Beautiful Outlaw(95)

Tin throws his arm over my shoulder and says, “She is, too damn big.”

The words no more than leave his lips, before Cori holds up her perfectly roasted marshmallow and shouts, “I made it just like you like it, Daddy.”

“You sure did,” He shouts back, before looking down at me. “I gotta go eat that nasty shit now, don’t I?”

Letting out a laugh, I pull away from him. “Yeah, you do.”

He smiles then walks to her, eating his marshmallow in one bite. My eyes move from him to where Rachel is sitting by herself. I can see the exhaustion on her face as she runs her hands over her growing belly. Walking over to her, I ask, “Hey, hun. You feeling okay?”

She looks up to me with a tired smile on her face. She continues to run a hand over her growing belly and says, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tired.”

“You can go lay down in Tin’s old room, if you want.”

She looks across the backyard to where Tag is standing. He’s talking to Rollo and Lila, but every minute or two, his eyes move to Rachel. She waves at him then motions towards the house, before climbing from the chair. “I think I will.”

Just before she walks away, I reach out and cup her chin. “Let me know if you need anything, sweetie.”

Nodding again, she says, “I will, but don’t worry. Tag will be inside in a second. If the baby decides to make an early appearance, he’ll let you know.”

With those words, she walks away. I wait until she gets inside before turning to look back at Tag. My hands fist as one of the club girls walks up and plasters herself to his side. Lila says something to Rollo, before the two of them walk back to the fire, leaving Tag alone with the woman. I take a step forward, when his arm snakes around her waist and I’m pulled back into the warm arms of my husband. “Leave it alone, Shay.”

Relaxing my body into his, I draw in a deep breath. “This is a family get together, not a club party. That woman shouldn’t be here.”

“I already got Rollo on it; she’ll be gone in just a minute.”

I continue to watch as Tag’s hand lowers to her ass and gives it a slap. When his head bends down to whisper in her ear, I nearly scream. “What happened to him?”

The boy that I loved has turned into a man I despise. He hurts the one person he loves over and over again and never feels an ounce of shame. Even with a baby on the way, he doesn’t see that he’s doing anything wrong.

“He grew up,” Bowie says, as if that should answer my question.

I twist around to look into his eyes. “The fact that he’s a man now, doesn’t means he can treat Rachel like crap.”

He lets out a frustrated breath, before raising his hand to run his thumb over my bottom lip. “No, but it means that he’s too damn old for us to tell him what to do.”

“But, she’s your sister.”

He nods and for the first time I see the anger at the situation in his eyes. “But, she’s his Old Lady. Until she gets tired of it, there’s not a damn thing I can do.”

“She’s too blind; she doesn’t even see what he’s doing.” She’s completely oblivious, and she won’t listen to anyone. As far as she’s concerned, Tag is everything she could ever want or need.

“She will and when she does, we’ll be here for her.”

I know he’s right but I also know when she finds out, it’s gonna kill her. Before I can tell him so, I hear the sound of my daughter screaming. I look to the porch where she has been sleeping in her playpen, and see her sitting up. “She’s probably hungry.”

“You want me to get her.”

I look back to Bowie and shake my head. “No, I’ll do it. I want to get her fed, so I can start cleaning up some of this mess.”

Before I can step away, he leans down to place a kiss on my lips. “Don’t work too much, baby. I don’t want you tired; I’ve got plans for you tonight.”

“I’ll never be too tired for you,” I say as I give him my sexiest smile and walk away.

Just as I reach Chelsea’s playpen, my phone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and bring it to my ear, as I pull her into my arms. “Hello.”

“May I speak with Laura?” A woman asks, her voice just above a whisper.

No one, not even Dad, calls me Laura anymore. Just hearing the name sends cold chills down my spine. “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number.”

“No, no. I really need to speak with Laura.”

My pulse raises as I reply, “There’s no Laura here.”

“But…”

I don’t want to hear what else she has to say, but before I can hang up, she whispers. “Did you used to be Laura?”