Join the Club (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 7)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “Not as fine.” Nico’s lips twitched.

  “My sister really is fine?” I asked. “She’s going to be okay?”

  Nico pulled me into a hug and I nearly lost it.

  I nearly blubbered all over him.

  The only thing that saved me from not doing that was my anger at the man down the hall.

  Plus, I didn’t want that man to see me crying.

  Instead, I wanted him to see how pissed off I was.

  Because I would be seeing him.

  There was no doubt about it.

  The man that had played at being our friend. The man that I’d once been betrothed to. The man that couldn’t help plotting and scheming to try to get himself into whatever fucked up position he needed to find a foothold into our world. That man needed to take a flying leap off the fucking rooftop.

  I hugged Nico back, burying my face in his chest as I breathed in and out shakily.

  I was so not okay.

  So far from okay that it was quite possible I was losing my shit.

  After dealing with my father today, and then hearing that this happened to my sister, I was teetering on the edge.

  But Nico gave good hugs, and despite his scary demeanor, he really was a big ol’ softy.

  I’d lucked out for sure in the grandparent department when it came to Georgia and Nico.

  He squeezed my neck, and I drew in a shaky breath that had me gaining a semblance of control.

  Enough control, anyway, to pull away and give Nico a broad smile.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I said, straightening my shoulders.

  Nico’s eyebrows rose, and he only watched me for a few seconds before nodding once.

  I turned and started marching down the hall, my strides long and purposeful as I made my way toward the uniformed officers that were standing guard at the door of a room.

  I smiled at them. “Excuse me.”

  I saw their eyes flick to behind me and knew that Nico had given them a nod of agreement, allowing me entrance.

  They stepped aside and I pushed through the door, coming to a halt when I saw the man lying on the bed.

  His genitals were exposed and a nurse was doing something to what was left of Kerrie’s penis.

  I grinned. “Karma, huh?”

  Kerrie slowly tilted his head toward me from where he’d been looking toward a wall that was across the room from him.

  When his eyes met mine, I grinned maniacally at him.

  “You fucked up,” I said.

  Kerrie’s mouth turned into a sneer.

  “I hope that you spend a long, drawn-out life in prison,” I said. “I hope that every time you drop the soap, you’re reminded that you won’t ever be the same again. You’re reminded of this very instant where I said ‘I told you so.’”

  Kerrie laughed weakly.

  “You think that I’m done?” he asked. “I’m not. I’ll be out eventually.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Maybe not. But when that time comes, I know that my son has plenty of people he can depend on. I know that at some point you’ll not be paying attention. And when that time comes, I hope you look me in the eyes when I get to kill you.”

  Kerrie’s lips turned into a sneer and he looked at the two cops that had followed me inside. I’m sure for my protection and not Kerrie’s.

  “You heard her. She threatened to kill me,” he said to them. “That’s illegal. Arrest her.”

  Uniformed officer number one ignored the statement. When I looked at him, he was studying the wall with an intentness that bordered on extreme.

  He’d heard me all right. He was just going to ignore it.

  Officer two was staring blankly at Kerrie. “I heard nothin’. I honestly didn’t even see anyone come in here.”

  I laughed then, gave Kerrie a thumb up, and blew him a kiss. “Enjoy your life, Kerrie. Just know that your days are limited. I hope the ol’ penis never heals, though. Maybe you’ll get a wonderful case of crotch rot.”

  With that, I left the room, this time heading in the opposite direction.

  I knew where my sister was based solely on all of the SWAT officers mingling outside in the hallway.

  This time, when Nico spotted me, he waved me in that direction. All the officers were jumpy, so even though it was more than obvious who I was, they were still hesitant to move.

  When they moved to intercept me, Nico waved them off. “Let her in.”

  I glared at the closest one, realizing that it was Saint.

  “Move,” I snapped.

  Saint raised his eyebrows at me in question but moved nonetheless.

  The moment that I got my first look at my sister, I started to cry.

  ***

  “Are you okay?” I asked again.

  Dillan shot me an annoyed smile. “For the fifth time, yes.”

  “God.” I pressed my hand against my face. “You could’ve been killed. I could’ve lost you.”

  “I’m okay, Delanie Wanie.”

  I looked at my sister, not even the move to tease her with our stupid nicknames could change the way seeing her like this made me feel.

  “And you’re pregnant!” I cried. “How the hell did that happen?”

  Booth snorted from the chair beside the hospital bed, and I pointed at him. “Shut up.”

  He raised his hands and mimed zipping his lips.

  I leaned my head against my sister’s shoulder.

  “I found BBC today,” I said.

  My sister started to shake in laughter. “Did you really have to put a squeaker in it?”

  BBC, better known as Big Bad Cock, was a gag gift that I’d gotten my sister for Christmas three years ago.

  I’d ordered it on Amazon when I realized that Amazon sold sex toys.

  When I’d given it to her for Christmas, she’d nearly lost her shit.

  Not because she was a prude of anything, but at just how gargantuan it was.

  It was literally as big around as a four-by-four board, and about three-quarters as long as a yardstick.

  It was literally the size of a sword.

  A schlong sword.

  And a little after Christmas, we’d started to hide it in unsuspecting places for the other to find.

  It was a stupid game that we both thoroughly enjoyed for some sick reason.

  For instance, today I’d found BBC in my dog kennels.

  Actually, the only reason I’d found it was because I could hear a squeaking sound that had started to drive me insane.

  When I’d examined the sound, I’d found that my sister had replaced one of the balls with one of those squeaker toys out of those fake plastic chickens that made that annoying whining sound when you squeezed them.

  My sister had lined it up on the wall with the rake, shovels, and other various tools that I used in the kennels.

  One of the dogs had found it while he was out there and had proceeded to chew on one testicle and make it squeak continuously.

  It was hilarious.

  And so going back to her tomorrow.

  This time, I was going to hide it in plain sight.

  We had a set of rules, though.

  One, no matter how embarrassing it was when we found it, we didn’t throw it away.

  Two, we never asked each other where it was. We had to find it on our own, even if it took six months to find it.

  Three, keeping it private was encouraged, but not expressly prohibited.

  And finally, four, we didn’t take it to the other’s place of business.

  Though, that was more for Dillan than it was for me seeing as I worked out of the house.

  Though, there were a few times that I had to make special trips to places with the dogs, and at those times I couldn’t be having her suctioning that dildo to my car without me knowing.

  Her car on the other hand…

  “That was great, wasn’t it?” she asked, tears forming in her eye
s as she tried to suppress her laughter. “That was also totally Booth’s idea. I had to hollow out some of the dildo to allow for air escapage, though.”

  My eyes went to Booth, who was still very much upset, then back to my sister.

  “Are you excited about the baby?” I asked quietly, hoping that the two brothers in the room wouldn’t overhear.

  Her brows pinched together as she thought about her answer.

  “I’m fucking scared,” she admitted. “I’ve never really liked kids. Being around them.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You love Asa, and you practically were his second mother. He calls me mom and you aunt. But that’s only for formality’s sake. You’ve burped him, fed him. Bathed him, watched over him. Gone to check on him when he’d been quiet too long when he’d first started sleeping through the night as a baby. You’ve cried with me over his first steps and gotten pissed with me when something bad happens at his school. Trust me when I say, you’re ready for this. You are a mother.”

  Her eyes started to fill with tears again, and this time they actually started to leak over.

  “I’m scared,” she said, fear filling her voice.

  I snorted. “Welcome to motherhood. But, just sayin’, you’ve been there with me for five years now. You just didn’t want to admit it.”

  She sighed and swiped the tears from her eyes.

  Which was when I decided that I really needed to let her in on my secret.

  “I’ve been sleeping with Bourne,” I whispered.

  I couldn’t have told her something more surprising, apparently.

  She gasped, drawing Booth and Bourne’s attention.

  Then she said, “You’ve been boning my fiancé’s twin brother? Do you know how that’s going to look to the people of Kilgore, Texas?”

  There was a long moment of silence as I stared at her in shock. Then she started to laugh.

  “Oh, this is so great. Dad is going to flip his lid.” She laughed gleefully. “I love this! Now all we have to do is move in together. We can raise Asa together, and you can help me raise my baby. Oh, can we please, please do this?”

  Bourne started laughing then, his eyes coming to me. “You put her up to that, didn’t you?”

  I blinked innocently at him. “No. I swear I didn’t.”

  “Why?” Booth asked. “What am I missing?”

  “What you’re missing is that your brother is sleeping with my sister and they kept it a secret from us!” Dillan cried.

  My brows rose. “And you didn’t do the same damn thing to me? Technically, we only slept with each other a handful of times a month ago. It was only very recently that we decided to give us a try.” I pointed to Bourne and me with my finger. “Y’all kept your secrets much longer than I did. I didn’t even know that you were engaged!”

  “Why do you have such a guilty look on your face, Delanie?” Dillan asked. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not not telling you anything.”

  “Your father decided that he wants to have visitation with Asa. He also set up that meeting with the governor so that Delanie could spy on his campaign seeing as he plans to run against him. But he didn’t say that in particular, that’s what we’re reading between the lines,” Bourne murmured. “Did you ever order that pizza?”

  I never got to answer.

  There was a long moment of silence and then Booth burst out with, “That man isn’t getting anywhere near my child.”

  “Amen,” I muttered, sharing a look of commiseration with Booth. “He actually asked for visitation. Said that he’d clear the time. That his secretary would call when it was a good time for him.”

  Booth snorted. “That ain’t happening.”

  “Agreed.” I nodded. “It isn’t.”

  “He’ll get a lawyer involved,” Dillan guessed. “When he doesn’t get what he wants. He’ll have to seek professional counsel because he has to make it look like he’s the one that’s being wronged. He can’t just let this go because it has to look good for his career.”

  “Great,” Booth said. “Exactly what we need right now. More media attention. This shit is going to hit the fan.”

  It was.

  I could feel it now.

  Scrubbing my face, I looked over at Booth. “Do you still want to go to the specialist appointment in Dallas tomorrow?”

  He glanced over at Dillan who, despite being strangled all over again, didn’t look worse for wear.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m going.”

  “That’s good because I’m opening my shop tomorrow,” she said. “And it’ll get you out of my hair instead of hovering over me every second of every day.”

  Booth’s jaws clenched together.

  “That’s…”

  “I’ll check on her,” Bourne said. “I’m on dayshift tomorrow covering for Kanutson.”

  Booth sighed and turned back to me. “I’ll pick you both up at six.”

  ***

  Bourne

  “Please tell me that is not a massive dildo suction cupped to my truck,” Booth said as he walked out of the hospital that night with his hand in Dillan’s.

  Dillan started to snicker, seeing the massive thing sticking up off the roof of his truck, softly bobbing in the wind.

  “That’s bad,” she said. “But at least you saw it before you started to drive around town with it.”

  There was that.

  “I’m going to kill her,” Booth said.

  “No, you’re not,” I disagreed.

  I climbed up onto the tailgate and reached for the dildo, finding it incredibly hard to get it off the roof.

  “This has some hella suction,” I said to no one in particular.

  It finally popped free, and I tossed it down into the bed of the truck before heading to my truck, laughing under my breath the entire way there.

  It was only when I was in the cab heading back to Delanie’s place that I realized that was the first time I’d smiled in a while.

  Because, for the last three hours, I was once again jealous of my brother’s life.

  I wanted the wife, the kids, and the two-car garage.

  I wanted that same thing. Now.

  I just wasn’t sure that Delanie wanted the same things on the same timetable.

  And that really sucked.

  Chapter 12

  Sometimes I think I got this. Other times I realize that it’s got me.

  -Fact of life

  Bourne

  “Yo, Jason,” I called.

  Jason, who was heading out of work after working for me last night so I could work today’s shift for Kanutson, offered me his hand.

  “Hey, brother.” Jason grinned, shaking my hand. “Your shift sucks, by the way. I’m not sure why you’d willingly choose to do it.”

  I snorted. “Says the person that has to sit there and twiddle his thumbs half the time.”

  Jason shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  I scratched the back of my head as I said, “You got an hour or so this morning to do me a favor?”

  Jason looked at me skeptically. “I have a brand-new wife at home that’s probably still in bed. What in the world could be more important than that?”

  I grinned. “I guess not much. But I was hoping for a favor. Hoping to use your skills for a bit to help me find a few things out.”

  Then I told him about Delanie’s father, and his likelihood of taking this further. When I was done, Jason looked pissed.

  “Sounds like a real winner,” he muttered. “But yeah, I can poke around for a bit. See what I can dig up. I was joking about my wife, anyway. She was up and working this morning at five. I can run by her office and see what I can dig up.”

  Jason’s wife worked for their family business. C&C Investigations.

  Jason had previously worked there himself for a year or two before he realized that he didn’t want to find evidence of cheating husbands
for desperate wives anymore.

  Then he’d started working for the police department and was slowly working his way toward detective.

  But Jason had some serious skills. He seemed to find shit where there was only the tiniest flicker of dust.

  He could make water into wine, and all that jazz.

  Which was why I asked him.

  “I’ll pay you in beer and pizza,” I thanked him.

  Jason rolled his eyes.

  Just like I knew he would, he said, “You’re not paying me, man. How many times have you helped me out?”

  That was true.

  Though Jason wasn’t my best friend or anything, he was a good friend. And I had helped him out when he needed the help.

  Just like he would do for me if I ever needed it.

  Kind of like right now.

  “I wanted an excuse to kiss my wife anyway.” Jason slapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll do a quick search at the office. Leave the computer sweeping while I catch some Zs. Hopefully something will turn up.”

  I nodded once. “Appreciate it, man.”

  Jason got into his brand-new truck, a white Dodge that was literally right off the assembly line, and headed out.

  I, on the other hand, headed inside and got changed into my uniform before heading out myself.

  I spent half the morning worrying about what the doctor was saying about Asa, and the other half worrying about what I was going to say to Delanie to convince her to move in with me. Or, more importantly, for me to move in with her.

  I’d had a lot of time to think about what I wanted last night as I tried to find sleep, and I’d come up with a few things.

  One, I wanted to see where this thing went with Delanie and me.

  Two, I wanted to take it to the next level. I wanted to move in with her.

  Between her schedule and mine, there was no way in hell that we’d get to spend that much time with each other. I worked nights. She worked days. Hell, I saw Dillan more than I saw Delanie at this point.

  Three, I just wanted to be able to sleep with her every night.

  I wanted the whole thing.

  With Delanie.

  I knew deep down that she was it for me.

  I just didn’t want to freak her out or scare her when I told her I wanted forever.

  Which was why, for now, I was going to keep it quiet.