“Yeah, it’s a maximum of two days after vaginal delivery and five after c-section,” Nat answers.
“Are we in trouble?” I ask.
“No. Fitz Everhart is handling your case. He talked to a judge. They’re waiting for the paperwork.”
“That sounds illegal,” Nathalie says, taking the baby away from me.
“God, she needs to sign the fucking NDA,” Lang complains.
“I’d appreciate it if you start working on your language in front of my kid,” I scold him.
He glares at her and says, “You seem to be staying here longer than I expected. Why don’t you sign our NDA? I mean, you have access to a pretty important secret—the baby. I can’t have you around without promising that you won’t be talking.”
“Why would I talk? The last thing I need is for my family to find out that I’m in Luna Harbor mingling with…” She glances at me. “Him.”
“Ouch,” I say, not sure if I should be offended or…what the fuck, Nat?
“It’s not like that. You need to meet my parents to understand why I say it. I’m not ashamed of you or anything. I’d rather tell them I’m dating Fisher Hannigan than have them learn through the gossip mill. Either way, it’s not going to be pretty.”
I grin like a fool because she’s going to give us a chance. The smile is gone when Lang speaks, “What if you decide to sell the story. You have financial…restrictions.”
“That’s such a nice way to say that my checking account is in the single digits. Now, why do you know that, and why shouldn’t I seek legal action against you?”
“It’s my job to know everything that happens around my family.”
“Don’t be an asshole, Lang. Also, drop it. I trust her.”
He rolls his eyes. “I knew this was going to happen.”
“Drop it,” I order.
He raises his hands. “Fine. I’ll zip it—for now. Do we have a name for him?”
“Gillean is good,” Nathalie says.
“No, it sounds like Gillette. I’m not naming my boy after some cheap shaving cream.”
She smirks. “They make razors too.”
“Smartass. It’s still a hard no. How about Caspian?”
“We already vetoed that one. Emil?”
I blink a couple of times. “Sounds like Emily. No. If you want, I’ll knock you up, and if it’s a girl, we’ll call her Emily.”
“Hard no,” she says. “Morgan?”
“Nope. We’re not going through this again. Are we?” I exhale, exasperated.
“Keaghan?” Nat asks expectantly. “We can call him Keagh. there’s always Damon since you know…we keep calling him little demon.”
I laugh. “Keaghan sounds a lot better. I don’t want to explain to him that we chose his name because the first night he seemed to be possessed.”
“Middle name?” Lang asks.
“Allen,” I say.
Nat looks at me with her big eyes filled with moisture. We’re middle naming him after her grandfather.
Lang interrupts the moment by clapping. “Good. Fitz will send you the paperwork within the next hour.”
“The questionable lawyer?” Nat challenges him.
God, the last thing I need is for them to get into a fight. Lang glances at me, exasperated. He has little to no patience for people outside of our circle. It’s part of his hard-asshole exterior. He’s a freaking softy on the inside. I give him a look that says to cool it or we’re going to have a problem. Nat might not be part of his precious inner circle yet, but she’s becoming part of mine.
“We have a great legal team. None of the people who work for us are questionable.” I draw air quotes. “Are they expensive? Of course. Do they find ways to get us out of trouble when an ex-lover does something stupid like not registering a kid? The answer is yes.”
Nat scoffs and hands me the baby. “Since you have someone to be with you, I’m going to check on Mrs. Turner.”
“You told her you’d be there at eleven. We have things to discuss.”
“I might as well get it done now.”
“You might want to change your shirt. Baby puke doesn’t look professional,” Lang says as she leaves.
She gives him the finger and shuts the door behind her.
“Why are you so fucking annoying?”
He shrugs. “So, the doctor and you…”
“What’s your fucking problem?”
“You are my problem. You might not give a shit about many things, but you’re never sloppy. What’s wrong with you?” His voice resonates through the entire house.
“I haven’t done anything stupid. Are you jealous because I might be going out with someone?”
“Don’t try to defuse the issue by flirting. It doesn’t work with me, I know your bullshit. Women get excited because they want to sleep with you. Men get flustered because they want you to fuck them, or they don’t know how to respond. It’s entertaining to watch, but I’m not them.
“Anyway, it seems like you need a reminder of the basics. The Organization doesn’t exist. You’re just musicians on hiatus. You’re supposed to be living a simple life. But no, you’re breaking the rules. You could’ve flown thirty minutes east to get stitched up by an authorized doctor—not by her. You’re so fucking hard for her that you’re forgetting your training. Now she’s onto us. I can’t be fixing all your fuck ups.”
Is that why he’s upset? I told Manelik that Lang was going to get his panties in a twist. He didn’t believe me.
“Mine? That was Mane not wanting to be away from Nydia. Every time someone else fucks up, you assume it was me—it wasn’t. I own my screw-ups. It’s not always me. But let’s blame the clown of the group.”
He looks at me apologetically. “I had no idea.”
“Well, now you know. Am I comfortable that she knows?” I pause for a second. “You know what? I am. I trust her.”
He squirms.
He actually squirms.
This is fun. Since I’m enjoying this too much, so I won’t tell him that Nathalie doesn’t know shit.
Is she onto us? Probably.
If and when I’m ready, I’ll tell her all my secrets. There’s nothing he can do and there won’t be an NDA between us. Nydia doesn’t have one either.
“She needs to sign an NDA,” he insists.
“Does everyone around you sign an NDA?”
“I make sure no one thinks I’m anything but a blood-sucking manager who sometimes plays the role of agent.”
“You are pretty good at your role. Listen, while I figure out how I want to handle my paternity, I’m also exploring a relationship with her—”
“Fish, I need you to focus for a second. You have a child. If anyone sees you with him and her, they will make assumptions. This is a small town. They’ll talk. They might take a couple of pictures and sell them too. Do you want her to be Fisher Hannigan’s baby mama? You heard what she said. She’d hate it if her parents find out that she’s with you through gossip.”
“That’s not going to happen.”