Torn (22 page)

Leaning over, I scratched Ruger’s belly. “Why
do I have the feeling that he’s up to something, Ruger?” He picked
his head up and looked at me before jumping down and trotting to
the back door. “You need to go out buddy?”

While we were in the backyard, I heard the
sexy rumbling of the Venom as it pulled into our narrow driveway.
Opening the side gate, I walked around the house as Brody opened
his car door and stood. “Hey, honey, you didn’t have to come
out.”

“I was already out, Ruger needed to potty.
Come on, let’s go inside.” I waddled back through the gate and
whistled for Ruger. Even though Brody was here, I didn’t like to
have Ruger too far away. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Sure, but I was thinking since Jaxon wasn’t
here we might be able to go grab a bite to eat. I mean, unless
you’ve already eaten.” He followed me through the backdoor into the
kitchen.

“Food sounds good. Jax had some business to
take care of so I hadn’t done anything for dinner. I was just going
to have a bowl of cereal,” I answered as Ruger passed me on his way
to the water bowl.

“What are you in the mood for?”

“Brody, I’m nine months pregnant. I’m in the
mood for food. It really doesn’t matter what kind. Although I hear
spicy food can make you go into labor.” I hinted at my readiness to
get this child out of me. I swear I felt like I was so big she was
going to come out the size of a toddler.

“All right then, you pick the place and I’ll
drive.” He loosened his sapphire blue tie that matched his gorgeous
eyes. I prayed our daughter got his eyes.

Ugh, I don’t want to pick
where we eat. I always have to pick. Why are men so damn
indecisive?

“It doesn’t matter to me. I just don’t want
to try to figure it out right now. Surprise me.” I put the decision
back in his court.

Sensing my irritation, he took control of the
situation, which I think he secretly wanted to do anyway. “Okay,
where is your purse? I will grab it for you while you put Ruger in
his crate.”

“It’s by the front door, next to my keys. Oh
and can you please get my cell off the living room table?” I asked,
opening the door to the large laundry room where Ruger’s crate now
resided.

“Of course.” He grabbed all my things and met
me at the back of the kitchen. “Would you feel more comfortable if
we took your car? I know you hate trying to get out of mine
now.”

“Would you mind?” Relieved he said it so I
didn’t have to, I could’ve hugged him for remembering.

“It will give me a chance to see what the
Hellcat’s got.” His eyebrows bounced as his eyes lit up.

“Oh geez Pete. Just remember I’m carrying
your
child.”

“Have I ever given you any reason to think I
would put you or the baby in harm’s way?” He sounded hurt by my
suggestion.

“No, of course not. I just meant I don’t want
you to get carried away and drive like you’re at the Daytona Five
Hundred.”

Short minutes later we pulled up to Fleet
Landing, a restaurant built on a pier just down the street from my
place. The hostess took us to a small square table by the window
with a spectacular view of Charleston Harbor. Once we were seated
next to each other facing the water, I finally had the nerve to
ask. “Is this little dinner what you and Jax were whispering about
yesterday?”

For a split second this look crossed his
face. It was almost as if he had intended to lie then changed his
mind. “It was.”

“That’s it? That’s all you are gonna
say?”

“What were you looking for?” His tone was
rich with sincerity as he dropped his menu to the table.

“I don’t know, maybe an explanation of why
you would go along with him or he would actually ask. You two can’t
stand each other.”
Especially when it concerns
me.
“So what gives?”

“You’re correct. He and I are certainly not
friends, probably never will be, but he asked if I would keep you
company and keep an eye out for you. Oh and…” He took a sip of
water. “Barb and Drew were working, otherwise it would have been
one of them. I was, as you’ve guessed, his last choice.”

So Jaxon had asked him to babysit me.
That asshole. I’m perfectly capable of staying
home alone
. “So you drew the short straw and got saddled
with babysit-the-pregnant-chick duty?”

“Lei, I don’t think that’s how it was meant.
You’re near the end of your pregnancy and you’ve had complications.
We just wanted to make sure you had someone around, just in case.”
He picked his menu up as the waitress approached. “Are you ready to
order?”

“Yes,” I answered her. Under my breath I told
Brody, “But I’m not done with this conversation.”

Our chipper little waitress took our orders,
all the while flirting with Brody. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes
while Brody just flashed his panty-melting smile. Once she left I
shook my head. “Good to see some things never change.”

“And what might those be?”

“Oh come on, you know what I’m talking about.
Don’t play coy.” I lifted the lemon from my water and squeezed it
in. “Everywhere you go women practically lay themselves down at
your feet, begging you to walk all over them for just a taste.”

“Careful, Lei,” he smirked, “you sound like
you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous, Brody. I just think it’s
rude for her to flirt with you right in front of me. How does she
know we aren’t together?” I really wasn’t jealous. I had Jaxon, and
Brody deserved to be happy with someone. “All I’m saying is it’s
unprofessional on her part.”

“Noted,” he said with a wicked grin still
spread across his face. “While we have some time, have you given
any more thought to baby names?”

“Not much really. The almost-being-kidnapped
thing kind of pushed it to the back burner.” Finally, I could make
my little jokes and mean them, knowing Drill was lying dead on a
cold, hard coroner’s table somewhere.

“You mean you didn’t use your panic room time
wisely?” he teased back.

“Nope, I panicked while in the panic room
instead. I don’t know, I still really like Lillian Elizabeth. What
about you? Any new names you like?” Looking to the left, I saw the
flirtatious waitress coming our way.

“I still really like the name we picked out
in the hospital too. Lillian Elizabeth Davis. It has a nice ring to
it.”

Oh boy, this conversation was getting ready
to take a hard left, and I didn’t think Brody would be pleased with
where it was going to end.

“Here is your crab bruschetta and your meal
should be out shortly,” our waitress announced as she stuck her
chest out, proudly displaying her now-visible cleavage.
I’ll be damned, she unbuttoned her
shirt.

“Thank you, Chelsea. My little momma here is
quiet famished.” He reached over and rubbed my belly.

“Oh, congratulations, you’re having a baby.”
She mustered up some seriously fake enthusiasm.

No, I’m just super fucking
fat,
is what I wanted to say but I think Brody could feel
the waves of hostility rolling off me and spoke up first. “We are,
thank you. A little girl, in fact, and she’s due any day now.”

“Well, y’all’s food will be out soon. Let me
know if you need anything else.” As she walked away, my hormones
surged and I had the horrible desire to trip her. Instantly, I felt
bad for even having the thought.

“Oh my God, rude much? What did she think, I
was just naturally fat just in my stomach?” I quickly grabbed a
slice of bruschetta and scarfed it down. Man, was it delicious.
“Anyway, what were we talking about before she came over?”

“Names,” Brody reminded me as he lifted the
toast to his mouth.

“Right.” Damn, I wished he had forgotten too.
I did not want to have this talk. “So about her name—”

“Brody,” a man’s voice hollered from down the
aisle. Turning, I saw Sean and his girlfriend walking toward us,
dressed to go clubbing.
Shit, what is her
name?
“Hey, bro, what’s up? You guys remember Rachel,
right?”

Rachel.
It was on the
tip of my tongue when he said it. “Of course,” I smiled, lathering
on the cheerfulness. “How are you?”

“Good.” She smacked on her gum like a cow
chewed cud. “Wow, you’re really pregnant, huh?”

Wow, she was a quick one. “I am.”

“Hey, were you able to get out to the
Summerville property I asked you to take a look at?” Brody asked
Sean. As they had their real estate conversation, I silently prayed
to all things holy that he did not invite them to have dinner with
us.

“Why don’t y’all have dinner with us?”

You don’t have to have the
baby name talk anymore.
“Yeah, sit, have dinner with us. We
already ordered but I’m sure y’all could order real fast and it
could all come out together.” I startled Brody, who had a confused
look on his face.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Sean looked at
me.

“Please, sit.”

A short time later the waitress took our
guests’ orders and the guys continued discussing work. Rachel was
so busy on her cell phone texting she was barely there. Dinner
came, we ate, then they left after Sean and Brody all but leg
wrestled over who was paying the check.

As we walked out of the restaurant Brody
stopped me. “Before we get in the car and leave I need to just say
this.”

“Brody…” I knew where this conversation was
going and I just didn’t have the energy.

“No, wait, Lei, I just want to say that I am
really trying to be understanding when it comes to Jaxon and our
daughter. I know I wasn’t on board in the beginning, but that has
changed. I can’t wait to see this little girl.” He reached out and
put his hands on either side of my stomach. “I want to make this
whole co-parenting thing work.” He paused, taking a deep breath.
“With all of us. She deserves the best of both of us and fighting
with him is not the best of me. I was at my best when we made her
and I am trying really hard to get back to that guy.”

Oh great, cue the waterworks.

I would have preferred to fight with him than
be reminded of the heartache we had both caused and endured. My
heart hurt at the thought of him losing his way, but I was happy to
learn he was trying to move forward and be happy again. I just
wished I wasn’t the source of his pain.

“I agree she deserves to have parents who
aren’t fighting all the time. I’m sure we’re going to disagree, but
we’ll do a better job of communicating. I want you to be in her
life as much as you want to. We
will
make
this work. You are her dad and I would never dream of taking that
away from you.”

“I’m sorry, Lei, I didn’t mean to make you
cry. I just want you to know that I want the best for both of you.”
He swiped his thumb across my cheek, wiping away the tears. “Even
if that means we aren’t together.” He tilted my chin up.
“Okay…enough sadness. How about I take you to get some ice
cream?”

The baby walloped my side. “Ow. Damn, I think
she understands those words. I’m really not in the mood for ice
cream. Actually, if it’s okay, I’d like to head home. I really need
to lie down and get my feet up.”

I looked down at the same time Brody did.
“Whoa, Lei, should your ankles be that swollen?”

“Nope, thus why I wanna get home.”

I slipped my arm through his winged-out elbow
and continued toward the car. “So about the name of the baby.”

“I’m good with Lillian Elizabeth.” I stopped
with that for now. I’d approach the subject of last name another
time. Maybe I should wait until I was in labor. No one would dare
argue with a pregnant woman who was being ripped in two from the
inside out.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Jaxon

“It’s almost eight thirty. You see
anything?” Mark asked for the hundredth time.

“Not anything more than the last time you
asked and it’s only eight twenty.”

“Can you see all of the guys at their
spots?”

Swinging the rifle around to the different
targets, I saw four out of the six guys. Dig and Stretch were
pacing, while Barrett and Rip were sitting on their bikes. Still no
sight of Viper or Axel. I wasn’t surprised. Viper knew to stay out
of sight and Axel, well, I suspected he wouldn’t be there at
all.

“I can see everyone but Viper and Axel.” I
focused in on the warehouse Viper was assigned, trying to get a
bead on him. He was a trained Marine. If he wanted to stay hidden,
I wouldn’t see him.

“Well, where the fuck are they?”

“Prez, you need to chill the fuck out. Keep
lookin’.” I tilted my head at the binoculars. “You keep a lookout
over there and I’ll look over here.” I nodded to the right of the
tower where Dig, Rip, and Viper were supposed to be. Stretch, Axel,
and Barrett were to the left, where I searched for movement.

I looked down at my watch, eight-twenty-six
p.m. then put my eye back to my Nightforce scope. Just as I
suspected, I saw two black SUVs pulling up outside of the warehouse
where we sent Axel. “We gotta move. Warehouse F on McMillan.”

“Son of a bitch! I’m gonna kill him with my
bare fuckin’ hands,” Mark rasped as we ran down nine flights of
stairs, skipping every other step.

Tapping the Bluetooth headset, I called
Viper. “V, get to warehouse F on McMillan Avenue now, one street
over and four blocks up. Axel’s there with the fuckin’ buyers. Call
in reinforcements.”

“On it.” Viper hung up.

The stairs seemed to never end as we passed
landing after landing until we finally hit the ground floor, burst
out the door and jumped on our bikes. Hauling ass, we made it to
the warehouse in about three minutes. We pulled up at the same time
as Commander Gorden, Tommy, a van full of federal agents and two
SWAT teams.

Sliding to a stop, I killed the bike and damn
near laid her down. I pulled my gun from my waistband and ran wide
open toward the open warehouse door, Mark, Tommy, and Drew all the
while yelling for me to stand down. Stopping at the doorway long
enough to listen and not hear anything, I peeked around for a split
second and didn’t see anyone. I hollered out, “Viper.”