“At least we’re handsome.”
“That we are.”
Dad studied me for a few seconds. “He’s a good man.”
“I know he is.”
“Just thought it was worth reminding you. And from what I could tell, his friends are, too.”
“I’m sure they have some flaws, Dad, but I’m not gonna go looking for them.”
“Think that’s the wise course of action,” he nodded. “Get some rest, Sparks. You need it. Lights out.”
“Yes, sir.”
I left Dad in the hallway. There were few people I’d met who’d never let me down, but Dad was one of them. I just hoped he felt the same way.
oOo
TOMMY WAS STILL SMILING like an idiot when he walked into the clubhouse.
“Damn,” Mace laughed. “That’s the face of a man lost.”
“What?”
“I’ve seen that on Dawg, Mac, and Mitch. You are a lost cause. You’ve got it bad.”
“Yup.” He didn’t even think about denying it. He didn’t give a shit if they knew. In fact, he preferred them knowing. “I’ve got it bad.”
It was Friday, but no church. They only had church every second week unless there was a lot going on, but at the moment things were pretty calm. They had their chosen prospecting clubs set up or already patched over, no more to inspect, so it was just the regular runs who were still going up to New York with their regular clubs. A routine and procedure they’d had set up for years with everyone knowing what needed to be done. It had changed slightly, though. The Dutch needed more pot than they’d transported before, but since then they’d had a trucking business running, and a few of the guys, Tommy included, had gotten licensed to drive trucks. Some guys followed on bikes, but not close by, since it would make them more visible, but they’d rebuilt the trucks to make them stand a pretty thorough inspection without anything being found. And the diamonds they also smuggled were easy to hide—they had never been the problem.
He waved to the hang-around behind the bar and asked him for a coffee. They didn’t have any prospects in the club at the moment, and when they’d talked about it in church, it had been agreed that they would wait with that for a few years. Brick had said that if they needed people, they’d take a few members on loan from other charters. Tommy knew that neither Brick nor Bear was keen on taking in guys on loan, he wasn’t really sure why, but he also knew that what they needed was experienced members, not prospects who were nervous and overly eager to please most of the time.
Tommy’d never thought much about the prospecting, and he never thought it was particularly tough on the guys, either. Sure, it was shit work, sometimes literally, and they received a lot of crap from the others, but he understood the reasoning behind it.
It was the same with the training he’d done in the Marines, both the Recon training and in Scout Sniper School. They’d fucking put him through hell. He’d done push ups with arms shaking and some asshole yelling in his ear that spitting on him would be a waste of perfectly good saliva—and that would count as a relaxing moment. Getting through those things wasn’t about being physically fit; it was through and through a mental challenge. In general, he’d been treated like crap, and more than once he’d been so fucking close to standing up and saying ‘I’m out’ because that was all it took. Say that, and he’d have been given a coffee, a pat on the shoulder, and he’d have been off. He never did. And once he’d deployed, he truly got it; when you’re out there, in the real world, there’s no standing up and saying ‘I’m out.’ Because there’s no way out, and if you didn’t have the mental capacity to pull through when it’s just training and you have the option to quit, you had no business in an actual war zone when people’s lives depended on you being able to deal with any shitty situation at hand.
A lot of people got impressed when they heard ‘Marines,’ and those who knew what Recon was got even more impressed, and he was proud. But to Tommy, those things didn’t give him an image of a huge dude with big muscles, because even if they were all fit, that wasn’t what defined them. The more important thing they all had in common was the will to do what it takes.
He’d approached prospecting in the same way. It was about proving he’d do what needed to be done, and that no matter what shit was thrown at him, he’d have his brothers’ back. It was a way for the club to flush out guys who’d bail out when things were harder.
He’d heard guys wondering why the prospects just took it, what would stop a person from just having a go at one of the patches—beat him up. Same reason no one beat up the instructors in the military: respect—and the knowledge that they’d get together and beat you into a permanent wheelchair. Or simply to death.
As far as Tommy was concerned, the prospecting period was a cakewalk. No one had even tied him up and tortured him, which was just some of the things that had been done to him when working up to become a recon sniper. But he could understand if civilians thought it was rough, and more than one of the current members had mentioned it as such. He never corrected them; it was their story, their route on becoming men. Tommy had just had that part covered before joining the Marauders.
He looked at Mace with a big smile, and when he thought about it, Mace was hardly the one to give anyone a hard time about falling for a woman. He’d done it just the year before.
“I’ve seen that smile on you, too.”
“Yeah,” Mace admitted with a laugh.
“Where is she?”
Mace’s old lady, Kathleen, was a freelance journalist, and she was quite often out traveling to get her stories. Often in pretty unstable areas. One of the more memorable conversations he’d heard Mace have with her had been when Mace had been standing in the middle of the clubhouse, yelling at Kathleen that she was fucking insane, and that she should get her ass back on US soil. She’d been somewhere in Africa, and guerilla soldiers had been shooting at her. Kathleen had later said that Mace totally blew that out of proportion; they weren’t shooting at her, more in her general direction.
“She’s up in New York selling the latest story,” he said.
“So she’s done?”
“No. She’s going back to Africa one more time for this one. Then she talked about Kashmir. Apparently there’s reports about rape as weapons of war there, too,” Mace answered with a tired voice. “Then there was some mumbling about a series of women tortured for the sake of beauty. I don’t really know what that was about, or where she needs to go for that. Then there was something about Iran.”
“I gotta ask,” Tommy said. “Do you argue about this? Not sure… I’d be so calm about it. It’s not like she’s trained for it.”
“I knew who I married,” Mace shrugged, and then he smiled. “It’s also part of why I wanted to marry her.”
“Because she likes going to war zones?”
“No, because she doesn’t take shit, and she doesn’t accept the things that piss her off, she tries to change them. Few people do.”
If Tommy was honest with himself, he found Kathleen a bit scary. She didn’t talk much, but she had a way of staring people down that was unnerving. All that aside, he was a bit impressed with her, too. She was one of the most fearless people he’d met. Just the fact that she put herself in the middle of some of the worst conflicts on the planet said something about her, and this as a civilian. Sure, journalists had a unique standing in most countries, but not the ones she tended to visit, especially not considering she was a woman.
“You should bring Billie here,” Mace said. “Let her get to know the place and some of the people. A night when it’s not too crowded. Even if she’s got no interest in becoming Mel, it’s good for her to know this part of your life.”
Kathleen had never been much for club life, but she was there for the bigger events, and she never seemed uncomfortable. Not that he imagined Kathleen being uncomfortable all that often.
But Mace was right, and what he’d said gave Tommy an idea. “Is Mitch here?”
“Think he’s
in the office with Brick and Bear. They’re planning.”
“Okay. Thanks, Mace.”
He went over to the door that led to the back office and knocked on the door before opening it.
“Hey,” he said to the others, and then looked at Mitch. “Remember how you said you owe me a favor?”
“Yeah,” Mitch said with a nod. “Wanna collect?”
“I’m thinking about bringing Billie here tomorrow. Think you and your old lady could come here and make her feel welcome?”
“Sure,” he answered and looked at Brick. “Think you and Mel can babysit?”
Brick nodded without taking his eyes off the computer.
“Tomorrow?” Tommy clarified unnecessarily.
That made Brick tear his eyes from the screen. “Eager?”
“I just think she needs a night off.”
“Gonna make your woman relax?” Brick chuckled. “We’ll take Alma. That woman deserves a night off, I agree.”
“Great.” He looked at Mitch. “So you’ll bring Anna here tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Mitch answered.
Tommy left them and went out to the bar again to call Clyde. Hopefully, what had happened earlier that day wouldn’t mean that Clyde was pissed, but he doubted it would be the case. He was more worried the man was already asleep.
*
In less than an hour, he’d made all the arrangements needed, and that was when he called Billie.
“Billie Jensen speaking.”
“Don’t you see that it’s me calling?”
“Sure I do. Why do you ask?”
“And that’s still how you answer?”
“It’s a reflex. Why are you calling?”
“I just called to tell you that you’re spending the night with me at the clubhouse tomorrow.”
“Really?” she said with a soft laugh. “Just like that? You made that decision?”
“Yes. I talked to your dad, and he thought it was a great idea. Mitch and Anna will be here, too. Actually think it’s Anna who’s the important person as far as those two go.”
“I would argue a lot more if it hadn’t been for the fact that I actually quite like the idea.”
“Had a feeling you would.” They were both silent for a while. “It’s not just for selfish reasons. I think you need a night off, too.
“Selfish reasons? You’re saying you think we’re going to have sex?”
“Oh, baby, we’re going to have sex. In a bed.”
“Okay. Are we going to do anything but have sex?”
“Yeah. We’re gonna crush Mitch and Anna in pool, and you’re going to get drunk.”
“We’re gonna humiliate them,” she chuckled with an almost grim voice.
Tommy laughed. He’d known that would get to her. She’d always been extremely competitive.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, one more thing. Do you think you have time to meet me at the lawyer’s office tomorrow at two? He’s finished up all the paperwork. He called me while we were at the hospital, but I forgot about it then, and I just remembered it when I got the alert on my phone. I’m sorry I forgot earlier. It’ll take about an hour, and it’s just to show us what he’s done so far. You won’t have to sign anything.”
“I’ll sign it.”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to get some of it notarized, so it won’t be done tomorrow anyway. I really wish you’d get a lawyer of your own to look at it.”
“No need, Munchkin. I’m jumping.”
She laughed. “Sometimes caution isn’t a bad thing.”
“I trust you,” he said before she could work herself up as far as the arguments went. “I don’t need it. If it says we have joint custody, why the fuck would I pay a lawyer to look at it? That’s all I’m asking for anyway. Text me the address, and I’ll see you there tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “Lights out.”
“Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
It Is Big
oOo
TOMMY WAS ALREADY IN Mr. Naylor’s office when I arrived ten minutes late.
“I’m sorry,” I said, as I sat down. “Slight meltdown from a five-year-old just before I left.”
“Is he okay?” Tommy asked.
“Yes, it was… He was just being a five-year-old. Sometimes he’s just like other kids,” I answered with a smile. “I think we should take that as a sign that he’s fully recovered.”
Both Tommy and Mr. Naylor laughed, but Tommy still looked slightly worried.
“I have prepared all the things you need, and it’s important that you go through them carefully. I was under the impression that, for now, Miss Jensen would have the main parenting time.”
I looked at Tommy. “It means he’s mostly in my physical custody, but we still have joint legal custody.”
“Okay,” Tommy said with a nod.
“So I’ve made a visitation schedule, a statement of rights and responsibilities, procedure for reviews of the plan—at the moment it’s stated that you will review this plan once Felix’s health becomes better. It’s also stated that his health is the main reason for why the mother is in charge of the physical custody.”
“Um… About visitation?”
“It’s clearly stated that you have full visitation rights. Mr. Miles, just so you know, this is mostly paperwork for you two, and not a statement of facts. Whatever agreement you have now, just stick to it. This is something that we write mainly because we have to hand it in, and it won’t matter as long as you two are in agreement. I have talked to both Mrs. and Miss Jensen to get the full picture of the situation now, and I’ve simply tried to make that into something that works on paper.”
“Okay,” Tommy said with a nod.
“This is why I want you to talk to another lawyer,” I tried. “It won’t slow the process down. You can do it on Monday, and then we’ll hand all this in along with the Acknowledgement of Paternity on Tuesday.”
He sighed with a smile. “Fine. I’ll check with a lawyer, but I’m mainly doing it so you’ll shut up.”
“I don’t care why you do it, as long as you do it.”
“I’m her lawyer,” Mr. Naylor said with a nod in my direction. “So it’s a good idea to have a lawyer of your own.”
I honestly didn’t care why he did it, as long as he did it. As much as I liked that he trusted me, I didn’t want it to come back and bite me in the ass later if he felt that he hadn’t had the rights he thought he deserved. It was really easy to do these things when you were friends, but if things went wrong, it could just as easily turn really damn ugly.
When we left the office, we both had a thick file of papers, some of it we needed to go through together, and some of it Tommy needed to show his lawyer. He halted after looking at the paper on top of the pile.
“What?” I asked. “Something wrong?”
“His middle name is Zachary?”
“Oh, um, I never told you that?”
“No,” he mumbled.
“Is that okay?” I asked, because he still hadn’t moved.
“It’s perfect,” he said, and after a deep inhale, he grabbed me and gave me a kiss. “Perfect. Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. He was my brother, too,” I said. “Promise me you’ll actually take that to someone, and that you didn’t just say it to shut me up. Please.”
“I promise,” he smiled. “I’ve spent the last hour thinking about kissing you, so I’m going to do that again.”
“So you didn’t pay attention to—“
He interrupted me with a kiss, and soon we were making out in the middle of the damn pavement.
“I paid attention,” he mumbled against my lips. “And I’ll take this to a lawyer.”
“Good,” I panted. “I need to make sure our son is still calm. He was really happy about tonight, by the way.”
“I know. I talked to him earlier today.”
“I’ll see you around eight.”
“Yeah,�
�� he smiled.
I watched him get up on his bike, and waited until he’d left. Then I took a deep breath and headed towards my car.
*
When I drove to the clubhouse later that night, I was strangely nervous. When we’d had sex, it hadn’t been planned or even something we saw coming, but I knew we’d have sex when I pulled up outside the clubhouse. That was the only reason I was there, and it felt strange. I called Tommy before I even left the car, and he came walking across the lot with a big smile on his face. I got out, but stayed put by the car.
“You’re wearing the vest,” I said, as he got closer. I hadn’t seen him in it since that first time at the clubhouse.
“Always wear it at the clubhouse.” He put an arm around my waist. “And it’s called a cut, not a ‘vest’.”
“I’ll try to remember that.”
“Tell me, babe,” he said, and leaned his forehead against mine. “When’s the last time you let loose and got drunk?”
I chuckled. “Before Felix,” I admitted.
“Yeah,” he nodded and turned us around. “You need to let your hair down and get out of your head for a while. I’ll fix that.”
“I told Mom I’d be home early tomorrow.”
“I know, but we’ve made other plans on the phone.”
“I told Felix—”
“He’s in on it. We’ve all ganged up on you, babe. Even Clyde said you needed to get piss drunk and relax a little.”
“He did not say piss drunk.”
“No. He said hammered, but it’s the same thing.”
I grabbed his hand to make him stop. “What did you say to Felix? I don’t want him confused if this doesn’t work out, or if—”
He silenced me with a kiss. “You’re not gonna bail on me, but we told him that we thought you needed some fun, and that I’d take you out. That’s all.”
“I don’t want him to think he’s a burden.”
“Jesus fucking christ, baby,” he sighed and grabbed my face. Staring at me, he continued. “You’ve said it yourself, he’s a smart kid, and he understands what you’re doing for him. He was really excited about this. I could hear him bouncing over the phone. He wants you to have some fun, so please relax and try. If for no other reason than that Felix is eager to see pictures and hear about all the fun you had.”
Resonance (Marauders #4) Page 14