ZODIAC
Boone was a nice enough guy, but he often fell into silent spells that spanned hours.
I suspected he spent too much time with the same people, so he forgot to say anything.
Or maybe his silence came from having a crazy mom.
All I knew was I had to entertain myself because he certainly wasn’t doing it.
On the day the paternity result was expected, I had Boone escort me to the Sleepy Eye Community. We parked in front of Lula’s house.
“Are you coming inside?” I asked Boone when he didn’t immediately get off his ride.
Rubbing at his beard, he glanced at Lula’s house and shook his head. “You’ve got me feeling weird about seeing Nova.”
“Don’t let your heart get ticklish over something I said. Nova could use a good fuck, even if her brother passes a kidney stone over her every fart.”
“Nothing you just said made the situation better.”
“Nothing I said was meant to make the situation better.”
Cocking a dark eyebrow, he asked, “So you’re just talking to hear yourself talk?”
“I like my voice. Can’t help if you don’t feel the same.”
Boone grinned. “I always felt like I had to hide my asshole side. I respect how you don’t have that problem,” he said and climbed off his ride. “Go hang out with your people. I’ll chill at Pax’s place. Let me know when you need me to babysit you again.”
I watched Boone walk over to Pax Reed’s house, making sure he didn’t change course and end up at Elle’s place. I wasn’t interested in him gossiping with her.
Finally, I knocked at Lula’s front door. Exile answered, looking strange without his cowboy hat. He gestured for me to enter.
Exile’s hostile exterior made him seem like a dumb hothead, but the guy was sharp. If anything ever happened to me, the club would be safe in his solid hands.
Of course, now he was living in Little Memphis with his lawyer fiancée and her preteen daughter, Dillon.
Lula Reed had a swanky house that didn’t really fit Exile’s tastes, but he seemed comfortable here. So did his younger sister, Nova, and her girls, Skylar and Lyric. They were a package deal. Where Exile went, his posse of drama llamas followed.
As I entered the room, Nova stared at me.
She was a good-looking chick with emotional blue eyes, silky brown hair, a nice rack, and a full ass.
If she had grown up in Baton Rouge, Nova would have been a hot commodity.
Instead, she had been stuck in a small town with few options.
No doubt she thought the violent fuck she married was the best she could do.
Hell, she might have been right. But the asshole was still decomposing in the Mississippi River.
“Why do I sense you’re jealous?” I taunted Nova. “Were you hoping I’d put a bun in your oven?”
Exile grunted at how I poked at his sister. He was too sweet to her. Nova wasn’t fragile. The chick survived a bullet to the back. She needed to be poked until she fled her safe space and started living life.
“Don’t feel sad that Elle enjoyed my cock first.”
Gasping at my wording, Nova looked to see if her girls had overheard. I could see they were out back with Lula. Once Nova felt reassured by their continued innocence, she unleashed her most hellion expression in my direction.
“That’s disgusting.”
“Jealousy really isn’t a good look on you.”
“Okay, let’s stop this shit,” Exile grumbled and stepped between us. “Zodiac, what’s the plan once you get the test result? Are you heading back to Baton Rouge tomorrow? Do you need me to come with you?”
“Are we sure Zodiac is the father?” Nova asked.
“No one else got in Elle’s pants,” I replied, grinning at how she poked at me. “I’m the dad, and I plan to put Elle into a cage to keep her safe.”
“Oh, she won’t like that.”
“Elle lives in her daddy’s basement. I bet the woman loves cages.”
Nova shook her head. “Elle is a free spirit. She will break free from your cage.”
“I’m relentless when I want something, and Elle has my critter burrowed inside her.”
Nova grimaced at my wording and grabbed her belly like I might curse her with a creepy child.
“Lula needs help with the girls,” Exile lied as a way to encourage his sister to leave the kitchen. Once we were alone, my VP snarled at me, “Stop hassling Nova.”
“She’s fine, and you know it. Your sister isn’t a fainting goat.”
“Whatever. Let’s figure out what happens next.”
“You need to take a fucking chill pill. Once I get the results, I plan to walk over to enjoy my dinner with the Reed family. Tomorrow, I’ll ride home.
You can come with me if you want. But keep in mind, we’re moving York into your old house soon.
That’ll take a few days. If you can’t bounce back and forth for the trip home tomorrow and York’s thing, don’t ride back with me. ”
“If you don’t need me to shadow you on the ride back, I’d rather bring everyone down to Baton Rouge to help York. I think it’ll be good for Nova and the girls to see the house filled with York’s stuff, so they can say goodbye.”
Smirking, I taunted, “You’re like a fucking therapist now.”
“Lula’s teaching me to acknowledge the things that I used to ignore.”
“Aww, I love how fucking whipped you’ve gotten,” I told him and chuckled. “But a simple South Dakota boy like you is lucky to have such a hot woman. I completely understand why you’ve sold out your balls to make it happen.”
Exile glared at me and spat out, “Fatherhood’s bound to make you soft.”
“You’re right, man. I had no weaknesses before I knocked up Elle. Now, I have her and the critter to worry about. Maybe I need to get meaner and kill a few people over nothing. Do you think that would protect my reputation?”
“Or don’t change at all, so people will think nothing affects you.”
Wagging my finger at him, I smiled. “That’s smarter. Show that nothing sends me spiraling. Not a kid or the blonde babe carrying him.”
Exile glanced out at his nieces and asked, “Are you going to flip out if it’s a girl?”
“I’ve already told you that I’d prefer a girl, but this one is a boy.”
“Maybe you can get Elle drunk again and make a girl in the future.”
His comment nearly made me slug him. “I didn’t want this kid. Why would I purposely make another one?”
“But you want it now.”
“Yeah, but I’m a man who accepts what’s in front of me rather than crying over bullshit I can’t control.”
“Fair enough.”
My phone rang, and the ID read “Clint Reed.” Putting him on speaker, I asked, “Spit out what we all know.”
“The boy is yours.”
“Can I hound your sister now?”
“No, wait for me to get there. I’m on my way.”
“Why tell me the results now if I have to wait?”
I got my answer when the results showed up in a text from the clinic. Clint knew his time to get ahead of things had run out.
“Just wait for Ivy and me to get there,” Clint insisted. “We’ll have a nice dinner. There’s no reason for drama.”
“Sure. I’ll wait,” I said and hung up.
Exile smirked. “Clint should have planned out this situation better.”
“Romance has polished his brain smooth,” I agreed and headed for the door. “Now, I’m off to put Elle in a secure little box.”
Walking over to the Reed house, I had no particular words in mind for when I faced Elle with the proof of what we already knew. What I said wouldn’t be nearly as important as her inability to run away this time.