God, just say yes. It will make things so much easier when I drive you home tonight and steal a kiss.
Her sigh is all the answer I get, but she does turn to me and smile before joining the conversation when Ma starts throwing out ideas for the nursery.
With the women occupied and completely ignoring the rest of us, I turn to Wyatt and throw out a few pat answers when they start talking business.
My job is hard and gruelling and dangerous enough that some days I wonder what possessed me to walk this path at all, but I swear to God after listening to Wyatt and Pop discuss portfolios and investment strategies, I’m so glad I never once considered entering the shark tank that is business in America.
I’ve got a trust fund that could buy a small country and enough cash socked away from my past paychecks to never have to worry about money.
I dabble in business with Pop every once in a while just to keep myself sharp and interested in the family business, but that’s it. I much prefer risking life and limb to wearing a suit all day and talking to some idiot who thinks money is the only qualifier in life.
“You changed your mind quickly,” Wyatt says an hour later when the ladies have scuttled away upstairs for another session of decorating gone wild.
I’m nursing a beer while Pop and Wyatt drink brandy, and Jace, who’s been quiet all night, sits staring into thin air.
“I just decided that fighting this isn’t something I want to do anymore, man. After the crap I had to look at all day with one crime scene after the next, and trying to juggle the undercover operation, it felt good coming home and seeing her here, ya know?”
That snaps Jace out of his trance and he laughs and pulls himself out of his thought with a slap to my back and a lot of crowing.
“Does that mean I’ll be getting another niece or nephew soon?”
“Hell no, bro! I don’t want kids anytime soon. You know how I feel about having a kid when all I see all day is death and the worst humanity has to offer. Not to mention that the thought of having rug rats makes me break out in freaking hives. No offense, Wyatt, but why you’d want to share your wife with a pooping, crying baby so soon after getting her is beyond me.”
Wyatt chuckles and shrugs.
“Ellie wants lots of kids, man, and I ain’t exactly getting any younger, so we just went for it. But I get what you’re saying, sharing someone you just got to know isn’t easy, especially if we consider that the family is already so full of shit.”
Pop and Jace laugh at the truth of that, and we all sit back with grins on our faces. What he meant was that getting Ma to share her little princesses is like poking a feral bear on a good day and we all know it.
If things go right, and I sure hope they do, I’ll have Clari in my bed and under this roof soon. I’m not thinking marriage for at least a year or two, but I’ll be damned if she stays in that rinky-dink cottage alone and unprotected when she could be here with us being adored by Jude, the terrible, and my doting father.
“Any luck on that case you’re working?” Jace asks when another ten minutes pass with no sign of the girls.
“Nope. Roman and Jared are using tonight to plant a few bugs and tag Dobson’s lines while he tries to keep track of me. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to think of something else. These assholes are too organized and aware of things to let anything hang loose, and I haven’t been able to get a scrap of hard evidence yet. All we have are a few loose leads and names that could or couldn’t be connected to the militia.”
“I don’t want Roman getting in too deep with these animals,” Pop growls.
“You and me both, old man, but he’s determined to do what he has to to get something going here. Without an inside man, it’s going to be almost impossible to get enough intel for my superiors to move in.”
I hate it as much as Pop, even more just thinking about the danger Roman will be in, but the man is not one to just give up because he’d be in danger.
“Okay, so that’s not something we can do anything about. Let’s get back to you and Clari. Be nice to her, Miah, she’s not…Ellie wasn’t very forthcoming about that ex of hers, but from what she didn’t say, I take it the guy isn’t right upstairs. Plus, I’m concerned about the family seeing her as an easy target if they discover that she’s going to be yours,” Wyatt says earnestly, his eyes darkening with the memory of what happened and almost happened to Ellie at the hands of one of our own.
Now with Jace and Jared keeping tabs on the others, we’re all considering the possibility that they may hit back at us soon.
Roman is still part of the other Lane side thanks to his dad’s refusal to let go of old family gripes, so he gets some insider information every now and then. From what he’s said, we’re not ruling out another plot from that side.