Chapter Five #2
“You’re keeping her? She’s not like that stray fucking dog you picked up in an alley, Braxton. Have you even bothered to ask her what she wants?”
“Tell me, Draven. Did you ask Kierra what she wanted when you put that ring on her finger? Did you ask her or tell her you were getting married?” He doesn’t say another word because he knows I’m right. He’s been telling his wife how things are going to be since the beginning.
“Fine, but if you piss off my wife or make her cry over any of this, there’s going to be hell to pay.
” Now that, I don’t doubt at all. Draven’s always been an asshole, but when it comes to Kierra’s happiness, he takes it to a whole other level.
I think I’m starting to get where he’s coming from, though.
The thought of anyone making Sierra cry makes me feel homicidal.
“Drav! Brax! I get to go with momma,” Nash yells excitedly as he races toward us with his momma on his heels. When he starts to trip, I dart forward and scoop him up.
“Thanks,” he says as he wraps his arms around my neck. I swear the kid is fearless, regardless of how many times I’ve seen him bite the dust. The last time I took him swimming, he skinned both knees when he fell down chasing after Mila.
I feel that familiar pang in my chest when Sadie appears behind them, holding her baby brother, Xavier. Sadie is like a niece to us all. Draven was left to raise her after her mother died during childbirth.
“That’s great, kid,” Viper says as he takes his son out of her arms. I never thought my best friend would have more kids after spending nineteen years raising Sadie alone, but even I can admit fatherhood looks good on him.
Turning all his attention to Kierra and ignoring the rest of us, he says, “Gonna have the house to ourselves, woman.”
“Dad!” Sadie yells.
“If you don’t like it, you can always go to your own house,” he responds, placing a possessive hand on his wife’s ass.
“Seriously?” Kierra laughs, swatting at his wandering hands. Their nonsense usually gets on my nerves, but the smile on Sierra’s face at their shit makes them almost bearable. Almost.
“Nash, are you and Momma ready to go shopping?” I ask, hoping to get out of here before Viper drags Kierra upstairs.
“Yeah!” I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kid as excited or as animated as he is right now.
As soon as he saw his mom, it was like a light that none of us realized had been out was turned back on.
Kierra wanted to slowly transition Nash back to his mother, and while I understand her reasoning, there was no way I was going to allow Nash and Sierra to be separated for one day longer.
When I asked him what he wanted, he made it abundantly clear that he wanted to go home with his mom. That was enough for me.
Walking over to Kierra’s car, I grab Nash’s booster seat and install it in my truck. Finally finished with saying her goodbyes, Sierra strolls over with Nash in her arms. The bond between them is undeniable.
“Ready, buddy?” I ask as I take him from her.
“Yeah, can we get ice cream?” he asks as I buckle him in. Closing his door, I open mine and climb in so we can make it to Ikea before they close.
“We can later. Right now, we’ve got to go find stuff for your room.” Luckily, Sierra didn’t hear that part.
“Hey, Sparrow. Do you know what happened to my car?” she asks as we pull out of the compound.
“Baby, that thing was a hunk of fucking junk. The prospects brought it by the scrapyard, and I thought it had been dropped off to be crushed, and well . . . I crushed it.”
“You crushed my car?”
“You can drive my truck until I can get you something better and safer, yeah?” She doesn’t say anything as she stares out the window. “You pissed?”
“No. Not really. I know it was a piece of junk, but it was mine. Ya know?”
“Sorry, babe. We’ll go to the auction and get you something nice, okay?”
“What? No, you don’t have to do that, Sparrow. I can figure something else out.” I don’t say anything else, deciding to let the car issue go for now.
Pulling into Ikea, I’m glad to see that it’s not very busy.
“Wait for me to come around and get you,” I order, climbing out.
I move around the hood and open Birdie’s door.
Unable to stop myself, I give her a quick peck on the lips before helping her out.
When I move to Nash’s door, he’s already unbuckled and raring to go.
I lift him up onto my shoulders and nod at Target. “We need to go in there first.”
“What do we need to get in here?” she questions, grabbing a nearby cart.
“Candy!” Nash squeals. We both laugh at his enthusiasm.
“We don’t have anything at home for him, baby. He’s going to need everything. Clothes, toys, furniture for his bedroom, the whole shebang. And apparently, some candy, too.” I laugh.
“Crap. I need to go to the bank first, Sparrow. I don’t have any money on me.”
“I got it, baby.”
“It’s too much,” she snaps.
“It’s not too much. I’m not rich, but I can more than afford to get Nash set up, darlin’.” I raise my hand to stop her when she opens her mouth to argue some more.
“Damn it, Birdie. I’m 40 years old and have lived a simple life. I’ve made some very smart investments in addition to the cut I get from the club every month. I also own part of the salvage yard. I have more than enough money to take care of my family.”
Her eyes widen as she whispers, “Your family.” It’s not a question. She knows what I’m getting at here. I’ve told her several times already that she’s mine.
“Yeah, baby. Keep trying to show you that I want this. I want you,” I urge her, wanting her to understand.
“Are you going to kiss my momma?” Nash asks.
“Yeah,” I answer, hooking her finger with mine and pulling her against my body.
She lifts her face to mine as I lean down and press my lips against hers.
I feel ten feet tall when she opens for me.
I sample her peach-flavored lips, needing a taste to hold me over, before pulling back and peppering her mouth with mine until she giggles.
“Gross,” Nash groans, making us both laugh.
“Let me do this, yeah?”
“Okay. Thank you, Braxton.”
“Anything for you, darlin’. Now. We need to get you a few things while we’re out today, too.” I grab the cart and head for the boys’ section. I grin when I hear her growling behind me. She’ll get over it.
An hour later, our cart is overflowing with bags as I head towards the truck. Opening the back door, I start tossing in Sierra and Nash’s loot. We got everything they’ll need to get them started.
“Y’all ready to tackle Ikea? We can grab some lunch while we’re here too.”
“Yay!” Nash cheers. As much as Sierra hates me spending money, I can tell she’s enjoyed this shopping trip with Nash.
“Let’s do it then,” I say, giving Nash a high-five.
We grab two carts on our way inside and once again fill them to the top.
After reminding Sierra how bare my place is since it’s only been Bones and me there, she concedes to help me pick out the furnishings to make it feel more like a home instead of a bachelor pad.
She picked out dishes and cookware, towels and linens, and even spared me when I begged her to pick out the furniture to fill the empty rooms.
Halfway through the store, I realize that we are getting more than I had expected, so I text the prospects to bring the truck and trailer so they can haul all the shit we bought back to our house.
As we’re checking out, I notice that Nash is starting to crash. The boy’s been a trouper all afternoon as we shopped.
“Here, Birdie. Why don’t you take him on home, and I’ll be right behind you,” I say, handing her the keys to my truck.
“Are you sure? We can wait while you help them load the trailer, honey.”
“I’m sure, baby. I’ll ride back with Easy. You get our boy home, yeah?”
“Okay,” she murmurs softly, accepting my keys. I’m struck mute when she lifts onto her toes, presses her lips to mine, and takes off for my truck.
“You got it bad, VP.” Kidd chuckles.
“Fuck off.” I keep my eyes on Sierra until she pulls out of the lot and waves at Easy, who’s shadowing her. Hopefully, she doesn’t notice before I have a chance to explain why I want him guarding her when I’m not around.
The first things I notice when I walk into my house are Sierra standing with her hands on her luscious hips and the look of disgust on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re a slob.”
“No, I’m not!” Looking around, I stand corrected. My living room looks like a tornado plowed through it. When she turns those beautiful but accusing eyes on me, I just grin. What can I say? I’m no Martha Stewart.
I watch in reverie as she pulls the elastic off her wrist and flips her head upside-down to secure her hair on top.
When she stands, I’m able to see the scars on her neck.
I've gotta figure out a way to let some of this aggression out.
Since fucking her is out of the question, maybe a trip to the gym in the morning will help.
I need the techies to dig into Sierra’s past and see if they can find something about the man who hurt her. Pulling out my phone, I shoot Dexter a text.
ME: Need you to find someone but have no idea who
DEX: That’s helpful
ME: Explain when I come by tmrw
DEX: Okay
I have no idea how Dex is going to find the monster that hurt my Birdie, but if anyone can, it’s him and George.
“What can I do to help, baby?” I ask, putting my phone away.
“Take Nash outside for twenty minutes while I run the vacuum? Then, you guys can put the furniture together while I finish cleaning. How does that sound?”
“Whatever you want, Birdie.” Placing a kiss on her lips, I grab Nash and direct the prospects to the backyard. We throw the ball with Bones until Birdie gives us the all-clear that we can come back inside.
For the next couple of hours, Nash helps me and the prospects put together furniture while his momma works on scrubbing the house from top to bottom. She has quite a vocabulary when she’s unhappy.
“Where’d your woman go?” Easy asks.