Forty-Three
T ori popped her head into our room, and yes, I’m calling it our room now, dammit.
“Hey, come in. Want coffee? Or uh… decaf?” We both grimaced and she shook her head.
“What’s up?”
I patted the bed I was sitting on, waiting until she joined me. She looked good. Well. Definitely less haunted than she’d been a few weeks back. It was clear that Ryder was right for her, and that should make this easier right?
“We need to talk, babe. About your dad, and about Reacher, but it has to be our secret though, okay?”
She nodded, looking wary.
“Is Reacher still pissed at me?”
“Babe, it’s not that. Look… your dad is old school, right? Like old mafia rules and shit.”
She groaned, rubbing her eye.
“Jesus. I know what you’re gonna say.”
“Marriage.”
She nodded, heaving a sigh.
“I think I’ve been waiting for him to lose his shit over it. He wasn’t happy about me being here with Ryder, not really. Me not being married to him is probably making his left eye twitch. If you ever meet him, watch his eye. If it twitches, back up. He’s gonna lose it.”
I grinned, imagining some mafia warlord looking guy with a twitchy eye.
“Reacher needs your help, babe. Can you help me with this? Help him?”
She was frowning, and it was when she did that, that her scar became more prominent. Honestly, I’ve known her long enough now that there’s no longer that curiosity that draws your eye to the imperfection. It’s just part of her, and I barely see it, except at times like this.
“Reacher needs me to get married?”
I lifted my hands, the universal ‘what are you gonna do?’ kind of gesture.
“Your father is pressuring him to make it happen. He doesn’t want to get involved in your relationship, not any more than he’s already had to, but I know your father isn’t going to let up on him.”
“And this has to be a secret? You mean in case Ryder gets pissed at Reacher for it?”
I glanced at the door, knowing I was about to speak out of turn, but knowing it would help make my point.
“What do you know about what happened when I was taken?”
The change of subject had surprised her.
“Uh… that some drug cartel was trying to take over, and they took you because of some prior connection with them.” Ugh.
“Not about that. About Reacher. About what happened with him?”
She sighed. “Babe, what the hell is this? He was pissed, I’m sure, but I never saw him. Ryder was gone a lot, helping to look for you, or watching over Ice. I don’t know.”
“So this is the top secret part, babe. Trust me when I say this can go NO further. Like it’s vital that you keep this secret, even from Ryder, because I don’t know if he knows or not.”
“Oh god. You’re about to complicate my relationship, aren’t you?”
“Think of it as payback for nearly fucking up mine.” I let her feel my glare for a moment, and she sighed.
“Go on. Cross my heart that I’ll keep your damn secret.”
“It’s not my secret as such. It’s Reacher’s. When I was taken… all of this… this crap going on here, the club, Ice, you guys, me, and god only knows what else… it caused him to collapse.”
“What?” She stood up, looking around us. “He’s… is he okay?”
“Tori… he’s reached a point where too much more stress could cause a bigger problem. Are you following?”
She looked confused, but nodded.
“Is that why nobody will let him drink coffee? They were joking about him being an addict or something, and having to cut down, but… when did he collapse?”
“He was kept at the hospital for a day or so. I think Stitch and the others, whoever knows, they helped cover it up. A sick President is a bad thing for a club, apparently.”
“Is Ryder in danger because of it?”
I’m messing this up so badly. I shook my head.
“If people think the club has a weak President, they could try challenging him, or the club, and he’s not, okay? He’s not weak. He had a scare, but he’s fine. As long as we all try to minimise extra stress on him, like your father. He’s putting pressure on, and it’s not Reacher’s shoulders that should be bearing that extra weight, you feel me?”
She nodded. “Fine. Okay. I’ll go propose to Ryder. Ha. That’ll catch him by surprise, won’t it?”
I almost wanted to be a fly on the wall for that discussion.
“Tori. Please, please, don’t let on that I told you about Reacher, especially to him. He’s got so much to worry about right now.”
She nodded again. “It’s time for me to stop causing problems here, and start fixing them, I understand.”
She was barely gone a minute when Reacher returned. I gave him a thumbs up, and he frowned.
“If that’s some kind of sex thing, I’m not getting it, or do you want my thumb up your ass? I could be convinced, although it’s probably bad for your stitches.”
“Dickhead. It means Tori is gonna propose to Ryder. Anything else you need me to fix?”
He looked stunned. “You fixed that already? Fuck me, you’re amazing. I wish I could reward you with a huge orgasm right now.”
“I thought you were the kind of guy to keep count?”
Reacher
F uck me. Two issues solved in one fell swoop. I didn’t waste any time in calling Massimo fucking Rossi back.
“Tell me you have good news, Reacher.”
I had him on speaker, so Ally was listening too. She rolled her eyes at me, and I grinned.
“I have two pieces of good news, Mr Rossi… uh, Massimo, and I think you’re gonna like them. Gonna even up the score a bit for us both.”
A dry chuckle was his response.
“First off, your daughter is going to fix the whole ‘shaming the family’ bullshit, okay? That’s out of my hands now, and in theirs, so you have a further issue, you go direct to your daughter.”
“Understood, Reacher, thank you. You said there were two things?”
“Yeah… I understand you’re in the trafficking business.”
“Excuse me?” He sounded affronted, and thinking about it, he could have thought I meant human trafficking, or some sick shit.
“Heroin.”
Rossi snorted. “This is hardly a discussion for over the phone, Reacher.”
“Well, let’s just say I might have something you want. You know where to find me.”
I hung up on the bastard, then waved my middle finger at the silent phone briefly.
“You’re giving them to him?”
“Woman, you want them gone, and I want them gone. We owe him. It cures all evils.”
From the look on her face, I could tell she wasn’t happy.
“I’m not giving them to him for free, woman. He’ll get a nice deal on it, and you’ll get some cash for your mother’s care.”
The way her eyes widened, and filled with tears, told me how much that had been worrying her.
“You’re mine, woman, and that means your problems are too.”
“I don’t want to add more to your shoulders.”
I offered her a slow wink, and let her take her own conclusions from that.
“You’ll make it up to me.”
There was just one more thing to put in place, and I had some ideas. It took a week, and by then, thank fuck, she was up and moving, her stitches were finally out, and no longer holding her back.