Chapter 19 #3
“The longer this goes on, the more dangerous it gets. More importantly, I’m winning my bet with Burt and getting that Facel Vega for my garage. I could buy one, but I learned from the Prescott track that it’s more fun to win it.” Scarlett slaps her tattooed hand on the table, cocky and smirking.
“Most importantly, we need to not lose my Chevelle. Do you think I won’t start a mob war over that car? I absolutely would.” Bohnes shark-smiles at Scarlett, exchanging a look with Widow. “You’re not upset about this? I assumed you would be.”
“Scarlett is that confident? Fine. If she fucks this up and loses my car, I’ll put twins in her when she turns twenty-five.” Widow yawns, stretching his arms over his head.
Scarlett smiles wickedly, but says nothing. She knows she’ll win this bet. Once she does, Widow will be sorry for that comment.
Her gaze drops to my thumb as I rub my wedding ring in slow, careful circles, wishing it was her hard nipple instead. Both of my hands are bare now. How did that happen? Scarlett keeps talking, but her pupils have dilated. Watching me.
“We need to throw as many darts as we can to hit that bull’s-eye for Jonas. I won’t lose this. I think we will put some pressure on Trish. I think we should also have a little talk with Val. Tonight, we’re going to straighten something out in our relationship.”
“Which is?” I reply, feeling a flirtation building between us.
There’s a tension there. Our wedding is tomorrow.
Our wedding. All of this nonsense with Jonas is background noise.
This is one of the most monumental moments of my life.
Our life. There’ll never be another ceremony in any of our futures.
It’s absolutely crucial to me that we cherish this one.
“Come upstairs.” Scarlett’s hand lands on my thigh, caressing my leg as my heart rate picks up. My focus narrows in on her face.
I’m trembling. Not in disgust. In rapture.
“We need to talk.” Scarlett delivers this grave news as soon as the bedroom door is closed behind us.
Earlier today, we had our blood and urine taken by people at a local lab that Scarlett knows and trusts. The rapid results were negative for all of us on all fronts. More accurate results will be delivered in a week, and I assume those, too, will be negative.
If Scarlett found out one of us was lying and gave her an STI, she would kill us.
We’re all well-aware of that. So that can’t be what’s making her look so grave.
It must be something else. I fold my arms, resting the elbow of my left hand in the palm of my right, chin on my hand. I’m dissecting her with my eyes.
Scarlett fidgets a little under my stare, biting her lip.
“We need to talk?” Widow scoffs, pausing in the center of the room.
He stopped at a store on the way home and bought supplies to fix the hole in our bedroom wall.
He also grabbed a plastic tarp to cover the sideboard beneath it while he works, a brand that Bohnes swears by.
He said not a drop of blood had ever leaked from one.
I find that encouraging. “Don’t drop that shit on us like that. ”
“Is this about my bargain with Widow?” Bohnes asks, throwing his head back in a laugh. “Oh yes, I was waiting for this moment.”
Ah. This.
The subject of children.
“You know the deal between Bohnes and Widow.” Scarlett puts her hands on her hips, head half-bowed in thought.
“That Widow has these…windows of time to get me pregnant. If I have a baby with him, I’ll have one with Bohnes.
If Widow decides against it, he’s making the decision for Bohnes, too.
” She looks up at me, a dozen dirty thoughts dancing in her eyes. “That leaves you and Ash.”
Ahh.
“We’re quite young. We could easily change our minds later.” It’s the most diplomatic answer I can provide. Widow is looking at me like I’m full of shit. Bohnes is looking at me like I’m insane.
“Not only is Scarlett too nice, so are the rest of you.” Bohnes lifts up both hands in a careless shrug, shaking his head. “If she’s offering to have babies for us, we accept. We don’t argue. She is the boss, after all.”
“I am the boss, yes. Good boy.” Scarlett is deliciously frustrated. Her brows are so sharp when she’s angry like that.
I exhale as Ash sits down in one of the chairs, elbows on his knees, hands steepled against his chin.
“You would really have four children?” Ash asks as Scarlett flinches. The blood drains from her face.
“Look, I don’t really want kids, but here’s the deal: shacking up with four guys means making concessions.
I’m not a monster. I…” She sucks in a breath, sharing a look with me.
“I’m in love with you. I don’t want you to suffer or be taken advantage of.
If you want kids in the future, I’m willing to do it. ”
There’s a long silence that follows that statement. Rain is coming down hard outside, the security shutters closed tight but the sound loud enough to come from the roof. A deluge.
“Can I have some time to think?” Ash asks. Scarlett nods. His answer doesn’t change anything anyway. We’re far past the point of no return.
I love you. Scarlett said it to the room, but her attention was on me.
“What do you want?” I retort, and her eyes go wide.
“Uh, like I said: no kids. I guess it is possible that I could change my mind, but it grosses me the fuck out even considering it. Won’t lie.
” Scarlett shrugs, like it’s no big deal.
It is. This is a huge deal. “But I made the offer fully expecting all four of you to take it. You’d probably prefer not to share your life with other men, so… ”
“It’s your body, I’d be happiest if you decided for us.” I keep my eyes trained on Scarlett’s.
Mama and Papa, I always want them to be able to look down on my interactions with my wife and smile. I need to be a gentleman. Unless we’re in the bedroom. They won’t watch that. I exhale forcefully, shedding my shirt and moving into the bathroom to wash my hands.
Scarlett chases after me.
“You can’t say shit like that to me,” she growls, almost as if she’s angry. “How dare you?”
I laugh at her, using the motion detectors on both the soap dispenser and the faucet to get what I need without touching anything.
“I can’t tell you the truth? I’ll spend the next however many years proving that I’m the sort of man that deserves to be a husband and father. If you decide you want to bear my child, then tell me. If not, then so be it.”
“That’s so unfair,” she whispers, standing beside me and working her jaw like she’s annoyed. “Pompous ass. You think I’ll be so impressed with you that I’ll beg for it or something? If so, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
I turn away from the sink, holding my wet hands the way a doctor does before surgery.
There’s an automatic paper towel dispenser on the wall that only I seem to use.
Hand driers are so fucking unsanitary. I couldn’t bear to have one in the house.
This is the best option. Papa let me have whatever I needed to stay clean.
Papa will not be at my wedding.
The happiest day of my life is tomorrow, and I won’t have him because of some low-life scumbags. My teeth are unknowingly clenched, so I force myself to relax.
Scarlett presses her hands on either side of my neck, causing me to go still.
“What do you need? I’m not very good at this emotional bonding shit.
I don’t even know what to say right now.
” She sighs and strokes her fingers up the side of my neck to my hair.
I never expected that the dance of someone else’s fingertips could feel so good or be so calming.
Her touch is more than just ‘not repulsive’, it’s healing.
Even though she hasn’t recently washed her hands. Hasn’t been wearing gloves.
I press my freshly dried hand over one of Scarlett’s.
“I think it’s lovely that your grandmother is going to attend the wedding.
Are you certain you don’t want your mom and aunt there as well?
” I stroke my hand down her wrist and arm, caressing her with my palm and summoning flames to both her skin and mine.
I can see that my touch has the same effect on Scarlett that hers does on me.
“I had my girls book an out-of-state vacay for Anita and Geneva, just to get them out of town and out of the way. Anyway, I don’t want Geneva there, and Anita will just ask me about Alexis.
I’m not ready for that conversation.” Scarlett slides her hands down my neck, presses her palms to my chest, drags her fingers down to the waistband of my pants.
“We’re going to consummate our marriage properly tomorrow, aren’t we? ” she asks in a low, dangerous voice.
There are layers to that question. I know that. Still, I tell her, “yes.”
My hands and Scarlett’s intertwine, fingers tangling together.
My eyes drift to half-mast and my mouth grazes hers with a bright, fresh burn.
Ah. The sexual compatibility was there from the start, but Scarlett’s competency and heart are what drew me in.
Asking for help the day after Papa died has transformed my fate.
It’s so much easier to weather my grief when I’m drowning in her love.
“It should not be possible for me to love you as much as I do,” I whisper against her mouth, the soft murmur of the other boys talking in the bedroom soothing us both.
We’re protected together, like a monster with fangs and four paws thick with curved talons.
Red in tooth and claw, that’s what we are.
“But I should have known that night at the gallery. My father knew right away. He and my mother fell in love at first sight.”
“Were you falling in love with me while I was robbing you?” Scarlett replies coyly, thinking that I’ll tell her no.