Connors warning returned to him. A single speck of dirt from his shoes could transmit a raging infection to Vic. Groaning, he pushed himself up. “Is there by chance water still in either of those pots? I need to bathe and undress.
Tubs grimaced and gathered Sara in his arms. “Sit here. I’ll bring you warm water as soon as I put Sara to bed.”
Xavier nodded and collapsed in the excessively warm chair. No wonder the girl liked to cuddle against Tubs. The man was a walking furnace.
Next thing he knew something warm nudged him. “Not for three months, Vic,” he muttered.
“I’ve everything set for your bath, sir.”
Xavier opened his eyes and stared at a full size tub sitting in their bedroom. He chuckled. Only Tubs would think of porting about a massive, porcelain-coated, iron tub.
The fellow offered his hand to steady Xavier as he stepped in the tub and sat down, waiting for the water to be poured.
“How much did you drink, sir?” Tubs asked, his brow furrowed into deep trenches.
“More than I probably should have. Why do you ask?”
The giant grimaced. “You didn’t take your clothes off before getting in the tub.”
Xavier cursed and with Tubs assistance, got out and removed his clothes, then climbed back in. Reasonably concluding Xavier was not up to par, Tubs not only poured warm water on his back, but assisted him in washing as well.
Was there nothing Tubs couldn’t do? Who the hell had taught the giant how to assist a gentleman with his bath?
He must have fallen asleep, because next thing he knew he floated out of the tub, and after sitting on the dresser while soft towels assaulted him, he resumed floating, landing on a soft cool cloud right beside his adorable pup and their cannonball.
Before falling asleep, he remembered an unfinished task.
God. Excellent job with the miracle. If you ever need a crime solved, I’m your man.
Chapter 3
The sound of whimpering woke Xavier and filled him with fear. Vic never whimpered. Never. She’d yell, curse, and scream, absolutely, but whimper, never. He pushed himself up and studied her face.
Even in her sleep, her brow furrowed as if in pain, but it still didn’t account for the pathetic whimpers. When another sound of discontent resonated, he realized it came from her chest and focused on their son trying to suckle her right breast through her gown. He attempted to remove the boy, but even in her sleep, Vic held tight to her hard-earned cannonball.
He considered waking her, but decided to try to solve this himself. The longer Vic slept, the better. He slid his hand between the boy’s mouth and the gown. A low feral growl came from his son. Vic’s son. Every trait thus far appeared to be from Vic.
Knowing the child lacked teeth, he ignored the warning and separated the boy from the wet and sticky muslin gown around Vic’s nipple. He deftly unbuttoned the gown with his right hand as his son hungrily gnawed on the forefinger of his left hand.
Once he had exposed Vic’s magnificent right breast, he gently removed his hand from the boy’s mouth, earning him another growl.
If not for Vic sleeping, he would have scolded his feral son. However, Vic’s health and rest remained top priority.
He settled the boy on the nipple and smiled as the growling ceased, replaced by hungry slurping noises.
The fact Vic could sleep through the mauling of her breast worried him. What if an infection was already raging through her body? What if Connors had made a mistake? By his own admission he’d never done this procedure before. Xavier reached up and felt her forehead.
Was she warm? He wasn’t sure, so he felt his son’s forehead. The boy seemed considerably warmer. Was he sick and infecting his mother? The latter thought was enough to rouse Xavier from his bed and go in search of Connors.
He regretted not assigning his friend a bedroom because Jacko’s hacienda had an excessive amount of sleeping quarters. He went down the hall, opening and checking each room for the physician. Within the third door he tried, he found Tubs and Sara together in bed. Sound asleep, but still it shocked him. He hadn’t realized matters between the two had progressed so far.
Vic hadn’t said anything, so he doubted the pup knew either. The room was decidedly chilly. Perhaps Sara invited him to her bed for warmth. She had to have asked him to her bed, because Tubs had the lowest self-esteem of any man he knew. He’d never invite himself.
Most women screamed and fainted upon sight of the giant, while most men backed away in fear. Vic had gone to great lengths to improve Tubs’ appearance, having his rotted black teeth pulled and pearly white false teeth set in their place, plus securing him a tailored suit made of the finest wool, but it did little good. The fellow’s massive size, the jagged scars from fights, and the nose, broken so often that it looked like a mangled clump of flesh tilted towards the right cheek, all colluded to make him, possibly, the most frightening man in the world.
And yet, lovely little Sara saw beyond his terrifying visage, not to mention his reputation of having killed over a hundred men, and invited him to her bed. Xavier found her courageous act in conflict with her timid personality.
She’s only known Tubs for three months. And while she has never once screamed or fainted, still to make such a leap in such a short time…
He recalled her telling Connors how Tubs taught her how to deliver a baby when she was held captive at Dragon’s Cloud, which meant she’d actually known Tubs for three years.
That made far more sense. He’d known Tubs almost twenty years, so he was used to the fellow. Vic, on the other hand, befriended Tubs in a single night. But that was Vic. Tubs had impressed her with his very light walk, his ability to pick a lock, and the ease upon which he kidnapped her. Having decided the giant’s skills were presently being wasted, Vic convinced him to quit a life of crime and work for them.
Had Vic searched all of London, she couldn’t have found a more dangerous criminal to befriend. Yet, once he spoke with Tubs, he realized the man wanted the job, even if it caused his current employer to kill him. Vic was the first person who had ever been nice to him, his only friend.
Thus, Xavier negotiated Tubs release from the crime lord who ‘owned’ him and assigned Tubs an incredibly difficult task that would challenge him daily for the rest of his life: protect Vic.
And to date, he had done a spectacular job. Unfortunately, it appeared Tubs had acquired another compelling interest to vie for his attention—Sara. That worried Xavier a great deal. He closed the door and continued to hunt for Connors.
Eventually, he found the good doctor twenty doors later, in the mistress’ suite. Why the hell would a doctor choose a room of red velvet? Hadn’t he seen enough blood already?
Xavier cleared his throat…and then cleared it again, even louder.
“Do you require something?” Connors asked, as if accustomed to being awoken in the middle of the night. Then again, doctors were frequently roused from their sleep.
“My son feels warmer than Vic. Does that mean he has a fever?”
Connors pushed himself up and yawned. “I seriously doubt it, but I’ll check.”
Xavier smiled at his friend. No argument, no complaining about the hour, the man simply rose and did his job.
When they arrived at Xavier’s bedroom, Vic was awake, smiling at her son, currently suckling from her left magnificent breast.
“Doesn’t anyone sleep at night anymore?” she asked.
“Apparently not,” Connors replied and felt the foreheads of both Vic and the boy. He then walked past Xavier to the door. “All is well,” he said and left the room.
Vic smiled at Xavier. Her happiness was a balm to his soul. While he knew she didn’t truly mean all those glares and curses she’d thrown his way during the last twenty-four hours, they’d hurt all the same.
He returned her smile and climbed into bed beside her. “I woke to whimpers and thought it was you.”
That earned him an outraged glare. “I never whimpe
r.”
“I know. Thus, I was worried.”
She frowned and gazed at the boy. “Cannonball whimpers?”
“When he has to suckle his milk through your gown, yes, he whimpers. And he growled when I tried to lift him up so I could provide him a clean shot at his food source.”
Vic smiled and caressed his head. “I like him a great deal more now that he’s out.”
“As do I,” Xavier added. “And since we now like the big-headed fellow, we should probably name him.”
“He has a name. Earned it, in fact.”
Xavier frowned. “Cannonball is not an appropriate name for a child.”
“Says the person who did not have a giant head ripping him apart.”
“Vic, the fact your pelvic bones proved to be stubborn is not our son’s fault. He did his part. He tried to leave head down, only the hole wouldn’t widen.”
“You think I don’t know that?” She caressed the baby’s head. “My pelvic bones may be stubborn, but that is a cannonball-size head.”
Xavier couldn’t argue. The boy’s head did seem unnaturally large. So he tried another argument. “Do you wish him to be constantly teased? It will no doubt make him attack first and apologize later. He’ll probably spend time in jail for beating to death some fop at a ball.”
She remained silent for a moment and looked at him. “What if his name were Cannon? Would that spare him jail time?”
Xavier had met a Cannon before and the young man seemed well adjusted. “That is acceptable, if you are determined to hold a grudge.”
“It’s not that. It’s just who he is. I’ll still love him…once the pain goes away.”
“Are you still hurting?”
After an emphatic nod, she met his gaze. “I don’t ever want to do this again. Will you ask Connors if he knows any way to not bear children?” She then added with a scowl. “And it cannot be abstinence or condoms. Neither works for us.”
He caressed her cheek. “I could not bear you going through this again either, so I asked Connors, after he removed Cannon, to perform a procedure which prevents you from having further children. I would have cleared it with you, but you were unconscious and the time to safely do it was then.”
Grabbing his hand and covering it with kisses, she said, “Thank you for understanding I was not meant to be a mother. The hell I just went through proves it.” She then touched her slurping son’s head. “But I am glad I could give you Cannon Baldwin Thorn. You will be an excellent father…” She paused and frowned. “But you can never throw an ink well at him.”
“I gave up ink wells,” he reminded her.
“When?”
“While you were unconscious.”
“I will hold you to it for myself, Cannon, our employees, and our clients,” she said and gripped his hand. “However, if a crime lord comes to visit, I grant you leave to douse him in ink again.”
He chuckled. “I will keep that in mind.”
Her eyelids drooped.
“You’re tired. Go to sleep.”
“Can’t sleep when I’m being milked like a cow,” she grumbled.
She had a point. He sat up and took the boy off her chest. Cannon objected with a loud howl.
“Stop that,” he ordered.
Cannon met his glare and doubled his volume.
“It’s going to be like that, is it?” He tucked the boy beneath his arm and left the room. When he arrived at Sara’s room, he opened the door without knocking and set the siren child between Sara and Tubs.
Tubs brow furrowed as he stared at Xavier. “She’s the nanny and you are unnaturally warm. So this seems a good place for the fellow. Don’t roll on Cannon. Vic’s gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to give me a son.”
Tubs’ giant paw covered the boy’s head, which now looked very small in comparison.
“Cannon. That’s a good strong name,” he said.
To Xavier’s amazement, Cannon stopped caterwauling and took a liking to the giant’s hand, chewing contentedly on the tip of Tubs’ massive little finger.
Xavier glanced at Sara, wondering how she could sleep through the racket. Noticing the red hue of her cheek, he concluded she only pretended to be asleep.
“All seems well here,” he said. “Good night.”
“Night,” Tubs said and chuckled at the finger nibbler.
***
Sara opened her eyes once the door closed. “Was he angry?”
Tubs shook his head. “Still, he probably has the wrong idea, so you might want to explain it to Vic tomorrow.”
“I will.” Her hand reached out and touched his arm, bulging with muscles. “He’ll understand.”
Smiling, Tubs nodded. “Sleep now, Sara. I’ll keep watch over you and Cannon”
With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.
Chapter 4
Waking to noisy slurping coming from her right breast, Vic huffed. “You again,” she said as she stroked Cannon’s head. Her son was a miracle in more ways than one and since he was out and no longer killing her, she felt a great love and possessiveness towards him.
Sara sat down on Xavier’s empty side of the bed. “How do you feel?”
“Better now that Cannonball is out of me.”
“You aren’t planning to actually call him that, are you?” Sara asked.
“I’m sure I’ll stop before he understands what I’m saying.” She then smiled at her nanny. “So you and Tubs? I’m happy for you. He’s a very good man.”
“I hoped to talk to you before Mr. Thorn did.”
Vic chuckled, which caused more pain than she anticipated. Refusing to worry the girl, Vic forced a smile and continued. “If you wanted to beat Xavier to the press, then Tubs should have sat on him while you high-tailed it in here. Xavier loves to lord over me his superior skill of observation.”
“I daresay he missed the mark this time.” Sara softly snorted.
“You and Tubs aren’t a couple?” Vic asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She had no doubt Tubs adored Sara.
“No, he just sleeps with me. I was having nightmares about Dragon’s Cloud and being in his presence gives me a sense of safety. So I asked him to share my bed. He has been a perfect gentleman. I promise you nothing has happened.”
Vic was so baffled she hardly knew what to say. She had rescued Sara from a life of forced prostitution, so the only conclusion she could come to depressed her greatly.
“Then you are repulsed by his looks?”
Seeming upset by Vic’s conclusion, Sara shook her head. “Not at all. I liked him even when his teeth were rotted and breath was terrible.”
“I got his teeth fixed right away. When did—” Vic stopped because she knew the answer. “You met Tubs when you were taken to Dragon’s Cloud.”
“He brought the basins of water for us to bathe in. Most of the girls were terrified of him, but unlike the madam and her husband, Tubs was never mean or threatened us. Still, every time he brought water or food, they’d all scream in terror and run to the corners of the room. When one of the girls had a baby, Tubs knew how to help her, but she wouldn’t let him help. So he told me what to do. I was terrified I couldn’t do it, but he gave me confidence I didn’t know I had. When I delivered the baby, I asked the mother to thank Tubs. Instead she called him a monster and warned him to stay away from her child.”
Sara shook her head and wrung her hands. “While he tried to hide it, I could tell it hurt his feelings.” She then smiled. “He’s so much happier working for you. As am I.”
Vic studied Sara. “I sense you love Tubs.”
Her eyes rounded. “You can’t let him know.”
“Well, it’s not my place. But why don’t you?”
“Because…he loves someone else?”
“Tubs?”
Sara nodded.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I am more certain of that than anything.”
“Who?” If Tubs were in love
with anyone else, surely she would know it. His sole occupation was following her about.
Sara blushed and stood. “I have something urgent to do in the kitchen.” As she ran from the room, the nanny plowed into Xavier at the door, apologized, and then disappeared down the hall.
Xavier entered and stared at Vic. “You aren’t still cursing at everyone, I hope, because we cut out the Cannonball just like you asked.”
Vic rubbed her boy’s head. “Sara was correcting your misread of matters between Tubs and her.”
Xavier sat on his side of the bed. “Misread? They were in bed together. How can that be misread?”
“Sara says the relationship is platonic.”
He snorted. “Nonsense.”
“Did you see them making love?” Vic challenged.
He leaned back against the headboard and stared at her as if she were a dunce. “No, but follow my logic. Tubs would never invite himself to Sara’s bed, so she must have invited him, which means she has strong feelings for the fellow. And Tubs is clearly in love with her, so there is no reason to presume matters have not progressed.”
Vic loved when she could prove Xavier wrong. “Except for two bits of evidence that you evidently failed to gather. First, Sara invited him to sleep in her bed because she suffers from Dragon Cloud nightmares. She feels safe when he is near.”
Xavier scowled. “So Sara doesn’t love him? She’s just using him as a watch dog to scare off her nightmares?”
“No. She admitted she does love Tubs. But for some odd reason, she thinks Tubs loves someone else.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but Vic held her palm up. “I know it’s ridiculous, but she ran out before I could prove her wrong.”
With arms crossed, he smiled smugly. “But she isn’t.”
“Of course, she is.”
Certain the only other woman Tubs had been in frequent contact with was Sara’s aunt, Vic was confounded. Unless… But that would never do. Her butler, Gregory, loved the cook.
Her brow wrinkled with worry as she said, “If you believe Tubs is in love with Sara’s aunt, then you need to tell him Mrs. Yarrows is already taken. Going head to head with Gregory is never a good idea. Trust me. I have a lifetime of experience in this matter. Did I ever tell you the time he made me wear cow ears and a tail for a week just because I mooed at him?”
Pack of Trouble (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 5) Page 3
