Chapter 11 #2
She ignored me. “You just tossed me in front of a mafia king and a ruthless MC pres!”
“You handled yourself just fine.” My head still reeled with the mention of Talya’s killer. I still didn’t know who’d done it. Whoever it was, they would pay, and I looked forward to it.
“There’s that look again.” She pointed at my face.
“I don’t have a look.” I kept up the pace until I spotted Cole. He stood by an exit talking to Mark. He nodded at us as we joined them and signaled we had three minutes before the car arrived to take us to the helicopter pad.
I needed to do damage control.
“Hey,” she’d stepped a few feet back to chug down a water, “sorry we didn’t have much time to get that meeting in. Face-to-face time is important with those guys, especially when they’re offering to help with a mission.”
She tossed her bottle in the recycling bin. “How often does that happen?”
“Enough times that I trust them.”
“How do you know them?”
I figured she’d let us in on this whole thing, so I needed give a little too. “I met Trigger through Mike. They go away back. Grim I met through—”
“Talya?” She stared at me. “It makes sense now.”
“Huh?” I swallowed hard.
“What you said back there about you both wanting to get her killer. So, you and Talya knew each other?”
“Yeah, we did.” That wasn’t a lie.
“Sorry.” The tension lifted from her shoulders. “I never realized. It must have been hard hearing that she died and had a child who needed saving.”
I felt my phone vibrate and looked at Cole. He waved for us to leave. “We need to go.”
She started to walk but looked back at me. “Thanks for getting me protection over there.”
“Of course.” I shrugged.
We made it to the chopper, and the sound of the muffled rotors through my earphones relaxed me. I let my head go back over the last few days. I’d almost drifted off myself, when my earphones crackled.
“She’s impressive.” Cole’s voice found me.
“You should have seen her with Trigger.” Mike laughed. “She handled herself like Tess would.”
“She’d make a huge asset for the teams.” Cole smiled. “Just something to think about.”
I looked down at Nicole, who had fallen asleep with her head against my shoulder.
For a moment, I thought about what it would be like to have a significant other in my life.
I was always on the outside looking in at the other men and their lives.
I shook that thought away, and instead my mind went to how every wife had a purpose at Shadows.
Nicole’s skills were impressive; she would certainly bring a lot to the table.
I smiled in agreement at Cole but didn’t comment.
One thing I loved most after we got back from a mission or a trip, was when my boots hit the ground on the Shadows property.
I always took a moment to suck in a big lungful of air and let it out slowly.
This place brought me so much peace. I did just that as I stepped out of the chopper behind the others.
I needed it to get my head on straight. I smiled as I saw Nicole make a beeline for the house.
I had no doubt she was headed directly to Chase.
I grabbed my bags and followed Cole and Chili.
“Hey, look who I’ve got.” Nicole brought Chase over and held him out to me and I scooped him up, feeling more confident.
“You look better today.” I noticed his color was improving. He seemed to be more aware as well. His eyes were definitely brighter. “I see you got your bunny.” Chase gnawed on its ear, and some drool dripped down his neck.
“He’s still teething.” She used her finger to swipe the spit like it didn’t affect her in the slightest. “Bunny may not have an ear by the time all your teeth come in,” she cooed at him.
“We’ll just have to sew on a new one.” I rubbed the bunny’s damp fabric cheek. “Bunny is too important to replace.” I felt Nicole watching me. “What?”
“You’re good with him.” She smiled. “You’re a natural.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I ruffled the top of his head, “but this guy is starting to grow on me.”
“Good, because he needs all the love he can get.” She touched my arm, and suddenly my head switched to a memory of the time when Tayla and I saw each other in the bar and ended up having sex in the back room.
That could have been when he was conceived.
I still remembered how she felt, how she smelled, and the sadness that ran so deep inside me when we parted that day.
I think we both knew, in some way, that we were saying goodbye forever.
Chase wiggled, and I blinked the memory away. Nicole stared at me. “Where do you go when you make that face?”
“What face?”
“The face you just chased away. You looked so sad.”
I forced back the lump that threatened to form in my throat. Nicole didn’t need to be a witness to my sorrow; she’d been through enough. Besides that, sorrow leads to questions. “There’s just a lot going on right now.”
“Yeah, there is.” She let it go, but I could see her thinking about it.
“Oh, by the way. June is taking me into Redstone tomorrow to get some things I need for this trip. I figured Chase could come along now that he’s feeling better.
It was Dr. Roberts’ suggestion, actually.
He wanted me to let you know I was going since you’re the one who’s been assigned to look after me when I leave the grounds. ”
“Shit, my day’s slammed. My team’s got a lot to do before we head off on our next mission as well.” I ground my teeth and pushed away my nerves of both of them being out in public without me.
“Oh.” She looked disappointed. “It would be so great to have you with us.”
“Yeah, no, I get it.” I looked around. “But you can’t go without someone to watch your back. Ask Cole who might be free. I’m sure Mark has a run to do.”
“Okay.” She cheered up as she seemed to like that answer. Her smile faded as she studied my face. “And, Paul, I’m always ready to listen, so let me know if you want to talk about what was going through your head the other night.”
“Thanks,” I answered too fast and handed her Chase. “It was just work shit.” I spotted my teammate West heading downstairs with a UPS package. “Gotta go.”
“Okay,” she sighed and shook her head, and I turned to hurry off before she could say any more.
Then I stopped at the door. “How are you about leaving tomorrow night?”
“Excited, but nervous to some degree, which will work in my favor.”
I knew we had very little choice, and this opportunity was one we had to take, but this mission was starting to scare the shit out of me the more I thought about it.
“I’ll be fine, Paul, I’m good at what I do.”
“I never doubted your abilities. Things are just different now.” I squeezed her arm and knew we both thought the same thing.
“Good different, I hope.” She gave me a sexy grin. “We gotta go find Cole.” She bounced toward the door with Chase in her arms.
“Very good different,” I muttered out loud. She laughed, and I knew she heard me.
I spent the day working with my team as we tested my newest drone.
I couldn’t leave anything to chance. Once I was finally satisfied, the sun was low in the sky.
The next morning would be her first full test flight, and I was positive she was ready.
I took a breath and let the guys clean up for dinner.
I stood back and took a moment to study her.
The technology of this one far surpassed my first, and the first one kicked ass.
I couldn’t resist just a few more minutes to tweak one of her propellers.
A half hour later, I headed for the house and got myself washed up.
As I steered toward the dining room, I spotted Keith outside on the front porch.
He was hunched over the railing, and I wondered why he hadn’t joined the others for dinner.
I saw Nicole in the hall chatting with Ty, and I gave her a quick wave as I stepped outside to talk to Keith.
“Hey,” I tucked my hands in my pockets when the cold breeze hit me, “you good?”
“Yeah.” He wore that distant stare he often got when his head was working overtime. “I decided to cut ties with Liza.”
“Oh, shit, really?”
“I like her,” he shrugged, “a lot, actually, but when I told her I wasn’t ready for her to meet my kids, she got upset.
Said, we weren’t moving forward together, just standing still.
” He glanced at me. “She’s not wrong. I offered to spend more time together, but she said I was missing the point.
That it wasn’t just about meeting the kids, it was just about me letting her in more. ”
“It hasn’t been that long since Lexi died.” I reminded him.
“It hasn’t, but we were finished well before she died.” He let out a deep breath. “I think I’d like a companion, but not a wife.” He let out a laugh. “That sounds selfish, doesn't it?”
“No, man, it makes you sound like you’ve been through the wringer and just wanna try life a different way."
“Yeah.”
“And look, this doesn’t have to be the end with Liza. Maybe take some time, settle your head, and see what happens in a month. If you keep thinking about her, tell her that. If you don’t miss her, then move on. But you ended it, so at least while you figure it out, you’re not stringing her along.”
I gave him a few moments to think then popped him one in the shoulder and laughed. “Hey, what could possibly go wrong? You’re doing it the right way, regardless.” I could see the stress fade as he laughed along with me.
“Thanks, man, I needed that.”
“You got this. Things will work out the way they’re supposed to. Just takes a few bumps before the road smooths out.”
“Look, I don’t want to be that guy,” John made us whirl around, “but these little bro talks that you two keep having is giving me a fucking complex.”
I rolled my eyes as I walked by him. “You’ve been spending way too much time with Mark,” I growled.
“First, fuck you, and second, whose fault is that?” He followed as I headed into the living room to find my son and eat something. “You know you’re still in the doghouse.”
I laughed. “You gonna wear a fedora next?”
“Words hurt, guys,” Mark, who was fucking everywhere yelled.
John rounded in front of me and stuck a finger in my face. “Okay, tell me what went down in Washington.”
“What?” I spotted Nicole and Chase in the kitchen. She smiled at me when we locked eyes. God, she was pretty. John put a hand on my arm and raised a brow at me.
“Soooo, anything else you want to share?”
“What? No.”
“Uh-huh. Okay, we’ll let that go for now. But hey,” he smacked my shoulder, “Cole said Frank pulled you aside, and afterward you went all shut down. What happened?” The heavy weight I’d carried since my meeting with Frank doubled and my face fell. “All right, so it’s something big.”
“John.” I couldn’t find the right words to even say it. “I—”
Sloane, who could sense her husband’s mood, was suddenly by his side. “Why do you look like this? What’s going on?”
“Paul?” Frank suddenly appeared. Fuck, when had he gotten here? “A word.”
I wanted to tell my brother everything, but I couldn’t.