Chapter 22 #2
She doesn’t respond to that. Instead, she carries on like she didn’t hear a word of what I said.
“This is all Roe’s fault, FYI. She got me drunk and I forgot to take my birth control.
After my husband leaves me, and I lose my job, and I birth a baby I have no clue what to do with, and I have to throw my twenty-year plan out the window and figure out how to write a new one that includes said baby and no income to speak of, I will be moving in with you and Tatum.
You guys will feed us, clothe us, shelter us, and do anything else that babies require, and if any of your people bring J?ger near me again, I will pour it all down your throats until you choke on it. ”
I like Renee’s husband but that fucking twenty-year plan of his needs to be trashed.
“Greg’s not going to leave you,” Tatum says softly.
“He is!” Renee’s voice turns into a high-pitched wail. “When he gets home from Melbourne tonight, he’s not even going to unpack his suitcase after I give him the news.”
“Right,” Tatum says in her take-charge tone. “I’m going to make you a coffee and then we’re going to talk. And I’m going to remind you of just who your husband is.”
“I know exactly who my husband is,” Renee says.
“I think you’ve forgotten,” Tatum says, “because if you did know, you’d know there is no way Greg Washington would ever walk out on his pregnant wife. He’s the same as Nitro and would never abandon the woman he loves.”
“You don’t know him like I do,” Renee says. “You don’t know how committed he is to that fucking plan of his.”
This is the first time I’ve ever heard Renee say anything negative about their plan. “I thought you were all in on the plan,” I say.
“I’m all in on my marriage. I’m all in on my career. I’m all in on paying off this house and building a life with Greg. But that plan needs to be torn up because it fucking keeps me awake at night.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because it’s so fucking stressful worrying over whether we’ll hit every date we’ve scheduled things for. There are barely any allowances built into it for when situations arise that will push things back.”
“Like a baby,” Tatum says gently.
“Yes!” I hear terror in Renee’s voice. “Like a baby!”
“Do you want this baby?” I ask.
The terror clings to her voice. “That’s not the right question, Nitro.”
“It is the right question,” I argue.
“No, I can think of a thousand questions you should be asking me, and that is not one of them.”
“You answer that question,” I say, “and then you go from there. And Tatum and I are right here with you when you go from there. Just like Greg will be too.”
She exhales a long breath and since my niece is practically my daughter, I know what that sigh means.
She’s in turmoil and the only person who’ll be able to calm her will be her husband.
Greg might drive me crazy with that life plan of his, but he treats Renee like a queen and always knows exactly what she needs to make it through her days.
“Your plan is out the window,” I say with determination because this conversation needs to be moved along. “It’s time for a new plan.”
When the only response I get is another long exhale, I continue, “You and Greg want a family, Renee. That was in the plan. Two kids. A dog. Maybe a cat. Definitely not any birds or fish if I remember correctly. You built your house with all those bedrooms for those children. And you both work your asses off for that size backyard so you can fit a pool in there one day for those two kids. This baby is wanted. You don’t need a fucking plan to tell you that. ”
“You say that like it’s so easy,” Renee mutters. “Life isn’t that easy.”
“Life’s never fucking easy. All we can do is roll with it. Shit happens, plans change, we figure it out. Together.” I pause. “And Greg’s not going anywhere. He may never let you drink with Monroe again, but I know he won’t leave you.”
“Nitro’s right,” Tatum says. “Let’s get some coffee in you and start working this out.”
“Do you need me?” I ask.
“No,” Renee says emphatically, like that’s the worst idea she’s ever heard. “I need someone who can tread lightly for this.”
Before I can argue with her over the fact I can tread lightly when needed, Tatum says, “I’ll call you when I’m on my way home to see where you are.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Vegas.”
“I might be here for a while.”
“I’ve got nowhere to be but here.”
“Okay,” she says, and I don’t miss the way her voice changes slightly. The way that tells me she knows exactly what thoughts are running through my head. “I’ll see you later.”
The call ends, leaving me alone with the kind of thoughts that will make the hours until Tatum gets home some long fucking hours.
Tatum’s POV
11:20 a.m.
Me
I’m leaving Renee’s now, but something’s come up at work that I can’t leave for anyone else to deal with. I’m sorry but I’ll probably be another couple of hours.
Nitro’s going to be pissed about me working today. I know he’s forced himself to be more patient than he prefers over the last few weeks while my workload has tripled. Today may be the day he finally has his say over it.
Ever since the day seven years ago when I started my own business helping women who are in trouble with the law, he has supported me.
While Nitro can be bossy when he wants to be, he has never tried to boss me into making different life choices.
He encourages me in every way possible, even when that involves long hours away from him.
But today, I know he wants time with me and a lot of it.
When he calls just after I send the text, I answer immediately.
“Hey,” I say softly. “I’m sorry I have to work.”
“Don’t apologise. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. But when you get home this afternoon, your phone gets turned off. You do whatever you need to do to make that happen. I need my wife.”
What he’s saying is, “delegate the fuck out of your work for the rest of the weekend.” He’s saying that because I’m not good at delegating, and if I was, he would see a lot more of me.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bossy man?”
“Vegas.” He says this in a low growl, one I’ve heard hundreds of times during our marriage. And one I don’t ever need an interpreter for. I can push my husband further than anyone can, but on this, I’ve pushed him to his limit.
“My phone will be turned off before I step foot inside our house.” It’s a promise I intend to keep because I want what Nitro wants today just as much as he does. I want to submit to him and everything he wants to do to me.
Nitro’s POV
5:30 p.m.
This day has turned into the longest fucking day of this year so far. The fact I’m not at home with Tatum has put me in a filthy mood. However, when my president calls and tells me to be somewhere, there’s no choice to be made, so here we are.
King called just after one p.m. and detailed a problem that he and I had to sort out before it became a massive fucking headache for the entire club.
It involved tracking down a guy who has complicated shit for the club and making it clear he’s no longer welcome in Sydney.
We should have been finished hours ago, but the asshole was elusive, and we’ve only just gotten word from Devil as to his current whereabouts.
We’re heading there now but have had to make a stop at King’s place, which is only fucking slowing us down more.
“Nitro,” Lily says with a smile as I follow King into their kitchen. “Tatum’s out the back.” At my frown, because I thought Tatum was at home, she adds, “She dropped over to return a dress she borrowed.”
I leave King and head out to the back deck to find my wife. She’s on her phone with her back to me while she gazes out over King’s backyard and carries on a conversation. By the sounds of it, she’s talking with her assistant.
My eyes are drawn to her ass while I close the distance between us. Always to her ass. My hands and mouth know every curve of it by memory.
She ends her call and turns while I’m dedicating time to her body. When my gaze meets hers a moment later, the heat blazing from her eyes tells me she wants my hands on her as much as I want them there.
“Are you finished with King?” she asks as I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close.
Brushing my lips across hers, I shake my head. “Not yet. It’ll probably be another couple of hours before we’re finished.”
Her hands rest on my ass, and she gives me those beautiful eyes of hers. “I’m not working for even a minute tomorrow.”
Fuck, I could take these kinds of promises from her every day and die a happy man. I bend my mouth to her ear. “I hope you’re ready for a long night.”
She presses herself against me, tracing her finger across my lips. “I’ve spent days thinking about this mouth. And your tongue. I hope you’re planning on doing indecent things to me with it.”
“Fuck,” I rasp, my dick far too fucking hard for her right now. “This filthy mouth of yours will get you in trouble one day.”
A hint of a sexy smile ghosts across her face. “I hope so, champ.”
Fuck.
Tatum doesn’t call me that very often anymore, and every time she does, it stirs shit up in my chest. It makes me remember the first time she ever called me that.
That day all those years ago in the hospital after I rid the earth of Joseph.
It makes me remember the fear I felt that I would lose her.
I’ve spent a decade keeping her safe and I’ll spend the rest of my life continuing to do that.
Some days, when the grime of the world comes a little too close for comfort like it has this week, the urgency I feel to keep her from harm fuels me.
It takes over every thought I have and feeds my beast. This is the real reason King always takes me with him when the club has dirty business to take care of.
The reason why I end up being away from Tatum more than I would prefer.
It’s because of that darkness that lives deep inside me, always ready to do whatever the club needs.