38. And One Never Learns
38
And One Never Learns
Antonio
It has been an odd 24 hours.
First, with the fiasco in the warehouse, and then, with the unscripted bedroom scene Lilith sprung on me, sending me feral but still cognizant of her needs. Her wants. Her every damn desire.
And top all that off with my shocking confession that even I’m still shocked by, and I was fucking there when it all went down. The day I lost my damn mind and sent a medical facility a lot of cash and a lot of sperm to make sure no one would ever be able to conceive a child with her.
All in all, she took it well, but I have a feeling if she was younger, if we were younger, she would be livid, and I’d be watching my back 24/7.
I look over at her, sleeping peacefully beside me. I’m a lucky fucking bastard that she didn’t take it badly because, frankly, I’m getting too old to keep up our games.
We managed to laze an entire day away, before enjoying a late family dinner and then going to our separate corners to rest up before the big event. Because we all could feel the clock winding down.
My phone lights up on the table next to me. Picking it up, I glance at the screen to see Matt has sent me a message.
Matt : Got a 20 on Irina.
Antonio : Surely it can wait until after breakfast
Matt : You can eat in the car
Antonio : I don’t eat in the car
Matt : JFC, are you afraid of some fucking crumbs?
Antonio : They do attract rodents and all sorts of vermin
Matt : …I can’t decide if you’re being serious or taking the piss out of me…
Antonio : You should know by now I take vermin very seriously
Matt : FFS, Antonio. Get your snobby ass out of bed and come kill some bad guys with us
Matt : And don’t tell Lilith
Frowning at my screen, I glance at Lilith, still sleeping soundly next to me. After all of our confessions and what-not, maybe it’s a bit soon to be going all clandestine.
Antonio : That feels like a huge mistake
Matt : It’s fine
Antonio : That’s easy for you to say, your wife isn’t here
Matt : That won’t stop her from ripping me a new one if she ever found out
Antonio : Then why chance it?
Matt : Never hurts to try to keep them out of danger
Antonio : This is a mistake
Matt : Maybe so, but wouldn’t be our first one and likely won’t be our last
Antonio : Fair enough
Antonio : And if I refuse?
Matt : Then we’re leaving right now without you
Matt : And not sharing our info
Antonio : I’ll be ready in 15
Matt : Make it 10
Slowly, I ease out of bed, straightening and waiting a few seconds, eyes on Lilith, before quietly heading toward the door. I manage to slide the lock open silently, cracking the door open and squeezing out into the hallway, pausing with my head in the door as I listen for movement from the bed.
Hearing nothing, I shut the door, walking swiftly toward the gym and the spare clothes I keep there. After a quick shower, I dress, barely making it to the kitchen in the designated ten minutes Matt allowed me.
I’m halfway to the door that leads to the garage when I’m startled by a voice behind me. “Going somewhere?”
Shit. Fuck. Balls.
Slowly, I turn, knowing there’s no way around paying the piper at this point.
Lilith stands there, arms crossed over her chest.
And she’s not alone.
Antoinette and Agatha flank her, stances and expressions matching, and I grimace. “Nowhere?”
Lilith raises a brow and snorts. Then Agatha says, “I don’t know about you, Mama, but I think he’s lyin’.”
Antoinette tilts her head, her eyebrows lifting as she murmurs, “I’m with Agatha. This is here is one rat-ass lyin’ bastard.”
The door clicks behind me, and before I can turn and shoo him away, Matt, who’s looking down at his phone, says, “You ready to go?”
The room falls silent, and after a few long moments, Matt looks up, his eyes widening. “Shit.”
“Well, well, well,” Lilith drawls, closing the distance between us slowly before stopping in front of me. “Did we break up a party or what?”
Matt’s smile lacks all humor as he shrugs. “No, of course not.”
“You are a terrible fucking liar, Mathias,” Antoinette retorts. “Just wait until Jessica hears about this.”
Matt’s humorless smile turns into an outright grimace. “Why do you have to bring her into this?”
“Bring who into what?” Tony asks from the doorway as if it’s pure coincidence that he just happened to come in at this exact moment. Like fuck it is.
Antoinette turns her glare on Tony. “Don’t even get me started on what Carolina will do with you once she’s been updated. The lot of you thinking you can just run off into battle, leaving the poor womenfolk at home.”
“Me? What did I do?” Tony asks.
Antoinette gapes at him, then crosses her arms over her chest. “Don’t play games with me, Tony Andersen. I know you far better than that.”
Squinting, he pauses, obviously considering his next words carefully. Then, he sighs. “How’d you know?”
Antoinette holds her phone up. “Some idiot accidentally sent a message to the wrong group chat.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Seriously, guys. I told you this was a stupid fucking idea, but you were like, nah, it’ll be fine.”
“You knew this was a mistake,” Lilith retorts. “But still, you went along with it?”
“He said if I didn’t, they’d go without me and not give me any details,” I confess without hesitation. My ass is cooked already, but I’m not ashamed to try to lower the level of the hot water I’m in.
“Is that so?” Lilith asks, her eyes moving to Matt.
“Traitor,” Matt mutters, his elbow jabbing me in the side.
“Where’s Darius?” Antoinette asks calmly—a bit too calmly.
Tony and Matt look at each other, and there is an obvious silent conversation. After a significant amount of back-and-forth miming, Tony says, “He’s in the car.”
“Is that so?” Antoinette mutters.
Lilith and I look at each other, wide-eyed, knowing the sentence to be the red flag it is. But Tony just nods.
“Since you’re good and busted,” Agatha says nonchalantly. “Why don’t you guys go on out, and we’ll meet you in just a moment.
I hesitate, recognizing this for the setup it is, but unsure how best to proceed, given I’m most certainly in trouble. Again.
Lilith gives me a pointed look, and I shake my head, not wanting to allow her to do what they’re obviously going to do. “Since we now have time, I’m going to take advantage of the restroom again. Old man bladder, you know.”
I don’t wait for a response; I just take off back the way I came, as if the hounds of hell are nipping at my heels. No sooner am I out the door than a hand touches my back, making me jump, and I turn to find Mickey there, grinning. “This way.”
He maneuvers me out the back door, around the walkway to the side driveway where a car is parked. He opens the back door for me, and I give him a questioning look. “What’s going on?”
“Just them getting a taste of their own medicine,” he responds good-naturedly, motioning for me to get in the backseat.
I climb in without comment, and, sure enough, the girls come running out a moment later, laughing wickedly.
They pile in, shoving me over as Lilith settles in the middle, and I twist around so I can look at her and Agatha seated on her other side. “What did you guys do this time?”
Antoinette cackles from the front, putting her seatbelt on as she replies, “Hey, you guys wanna start shit, so you can’t get mad when we finish it.”
“I’m not arguing that fact, but maybe this isn’t the best time to divide and conquer.”
Antoinette twists around in her seat and squints at me. “Whose side are you on, Dad ?”
As far as I recall, Antoinette has never called me any variation of dad before, so I gape at her, officially at a loss for words. Antoinette continues to stare at me, obviously waiting for me to say something, but I just stare back with my mouth dropped open, searching for the right words.
Lilith’s elbow hits me in my ribs, drawing my gaze to her. She’s smiling softly, her eyes warm as she tilts her head toward Antoinette, urging me to say something, anything.
My mouth curves up, warmth rushing over me at the amused expression on my daughter’s face. “Yours, dear heart. Always yours.”