Nate's Naughty Nymph [The Doms of Club Mystique 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Mardi Maxwell

  “Here, Nate,” Ravyn said.

  He took the equipment she held out to him and added it to the pile on the floor. Ahead of them the emergency room entrance appeared. Several people stood next to a gurney waiting for them. As soon as the vehicle stopped, he jumped out, opened the back door, pulled Zane from the back seat, and laid him on the gurney.

  Within minutes Zane was on his way to surgery and Ravyn was being examined by a doctor. Nate leaned against the wall in the hallway and took a deep breath. They were all still alive and that made it a good day.

  Chapter Nine

  Two weeks later - present day

  Nate looked at his sons as he finished giving them a PG-rated summary of the past twenty-one years. They stared back at him, their expressions unreadable.

  “Anything else?” Cade asked.

  “No, that about covers it,” Nate said.

  “What do you want?” Jackson asked.

  “First, to finish the mission,” Nate told them.

  “You want to stay here while you do that?” Luc asked.

  “Yes, until the mission is completed.”

  “You don’t have any legal rights to stay here.” Zane rattled off a long spiel of legalese.

  Luc stood up. “Isa—Nymph, you lied to me and Logan. We built a house for you because of your stinking cigars.” He pointed at Nymph then his finger swung in Nate’s direction. “Or, were they your stinking cigars?”

  “Actually, we don’t smoke,” Nymph said. “We just used the stench of the cigars to keep you away.”

  Cassie laughed. “Clever.”

  “It’s not funny, Cassandra,” Luc said. “We built her a house and she lied to us.”

  Nate caught Nymph’s encouraging look and thought what the hell. “Actually, the ranch paid for the house. When Jake and Katherine died in that plane crash, the five of you inherited seventy-five percent of the ranch. Cade and Jackson share the right to vote the other twenty-five percent in lieu of the silent partner, A. Ramsey.”

  Jackson stood up, slid Jenna to her feet and stepped in front of her. “Are you saying you’re A. Ramsey?”

  “The A stands for Adelaide. She was my mother and Jake’s aunt. She died when I was three. My grandparents, your great-grandparents, Angus and Margaret Ramsey, left her a share of the ranch and she left it to me. I gave Jake and his heirs the right to vote my share until I decide otherwise.”

  “This is so fucked up,” Logan said.

  “I’ve never withdrawn any of my share from the ranch accounts,” Nate reminded them.

  “Until now,” Jackson said. “So I guess you’ll be wanting your share of the money and to vote your twenty-five percent from now on.”

  Nate sighed. “I have no intention of interfering with the way you run the ranch, Jackson. As far as money goes, my grandmother also left me all of the oil rights from her family ranch in west Texas. I don’t need or want the ranch money, but I am going to live on this land. We can get along or not. Your choice.”

  “Not,” they all said in unison with the exception of Jackson, who sat as still as a stone with a contemplative look on his face.

  “You can have your twenty-five percent of the land starting on the east side of your house then west to the highway,” Luc said.

  “Afraid that won’t work, Luc. You should’ve read the small print more carefully. Angus was afraid of something like this happening so he spread my share out all over the ranch. Angus believed in family sticking together no matter what.”

  “Well, you should have remembered that when you abandoned us,” Logan said.

  Before Nate could shoot back an answer, Jackson jumped into the conversation again. “You’re not DEA and you don’t work for Clint McCabe,” Jackson said. “So, who do you work for now?”

  “We work for his fathers, Dirk and Sabre,” Nate said.

  “I thought they were retired,” Cade said.

  Nate nodded. “We agreed we wouldn’t officially retire until this business with Mendez is over.”

  “That can’t come too soon, as far as we’re concerned,” Luc said.

  “So, where are they?” Jackson asked.

  “Who?” Nate asked, playing for time.

  “Dirk and Sabre,” Jackson said.

  “Don’t forget Orin, Hugh, Miles, and Doolin,” Cade added.

  Damn, Nate thought, these guys are quick. He couldn’t help but admire that they’d caught on so soon, but he wished he’d had more time to tell them this part. “Sabre, Bridget, and Dirk are at our house.” He nodded at Luc and Logan. “They’re keeping an eye on your house in case some of Mendez’s men decide to pay you a midnight visit. Orin, Miles, Hugh, and Doolin are patrolling the river and watching the ranch from the Ramsey cemetery since it’s the highest point on the ranch.

  Addison and Jenna glanced at each other before they leaned toward Nate and Nymph.

  “Their wife is with them?” Addison asked.

  Cade pulled Addison back. “No way are you stepping foot off this ranch to meet her so just forget it, Addison.”

  “That goes for you too, Jenna,” Jackson said.

  “We should invite them to dinner,” Jenna suggested.

  “No,” Jackson said. “No guests of any kind.”

  Addison laughed when her stomach growled. “We can discuss this later. Right now it’s time for lunch. Nate, do you know how to make that chicken fried steak with potatoes and white gravy that’s on Harry’s menu?”

  Nate smiled. “Yes. I can make it for supper but I’ve already made a chicken casserole for lunch. It just needs to go into the oven for an hour.” He glanced at Cade. “I made apple pie for dessert.”

  Cade grunted. “Jackson and I have things to do in the stable. Luc and Logan, you can join us. You, too, Zane.” He patted Addison on the bottom. “Be good and stay out of trouble.” He looked at Nate. “Stay for lunch and dinner today, but you’re not sleeping in the house.”

  “Fine with me, son,” Nate said. “I prefer my own bed.”

  “Good,” Cade said, then bumped Nate’s shoulder as he walked by him. “Dad.”

  Nate stood his ground as each one of his sons walked out. As soon as the door closed, Addison ran over to him and hugged him.

  “Thank you so much for saving Cade. I owe you,” Addison said.

  As soon as Addison stepped back, Cassie stepped forward and hugged him. “Thank you for saving me. I owe you.”

  Nate patted her shoulder. “You don’t owe me anything, Cassie.”

  “Oh, yes, I do, and I always pay my debts.” Cassie stepped back and Ravyn stepped forward.

  “You lied to me,” Ravyn said, as she hugged him. “You said Zane was fine that night.”

  Nate hugged Ravyn back. “The tourniquet you’d put on him probably would have worked. Besides, you were already traumatized. I didn’t want to add to that.”

  Ravyn patted his back before she released him. “I owe you.”

  Before Nate could protest, Jenna hugged him. “Thank you, Nate. I owe you.”

  “I never had to do anything to save Jackson,” Nate said. “He’s the only one of them with good survival instincts.”

  Jenna laughed. “I know, but you did save him. You loved all of them enough to give them to Jake and Katherine while you hunted Rolando Mendez. We all owe you for that.”

  Nate hugged her back. In the short time he’d known his sons’ women, they’d worked their way into his heart. He glanced at Nymph and saw the tears in her eyes as they hugged her, too. Addison, Jenna, Cassie, and Ravyn, along with Marisol Rios, called themselves the “royals,” and they’d made Nymph a part of their group. As far as he knew, it was the first time she’d even had a group of women friends.

  Another growl of hunger from Addison’s tummy had them laughing.

  “I’m going to go put the casserole in the oven,” Nate said.

  Before Nymph could follow him, Cassie grabbed her. “Wait. This is the only room in the house that isn’t bugged. We need to make our plans now.�
�

  “What plans?” Nymph asked.

  “How we’re going to get the men to come around,” Cassie told her.

  Ravyn laughed. “That’s easy. All we do is follow their lead and agree with everything they say.”

  Cassie nodded. “I agree, but we also have to make them stop and think about what they’re saying. I’m going to remind Luc and Logan how Nate abandoned them by sending them here where they’d be safe while he hunted Mendez.”

  Ravyn laughed. “Sneaky. I like it. I’ll tell Zane that Nate could have come home any time and Mendez probably would have only gotten one or two of them.”

  “Make sure you tell him it wouldn’t have been him because he was the baby and they would’ve protected him the most,” Addison said.

  Ravyn laughed. “Dang, Addison, you’re evil.”

  “You have no idea,” Jenna said. “We’ll have to say we’ll miss Nymph, though, because otherwise they’ll get suspicious.”

  “If I don’t meddle Cade will get suspicious,” Addison said.

  “Then, Addison, you continue to meddle,” Jenna said. “The rest of us will work on them.”

  “Looks like we have a plan.” Addison hugged Nymph. “It will be okay. Trust us.”

  Nymph laughed. “You know I’ve come to hate that statement.”

  * * * *

  In the stable, Cade paced up and down the wide corridor while Jackson leaned against a stable door with his boot propped on the bottom rail. Luc and Logan sat on several bales of hay while Zane typed something on his cell phone.

  “I can’t believe the scary guy is our dad,” Logan said.

  “He’s not our dad,” Luc insisted.

  “He’s still scary though,” Logan said.

  Cade cursed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I remember seeing him in Colombia when he took out Rolando Mendez. He stayed in the shadows, though.” He cursed again. “Nymph was with him. She was the other shooter.”

  Jackson spit out the straw he’d been chewing on. “Really? She any good?”

  Cade nodded. “Good enough. She was right, though. That bullet would have taken me out if Nate hadn’t got between it and me.”

  “So, he took a bullet for you,” Zane said. “Doesn’t mean we have to get all huggy-feely now.”

  “It wasn’t your head the bullet was aimed at,” Cade said.

  “So, what? You think you owe him?” Zane asked.

  “Just making a point,” Cade said.

  “We’re just wasting time,” Jackson said. “This ranch is huge and Mendez’s men could come at us from any direction. I say if Nate and his friends want to spend their time watching for them then let them. It just frees us up to do other things.”

  “I don’t want him in the house,” Zane said.

  “You going to do the cooking and cleaning?” Jackson asked.

  “Jenna can cook,” Zane shot back. “Addison, Cassie, and Ravyn can clean.”

  Jackson shook his head. “Jenna is not cooking three meals a day for god only knows how long.”

  Cade laughed. “Addison’s pregnancy has made her lazier than a sloth. I swear sometimes I have to hold my finger under her nose just to make sure she’s still breathing.”

  Luc and Logan laughed. “We’d like to see you tell the ‘royals’ they’re going to do the cooking and cleaning. Cassie would cut off your balls. Jenna would grill them with a little garlic and onion, and then they’d stuff them down your throat.”

  Zane shook his head. “Damn, you all need to man up and take control of your women. I’ll tell Ravyn to do it. If I have to, I’ll hire some help.”

  “No more strangers allowed on the ranch, but I want to be there when you tell Ravyn she’s doing the cooking and cleaning.”

  Luc grinned and Logan laughed. “At least we’re going to have some entertainment while we’re trapped on the ranch.”

  “What?” Zane asked.

  “Watching you cope with Ravyn while she has the royals around to back her up,” Logan said and laughed again.

  “Just lay down the law,” Zane said.

  Cade snorted. “You put way to much faith in the law, little brother.”

  “Damn,” Luc said.

  “What?” Logan asked.

  “You know Addison, Jenna, Cassie, and Ravyn aren’t going to stay out of this,” Luc told them. “They’re going to be hounding us about Nate because Nymph is one of the royals.”

  Jackson adjusted his hat. “Let’s go. Lunch should be ready by now.”

  Cade moved up beside him, and they walked out of the stable, passing Nymph’s Uncle Jack on the way.

  “Jack, you spying bastard,” Cade said.

  Jack cackled then coughed. “Twenty-one years and you never caught me, son. That’s got to be a record of some kind.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be sure to call the people at Guinness.”

  Jack mumbled something about having to see a horse and hurried off.

  Cade looked at the house. “Do you remember Nate?”

  Jackson nodded. “Yes. But you know until recently I believed he was a drunk who beat up Joan. I always thought that was why she drank and was so angry all the time.”

  “Hell, Jackson, if I’d known you believed that I would have told you the truth sooner.”

  “Doesn’t matter now. What do you remember about him?”

  “I remember that after he came home things got better. He made sure we had food and he controlled Joan. At least as much as anyone could.”

  “But he continued to have you make sure Luc, Logan, Zane and I stayed upstairs while he dealt with her.”

  “No, he didn’t. I did that on my own,” Cade said. “I knew how dangerous she could be. I stayed downstairs in case he turned his back on her and she got by him then headed upstairs for me or Luc.”

  “Damn,” Jackson said. “Why the hell did she target the two of you?”

  “We behaved like him and that pissed her off.”

  “But I look the most like him and she never came after me,” Jackson said.

  “Hell, don’t you remember all the pictures she had of him? They were all over the house. She loved the way he looked because other women wanted him but she had him. That’s why she never went after you.”

  “What about Zane? He doesn’t behave like Nate, or look like him. Not like you and the twins.”

  “Nate and Joan adopted Zane,” Cade said. “I thought you knew.”

  “They did not, you fuckers,” Zane said as he passed them, opened the back door, and stepped into the house.

  Cade stepped in behind him and the smell of hot apple pie surrounded him. “That bastard. I’m not eating his damn pie.”

  * * * *

  Nate removed the casserole from the oven just as the back door slammed.

  “Sounds like the ‘stable meeting’ is over,” Nymph said as she carried two pitchers of iced tea from the fridge and to the rolling cart. “The royals are setting the table. They tried to set places for us, but I told them to let it go.”

  Nate placed the casserole on the cart before he pulled her against him and placed his lips against her ear. “What’s their plan?”

  Nymph nuzzled his neck. “I can’t tell you.”

  “Yes, you can.” He kissed the soft spot beneath her ear and felt her shiver.

  “Are you planning another interrogation, Sir?”

  “Yes, if that’s what it will take to get the truth from you.”

  Nymph laughed. “I’ll look forward to it.”

  Nate bit her earlobe. “We have company.” He continued to kiss her neck until their visitor cleared his throat. Nate pretended to be surprised when he looked up. “Hi, Logan.”

  Logan smiled. “You can tell me from Luc?”

  “Yes,” Nate said.

  “Aren’t you too old to be messing around with her like that? I mean, you’re getting up there in years and it can’t be good for your heart.”

  Nate barely kept the smile from his face. So this was how the twins were going to
play this out. “Well, lucky for me Nymph knows CPR.”

  “Oh, well, if you need any heart pills or Viagra I’m sure Doc could fix you right up.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Nate smiled then pinched Nymph’s bottom when she laughed. “Was there something you needed, Logan?”

  “Cade wants you to eat with us.”

  “Why?” Nate asked.

  “I, uh, hell, I don’t know. He just told me to tell you.”

  “Then we’ll join you in a moment.” Nate stared at Logan until he fidgeted then turned and left the kitchen. He finished loading the food on the cart and pushed it toward the door that led into the dining room. Nymph held the door open and they moved into the room to face the enemy.

  Addison and Cade sat at the head of the table with Jackson and Jenna opposite them. Luc, Cassie, and Logan sat on Cade’s right while Zane and Ravyn had two of the four chairs to his left. Addison smiled and pointed to the two empty chairs.

  Nate seated Nymph then moved the food from the cart to the table and sat down. She poured a glass of tea for herself and one for him and passed the pitcher to Zane.

  “Thank you, Isa—Nymph.” Zane poured two glasses and Ravyn passed the pitcher to Jackson.

  “So, how’d you end up with the name Nymph?” Cassie asked.

  Nymph smiled. “My parents were hippies. You know, all that ‘make love not war’ stuff. My initials spell out my mother’s maiden name, Neil. Nymph because I was born in a forest and my mother was into mythology. Everlove because”—she shrugged and laughed—“well, because they were hippies, and Isabella after the midwife who delivered me. Lachlan was my father’s last name.”

  Addison laughed. “That’s wonderful. I wish we could do something like that for Limo, but our names are too long.”

  “Limo?” Nate asked.

  Jenna laughed. “That’s what they call the baby. He or she was conceived in the back of a limo after Addison was kidnapped by Carlos Mendez then rescued and returned to Cade by Juan Rios.”

  Nymph looked at Jenna. “You were taken by Earl Baume because he hated Nate and Jackson, but he worked for the Mendez cartel. Cassie was taken again by the men who kidnapped her when she was seventeen and they worked for the same cartel. Then Ravyn was taken by Mendez, too.”