I grunted. I knew that was coming.
“Can you email the travel agent? I’ll charter a private plane, there and back.”
“Okey-dokey.” She came in, coming to kiss me before hugging her dad. She called over her shoulder, “You better not be planning Tate’s take-down without us. I’m just saying.”
David laughed, finishing his drink and taking my glass. “On that note, Nate is over at the old house.”
Time to get this shit handled.
28
Group Text
Mason to everyone: Heading to the Mausoleum. I got a file from Nate’s PI on Tate.
Nate: About time. Get your ass over here.
Channing: James is rounded up. We went nice, at first. Where do you want the Pops?
Heather: Dump him in the ocean!
Samantha: I concur. Put him in his car and take out the brakes.
Heather: I concur right back!
Quincey: I feel like I’m supposed to be making a threat, but that’s culture clash for me. Nova is all about loving everything. She’d be upset if that car hit an animal.
Samantha: A giant pool it is. Knock him out before he goes in.
Channing: Jesus, women.
Samantha: Five dollars! You owe me to give to Maddie because she just saw that last text come through.
Heather: Malinda is watching all the kids. I’m bringing drinks. FYI for everyone.
Mason: Channing, bring him here. Who’s got Tate?
Nate: I outsourced. Blaise has a friend who knows where Tate is.
Mason: You didn’t…
Nate: Not sorry. I did. He comes in useful sometimes.
Mason: Do not let that stalker know I’m here, but we need to talk with James first, then her.
Nate: He’s harmless.
Mason: He didn’t grow up with your picture in his locker.
Matteo: Wtf have I missed?
29
Taylor
We were back in Logan’s room, and I read through the group text. Logan and I were both included, but looking over, I didn’t think Logan had even turned his phone on after our prenatal visit.
He came back from the bathroom, drying his hair from the shower, padding naked to his closet.
He skimmed a look over me before disappearing inside. “You okay?”
I had to make a decision.
I blacked my screen, putting my phone away.
“Mason is downstairs.”
He came back, boxers in hand and his eyebrows up. “Say what?”
“I called Mason that day when you wanted time off. That’s what I did to get it handled. I called him.” My hands went to my stomach. “I told him about the baby.”
“What?”
“I asked him not to say anything to anyone. I needed him to come in and head everyone off. So that’s what he did. You walked out of a room. They’re downstairs now, talking about a fight coming. I asked you to trust me. I told you I might need to tell someone about the baby.”
“I didn’t think you meant Mason.”
I got quiet. “I’m sorry. I took that from you.”
He closed his eyes, shaking his head as he went to the bed and reached for his phone. He turned his on but said as he waited, “You were right to do that. Mason is the only one who could hold everyone off. I, just, that’s my brother. It’s been him and me before anyone else came along.”
He was right. He was so right.
I had fucked up.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
His eyes cleared, and he blinked suddenly, as if seeing me for the first time, and reached for me. “Hey. Hey. It’s okay. I get it. I do.” He motioned to me. “Come here.”
I didn’t, so he stood, grabbed my hand, and yanked me over to him as he sat back down. I landed on his lap, and he wrapped an arm around my waist, anchoring me in place. His phone started going off from the texts, but he tossed it behind him on the bed and only focused on me.
I closed my eyes, because man, I had seriously messed up. That was his brother. “Logan,” I whispered. My hand formed a fist and pressed into his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“Taylor.” He sighed, brushing some of my hair behind my ear, and he leaned back to see me better. “Look at me.”
I did. Tears flooded my eyes.
He shifted his arms, moving me even closer to him on his lap. I was sitting sideways, but my ass was right over his dick, and I could feel it rising, pressing up against my pants. “Babe. I needed time to be with just you and our baby. It was a lot to process. All Mason got was a sneak peek. That’s it. And trust me, it’s killing him that he can’t tell anyone. Knowing my brother as I do, he wouldn’t tell Sam even, and that’s really burning in him.” He laughed, pressing his mouth to the back of my shoulder. “He’s gotta keep the secret until the second trimester too. After that, I might be okay with how this worked out. He’s like my shield. If I gotta check out, do pre-dad stuff, I can send everyone his way, and he’s gotta handle it. I kinda love it.”
His hand moved, spreading out over my stomach.
He whispered, pressing another softer kiss there, “Also, by the way, if you haven’t gotten the memo yet, I’ve never been happier than now.”
I shifted, turning my face so we were an inch away. “Yeah?”
He nodded, so solemn. “Yeah.” He moved in, his mouth finding mine and opening over mine.
We kissed and made out like we were teenagers until Logan moved, almost tossing me on the bed, and started to crawl over me—that’s when we heard the yelling.
30
Mason
“What is the meaning of this?” That was James’ exclamation once he was brought inside.
We’d been ready, having had our meeting, and all of us were standing in the kitchen when I gave Channing the go-ahead to bring in the package. So he did, leading the way with my father being pushed behind him by Congo, one of Channing’s guys.
A surprise happened when we saw that behind Congo was Channing’s younger sister.
Over the years, we’d seen Channing’s sister on and off.
I’d always felt some similarities with her and Samantha, but Bren was a different sort of animal. She was like a beautiful female wolf in human form. There’d been a feral feeling to her. Approach with caution. I felt it the first time I met her, and it was still there, though I knew through Channing that she was happy, married, and had a couple of children. I knew her husband, too, another member in her childhood ‘crew’ that was still tight to this day. Our group was close, but their group had a different sort of tight like they were half of each other. According to Channing, it never lessened. Where one moved, all moved.
I was guessing from seeing the slight reservation on Channing’s face, in the way he tracked his sister’s movements, that he still didn’t know how his sister would react to being around us. She’d always had this mysterious but stay-the-fuck-away-from-me-or-I’ll-slice-you vibe when she was around us.
I took one look, and yep, still there.
“Bren!” Heather squealed, heading over. She had her arms out, ready to pull her sister-in-law to her chest, but Bren held up a baton. Heather skidded to a stop.