca. Aye, mami!"

I held back a snort, always taking a fond liking to Bobby's impressions of Sofi, Angel's girlfriend. Angel glared over at him and punched him in the gut, forcing Bobby to double over in pain. I laughed at Bobby's expense before I felt an arm drape over my shoulders, looking to my right to see Jeremiah cocking an eyebrow at the scene. "Did I miss something important?"

My laughter subsided as I grinned widely at Jeremiah, throwing my arms around his shoulders in a hug. "Jeremiah! What the hell? I missed you so much!"

"As I have missed you, angel face," Jeremiah chuckled as he returned the hug, pulling away after a moment to look back at Jack who was standing to his right and then at everyone standing in a circle. "Looks like the entire gang is back together again."

I looked around and realized I was finally with all of the men I called my family from years ago. None of them had changed a bit and I was happy for that, but at the same time I had wondered if I had. I wondered if I had changed for the better or worse after all that had happened.

"I hate to cut the cheery family reunion short, but I have something I need to talk to all of you about." Bobby crossed his arms and looked around at the group, Jeremiah cocking an eyebrow at him. "What could possibly be so important that you need to talk to us about it right after ma's funeral?"

Bobby's face went dark as he looked at Jeremiah, the corners of his mouth creasing. "I think mom's death was planned."