“We gotta get home, baby. I need more of that,” he whispers in my ear. Grabbing some napkins from the table, he discreetly wipes me as I stand, dumping them in the trash as we leave.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
GRIM
“Slight problem,” announces Mav in church the next day. “Cambridge isn’t playing ball. He sent some thugs to smash up one of Arthur’s bars last night.”
“Fuck, so all we did was piss him off?” asks Ghost.
“On the plus side, we’re rich,” I say, smirking.
“Great, we can bail your arse out of prison,” Ghost replies sarcastically.
“Arthur said to be patient. He thinks Nick’s just throwing his toys out the pram. Once he’s had his tantrum, he’ll do as we ask.”
“How will we know he’s taken the target off my back?” I ask.
“You’ll still be around to annoy us,” says Copper, and I grin. It feels good to be relaxed and stress-free.
“Arthur’s got feelers out everywhere, so he’ll know who Cambridge has asked.”
“So, why can’t Arthur just order them not to carry it out? This is his area too, right?” asks Ghost.
“Depends on what Cambridge is willing to pay, for a start,” I say. “He’ll always find one scumbag who will do anything for cash. I gotta go make peace with him.”
“Make peace?” asks Mav, laughing. “What the fuck did you have on your cereal today, rays of happiness?”
“I got myself into this mess, I’ll get out of it. He’s a businessman. I’ll offer to do some dirty work for him.”
“It’s too risky. Besides, that won’t save his wife, and we can’t partner up with a dick like him. Women will lose faith in the club.”
“Then what do we do? Because I don’t wanna die, and Harriett ain’t going back home to him,” I say.
“We’ll be patient a little while longer. If he doesn’t see sense, we’ll come up with a plan. Maybe this time we could blow his fucking casino up!”
After church, I head up to Mum’s room. The door is open, but she isn’t there and the sheets are changed. The windows are wide and a moment of panic hits me hard. I run downstairs and into the kitchen but stop in my tracks. Mum is at the table, drinking tea with Mama B and Hadley. They all turn to me, and Hadley smiles. “She’s feeling a little better.”
“I thought she’d . . . never mind.”
“Come join us,” says Mama B, holding out her hand. I take it and sit beside her. “Why don’t we leave you two to talk?” she suggests. Hadley nods, and they make a quick exit.
“Smooth,” I mutter, and Mum smiles. She looks pale and tired still and way too thin, but she isn’t shaking or sweating. “How are you really feeling?”
“Good . . . ish. It’s hard, but today feels like a better day.”
“You look a little better.”
“Don’t lie. I look like shit.” We both laugh. “Brea was telling me about Eagle.” I nod. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Neither did we.”
“And his other kid is here, at the club?” I nod again. “Seems like Mav is making good changes. The club was never so forgiving before.”
“He’s trying. Now the dead wood is gone, it’s easier.”
“I have so much explaining to do,” she says quietly.
“Stick around this time, then you can explain all you want.” She nods. “This is it, Ma. After this chance, there’ll never be another from me. If you fuck this up, I’m cutting you off.”
“I don’t blame you,” she whispers. “You deserved better. And so did Xzavier.” I wait patiently for her to continue. “He’s sixteen now. I don’t know where he is because his dad took him from me when he was less than a month old. But you deserve to know about him.”
“Jesus, you had another kid?”
She nods. “Your dad knew. He chose not to tell you because he didn’t want to upset you. I was doing a great job of that all by myself. But hopefully, now I’m getting straight, I can put a lot of past mistakes right.”
She takes my hand, and I stare at her bony fingers. I guess I knew deep down there was always a possibility she’d have other kids, but I don’t know how I feel about having a brother. A real blood brother who lost his mum just like I did.
While Hadley is using Mav’s office to work, I sit on the worn couch and sip a whiskey. “You went to work all day, and you come home and work some more.”
“There’s a promotion coming up and I want it,” she mutters, staring hard at the laptop.
“Why? You don’t need to work—I’ve got you.”
She grins. “I want to work. Who would help you out of driving bans?”
I laugh. “You said yourself, it’ll be a hefty fine and a ban. It’s stupid I even have to go to court.”
“Grim, you had six points on your licence already. They had no choice but to report you for the offence.”
I make my way over to her and kiss her on the head. “You sound like a lawyer.”
“Good. Now go, so I can work.”
“If you’re gonna be my ol’ lady, you’ll have to chauffeur me around until I get my licence back. You won’t have time to work.”
“You have more than enough brothers around this place to help you out. I’m not quitting, so forget it.”
“What if we have kids?”
She looks up. “You hate kids.”
“If it keeps you here beside me, I’m gonna fill you with ‘em.”
She rolls her eyes, shaking her head. “That reminds me, I’d better get the shot again.”
“Yeah, you’d better,” I whisper, kissing her again. “I ain’t ready to share you just yet.” It was on the tip of my tongue to mention my brother, but I didn’t. Instead, I let her work and join my brothers in the bar, the brothers I grew up with and know better than anyone. Maybe I don’t need to know Xzavier after all.
HADLEY
The nurse clicks away on her laptop. It was a week before I could get an appointment to get my contraceptive shot, and the fact I’ve had to nip out of work is stressing me out. I have to meet Grim at the courthouse for his telling off from the judge in exactly an hour. “Ms. Maverick, your shot ran out six weeks ago.”
I glare at her impatiently. “No, I was due at the end of this month.”
She shakes her head. “No. It was an eight-week shot.”
Dread fills me. “No, no, no, no. Why would I have the eight-week one? It’s always twelve weeks. I always take the twelve weeks.”
She looks back at her computer screen. “It says here you had some concerns about side effects last time you were here.”
My conversation with the last nurse hits me, and I wince. “Oh god.”
“And you agreed to have the shorter one to give you time to think about other options?”
I cover my mouth. “Yes, I remember.”