Honey Whiskey (A Bastards MC Novel) (33 page)

I made it back to my room and
managed to strip before I gave in and dropped into bed. I didn’t
have any time to process the day’s events. My eyes closed against
my will. I never heard Matty climb into bed later.

*****

We’d agreed on the drive back that
we’d take the kids to the museum on Saturday and then the aquarium
on Sunday morning. Even though they were visiting, Matty insisted
that I keep my training schedule with Nick, so I planned to do that
on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday afternoon. I also had a quick test
that I couldn’t miss on Monday, but the rest of the week I was
going to play hooky from school and have fun with my
family.

Matty and the kids were awake long
before me on Saturday. He and Sammy had given them the tour and
then they’d broken into pairs. Sam and Ben were playing in their
room and Lily was helping make breakfast when I finally dragged my
lazy bones out of bed. Rocker and Dean were helping get the food
ready, too, but what shocked me speechless was that all three men
were wearing makeshift crowns. Dean’s was incredibly girly, all
pink and purple sparkle pipe cleaners.

“
Wow,” I
murmured from the doorway, not sure whether to laugh or be
impressed. “Those are some nice crowns!”

Lily turned and gave me a gapped
tooth grin as she continued to stir whatever was in the bowl in
front of her. “Good morning, Mumma. I made you one,
too!”

At that, she jumped down and ran over to the
table, pulling a pink and blue tiara off the table and thrusting it
at me. I leaned down, telling her how beautiful it was, before
slipping it over my hair. She beamed before running back to Matty
to offer more help.

“
I ran to the
craft store this morning,” Dean told me quietly as he handed me a
cup of coffee. “We didn’t have a lot for girls so I called Cris and
Jessie and they told me what to get.” He nodded to the desk on the
other side of the room that was now covered with bags of arts and
crafts.

“
That should keep us busy.” My
smile was genuine. “Thank you.”

He waved his hand like it was
nothing, adjusted his very unmanly crown, and sauntered off to help
Lily stir. I watched as my daughter did exactly what Dean had
predicted she’d do. With a few giggles, sweet smiles, and very
silly jokes, she’d managed to wrap three very large and surly
bikers around her little finger. I was so screwed.

Breakfast was filled with laughter
and lots of eye rolling from me as I realized it didn’t matter how
old a man was because fourth grade humor was enough to bring out
the kid in them all. There wasn’t a straight face at the table.
Even I had to give in and giggle at the way they snorted and
carried on. Lily caught my eye once and whispered, “Silly boys!” I
could only nod and grin back.

Rob declined our invitation to the
museum, but Dean tagged along, telling Ben and Sam that the
lightening show was his favorite thing in the world. I knew why he
was really there, even if they didn’t, and was actually impressed
by his ability to keep a constant visual on them while managing to
survey the crowds for threats and playing along with them. Lily
stayed with Matt and me for the most part, holding my hand and
letting me act like a little girl with her when we were in the
Butterfly exhibit.

It was an amazing day, and even
though we were all dragging our feet, we were all smiles when we
stepped onto the elevator. We’d been discussing dinner ideas, and
the general consensus was pizza delivery. Followed by movies and
popcorn in our pajamas. Maybe ice cream sundaes if the kids were
really lucky. Ok, so it was really me that wanted the
sundaes.

Matty hurried out before the rest
of us, heading to find the takeout menu for the local Italian
restaurant. Never be the thing that comes between a man and his
pizza, ‘cause you’ll just get trampled. I wasn’t really paying
attention to him, focused more on Ben’s explanation of the way the
human heart works, when I realized there was more than one voice
coming from the kitchen. And one of them was very feminine. I
struggled to hear the other voices as we headed across the foyer,
trying to figure out if it was Jessie with Rob or Cris. The kids
kept rattling on, making it impossible to tell for sure, and Dean
was hanging on their every word so I couldn’t ask them to be
quiet.

The face that greeted me as we turned the
corner surprised me. I hadn’t thought I’d see Senator Henry Butler
so soon, and definitely not standing in my kitchen. He wasn’t
alone. His daughter had her arms wrapped around my fiancé and was
leaning in for a kiss.

Chapter 30

Jo

Whoever said the devil wore Prada
was wrong. Nope, today she was clad in an adorable Dolce and
Gabbana black and white polka dot sheath dress and mile high patent
wedges. She should look overdressed next to the man wearing a plain
white tee and blue jeans. Instead, they looked perfect together.
She was tall, but the heels brought her almost eye level to Matty.
The way that they were snuggled together gave me flashbacks, and I
couldn’t even pretend the jealousy wasn’t there.

I couldn’t look at them and
pretend to be happy, so I smiled at the senator. Then, I glanced
around the room for Rob. Even the open bottle of wine and three
goblets on the counter grabbed my attention. Anything to keep
myself from glaring at Matty and Taylor. 

“
Senator.” I
glanced back to him, struggling to keep my voice level. “What a
surprise. If I’d known you were stopping by, I would have made sure
to be here.”

“
Josephine.” Hal smiled at me
warmly, closing the gap between us as he reached for my hand. “I
won’t lie. I had hoped to run into you.” His thumb trailed over my
knuckles. “We came to speak with Rob. He told us you were out with
Matthew and the children.”

I pulled my hand away and gestured toward my
offspring. “Yep. My kids are visiting for vacation week. This is
Benjamin and Lily.”

The Senator said his hellos to my kids as I
introduced them, then gave Sam a quick hug and asked them all about
their day. The whole exchange took maybe five minutes, but I could
feel Matty staring at me, willing me to look at him. Dean,
understanding the glance I’d sent his way, asked the kids if they
wanted to go watch a movie downstairs and then promised me he’d
order the pizza soon so they’d at least be fed. The kids,
especially Sam, seemed in a hurry to get away from us. I had no
doubt they could feel the unease in the room.

Hal didn’t waste any time once the four of
them had started down the stairs. “I didn’t know you were in town,
Matthew.” Suspicion made his voice cold. 

I glance up at Matty then and found him
staring at Taylor instead of me. “You didn’t? Why didn’t you tell
your dad I was in town, Tay?”

She smirked, only making her features look
even more alluring. Pushing her hair back off her shoulders, she
winked at him before dropping her lips into a fake pout. “If he
knows you’re here, he tries to steal you. Is it so awful that I
wanted some time alone with my man?”

I rolled my eyes, instantly feeling like the
unwanted third wheel. 

Hal only chuckled at his daughter though.
“You’ll have plenty of alone time in just a few months.”

Matty cupped Taylor’s cheeks and
then kissed the middle of her forehead before turning his attention
back to Hal. “It seems that Miss Taylor didn’t fill me in either,
Senator, because I didn’t realize you hadn’t gone back to
Washington. I’m in town for vacation week. Sam’s very close with
Jo’s kids and we wanted them to spend as much time together as they
could.” Turning back to Taylor, he smiled and moved his thumb along
her cheek in a move that made me feel like I was intruding on their
private moment—he’d done the same thing to me numerous times. “We
missed you today.” 

His tone was soft and seemed
sincere. I couldn’t watch another instant. I thought about joining
Dean and the kids, but didn’t have enough self-preservation.
Telling myself it wasn’t real, and instead of saying something that
could destroy their whole sham, I turned to the table and sat just
as Taylor excused herself to use the bathroom. When I glanced up,
Hal was watching me. 

I smiled. “The kids wore me out today. My feet
are killing me!”

Hal chuckled. “What you need is a foot
massage.”

He started towards me when Matty
demanded, “What’s going on, Hal? Why were you coming to see Rob and
not me?”

Hal’s eyes left mine and moved to Matty. He
pursed his lips in thought, tucking his hands in his pockets, and
then jingled the change in his tailored khakis. “Taylor is being
followed.” 

“
What?” Matty’s tone was abrupt
and full of disbelief. I heard him step towards the island, but I
still didn’t turn to look at him.

Hal raised an eyebrow and the change rattled
more. “I knew she wouldn’t tell you. That girl thinks she’s
untouchable.” He shook his head, sighing. “Three separate times in
the last week my security caught someone tailing her.” He nodded to
the counter where a manila folder sat next to the wine. Matty
rushed around the counter and grabbed the file. 

Shuffling through the pictures, he stopped and
squinted at each one. “Have your men made contact?”

Hal shook his head. “No. They didn’t want to
spook him. He hasn’t come any closer, but she hasn’t been alone
either.”

Matty swore and slammed the file onto the
counter. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before now? What’d
Rocker say?” His hand curled into a fist as he turned, demanding
the answer from the older man.

“
I said we’d
look into it. But, that Taylor needed to tell you what was going on
from now on,” Rocker answered as he came in off the patio. He
slipped his phone into his jeans, slid the door shut behind him,
and then he headed straight for me, kissing my hair before pulling
out the chair behind me and sitting. His hand found my shoulder,
and he pulled me back into him before I could object. Oh, that’s
right. Rocker’s supposed to be interested in me. Awesome. “How was
the museum?” 

I turned to him, not even bothering to hide my
irritation with the whole damned mess and the blonde bombshell that
I wanted to hit. “It was a great day. Then we came
home.” 

“
You must be
exhausted!” Ah, yes. Speak of the devil and she will appear. “I
can’t imagine running all over the city with three kids!” Taylor's
eyes went wide in revulsion as she joined the men at the counter.
“Ugh.” Then she shuddered dramatically as if the thought of
traveling with kids was absolutely horrific. 

Everyone else ignored her. Hal moved to the
table and leaned down across from us. “Any luck?”

Rob shook his head. “Wiz is running the
picture. As soon as we know something, I’ll call you. In the
meantime, she needs to have someone with her.”

Taylor scoffed. “You are all making something
out of nothing. I’m sure it’s just some paparazzi freak hoping to
dig up some dirt before the wedding. It is going to be the social
event of the fall.” Her eyes twinkled happily, as if the idea of
being stalked by a man with a camera was exciting.

“
Taylor, this
isn’t a game. We don’t know how serious it could be,” Matty
warned.

She rolled her eyes in response. “Daddy, you
talked to Rob. We should get going.” 

Hal nodded at her before turning towards
Matty. “Why don’t you ride with us? We can talk more about the plan
to keep our girl safe, discuss options. Someone will bring you home
in the morning.”

Before Matt could answer, Taylor interrupted.
“Daddy! Sam’s here. Matty can’t just leave!”

Hal gave them a condescending
look. “I don’t know why you two act like I’m old fashioned. Or an
oblivious nit-wit.” He laughed at his daughter. “It’s very obvious
that you’ve been sneaking over here every weekend. And now that we
know someone is following you, it would be safer, and make me feel
better, if you two to stayed at the house. It sounded like the kids
had plans tonight, and I don’t want to make my future grandson
dislike me by forcing him away while his friends are here. I'm sure
Rob and Josephine won’t mind him staying with them.”

Three sets of eyes turned to us.
“Ahh…” What did I say to that? There is no way in hell Matty would
take off with Taylor and leave Sam here, even if we weren't a
couple, but I needed to have some sort of reasonable excuse.
Right?

The fingers on my shoulder
tightened, as if warning me to be quiet. “Absolutely. He’ll never
know you’re gone,” Rob's deep voice answered. 

I turned my head, shocked. “What?”
I hissed at Rob, but he just shook his head slightly and winked. My
eyes narrowed at the giant man, and I was sure I'd never been as
surprised by someone as I was at that moment.

Until Matty spoke. “If you're ok
with it, it sounds like a plan. Let me go say goodbye to the little
man.” My eyes closed automatically and I inhaled slowly. No. This
was a sick joke. Matty would never choose to go home and spend the
night with her instead of being here with me and Sammy. I was
dreaming and would wake from this nightmare soon.

“
Joey?” The
voice in my ear startled me. Matty was suddenly standing right next
to me. “Did you hear anything I just said?” I shook my head
pathetically at his scolding tone. “I asked if you wanted to come
downstairs with me. I thought you might soften the blow of me
leaving.”