It was only after she yelled that Nathan was an ‘asshole’ at the top of her lungs and pointed at him where he was standing next to me that I realized that Peyton had had enough.
She turned around, said something extremely softly to Eerie, then pointed at the exit.
Eerie stared at her with a partially hanging open mouth.
“I will…” she started to say, but Peyton shook her head, said something else, and Eerie clenched her mouth tightly closed and turned around on her heel and left the room.
Again.
Peyton waited for the doors to close behind her before she started back over toward us.
“I just can’t even condone this behavior. I have the authority to kick her stupid as… uh, behind out. Sorry, parents.” She nodded at the Rosses at the table closest the door. “How are y’all doing?”
Mr. Ross looked up and grinned. The other Mr. Ross, who was the more outspoken of the two in their relationship, looked like he was enjoying the show.
“Oh, honey. Don’t apologize for that woman on our account. We’ve been in here all morning listening to her spout her bullshit to your face. You’re allowed to think she’s an ass because she is an ass. No one should have to deal with that.”
I would’ve laughed had this situation been remotely humorous to me at all.
Nathan, on the other hand, looked like he’d been put through the wash, hung up to dry, and then a tornado had taken him off the clothesline and tossed him right back into the storm.
“It’ll be okay,” I promised.
He looked at me like he wanted to believe me but couldn’t. “I sure hope that you’re right.”
I sure hoped that I was, too.
Chapter 16
There are 27 bones in the human hand. And 28 when you’re feeling lonely.
-Text from Reggie to Nathan
Nathan
“So you’re married.”
We were at a team bonding exercise at our chief’s house.
The chief of police, Luke Roberts, grinned at me. He knew what his words would do.
The entire freakin’ room around me went silent as everyone realized just who the chief was talking to.
“I am,” I confirmed, not bothering to look around to see whose attention I had. “I’ve been married for a few years now.”
At least, according to the law and the great state of Nevada, I was.
“We didn’t know,” he said, sounding and looking like the Cheshire Cat.
I shrugged. “I didn’t want anyone to know.”
Because then I’d have to explain why Reggie wanted nothing to do with me at the time.
“Also heard that you have a kid,” Malachi added in his two cents, leaning back onto the couch and bringing his beer bottle to his lips.
I closed my eyes and groaned.
Everyone that hadn’t really been listening was listening now.
“Well shit,” I heard said. “Now we gotta know the whole story.”
“I don’t really feel like talking about it,” I admitted. “My fuckin’ head hurts.”
In fact, it’d been a steady pound since having to deal with Eerie earlier that morning. One that had only grown after talking to my lawyer mid-afternoon.
The last thing that I’d wanted to do was go to a team-building exercise. But Reggie had agreed to go with me and come up with an excuse to leave, so I felt that in the end I’d be able to handle this day from hell continuing into the night. I’d been wrong.
“How about I do the talking?” Reggie suggested upon walking into the room and hearing what was being discussed.
I opened one eye to see her with her arms crossed standing behind me protectively.
Something inside of my chest felt like it’d lightened at the thought of her being there.
She looked at me as if asking for permission, and I nodded once.
These men really should know what was going on just in case. One, Eerie was a resourceful bitch. If she could, she’d use every single source available to her to make it seem like I was the bad guy. And having my friends hear it from me first would be best. Two, they were my friends. I didn’t want to keep them in the dark.
Reggie went on to explain exactly what was going on, leaving out the part with us getting married and why. But making sure to let everyone know that Eerie was a deceitful, evil bitch. She even told them about what had happened earlier that day, ending with the showdown in the NICU between the charge nurse, Peyton, and Eerie.
Reggie ended with, “And she got kicked out of the NICU because she was causing a stir.”
There was blissful silence for all of a half a second before the first question popped up.
“So how does that work?” Malachi wondered. “You signed a contract that both parents had to be in agreement to use the eggs. So then, how does that work? It’s kind of like stealing, is it not?”
“That’s what we were saying,” Reggie said. “Nathan called and told them he didn’t want them to ever be used. And according to the person that he spoke with, they would be destroyed.”
“Wow,” Luke said, sounding amazed. “I just heard that you were married. I hadn’t heard all of this.”
I smiled weakly, my headache still pounding full force.
“So how will this work? Will you be able to get custody?” Ford, another of the SWAT members, asked. “Is this something that you even want?”
I opened my eyes for that one.
“Yes,” I said, sitting up straight. “I want this kid. What I don’t is this kid’s mother.”
“Amen,” Reggie muttered, her arms crossed in anger as she thought about Eerie. Then, her eyes narrowed. “And we haven’t even gotten to the best part. The baby’s name…”
Then she went on to explain about the baby’s name, its correlation with my biological father’s killer, and Eerie’s smug face when she continued to call the baby that horrid name.
“You’re fucking shitting me,” Bennett, our SWAT team leader, said. “That’s just fucking sick.”
Bennett was a man of few words. With age came wisdom and silence according to Foster, our other team leader. He didn’t offer much to say unless he felt his input was needed. For Bennett to speak up about this meant that Eerie really was as bad as I felt she was.
“My lawyer is working on the name change now,” I admitted. “She’s working on a lot of things. Since we’re not sure that this has ever been done before, we’re running on a lot of what-ifs. As of right now, we’re just working on the custody issue. We’re speed tracking it through the system now.”
“Let me know if I can volunteer Rowen,” Dax, another member of our SWAT team, offered. “She’s at home, bored to tears, with the baby. She has the time to help if you need her.”
I looked over at my friend.
But before I could tell him thanks, but no thanks, Reggie was already inputting her own suggestion.
“You know what,” Reggie said, sounding determined. “That actually would be quite perfect. We’re using this lawyer that specializes in criminal defense. I’m not saying that she isn’t good. She’s the best. But we really could use all the help we could get. If we can get help where Eerie is concerned, we’ll take it.”
When Reggie put it that way, she made a whole lot of fucking sense.
I nodded my head in agreement. “I can ask my lawyer to share with her.”
Dax nodded his head as he pulled out his phone and started texting away.
“I’ll text her and see what she has to say,” he said. “She’s family law now, as you know. If anything else, she can help with the custody aspect side of it. Help get you what you need there. The rest, Eerie paying for what she did? That can come later. I think charges of some kind need to be filed.”
I agreed.
I just wasn’t sure what kind of charges needed to happen, or where to even bring something like this. My father was thankfully looking into it, but since he had an obvious
conflict of interest in this case, it wasn’t like he could pursue it all the way.
“I called my dad.”
I turned to see Amelia, Adam’s woman, standing in the doorway.
Her dad, Silas Mackenzie, was ex-CIA. Or so everyone told me. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what he was. Though, an intimidating bastard was definitely one of the key words that I’d use if I had to explain anything when it came to the older man. Even at his age, I still got a chill that raced down my spine when he was in the same room with me.
And poor fucking Adam was marrying his daughter.
Talk about intimidation.
Amelia moved, and that was when I saw all the women at her back, all of them ready to rally around and help in any way they could.
When I looked back, I had all of the men’s attention, too. They were all staring at me with various shades of anger, all of it aimed at the woman that had fucked me over.
This.
This right here was what I’d wanted when I’d joined the SWAT team. Though I had a camaraderie of sorts with my baseball team, it wasn’t this. The feeling that I knew that I’d be okay. That Reggie and my child would be okay. No matter if I was there or not.
They would always have my back.
I swallowed hard, overcome by the emotions that were rolling through me at the sight of all these men and women coming together to help me with my son.
My son.
Holy shit.
I hadn’t said that before.
I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it, honestly.
I hadn’t wanted to.
But now that the thought had entered my mind, it was definitely there for me to never forget.
My eyes went to Reggie. When my gaze found hers, I realized that she was staring so hard at me that I must’ve missed something important.
“What?” I asked.
“They asked you something.” She gestured to Luke and Bennett.
I turned to find both older men staring at me.
“I asked if your parents knew,” he repeated.
I paused. “My dad knows. I’m sure that my mother knows by now, too. Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to show up here and figure out more information. I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with it.”
“That would be because of me,” Reggie said. “I asked them to give you a couple of days to process the news. But they know. They’re also calling and texting me for hourly updates.”
I turned to her sharply. “They are?”
She nodded.
“I feel like I’m missing something,” one of the men said.
I didn’t know who because I’d never looked away from Reggie’s serious face.
She looked like she wanted to say something more but wouldn’t in the roomful of people.
“You are,” I agreed, finally turning my head to see who’d been the one to speak earlier. Bourne. “But you’re not going to find out what.”
Bourne rolled his eyes.
“Does Saint... I mean, Michael know?” Bennett continued.
This time his question was aimed at Reggie.
Michael, Reggie’s uncle, was the whole reason that I’d wanted to come here to Kilgore. He’d loved the SWAT team. Honestly, he would still be on it had the hours not started to catch up to him like it did to all the guys eventually.
“I’m sure it won’t be long in him finding out,” Reggie said to Bennett. “But, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be the one to talk to my parents. And Michael.”
Bennett grinned. “I say you have like three days, max. You just announced in a roomful of gossips,” he gestured toward the SWAT guys, “that you’re married and you have a kid. Trust me when I say they won’t be able to keep that secret for long.”
No, I doubted it.
Reggie rolled her eyes, and just as she was about to offer a rebuttal, the doorbell rang and she headed toward the door instead.
Even though we were at Luke’s place, she had no problem answering the door and smiling wide at the pizza delivery guy.
Five of the women broke off and started to pull in pizzas, walking them over to the table that we were surrounding. Reggie stayed at the door and pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of her wallet, handing it to the man.
I made a mental note to pay her back later, because she physically looked a little green at having to hand it over.
I was sure that the others would’ve offered had they not still been peppering me with questions.
An hour later, once the women were back in the kitchen drinking wine and chatting, conversation once again switched back to me.
“Rowen just texted me and said that she’s dug up quite a bit of research,” Dax said as he put his phone back into his pocket. “She’d like to have a meeting with you and your lawyer Monday to discuss a plan of attack.”
I felt a wave of relief hit me.
The more hands on deck I had for this, the better.
I had a feeling Eerie wasn’t going to be nice about this in the least. If she’d been planning on being nice, I wouldn’t have a kid at all.
A kid that was so fuckin’ small.
“Do you have a picture?”
I blinked at the man sitting beside me.
“What?”
“A picture. Of your kid,” he repeated.
I blinked.
“No.” I winced. “Today, I didn’t even think about it. Fuck.”
“I bet your girl does,” Malachi said.
Then, before I could reply, he was up and moving out of the den, making his way toward the other room. He was back moments later with a fresh beer and a scowl on his face.
Somehow, conversation turned to our tubing adventure last weekend and Sammy and Louis cursed.
“I still feel bad,” Louis muttered.
Sammy concurred.
“The one and only regret I have is her losing her ring that day at the river and not going back to look for it,” I said to the man at my side. “Fucking pisses me off that I’ll never be able to find it.”
There was a moment of silence as Malachi frowned into his beer.
“That was a rather calm part of the river,” he started. “The current was barely flowing.” There was a pause. “We could go dive for it. See if we could find it.”
And suddenly, that sounded like the best idea ever.
“Just say when,” I said. “I don’t know that river. I’d never been before then.”
Malachi looked as if he wanted to throw up for a second as he said, “I used to go there a lot as a kid. I know it like the back of my hand. The next time we have two days off, I’ll go with you. I even have access to the diving equipment. I have a buddy that lives down there and does this for a living.”
“He does it for a living?” I asked in surprise.
Malachi nodded. “I used to go with him when I was a kid. You have no idea how much money he makes off of that.”
“Obviously enough to make a living,” I joked.
Malachi laughed. “You got me.”
“All right, boys,” Luke Roberts said. “I know that you’re ready to get out of here. Let’s finish up.”
Chapter 17
Shhh. Just shhhh.
-Text from Reggie to Nathan
Reggie
“I’m sorry, but what?”
Nathan looked at me with amusement.
“I said,” he repeated, “that I’m tired and I want to go to bed. Are you coming with me?”
I licked my lips in nervous anticipation.
Today would be night two that I was ‘officially’ married to Nathan Cox.
And I wasn’t sure what to do or say.
Last night I’d gone to bed on my own.
Tonight, I would be going to bed with him awake.
“Ummm,” I hesitated. “Sure.”
I mean, there was no way around this, was there?
He’d find out eventually.
I had suitcases on the left side of the room, nearest his side.
How did I know it was his ‘side’ of the bed?
He had water bottles. Lots of them.
In fact, if I had to guess, I would say there were at least twenty of them in total. And almost half of them had like a half a sip taken out of them.
My eye twitched.
In fact, it took everything I had not to walk to his side of the bed and sweep them all up before taking them straight to the trash.
Seriously, what was so hard about finishing one bottle of water before getting another one?
Biting my lip, I went to the suitcase that I thought had my bathroom stuff in it and laid it out carefully on the floor before unzipping it.
The moment that it was unzipped all the way, I realized my mistake.
This wasn’t the suitcase that had all my bathroom stuff in it.
This was my Nathan suitcase.
When I’d been packing up my place, I’d sent Nathan out of the room while I’d hurriedly cleaned up everything that was his before shoving it all into my suitcase.
Except, I hadn’t planned on him being in the room when I opened it.
Because there wasn’t just a ‘few’ things of his that I’d somehow procured over the years.
There was an entire fucking suitcase full, bursting at the seams.
And it’d just exploded all over his bedroom floor the moment that I’d opened it.
I stared in worry as he slowly took in all the t-shirts that I’d stolen from him over the years.
And the sweatshirts.
Oh, and there were quite a few pairs of socks.
He bent over and picked up the baseball jersey that he used to wear in high school.
“You know,” he said as he stared at the offending object. “I had to pay eighty bucks in high school because I didn’t return this.”
I bit my lip.
“Your dad paid for it,” I countered. “I remember.”
“My dad paid for it originally,” he agreed. “But he made me pay him back because I was ‘really bad at keeping up with my shit.’” He looked at all of the shirts that I had, then over to me with an accusing glare. “All this time everyone always blamed me. And it was you?”
Officially Over It (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 10) Page 12
