“I love you, son. In the future, if you’re mad at me, or worried about something, please don’t hesitate to talk to me. Or Leo, if you don’t think you can discuss it with me. I’m your mother, but I’d like to think I’m your friend too. I’m your champion, your cheerleader, and someone you can always count on to have your back, no matter what. Okay?”
“Okay,” Mario said. Then he sat up. “Can I finish watching my show now?”
Cassidy studied her son. A huge weight seemed to have lifted from his shoulders, and the shadows in his eyes were gone. Smiling, she nodded. “Of course. It’s a bit too early to go to lunch. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna go to the other room and call Leo.”
Mario shrugged. He’d already reached for the remote.
Shaking her head, Cassidy knew she’d have to get used to this new Mario. An independent, slightly aloof preteen. She would miss the little boy he used to be, but couldn’t wait to see him morph into a man. And with Leo there to help guide him, as well as Bull, Smoke, and Eagle, she had no doubt he’d be respectful, considerate, and protective.
Cassidy got up and grabbed her phone off the counter. She looked at her watch and was surprised to see more time than she’d thought had passed since she’d sat down with Mario. It felt as if the conversation had taken only ten minutes or so. She figured that was probably a metaphor for how the next few years would be. She’d look back on Mario’s teenage years and wonder how they’d gone by so quickly.
Heading upstairs to their bedroom, she clicked on Leo’s name. She couldn’t wait to tell him how well the talk with Mario had gone. She’d save the news about her son’s desire to take Leo’s last name for another day.
Cassidy knew she’d lucked out. She’d survived living with a drug dealer, then Lloyd and Martin’s coming to take her. She had a man she loved with all her heart, who amazingly loved her back, and a great group of friends; her parents were safe; and her son was adjusting to his new life with amazing ease.
Life was good.
Chapter Twenty-One
Gramps looked around the table at the three best friends he’d ever had. Silverstone had been through a lot over the years. First on the Delta Force team in the Army, including their last mission in the Middle East resulting in the reprimand by their commanders. They’d started Silverstone Towing and had worked their asses off to make it a success.
The missions they’d gone on as Silverstone had been just as exhilarating as the ones they’d completed for the Army, maybe more so. They’d helped countless men, women, and children get their lives back. But just like everything in life, things changed.
A decision needed to be made about the future of Silverstone. The team had been putting off this conversation for months, but now that Smoke was out of the hospital and almost back to his old self, it was time.
“How’re you feeling?” Bull asked Smoke.
“Surprisingly good, actually. The doc approved me for all activities earlier this week,” he said with a grin. “I’ve been spending as much time as possible showing Molly how appreciative I am of her nursing skills over the last few weeks.”
Everyone chuckled.
“And her pregnancy?” Eagle asked.
“Normal. Our little girl is cooking right along. She’ll be here before we know it.”
“You’re okay with a girl?” Bull asked.
“Okay with it? I’m over-the-moon excited. Honestly, I couldn’t decide if I wanted a boy or a girl, but the second she told me our baby was a girl, I couldn’t imagine having anything else.”
“Happy for you, Smoke,” Gramps said.
Eagle and Bull added their felicitations as well.
“Have to admit that I was scared there for a bit,” Smoke admitted. “At first it was like any other op. But when I felt myself get hit, I knew I was in trouble. I wasn’t scared for me, but for Molly. I didn’t want to leave her alone. I hadn’t even met my baby, and I didn’t want to leave her either.”
And that was the perfect opening. “We’ve changed,” Gramps said. “Silverstone’s changed.” He wasn’t surprised when his three friends all nodded in agreement. “If Willis called today about that case we were researching a bit ago, would we want to take it?”
Silence greeted his statement as everyone thought long and hard about their answer.
“Taylor’s pregnant again,” Eagle blurted.
Everyone turned to stare at him in disbelief.
“Damn, man,” Bull said.
“I know—we didn’t plan it, but we got careless one night, and that was all it took,” Eagle said a little sheepishly. “Kevin went down early that night, and we hadn’t spent a lot of time together for a few days, and one thing led to another . . .”
“Congratulations!” Smoke said, laughing.
“Yeah, that’s awesome. How far along is she?” Gramps asked.
“Not even six weeks yet, so it’s still really early. But we’re cautiously excited about it,” Eagle said. “So if Willis called and said we needed to ship out tomorrow, I’d have big-time reservations about it.”
“Skylar and I don’t want children,” Bull said, “but after seeing the absolute hell Molly went through when Smoke was hurt, I can’t imagine ever doing that to Skylar. I understand there are inherent risks to life in general, and I could be hit by a car tomorrow, but willingly putting myself in dangerous situations doesn’t seem like the best idea anymore.”
“I’ve lived my entire life helping others, with no second thoughts,” Gramps said. “I’m proud of what we’ve done in the Army and what we’ve built here with Silverstone, but after wasting over two decades that I could’ve had with Cassidy if I’d been braver . . . it makes me less eager to risk my life to possibly miss out on more.”
“Coming as close to dying as I did has changed my perspective too,” Smoke added.
Gramps nodded. “It looks like we’re all on the same page.” He wasn’t surprised. They’d done everything as a team. When they were younger, they’d partied together, they’d fought together on their Delta Force team, and they’d been all in when Willis had offered them the opportunity to form Silverstone and continue to serve their country in a different way. They’d also put everything they had into making Silverstone Towing a success, exceeding all of their expectations.
“Who’s gonna tell Willis?” Smoke asked.
“I don’t think we’ll really need to. I think it’s been more than obvious in recent months that our hearts haven’t been in things. We’ve barely taken the time to sit down and discuss the cases he’s sent us, and we certainly haven’t been communicating with him about any of them,” Eagle said with a shrug.
“I’ll call him later today,” Bull said.
“No time like the present,” Gramps said.
The others all nodded.
“Let’s do it,” Smoke said.
Gramps got up and got the secure satellite phone they used to communicate with their FBI contact. He dialed Willis’s number and put the phone in the middle of the table.