Chapter 27 Jameson #2
“You’re not taking a dime from him, Pen.” I wanted to make sure she knew that taking the fucker up on his offer wouldn’t be tolerated, not while I was her husband.
Her eyes found the floor, and I touched her chin, so she’d look at me again. The clerk had moved to the back, leaving us alone.
“Let me do this, please.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
I knew she was worried, so I added in a whisper, “we promised each other.”
That had her eyes snapping up, and her mouth parting.
“When?”
I smiled. “When you took my last name and became my wife, Pen.” I wanted her to realize this was me fighting for her, and for the baby. It was me saying I wanted them both.
We finally left the store, and then headed to another where I cleared out the section with everything I saw on the app that suggested Pen might need it at some point.
Breast pads, a pump of some kind, nipple cream, blankets, bottles, a bottle cleaner, diaper bags, one for her and one for me that looked a tad more masculine.
Diapers, a shit ton of those and wipes. I just kept adding things to the cart, and with each thing, I saw Pen’s face begin to brighten, as if an invisible burden was suddenly being lifted.
She protested with her words, but her body language conveyed excitement.
I hadn’t missed how often she reorganized the small fridge or pantry in the cabin.
She moved the living room couch around at least a dozen times, and then redid the clothes hanging in her small closet.
The book called it nesting. She needed to organize her baby’s things and prepare a spot for him, and this whole time, she’d never said anything.
She was likely just going to deal with whatever she had on hand and make it work or go back to work the second she popped him out and see what she could figure out.
That was Pen, she was good at adapting.
Wes had texted an invite for us to join Killian and Laura up at their house for dinner. Penelope took a nap, and while she did, I grabbed the number Luke had texted her on and saw a new text that had come in.
Luke’s New Number: Can we just put the bullshit aside and get some food or something? I think if you let me just talk to you face to face, this would be easier.
Fucker.
He seriously didn’t understand the levity of what he’d done, the position he’d forced Penelope into. My fingers tightened around the phone, and as I peered over my shoulder watching Pen sleep, I considered replying.
I could tell him yes, let’s meet. I could plan his whole murder, then I could delete and block his number. Pen wouldn’t be the wiser, and we could officially start our lives together without the shadow of him lingering as a possibility in the background.
My thumb hovered over the keypad, then an image of Pen’s big, beautiful eyes popped into my mind. Her smile, the easy way she laughed with me. We were slowly getting back to who we were once upon a time. Before I fucked everything up.
No, I couldn’t do this.
It had to be her choice.
Exiting out of the screen, I set her phone back on the nightstand, curled up next to my wife and closed my eyes.
Wes and Callie’s house was situated at the top of the valley.
It was massive with three stories, large windows and still felt like it had just been built, with that fresh carpet smell and everything in their house looked pristine.
It was the kind of house I only hoped to be able to provide Penelope and Connor someday.
The life insurance policy from my dad had mostly gone to my mom, but in his will, he’d designated certain stocks to me, ones he no doubt illegally obtained and invested in.
Regardless, they were mine now, and that with selling my garage, along with the many other real estate ventures, I was worth well over ten million dollars.
Not that I had ever once broadcasted that, or ever let on to what I’d been doing with my money.
Pen now had access to everything I owned, while also owning half of it all herself.
She probably didn’t look at the accounts, but once she did, she’d see that her worries were over.
She didn’t need to be concerned about providing for Connor; we had it more than covered.
I didn’t even consider a prenup because even if she wasn’t my wife, I’d want her to have everything.
The dinner was steak, baked potatoes and some fancy salad.
There was beer and wine, and tons of laughter.
They’d invited Natty to come up as well, so we’d ended up bringing her in our truck.
She was a nice addition, simply because Penelope seemed to get on with her a bit better than the other two.
Callie and Laura seemed to speak their own language, and it seemed a bit difficult for Natty or Pen to try and get as close to either of them, not that they were rude in any way .
They just seemed to move from topic to topic without anyone else being able to catch up, or they’d say one word without any context and then burst into laughter.
There seemed to be a really hilarious topic on Go-Gurts that I had no clue about, neither did anyone else it seemed.
Although Callie talked Penelope’s ear off, asking a million questions about her pregnancy.
It wasn’t until Callie asked about sex in the last trimester that it started to get a little awkward.
They weren’t quiet, and Callie seemed not to have a filter of any kind, but we were all adults, so everyone just drank their drinks as Pen flushed and explained.
“Uh…very pleasurable still…at least in certain positions.”
Callie scooted closer. “So you can still have sex that far in? Wes was panicking.” She flicked a gaze over to Wes, who was suddenly incredibly interested in his empty plate. Their Great Dane, Max, walked over and shoved his nose into Callie’s side before moving to Wes and doing the same thing.
“Yes.” Pen gripped my kneecap and turned toward me, as if she wanted my input. “I mean, for both of us, it was more than good.”
Callie took out her phone and began typing in the notes app. “And what position are you using the most at this stage, I’m assuming doggie—"
“Okay, so does anyone want dessert?” Wes jumped up, which startled Max. He barked while chasing after Wes as he moved into the kitchen.
Killian laughed into his glass of beer, while Laura covered her face with her hands.
Natty was laughing so hard, her face was almost purple.
The night moved on, and when all the women had gone into the nursery to look at everything Callie had set up for her baby, it made me a little cautious because surely Pen would look at that and begin to panic about the size of the cabin, and not having a separate space for Connor.
It was hard to compare what we had over there to this mansion, but at least we were safe, and in time, I would upgrade our accommodations.
I had gone upstairs, helping Pen with the stairs while being trailed by the massive horse Wes and Callie kept as a pet, but once I had returned to the main floor, I paused mid-step.
Silas was standing next to the front door, still in his riding leathers and colors. His eyes looked…fucking frantic.
“What happened?” I asked, seeing that Killian was watching him like a hawk and Wes wouldn’t let him pass.
Silas slid a shaky hand through his hair. “I need visual confirmation that she’s okay. Right the fuck now.”
Killian shook his head, clenching his jaw.
Wes did the same. “You’re not running upstairs where my pregnant wife is, you’ll stay here and when they’re finished, you’ll see her.”
“And you’re not getting near Laura,” Killian added.
Silas was shaking, his eyes kept moving up to the top of the stairs.
“I just saw her, Silas.” I attempted to help, but it didn’t seem to matter because he stepped forward and then yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Caelum!”
I winced at how loud it echoed. Max began barking from upstairs. Wes walked toward Silas, telling him to get the fuck out, when there was suddenly someone running down the stairs. I assumed it was Max, but it was Natty who barreled past me. Her eyes were wild, her hair flying behind her.
“Silas, get the fuck out, now!” Wes pulled a black handgun from a side drawer near the entry, but Natty ran past me, Killian and even Wes and threw herself at Silas.
He caught her, his hand came to her hair in a soothing fashion, his eyes were desolate. A dark beast who’d been deprived of sunlight and air, only to finally be released into the wild.
He was murmuring something into her ear in another language. She was saying something back in a similar fashion…
Killian moved next to me, then Wes, hand going slack, the gun still gripped but pointing at the ground.
“Was that Latin?” Killian whispered, and I merely shook my head because I had no fucking clue.
The women all began filtering back downstairs, quietly and cautiously. Callie had her palm on Max’s head, who seemed to want to jump forward but remained at her side.
Silas had pulled Natty back the smallest bit, to where he was holding her face with both hands.
I could see tears sliding down her cheeks.
The two were still whispering in their language, and then Silas pulled her into another hug.
Finally, his gaze cut to us. His wince spoke volumes, as if we were never meant to witness this.
His only weakness.
Silas began pulling away again, but Natty tried to grab him again, to hold on, but he pushed her away, shaking his head. I saw tears fall from his lashes, and the devastation there did something to me.
“Non possum,” Silas rasped, turning away from her.
Natty stood there trembling. “Yes, you can.”
His head dipped, but he was out the door in seconds. Natty brought her hand to her mouth, as if she were trying to pull all of her emotions back into herself. She spun away from the entry and darted for the guest bathroom.
Killian, Wes and I all moved outside, going after Silas while the women all went after Natty.
“The fuck was that?” Wes yelled, jogging down his steps.
Silas was pushing a hand through his hair, blowing out a ragged breath.
Once we were all close enough, he held up a photo of Natty working at the bakery.
“This was nailed to my door this evening—where I live. Where no one, not even my mother, knows the address.”
“We know who it’s from?” Killian asked, his eyes narrowing on the photo.
We all seemed to notice it at the same time, the small story book, dripping with blood stamped into the center of the image.
“Fable,” Silas muttered.
“Your father is going after her?” I asked, tucking my hands under my armpits, trying not to shiver from the cold. Should have grabbed my coat.
Kilian scoffed. “Mine went after Laura.”
“I can’t risk losing her.” Silas sounded pained as he confessed it, and I felt the echo of that pain wind through my own heart.
It had me rethinking my earlier position on the text I found on Penny’s phone.
“Luke reached out to Penelope….”
Silas looked hopeful. So, I pushed on.
“He wants to meet up with her.”
“What did Penelope say?”
Shaking my head, I felt the guilt creep up on me again. “I clicked into the message so she wouldn’t see it as a new notification. If she read it, she hasn’t told me. We’ve been…preoccupied so I doubt that she has.”
Killian smirked at me. Wes looked like he was still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened in his house.
“Can you access her phone without her knowing? Text him a meeting place,” Silas asked, his hard stare almost pleading.
I nodded even as shame simmered in my core. “I don’t want Pen involved in any way.”
Wes finally glanced up. “Text back that she’ll meet him in Pyle at the diner off highway eighty.”
“She might hate me for this,” I muttered, glaring at the frozen ground. I hadn’t fully processed what would happen if she knew I’d lied to her, but I knew in my gut I had to do this. Not just for her, but for all of us. For the club, for Killian…for Connor.
Wes made a sound of agreement. “She might, but she also might understand what was at risk. She seems like the type of person who would do anything to protect the people she loves. I think she’ll understand.”
Yeah, she might…unless Luke was still one of those people.