Chapter Sixteen #2
“Yeah. Apparently, people are not looking for a fully furnished house,” George said.
“They’re not?” Larissa didn’t know why someone wouldn’t want a fully furnished house.
“Yeah, it’s been the biggest turnoff. People don’t want to buy a place and have to throw out all the other stuff,” George said.
They stepped toward one of the doorways, and Larissa looked in to see it was a fully furnished sitting room.
A plush cream sofa, with a nice dark brown carpet.
The kind that people could sink their feet into the softness and just relax.
There was a small fireplace, and a television in the corner, which wasn’t too large.
A couple of lamps, and then the walls were blank.
She did see there were picture frame holders, that must have had pictures in them before.
There was already a dining room, as well as a kitchen.
There were a few pieces of equipment, like a mixer and food processor, as well as a coffee machine.
Fridge and freezer as well. There was a game room that didn’t have any games in it, and a small library with no books.
There was also a porch on the back, with a sunroom.
The garden wasn’t too large or too small. It was just right. Enough of a lawn for kids to enjoy. A small bricked area for barbeques.
They made their way upstairs, and this was a four-bedroom house, with two en-suite bathrooms. There was also an attic, and it was perfect.
Larissa was shocked by how magical it looked. The house was exactly what she would have wanted. She could see her two babies running around. A place to call home. Her making cookies, pies, memories. Being there when her kids needed someone to talk to, or yell at.
“What do you think?” George asked.
“It’s perfect.”
“Great.” And he put the keys in her hands. “Because it is already ours.”
“What?”
“I have signed the paperwork. It’s a done deal.”
“George, there’s no way I can afford this.”
“You don’t need to. I did. I paid for this bad boy. I stopped renting, and I’ve saved money, and I was able to buy this.”
Her mouth fell open.
“I guess you just need to deal with me living here as well.”
“I can handle that.”
“Good, because I have also already told your dad we’re moving out, and that we’re having twins.”
****
Big Dick looked around at the guys who were mingling. They had helped Larissa and him move their stuff to the new place. He didn’t want Larissa moving anything she didn’t need to.
Harlow was sitting in one of the chairs in the sitting room.
His sister looked ready to explode. As for Larissa, he was glad she was pregnant, as it had stopped her wearing those fucking jeans and ugly-ass sweaters.
She was in dresses, as well as tights, which he could handle.
Her body was too damn good to squeeze into fucking jeans.
“You did good,” Smokey said.
“You think so?”
“Larissa is happy. She’s ... talking to me again, and this place, I can see her and you enjoying it here.”
Big Dick sighed. “I don’t think she is going to be happy with me staying here.”
“Look, man, she loves you,” Smokey said. “That is what you’ve got to hold onto. You hurt her. The whole situation has hurt her. You knew Larissa was different and yet you didn’t stop.”
He turned to look at his President. “I couldn’t stop. Fuck me, I don’t know how she did it, but she got under my skin, even long before she kissed me at Ryan’s Place.” He took a deep breath. “You know, I wonder what I would have done if you or Brick, or Hunter had taken the lead that night.”
Smokey frowned. “What night?”
“The night Larissa kissed me when I walked into that bar.”
“Ah,” Smokey said, laughing. “Ava told me that if Larissa had kissed me, she would have found it hilarious.”
This made Big Dick frown. “How the fuck would she have found it hilarious?”
“Because I would have freaked the fuck out. Larissa is like a daughter. I have been looking out for her for a long time. It’s why I was so pissed at you. Not once did I think to look to you. I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to put your hands on Jonah’s daughter.”
Big Dick sighed. “I didn’t think I wanted to.
” He turned to look at Larissa. She had a hand on her stomach and was laughing at something Harlow said.
She looked so damn adorable and sexy. He had expected her to put up a fight about this place.
She hadn’t, and he knew he had made the right decision.
He had consulted with Jonah first before even looking for a place.
Jonah was more than happy, but he also made him swear to take care of his daughter.
Big Dick vowed to him he was never going to hurt her, and that he would protect her with his life.
Larissa belonged to him, and he would do everything to make her happy. “It’s funny, huh, how life turns out.”
“Speaking of how life turns out. Can you and I have a word?” Smokey asked.
He saw how serious his Prez got, and nodded, making a beeline for outside. No one was out on the porch, not that he expected them to be, because he, himself, was freezing his balls off.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“It’s about Jonah.”
Big Dick tensed up, because he didn’t know why Smokey was coming to him. “What about him?”
“I don’t know if you realize how many times he’s been going out of town.”
“Larissa said it happens from time to time.”
“Not like this. Jonah doesn’t want Larissa to know, but it’s about her mother.”
“Her mother?” he asked and couldn’t help but look inside the house. She rarely talked about her mother, apart from being concerned about being a bad one because she didn’t know if she would be a good mother or not.
Smokey nodded.
“Jonah got a call from her several months ago,” Smokey said.
“Why hasn’t he told her?” He didn’t like this.
“She’s sick. She’d not going to make it, and because Larissa didn’t know her mother, Jonah doesn’t want to hurt her now. There’s no point.”
This made Big Dick frown. “You bastard.”
Smokey’s brows went up.
“You did this on purpose because you don’t like what Jonah is doing,” Big Dick said. “So, you’ve dragged me into this mess.” He gritted his teeth. “You fucker!”
“Do you want me to kick your ass?”
“My relationship with Larissa is already rocky at best. We’re living together, and I’m there for her, but we’re not close. Not like we were. I’ve got to build up trust, and you come here giving me this bombshell and expect me to, what? Not say anything?”
“Jonah doesn’t want her to get hurt.”
“Fuck Jonah.” He ran fingers through his hair because now he was agitated. This was a giant secret. There was a big difference between keeping club secrets that Larissa didn’t need to know, and this. This was part of her.
He couldn’t help but look into the house and watch as Harlow said something to make Larissa laugh. His woman put her hand on her stomach, and he had noticed her doing this more and more lately. Protecting their child. She did not even realize she was already an amazing mother.
“I’ll leave the decision to you,” Smokey said.
His Prez had gone back inside the house when he called him a prick.
There were only two ways to do this. Tell Larissa what Smokey had told him and have Jonah pissed at him.
Or lie to Larissa, and she would never get the chance to meet her mother.
He didn’t know the history of Larissa’s mother. The woman was dying.
“You all right, big brother?” Harlow asked, coming outside.
“You need to get back inside before you get fucking cold,” he said.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re outside looking like you want to murder someone?” she asked.
He turned to look toward her. “Does it look that obvious?” he asked.
“Maybe not to everyone else, but to me, yeah, it kind of does.”
Did he want to murder anyone? Yeah, he wanted to kill Smokey and Jonah.
“I don’t want to kill anyone.” That wasn’t a lie. “Tell me, Harlow, would you rather know Mother, or wish you never knew her?” he asked.
Harlow frowned. “Is this supposed to be a trick question?”
“Come on. I just want to know.”
“Is there a point to it?”
“Yeah, and I’m not going to tell you,” he said.
“Would I rather know Mom, or not know her?” She sighed, and she also had a hand on her stomach.
“I would rather know her,” Harlow said. “Don’t get me wrong, I know Mom is not perfect, but she is still my mother.
We’ve talked a lot in the past few weeks.
It has been good. I know it’s going to take a lot of work to fix this between us, but I’m willing to work on it, and I think she is as well. ”
He nodded. “That is what I thought.” He moved toward her and kissed her cheek. “You’ve got to get inside. I don’t want you getting sick.”
“If there is ever anything you need, you tell me.” She put her hand on his arm, then stepped back into the cold.
He was more than happy to freeze his ass off, while he tried to think of what to do. What the fuck was he supposed to do?
In the end, he made his way inside and spent the last part of the housewarming party with the rest of the guys and girls.
His mother and father also arrived, carrying a chicken casserole as well as a gorgeous-looking lamp.
At least, he assumed it was gorgeous because Larissa loved it.
He had come to realize she loved every single present, and was always thankful and grateful for what she got.
He had known women in the past who were always judgey about what they were given.
Larissa was like a breath of fresh air after being around so much toxicity.
They were cleaning away the mess, when Big Dick looked over at Larissa.
“Do you wish you had known your mom?” he asked.
Larissa frowned and looked up. “What?”
“If you had the chance, do you wish you had known your mother?”
“This is kind of odd.” She pursed her lips. “In all honesty, I don’t know how to answer that.”
“There’s something I’ve got to tell you,” he said. “It’s about your mother.”