Center of Gravity (Marauders Book 3)

by Lina Andersson

  “Geek friends.”

  “Not top shelf geek friends,” Mitch muttered.

  “Probably need a better looking daughter to get the top shelf,” Russ laughed.

  “Doubt that. Most of those guys only dream of seeing an actual, real life pussy, but I doubt Hump would know how to recognize a top shelf hacker.”

  None of Russ’s news, with exception of Hump having been in Texas, was much of a surprise to Mitch. He knew Hump couldn’t have done the hacking attempts without help.

  “Did we do a search for his daughter?” Brick asked, and Mitch rolled his eyes, which made Russ laugh out loud. “Okay, sorry, had to ask. Do we have any details about the hacker?”

  “No,” Russ admitted. “I just found out that his daughter had all of a sudden been all over a bunch of them, and disappeared just as suddenly. I took that as a sign that she got what she wanted. A few of them promised to get back to me if they hear anything, or if anyone of them suddenly go missing.”

  “And his Old lady?” Mitch asked. “I’ve done searches and shit, but I’m not sure I remember her.”

  “She was a sweetbutt for a while. He pulled her from the clubhouse and into an apartment for his pleasure only,” Brick summed it up. “A while later, his wife found out, they divorced and he marked her. According to Rabbit, both of the women are greedy bitches.”

  “And we know for sure that she isn’t behind the skimming?” Russ asked. “You know, the power of the pussy leading him on to get money. The power of the pussy can make you do stupid shit.”

  “Yeah, you should know,” Brick muttered.

  “Wanna fill me in on what the fuck happened?” Mitch chuckled. “Dad gets all bent out of shape when the topic of you and pussy pops up. Something about Wolf’s niece?”

  “She was off limits, and I started something up with her.”

  “He kind of skipped the part where she was nineteen and a mess,” Brick growled. “Or the fact that his type of starting up includes bruising.”

  Mitch stared between the two of them, and then he started laughing. “Jesus. In his defense,” he said with a nod towards Russ, “the four kids are kind of a hint that she liked it.”

  “Thanks,” Russ said. “But it’s not about that, and you know it.”

  “I know,” Mitch agreed. “Back to Hump. I’ll hit the forums and find out who from Texas could’ve done the code used on our system.”

  “You can do that?” Russ asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Codes are like fingerprints. Most have reused parts, but it can still be a hint. If we found the guy who did the original code, it can lead further.” He had a feeling he’d lost both of the older dudes along the way, and sighed. “It can help, just trust me.”

  “Think we’re both gonna take your word for it,” his dad said. “But we need to keep a wide net, so you stay on this too,” he said to Russ.

  “Got all my guys on it,” Russ nodded. “They’re spreading the word.

  -o0o-

  Later that night, Mitch was sprawled out on a couch, watching a girl work a pole. Mac sat down next to him.

  “Can I sit here or would that be cramping your style?”

  “Nah,” Mitch shrugged. “I’m kinda starting to get it.”

  “Get what.”

  Mitch pointed towards the half-naked girl. “She’s hot and all, but…”

  “She’s very nice, but she’s not what you want,” Mac laughed. “So how long are you gonna walk around with a massive set of blue balls before you get the girl you do want?”

  “Thanks for reminding me. Whatta you think about them?” he asked and nodded towards the members of the Smiling Ghouls who were appreciating the attention the sweetbutts were giving them.

  Mac looked at them in silence for a while. “I was gonna ask you the same.”

  “I think it could be a good deal, but what I’m wondering is what’s being said over our heads.”

  “Between the Cartel and the European branch of them?” Mac asked. “You think there are things going on over our heads?”

  “You know, those dudes over there think they’re the head of their MC, but I’ve found that the head of any group is the part that’s bringing in the big bucks, and that’s not those guys in the Ghouls.”

  It had bugged him during the entire meeting, and he knew his dad enough to know that he was thinking the same thing. The US branch of the Smiling Ghouls was basically living off the money the Dutch charters were making. It should be clear to anyone that without the Dutch, they’d make fuck all. Mitch was wondering if the Dutch Ghouls were aware, and he kind of thought they were. He had a feeling that getting the okay from these guys wouldn’t in any way mean they were in. Just like he knew that getting the okay from Brick didn’t meant that the cartel was in. In this case, the cartel was in, but they had needed to confirm it before getting in on the deal.

  If shit got problematic in the Ghouls, it would spill out over them, too, and he hoped they’d be able to stay the fuck out of the fire when the house of Smiling Ghouls was lit up. He had a feeling that nothing would be set within the Marauders before Chucky and some of the other presidents had met with the Dutch branch in Amsterdam.

  But with more and more states either legalizing or at least talking about legalizing pot, they needed to expand their business elsewhere, and this was a good way to do it. That reason hadn’t been mentioned, but he was pretty sure at least a few of the others in Marauders had thought about it. He just hoped they didn’t do it for that reason alone. Greed was generally a stupid reason.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Can I Rub Her?

  -o0o-

  It had been about a month since Mitch found out, and I was avoiding thinking about what he might be up to, and with whom, when I wasn’t around. He’d been away for a few days, but he’d called me every night to make sure I was okay. I wasn’t sure if it was a good or a bad sign that he did.

  I had to admit it, though, every time I saw him, I wanted to rip off his clothes and just ride him. After some research, I had realized I was obviously one of the women who got horny as hell while pregnant. This could’ve been a great deal for both Mitch and me if I hadn’t come up with the great idea that we should just be friends. An idea that had made perfect sense when I suggested it to him, and also whenever he wasn’t in my line of sight, but it always seemed like the most stupid idea I’d ever had when he was close by. Whenever I knew he was coming over, or I was on my way to him, I both loved and hated the thought of seeing him.

  In short, I was extremely confused.

  This was the first time since my birthday three weeks earlier that I wasn’t even thinking about getting some just because I knew he was on his way. Instead I was impatiently tapping the floor in the hallway with my cane. When he finally rang the doorbell, I yanked the door open.

  “Let’s get going,” I said, and headed towards the elevator as fast as I could.

  It was time for my ultrasound, and I couldn’t wait. Hearing the baby’s heartbeat had been amazing, and I was sure seeing it would be even more amazing—I couldn’t wait.

  On my way to the elevator I stopped, since I realized there was something I had forgotten to run by him, and I wanted it settled before we got to the hospital.

  “What?” he asked, and he sounded more than a little annoyed. “Babe, come on!”

  “What are you pissed about?”

  “I… Fuck! I’m eager, okay? Mac said the ultrasound was fucking awesome. So...” He waved towards the elevator who had arrived. “Get in and let’s get the fuck going.”

  “I want to know if it’s a boy or a girl.”

  “Okay,” he agreed and took my hand and tried to drag me into the elevator.

  “Sure? I mean... I just want to know.”

  “Babe,” he said and took a firm hold of my shoulders. “That’s fine, I’m fine with that, but we need to move our asses, now!”

  I didn’t object, since I liked how he seemed as eager as I felt, and followed him into t
he elevator. He didn’t talk in the car on our way to the clinic, or while dragged me inside. While we were waiting, his leg was jumping, and he kept looking at the clock on the wall. When they called my name, he jumped up and dragged me along with him again.

  “Mitch, please! I can’t walk that fast.”

  “Fuck!” he said as he turned around. “I’m sorry, Anna.”

  He took it slightly easier, but still sort of dragged me by hooking an arm around my waist. It felt like all he wanted to do was to lift me up and carry me inside to make sure I got there faster.

  “Eager much?” I asked with a laugh.

  “Yup.” His smile grew wide. “Like I said, Mac said this was awesome.”

  “Miss Dobronravov, always a pleasure,” Dr. Magda Boyarov said with a big smile when we walked into the room. She turned to Mitch and extended her hand. “And this is the father?”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “Mitch Baxter.”

  Mitch took her hand with a nod, and then sat down at a chair next to the gurney. He didn’t say anything during the regular examinations, but leaned forward in anticipation when the doctor told me to get ready while she went to get the machine. I took a deep breath.

  I’d picked Dr. Boyarov part because of her Russian name, which was a bit shallow, I knew that, but it felt comforting somehow. Mitch had teased me about it, and he gave me an amused look as soon as Dr. Boyarov turned her back towards us, but he didn’t say anything.

  I sighed again, and Dr. Boyarov halted and looked at me, “I can see that wrinkle. What are you worried about?”

  “Everything,” I admitted. “Mostly that I haven’t felt it move yet.”

  “It’s not uncommon to not feel movements until week twenty, especially when it’s your first.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled. “Can we find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”

  “I’ll do my best,” she said as she left the room.

  I was on my back, with my shirt up under my breast, and I kept staring at the ceiling to not look at Mitch.

  “So…” he started. “Five pounds?”

  That was how much weight I’d gained so far.

  “Shut up!” I laughed.

  There was something I’d been wondering since my New York weekend, and I’d wanted to ask him, but hadn’t been able to find a good time for it. This was the first time we were on neutral ground and not at his or my place, and I was trying to gather my courage when he interrupted me.

  “Can I rub it?”

  I wasn’t really thinking and just answered to get to the point where I could ask my own question.

  “Sure.”

  I felt his hand on me, and when he stroked my belly, I kind of lost it, so I put my hand on top of his to stop him.

  “Can I ask you something?” I mumbled. I’d missed his hands on me, and he was still stroking me with his thumb, but he nodded. “The heart, is it a real diamond?”

  He answered without taking his eyes from my belly, and he did it with a laugh. “Yeah.”

  I wanted to ask him why, and if he was bloody insane. I didn’t know much about diamonds, but a pink diamond that size must’ve cost a damn fortune, but before I could ask, Dr. Boyarov was back.

  Any thoughts about diamonds or Mitch’s hands were gone. I couldn’t wait to finally to see my baby, and possibly find out what it was. At the same time, I was nervous about something being wrong with it.

  “It’s probably a boy,” I said to Mitch. “You all have boys.”

  “Would that bother you?”

  “No. They need more male ballet dancers.”

  His horrified stare made me laugh. I assumed that having his son become a ballet dancer hadn’t been something he’d considered a possibility, and he definitely didn’t like the thought.

  The doctor squirted some gel on my stomach, and once the stick was there, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. I felt Mitch grab my hand, and I squeezed it.

  “First I’m going to do some measurements and try to give you a more exact delivery date,” she smiled. “Get the boring details out of the way before we get to the goodies.”

  I kept staring at the screen, trying to see something.

  “I’d say eighteen weeks along, just like we’d guessed, so it’s a mid-September baby,” she said with another smile.

  I could’ve told her the exact day I had gotten pregnant, but the exact details of the conception seemed like over-sharing, so I just nodded.

  She pointed at the screen. “And this here, is the heart. Can you see it?”

  “Yeah…” Mitch said in a heavy breath. “Fucking hell.”

  “Head is here.” She marked a circle with her fingertip on the screen. “And it looks like it’s sucking on its fingers. They do that to learn how to swallow. This is the spine here, and give me a second.”

  I wanted to ask if she knew what it was, but somehow I couldn’t do anything but stare. That was my baby, right there, and I could see its heart beating. It was alive and it was okay—or I hoped it was.

  “Does it all look okay?”

  “Yes, it looks perfect.” She leaned closer. “And if I was a gambling woman, I’d put a lot of money on this little perfection being a girl.”

  “A girl!” I laughed.

  Mitch leaned down, and for a second I thought he was going to give me a kiss, but at the last minute he moved upwards and pressed his lips against my forehead instead.

  -o0o-

  I wasn’t walking to the car. I was floating on clouds. Or rather hobbling on clouds, but I really couldn’t have cared less. We had pictures, and I kept looking at mine over and over again. I was having a baby girl! When I took the picture from my bag for the third time, Mitch took it from me with a laugh.

  “You’re gonna wear it out. Put it back and take it home and frame it.”

  “I will.”

  He helped me to get into the truck, and I watched him as he walked over to the driver’s side. He was still smiling, and he’d been smiling since we left the examination room. Considering the slightly shaky start when he found out about the baby—Sprout—he was really happy about all this now. It was hard to tell which one of us had the biggest smile.

  “Lisa and some of the others are at the clubhouse. If you’re okay with it, they wanted us to go there when we were done.”

  “I know, and that’s okay.”

  Lisa had already warned me that they’d all be waiting for us, and I’d promised her I’d follow Mitch there.

  “So it’s a real diamond?” I asked as he drove out of the parking lot. “Why did you buy me a diamond?”

  He looked at me with raised eyebrows and a smile. “How did you figure it out?”

  “Jens, my old roommate said that no one would put something that tacky next to something so beautiful unless it was a real diamond.”

  “Tacky?” he laughed. Then he nodded. “That is true. It would’ve been tacky if it wasn’t real.”

  “I’ll give it to the baby,” I mumbled. “I’ll keep the babushka, though.”

  “Keep the diamond, too. I gave it to you, so it’s yours.” He turned to me and smiled. “I’ll get my baby girl diamonds of her own.”

  I didn’t know what to say, I couldn’t find the words, and I was scared of what might come out if I actually opened my mouth. He’d bought me a diamond. And he’d bought it before Christmas. I’d known it had been more than just sex, and he’d pointed that out, too, but I hadn’t really realized how early he’d started to see it as something else. Because I seriously doubted he bought diamonds for the girls he just slept with—there was no way he’d be able to afford that.

  When we arrived at the clubhouse, it was packed. There were people everywhere, and when Mitch announced we were having a girl, there were cheers, and that’s when I truly, for the first time, understood why they’d all been trying to say I needed to get used to the club. It didn’t take me more than ten minutes before I needed some space, and I searched the room for the violet hair. She wasn’t hard to find, since she wa
s in a corner as usual.

  “Would it be rude of me to say I’m glad you’re a part of this, too?” I asked as I sat down. “At least there’s one person who’s not… extreme.”

  “Yeah. Stopped noticing it when I was a kid. I usually just hide away in a corner.”

  “I’ll stick to you then.”

  Mel came over a while later and handed me a cup of tea, warning me that they were starting to break out the booze, but she’d take me home if Mitch wasn’t in shape for it, which I doubted he would be. I kept hearing shouts about having a drink for the first guy in the club who’d have to carry ballet shoes, so apparently they all assumed Sprout would become a ballerina. Given how quickly they started yelling those things, I had a hunch they’d already teased him about it.

  Irina called to tell me she was on her way home, so I got up and walked over to Mitch. He gave me a huge smile and put his hands on my belly and whispered,

  “If you shut up about it, Sprout, I’ll carry your ballet shoes.” Then he looked up at me. “Hi!”

  “Hi. You’re drunk.”

  “Not really. Want me to take you home?”

  “No, you’re drunk,” I laughed. “Mel said she could take me, so stay here and get more drunk. And for the record, I always carried my own shoes. Shoes are sacred, we don’t trust anyone else with our shoes.”

  “Really?” Brick said with a smile.

  “Yes, but my dad always carried my tutus,” I winked at Mitch, and he was looking up at me with a big smile. “I might have a couple you can practice with. They’re big and always in the way.”

  “Tutus?”

  “Yes. I’m leaving now.”

  “I’ll walk you out,” he mumbled and stood up, still smiling. As we walked out he leaned towards me. “I’m not gonna carry her fucking tutu.”

  “Wanna bet on that?” I asked with a chuckle. He put his arm around my waist without answering, and we stopped where Mel was waiting in her car. “Hey, I got a question,” I said hesitantly.

  “What?” he asked and turned to stand in front of me, but he was still holding my hand.