Forty-One
T-Minus 12 days until Princess makes her piss poor decision.
It has been a little over a week, although my mother wasn’t wrong about Beverly reaching out to Princess. At first, Princess didn’t take the bait. And the longer this drags out, the longer it festers and fucks with her head. I can’t say it wouldn’t fuck with mine because it would. To find out that my mother set me up would burn me up inside. Knowing that she could have done anything to warn or prepare me and didn’t would have had me spiraling from the betrayal. So, on that, I feel for the girl.
Beverly is growing increasingly frustrated. She continues to text and tries to coax Princess away from the club. Deep down, I know Beverly will succeed. The woman's determination is unflappable.
We are in a holding pattern and wondering what Beverly is doing in Crazyville. Mother has been working side deals left and right, and so is Father, and neither of them is telling us much about it, only that they are making the mafia families' lives hell. So damn annoying. They are acting like we don’t do this shit for a living.
When did it become the old folk show?
I feel like I’m being put on timeout, and I hate it. Blaze and I have been doing our best to work our angles, monitoring communication or lack thereof. We have been keeping what we are doing on the down low because I’ll be damned if my parents get all parental and cut us out of this altogether.
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T-Minus 10 days.
Even with all the mental shit Princess is going through, she is still a bitch, sneering and saying smart as shit. Her new favorite pastime over the last week has been to let me know she has, and I quote, had him first. And by him, I mean Taz. And for the last few days, I’ve done my damndest to ignore her. I know she’s saying that shit to get under my skin. And I will not lie. She, in fact, is getting under my skin.
All was well in the world of an assassin until I overheard her talking to some of her friends, i.e., the club whores, and they were more than willing to co-sign her and her shit. It had me fuming and had me facing the music and confronting Taz about what the fuck went on between them? When my man, the man I had fallen in love with, went still and looked like a deer caught in headlights. I smacked the shit out of his beautiful bald-ass head. I knew that not everything was a lie, and I was fucking livid.
Call me petty all you want. I fucking refused to hear his stupid ass side of the story. I refused to speak to him and moved my happy ass right out of his room. Of course, Sin let me move in with her, even though she pointed out that plenty of suites were available on my father’s floor, which had me giving her the stink eye because Sin and I share damn near everything and rarely have a problem. So, for her to huff and puff about me moving in with her had me looking at her hard and with hella questions, because that is not how we work.
After some reflection and watching, I realized why she was being a brat about it. With me in her space, she lost the ability to sneak off and bump uglies with her mystery man. And with all of my secret squirreling, I still haven’t figured out who it is. I only know it is happening because I caught her trying to sneak out of our room one night. Of course, she tried to make up some bullshit ass excuse, but I wasn’t buying it. Sin doesn’t blush. And Sin doesn’t stutter. So, combined, those two things were clues. But the little bitch is being tight-lipped about it. I’ll give her that for now because I have my shit to deal with. Eventually, I will find out and punch whoever he is in the dick for having my sister sneaking around like a two-dollar hooker. She deserves better than that shit.
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T-Minus 9 days.
Getting to know my brothers has been a fucking hoot. Bull is far more reserved than Vex, but he is a riot when you get him drunk or high. When the club had karaoke and game night, I dared him to sing, and the silly man blew me away with his rendition of that song from Titanic. Of course, I can't let him live that shit down. I’ve teased him relentlessly for knowing all the damn words by heart. I mean, yeah, it’s a catchy ass song, but what badass biker enforcer who doesn’t have an old lady or kids knows all the words? None, I’m not judging, just saying.
After everything quieted that night, all the kids and families went down. Chase sat me down, and we had a long emotional talk. Of course, he apologized again for our introduction. He says that he has felt like shit because of everything going on, which is why he, until then, has kept his distance. He blames himself for Blaze and me missing out on being a part of his and our father's life. I had to shut that shit down and let him know he was never to blame for being born to such a wicked, conniving woman. Blaze caught the tail end of the conversation and yeeted my ass out of it so he could have a brother-to-brother discussion, and things have been good between my three brothers and me ever since.
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T-Minus 8 days.
Vex, my crazy, funny horn dog of a baby brother, has been pining after my goddaughter, who continues to give him hell. He thinks it's hilarious how she talks to him, and the kid thinks it's foreplay or some shit. Who knows? He’s a glutton for punishment, following her around, and growls at any brother he deems getting too close to his woman, and she is eating that shit up. I know it, but she acts as if she hates it. They are two weirdos who can be weird together.
I check in with Gabriella every few days to see if she has any new information, and she checks in on her kids. She hasn’t found out anything new. The same with Blaze and me. Everything is quiet. No one knows where Marco is. Well, no one but Blaze and me, which I informed Gabriella of. He is here, but his movements aren’t giving anything away, which has my hackles up.
Gabriella decided she wanted her kids to stick around here just in case. But I know better. Fi is on punishment for something. Gabriella sends my goddaughter my way when she is tired of her torturing brothers in her father’s club. Usually, my goddaughter would be in the trenches doing my dirty work or just doing shit I don’t want to do when she is sent to me under these circumstances, but this time, she is stuck with the rest of us in my father's clubhouse being harassed and stalked by my brother.
Sebastian may even have a crush of his own. He has been spending a lot of time with one of the brother's daughters and a prospect. And if you know anything about Sebastian, he is not one to trust and latch onto many people. Being a patched member of his father's club, I would think that since he isn’t being used, he would go home. But he claims he wants to stay until his mother calls for him. Yes, his mother, not his father, who is technically his president and boss. Sebastian and Talon’s relationship is still rocky but has been improving. Clearly, it is more than that. The boy doesn’t want to go home, and I don’t think it has anything to do with his parents or club. But that is not my business.
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T-Minus 6 days.
My parents have been fucking weird. I find them held up in my father's office a lot. I heard raised voices a few times and then the inevitable after, where they ignored one another. They can’t hide the longing I see in their eyes. They need to figure out their shit quickly because they are giving me and the rest of my siblings damn whiplash with the hot and cold.
My siblings and I had a meeting about what to do with them. Yes, the six of us grown-ass adults feel the need to meddle in our parents' love lives. Of course, all of us but Princess agreed that something has got to give. The two are meant to be together, but the past has them in a chokehold. Our mother's past hurt is holding her back. And for our father, I think that finding out that my mother has been keeping tabs on him but never reaching out fucks with him. I honestly don’t know what he expected to happen. He said some awful shit to her that didn’t scream–reach out to me.
My siblings and I have a plan. After this, business with Beverly is handled with the marriage contract. We will implement it. Blaze vowed to stick around so we could put it in play. We plan to reconvene and be like the childish, meddling fuckers we are. We will put the operation Parents Need To Bump Uglies into effect. Yes, we will force our parents to accept the inevitable sooner because watching them fight and ignore each other is ridiculously annoying.
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T-Minus 3 days.
Taz is forgiven and has become annoying as all hell. He swears up and down that I’m, in fact, pregnant. He has shoved a pregnancy test in my face every morning for the last week. According to the box, his excuse is that it is best to pee on the thing first thing in the morning. At first, I was like, no, it’s still too early, and then he hit me with this one, saying it can tell two days before your missed period. I shook my head and started my day. Ignoring his insistence on knowing now.
He is getting feral with this shit. The other day, I woke up in the middle of the night to pee. I never flushed the toilet after and for a good reason. Look, I can’t be the only one who doesn’t flush at night because the sound of the toilet flushing is jarring and wakes you up to where it takes forever to go back to sleep. So why do it? Well, my crazy ass man thought he would usurp my pee by dipping two tests into the toilet's yuckiness, and sorry for him, he got two different answers, which serves him right. I’ll take the damn test when I take the damn test, knowing now or later will not change a damn thing.
So now he has taken to watching my every move. Every morning, he showers with me. And because he has been googling shit, his ass has been asking the same damn questions. How do my tits feel? Do I feel sick? Am I still tired after sleeping all night? Am I hornier? I answer none of it. But of course, that last one usually ends with my back against the shower wall and him making gentle love to me. He is gentle because, according to him, he refuses to fuck his baby momma or scar his son with his big dick. I don’t mind it. I love his big dick.
Taz and I have used our time on lockdown to get to know each other and get even closer. I’ve learned a lot about him growing up in the club. His parents are happily married, and he has two younger sisters and two younger brothers. From my research, I knew he was a legacy in the club, but I learned he had, for a short time, wanted to take a different path, which led him to the military and receiving his MBA and a trade license to be a mechanic.
During one of his weekly check-ins with his parents, he introduced me to them over Facetime. And I freaking love them. His parents and my mom will get along pretty damn well. They already know and love my dad. And weren’t as surprised as I thought they would be to know that of existence. His mother had so many questions, many I glazed over or didn’t answer. His father was a different story altogether; he congratulated Taz and was glad Gunner could finally make shit right. As a club brother, he was tight-lipped, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know he knew about what went on back when my parents were together.
I learned something else. My mother knew many older members and ol’ ladies because she was my dad’s girl. She was more a part of the club than she led us to believe, but I’ve had a feeling that was the case. Simply because the older ol’ ladies were Chatty Cathy’s with her the second they got her alone.
Janet and Carl, or Dog, as he is called in the club, are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. They’re excited that their knucklehead son has finally found someone to put up with his, in their words, picky ass. They had tried to set him up with a few of their friend's daughters, but he wasn’t into it and made it clear.
Janet texts me nearly daily; like her son, it is all about babies. Taz, the fucker he is, told her he is trying every chance he gets, so she’s been like a bee in my ear, buzzing every damn day. I’ve not taken a stupid test yet because I enjoy torturing her and her son. The two of them do not know or understand boundaries.
With Taz’s sisters, they were doing their damndest to be slick. Those little bitches think I’m dumb enough to fall for the fake-as-hell smiles, but I saw behind their greedy little eyes. I was getting Princess vibes times two.
They dared to ask how things were going with Princess and him after he introduced me as his ol’ lady. Then proceeded to say some slick-ass shit only a woman would understand. I closed the computer and left the room when I reached my limit. He was confused about why I cut our Facetime introduction short. When I explained, it had Taz apologizing profusely for their overprotective nature. Umm hmm. Overprotective, my ass, them bitches, are living off his dime and don’t want a new woman screwing it up for them. I know how their parents cut them off, and Taz has been footing the bill while they are in college. I said nothing, and I let it go.
They will learn soon enough.
I haven’t talked to his brothers yet because they are both deployed. One is in the Navy, the other is in the Marines, and both usually come home for the holidays. This is all so weird and exciting to talk about holidays and whatnot. Surprisingly, I’m not flipping out about it or wanting to run for the hills, which is good.
Our relationship has been moving along at a breakneck speed. It’s also easy, and we are learning each other's quarks faster, which is good even though some of his shit makes me want to punch him in the nuts. That part is the not-a-so-good thing about living with your significant other. He hates the way I make the bed. Hates that I fold instead of hanging my shirts. And he despises how I put his food on his plate when I make it. The grown-ass badass biker VP pitches a child-like fit if his food touches.
But we are happy; that is all I can ever ask for.
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T-Minus one day.
Looking around the main room as I drink my tea, I apparently can no longer drink coffee or booze, per Taz’s declaration. Operation baby-making is in full effect. His declaration had my mother and father looking at me like I had six heads, was green, and came from a different universe. Of course, I ignored them when they asked me what he was talking about. And gave him the if you open your mouth, no nooky for you look. He kept his mouth firmly shut when asked to elaborate. My father even tried to president the situation, demanding answers like that would work. My mother was no better. The two sneaky sneaks have their little sneaky shit, so they are getting nothing from me about my shit.
It feels good to be putting down roots, to have another person to have my back and who puts me first. My man can sometimes be a little alpha whole-ish, but he means well. The last few weeks have taught me I can be me and an us. Taz has taught me I can put myself first, even for a moment, which I am not accustomed to. Anytime he noticed I was or seemed stressed about my parents, my team, or godbabies, he would push me in another direction or thought process that would have me focusing on myself and sometimes him. Life is good.
And he is obsessed with making babies. If Taz’s wish comes true, and I’m being honest about how I’m feeling, he will get his wish. He and I will forever be connected. That doesn’t scare me or worry me about our future. I’m excited. I don’t know how I will juggle it all, but I have my mother to look up to. She did it all on her own, and she did a damn good job.