Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(54)

“Oh, good grief, don’t do a nutter. Your face might split if you show too much emotion.”

That gets me chuckling loud enough that Lady Lemons throws me a glare and looks down her snooty nose at me.

“Uh, Cam, lay off the juice till I get the…” I roll my eyes at the kids. “Outta here.”

“Oh goodness, you’re right. Brody darling, do us a solid and take the little dears outside, would you? We have a few things to discuss with mummy dearest.”

Brody, being the irascible darling that he is, corrals the kids before blowing his future mother-in-law an air kiss.

“Good luck. She’s in a damn fine mood today!”

And then it’s just us, all three Jasper woman engaged in a silent showdown.

“You’ve caused more than enough trouble. I want you all out of my home before the end of the day.”

Oh ho! Somehow, now that the lord of the manor knows that the little girl he’d barely paid attention to is his granddaughter, I have a feeling it’s her old ass that’ll be hitting the curb.

I hold my tongue only because I’m enjoying her discomfort as we continue staring at her.

“I’ve done nothing—”

“But you have, Mother. I just need to prove it. Which I will. Now be a good dear and give us a clue as to how you found out about the baby in the first place. It’ll make things so much easier.”

“You’ll never prove a thing.”

That snide, totally confident statement is exactly the wrong thing to say. Not because Cammy the Ravager is here and looking like she’s ready to go ten rounds with Ali himself, but because I am now more than confident that this woman has been messing with my guy for years.

That shit just won’t fly.

Instead of ripping her bobble head right off and shoving it down her neck, I go one worse and pick up my phone, keeping my eyes on her as the line rings and then gets picked up.

“We need you.”

It’s all I need to say.

I disconnect with a cold smirk and nod at Cam, giving her the thumbs up.

“Lady, you’re about to be schooled.”





Chapter Thirty One




Luc

I have officially entered the Twilight Zone, or the bloody circus. My father, a man who has hardly said two words to me besides a put-down or outright cursing, has turned into a man I don’t recognize.

He’s spent his every waking hour with the children, actually playing with them and taking them out to tour the grounds—water guns and all—and refuses to call Benjamin anything but his ‘little lad’.

I’m flabbergasted, to say the least, since one: the lad isn’t even his grandson by blood, and two: the little bugger is even naughtier now than he ever was.

Just this morning he’d told me, “Gramps said I can have ice cream whenever I want as long as I’m under his roof.” Bloody brilliant.

And I can’t even explain the way the old codger looks at Maddy. It’s as if his every dream has come true since he’d bothered to take a closer look and seen the Jasper eyes on the little mite.

According to him she’s a chip off the old block, something I hadn’t heard from him once the whole time I’d been under his roof.

Like I said, weird.

And then, to top it all off, the place has been overrun by three of the strangest women I have ever encountered.

The Goldens, according to Ashley, are her secret weapon against my dastardly mother. She says that if there’s anything to find about what really happened seven years ago, Viv will find it.

The other two are only here to keep Mother in line, something they’re particularly good at, since Nat is Chicago royalty and knows how to elegantly keep the old bat occupied without ripping her head off.

Now it’s just a waiting game as my father’s people ferret out the truth of what actually happened. If Viv will let them get there before her rabid arse does. The woman, and I say that lightly, because I’m sure she’s a supernatural being, is dogged and ruthless.

To hear her tell it, she’s going to bat for me just because she doesn’t like Ash being upset because I was royally screwed by these bitches who’d stolen my kid.

Her husband, Jack, a man I know well, since we do business together from time to time, has told me to let her at it and just relax. He says his ‘little tornado’ won’t be tamed and that she’d be likely to rip my throat out if I stood in the way of ‘justice’.

Whatever.

Truth be told, now that my father’s come around and I don’t have the luxury of finding the truth myself, I’m more focused on how to get my wife to let me touch her again.

I go to bed hard and wake up in the same condition, thanks to her veto on sex.