“As Mom used to say, don’t go borrowin’ trouble.” Drew sat down next to me just as my entire stomach contorted. “That’s still some freaky shit, Lei.”
We stared at my daughter doing somersaults in my stomach before she settled down on a nerve, thank you very much.
“Enough about me, what’s up with you? I haven’t seen Bobby lately.”
“Not a whole lot, just workin’. Bobby’s up in Columbia at the academy. He got asked to help teach a tactical class for new recruits.”
“Oh, I bet he is loving that. So, while I was in the hospital, Bobby happened to mention you went out on a date.”
“Yeah, so? I go on dates all the time. It wasn’t anything to write home about. She was nice, but a little too ditzy for my taste. I want to be able to have a conversation that doesn’t have to do with Kim Kardashian or shoes.” He reached over and put his hand on my stomach as the baby began to practice her soccer kicks.
“What if I set you—”
Drew cut me off. “Not a chance.”
“Okay, next subject. Are you hungry? I’m hungry.” I stood and walked to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge then the cabinets. “Ugh, I don’t know what I want to eat. What could they possibly be talking about this long?” I looked out back and saw Brody on the phone flailing his arms. That can’t be good.
Jaxon walked back inside. “Hey, Drew, what’s up, man?” He shook hands with my brother then turned to me. “What do you wanna do for dinner, Lei?”
“Uhh, you want to tell me what’s going on with you and Brody?”
“Later. Why don’t we order Chinese?” Jaxon pulled me into a hug and gave me a quick little peck before he let me go and whistled for Ruger. “You find the menu and I will take him out real fast.”
Turning to Drew who was now seated at the island, I asked, “You wanna stay and have dinner with us?”
“Sure, I’m down for some Kung Pao chicken.”
Thinking about asking if Brody would be joining us, I looked out back. Only I didn’t see Brody anymore. It was just Jaxon and Ruger playing with his tennis ball.
Later that night, after Jaxon and Drew finished off an eighteen-pack of Bud Light, I put Drew to bed in the guest room and dragged—as best I could—Jaxon up to the bedroom. Now that he was chattier, I decided to ask him about the conversation with Brody.
“So what were you and Brody all secretive about earlier?” Sitting on the bed, I swallowed my prenatal vitamin with a sip of water. I tried to play it off like I really didn’t care if he told me or not.
“Just more shit about Drill. Even dead that motherfucker is still wreaking havoc.” Jax fell into the bed in only his black boxer briefs. I traced the outline of the tribal tattoo on his shoulder. “Now Mark’s havin’ to deal with these fuckin’ people Drill owed money to. He’s like the gift that won’t stop givin’.”
“What do you mean Mark has to deal with them?”
“Drill’s debts are supposed to be squared up by his club,” he mumbled into the down pillow. “Babe, can we just go to sleep and not talk about this shit? I’ve gotta long day tomorrow and right now I just want to fall asleep holdin’ you.”
Leaning over, I kissed him, intending on going to sleep in his arms like he wanted. But that simple goodnight kiss turned into twenty minutes of foreplay followed by a triad of orgasms and forty minutes of amazing sex. I couldn’t help but think, some guys couldn’t perform after they’d had too much to drink? Not my Jax.
I fell asleep cocooned in his strong embrace and slept through the night—no nightmares.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Jaxon
Last night I watched her sleep peacefully for the first time in weeks. I wish I could have gotten a few more hours than I had but I couldn’t shake the feeling that today was not going to be a good day.
Leila was out of the house with Barb and Ruger walking along the Battery. As she left, she told me she was walking until the baby fell out of her. Tomorrow marked week thirty-nine and she was miserable. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful today. A nice breeze off the bay made it a perfect day for playing with Ruger at the park.
Picking up my burner cell, I made a call to Tommy. “Hey, man, everything in place for tonight?”
“We got a green light. Gorden will have eyes on all the locations and we’ll have a bird in the sky. We won’t move in until you give the go-ahead unless something happens. I’m not chancing you getting’ shot again.” He coughed deeply.
“Man, you gotta quit smokin’, that shit’s gonna kill you.” I walked from the kitchen to the front door, keeping an eye out for the girls. “So the plan is still to grab the buyers and all of the brothers who show up with them. The others will think they got stood up and I’ll call them and have them all meet at the clubhouse. From there Mark and I will fill them in.”
“Jax, I think you’re gettin’ way too close to this Mark guy,” Tommy warned.
“I know what I’m doin’. Just make sure y’all are in place by nineteen hundred. The plan is still to take the buyers down and for me to get out of the club. With Lei having the baby soon it’s the perfect cover. Once I’m out then y’all can take them out. But, and this is a big but, if the Mexicans are still in play, you’re gonna have problems. They have more people on the payroll than Gotti did.”
“You let me worry about that. Have you told her yet?”
“No, I just have to get through tonight, then I will tell her.” Climbing the stairs to the second floor, I stood in the doorway to the nursery.
“You know what you’re gonna do after you walk away from all this fun?” He laughed.
“Honestly, T, I’m thinkin’ about taking some time off and just stayin’ home with the baby.” I sat down in the rocking chair.
He burst out laughing. “You? Mister Mom? I gotta see that, man.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yuk it up,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“All right, I gotta run.” His laughter slowly subsided. “See you tonight. Watch your ass, man.”
“Isn’t that your job?”
“See ya, smart-ass.”
Hanging up the phone, I looked around the room. I could do this. I could stay home and take care of the baby. How hard could it be? Picking up one of the little shirt thingies, I held it up. How much trouble could something that small be?
I made the decision, right then and there, I was going to be a stay-at-home dad. I had enough money saved up to take a year or so off. And if I knew Lei as well as I think I did, she’d be back to work after a few months off.
The girls came through the front door about four o’clock with one very worn-out Shepherd. Poor guy’s tongue was damn near dragging the ground. He made it to about the couch before he dropped to the cool hardwood with a loud groan and thud.
“Looks like someone might be a little tired.” Walking down the hall from the kitchen, I stopped in front of Lei and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in for a quick kiss. “Did you have a nice time?”
“We did.” She smiled, then leaned in and whispered, “I’m gonna go take a shower, if you wanna join me.”
Fuck me running, did I want to join her? Is the Pope Catholic?
“Barb, thanks for walkin’ with my girl. See ya later,” I called out as I followed Leila up the staircase.
“Jesus, you two are like rabbits,” she yelled up the stairs after us. “I’ll just lock up behind myself. Bye.”
As I caught up to Lei she hollered back down the steps, “Bye Felicia.”
“Oh, I know you didn’t just Bye Felicia me.”
“Sure did,” she said, still climbing the stairs.
“You wait ’til you’re not pregnant. I got your Bye Felicia right here,” Barb yelled back, trying not to laugh.
“You two aren’t right,” I sighed, shaking my head. I took the stairs two at a time to get to Leila. Before I caught up her black t-shirt hit me in the face.
Oh hell yeah, it’s on.
“You’re not makin’ that
shower, princess.” I grabbed her waist from behind and pulled her ass to me. Rolling my hips, I ground my now-hard cock into her perfect, juicy ass.
“Oh, I’m not? You got a better idea?” Her voice dripped with honey.
I walked her over to the foot of the bed and bent her over. “Oh babe, I’m full of ideas. All involve my cock buried in this sweet pussy.” Kissing her neck as I pulled her shorts down her toned legs, I stopped at what I saw. “God damn, babe, no panties? You planned this, didn’t you?”
“Might have.” She looked back over her right shoulder, smirking.
Sliding my basketball shorts down my legs, I grabbed my dick and ran it through her sweet pussy, coating myself in her juices. When I got to her clit, I smacked the head of my cock over the swollen nub garnering a soft moan from her.
Teasing her was almost my undoing. Fucking her pussy lips, my tip slipped back and forth over her clit. I fought back my own release with every buck of her hips and every moan from her mouth. Just as I felt her muscles tighten, I slammed into her tight wetness, propelling her headlong into an orgasm that gripped me like no other before. She was so tight, I could barely move.
“Oh God, don’t move,” she moaned as she reached back and massaged her clit, stretching her release out. Her muscles contracted and spasmed, making it damn near impossible not to explode inside of her. The walls kneaded and worked my cock, draining all my self-control.
“Fuck, babe, I gotta… You are so damn tight. I can’t—” I tried explaining but finally gave up and started driving into her. I might have set out to have sex, but with an orgasm like that, it quickly changed. I was relentless as I pounded into her tight cunt. Reaching forward, I grabbed her ponytail and wrapped it in my hand for leverage.
“Oh God, Jax, don’t stop. Oh yeah, baby. Fuck me,” she screamed. Releasing her hair, I pulled out, stood her up, and moved her to the side of the bed. This time I laid her down on her back, gripped her ankles, and threw them over my shoulders. I lined my hard cock up with her pussy, sunk balls deep as she screamed out my name and begged me to fuck her. And I did, hard and fast. With a deep growl and curse I exploded inside her.
“I love you,” she said, looking up at me while I was still buried in her. When I looked into her eyes, I could see all of her emotions, she didn’t need to say it, but she always did.
“I love you too, babe.” Feeling like an ass for keeping her in the dark, I had to break the connection and get away. If she looked at me like that much longer I would probably crumble. “Hey I got some club shit to handle tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner,” I told her as I walked to our bathroom.
“Okay,” was all she said.
I stood there looking at the floor. I could still see that fucker’s blood even though it had been gone for weeks. Walking over to my sink, I grabbed a washcloth from the cabinet and wet it, cleaned myself up and then went back out to Leila.
“I feel like there is something goin’ on that you’re not tellin’ me about, Jax,” she squeaked out, still in the same spot on the bed.
“Just club stuff, babe, no need to worry,” I lied straight to her face and felt my soul blacken a little in doing so. “Here, let me clean you up.”
After taking a shower, we went downstairs and watched a movie until about six. Kissing her goodbye, I left her sitting with her feet up and Ruger next to her on the couch. I thought about yelling at him but I could tell she was worried despite my reassurances. Opening the closet door, I retrieved my gun and an extra magazine. She was used to seeing me leave with it and no longer questioned it. “You need anything before I go, babe?”
“I’m good. I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”
“I love you too, Lei.”
Leaving through the back door, I climbed on my bike and headed off to meet Mark at the clubhouse.
*****
Two hours later we had confirmed with all six guys that they were in the designated locations for the supposed ambush. If this went according to plan, Gorden, Tommy, Drew, Jasper, and several teams of agents and police would have each location under video and audio surveillance.
Mark and I had specifically picked the alternative locations far away from the container yard by the old navy base where Mark was supposed to meet the bastards at nine p.m. This way, whoever got caught conspiring against the club couldn’t talk their way out of it.
Nervous energy buzzed around me as I tried to mentally prepare myself for who had betrayed the club. My money was on Axel. He had always been a bit of a loner, even within the club. I hoped my suspicions were right because if it were one of the other five, I might very well beat them to death before Tommy’s guys could arrest them.
At eight-fifteen, Mark and I pulled up to the training tower near the navy yard. I gave him some story about calling in a few favors to get us access to the ninety-foot concrete building. When he pressed the point, I told him I had some SEAL buddies stationed here as instructors.
We climbed to the top of the building, him with binoculars and me with my Remington long rifle and scope. From here, I could see all of the rendezvous points. The only thing left to do was wait.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Leila
Jaxon had not been gone twenty minutes before Luke Bryan’s “I See You” started playing from my phone. “Hey, Brody.”
“Hey, Lei, you home?”
“I am, what’s up?”
“I was just leaving work and thought I’d stop by for a few minutes so we could talk. If that’s okay.” Something in his tone caused all of the hairs on my neck to stand up.
“Sure, but Jax isn’t home right now. Is it about the baby?”
“I’ll be there in ten. See you.” He hung up before I could get another word in.
Leaning over, I scratched Ruger’s belly. “Why do I have the feeling that he’s up to something, Ruger?” He picked his head up and looked at me before jumping down and trotting to the back door. “You need to go out buddy?”
While we were in the backyard, I heard the sexy rumbling of the Venom as it pulled into our narrow driveway. Opening the side gate, I walked around the house as Brody opened his car door and stood. “Hey, honey, you didn’t have to come out.”
“I was already out, Ruger needed to potty. Come on, let’s go inside.” I waddled back through the gate and whistled for Ruger. Even though Brody was here, I didn’t like to have Ruger too far away. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Sure, but I was thinking since Jaxon wasn’t here we might be able to go grab a bite to eat. I mean, unless you’ve already eaten.” He followed me through the backdoor into the kitchen.
“Food sounds good. Jax had some business to take care of so I hadn’t done anything for dinner. I was just going to have a bowl of cereal,” I answered as Ruger passed me on his way to the water bowl.
“What are you in the mood for?”
“Brody, I’m nine months pregnant. I’m in the mood for food. It really doesn’t matter what kind. Although I hear spicy food can make you go into labor.” I hinted at my readiness to get this child out of me. I swear I felt like I was so big she was going to come out the size of a toddler.
“All right then, you pick the place and I’ll drive.” He loosened his sapphire blue tie that matched his gorgeous eyes. I prayed our daughter got his eyes.
Ugh, I don’t want to pick where we eat. I always have to pick. Why are men so damn indecisive?
“It doesn’t matter to me. I just don’t want to try to figure it out right now. Surprise me.” I put the decision back in his court.
Sensing my irritation, he took control of the situation, which I think he secretly wanted to do anyway. “Okay, where is your purse? I will grab it for you while you put Ruger in his crate.”
“It’s by the front door, next to my keys. Oh and can you please get my cell off the living room table?” I asked, opening the door to the large laundry room where Ruger’s crate now resided.
“Of course.” He grabbed all my things and
met me at the back of the kitchen. “Would you feel more comfortable if we took your car? I know you hate trying to get out of mine now.”
“Would you mind?” Relieved he said it so I didn’t have to, I could’ve hugged him for remembering.
“It will give me a chance to see what the Hellcat’s got.” His eyebrows bounced as his eyes lit up.
“Oh geez Pete. Just remember I’m carrying your child.”
“Have I ever given you any reason to think I would put you or the baby in harm’s way?” He sounded hurt by my suggestion.
“No, of course not. I just meant I don’t want you to get carried away and drive like you’re at the Daytona Five Hundred.”
Short minutes later we pulled up to Fleet Landing, a restaurant built on a pier just down the street from my place. The hostess took us to a small square table by the window with a spectacular view of Charleston Harbor. Once we were seated next to each other facing the water, I finally had the nerve to ask. “Is this little dinner what you and Jax were whispering about yesterday?”
For a split second this look crossed his face. It was almost as if he had intended to lie then changed his mind. “It was.”
“That’s it? That’s all you are gonna say?”
“What were you looking for?” His tone was rich with sincerity as he dropped his menu to the table.
“I don’t know, maybe an explanation of why you would go along with him or he would actually ask. You two can’t stand each other.” Especially when it concerns me. “So what gives?”
“You’re correct. He and I are certainly not friends, probably never will be, but he asked if I would keep you company and keep an eye out for you. Oh and…” He took a sip of water. “Barb and Drew were working, otherwise it would have been one of them. I was, as you’ve guessed, his last choice.”
So Jaxon had asked him to babysit me. That asshole. I’m perfectly capable of staying home alone. “So you drew the short straw and got saddled with babysit-the-pregnant-chick duty?”
“Lei, I don’t think that’s how it was meant. You’re near the end of your pregnancy and you’ve had complications. We just wanted to make sure you had someone around, just in case.” He picked his menu up as the waitress approached. “Are you ready to order?”
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