Sarah poured her a glass of wine and handed it across the table to P.J. but then drew up short just as P.J. reached for it.
“You haven’t taken any pain medication, have you? We didn’t even think about that. You have to be in a lot of pain and we should have had the sense not to plan wine.”
P.J. smiled at Sarah’s genuine worry. “I’m drug free. No need to worry that I’ll be stoned after a glass of wine. My last dose was yesterday evening. I’m trying not to take it unless I have to or Cole makes me.”
The others laughed.
“If Cole’s anything like our husbands, and I’m sure he’s just as much an alpha, hardheaded male, then you have your hands full,” Rachel said with a rueful smile.
“He’s been great,” P.J. said softly.
She lowered her gaze when the other women shared a smug smile, and she sipped idly at her wine, wondering when one of them was going to bring up the delicate situation that was essentially the elephant in the room. And her reason for being here in the first place.
She watched as Sophie scooped three-year-old Charlotte into a hug and then tickled the toddler’s tummy until she shrieked with laughter.
P.J. had to admit that Charlotte was a complete cutie-pie. She almost made P.J. long for sweet-smelling babies and sweet little belly laughs. Almost.
There had been a time when P.J. had considered that she was ready to settle down, have a baby or two and do the whole American pie-and-picket-fence thing. Derek had quickly dissuaded her of that notion.
He hadn’t wanted children, and moreover, he didn’t want marriage. He thought it was an outdated, old-fashioned concept and that in the modern world, it made no sense for a man to commit to one woman.
Okay, so he was a complete dickhead. She knew that then even if she hadn’t immediately given him his walking papers.
Oddly enough she’d been less tolerant of him being a dirty cop than she had been of his views on love, marriage and family.
Since then she hadn’t given any thought to anything except her job and making sure she was the best damn sniper and soldier she could be.
All plans of marriage and family had been thrown out the window. And since then, she’d decided she just wasn’t mother material. What kind of parent could she be with the job she held? She loved her job and knew she’d never be happy giving it all up for home and hearth.
She wondered what Cole’s opinions were on the subject.
She shook her head, determined not to travel that path. It was a good way to set herself up for disappointment. Besides, what the hell was she doing debating children and marriage when she was a cold-blooded murderer plotting to make her next kill?
Fat lot of good it would do her to be dreaming in a jail cell. For that matter, if she was caught in some shit-hole country, it wasn’t the U.S. justice system she’d have to worry about. She’d be in some deep, dark place subject to treatment that would make what Nelson and Brumley had done to her a total cakewalk.
Was it worth it? Was it truly worth her life to take Brumley out?
She needed no time to answer that question.
Hell yes. She didn’t even hesitate. It wasn’t just her who’d suffered at that monster’s hands. So many babies. Young women. She couldn’t even begin to think of the atrocities so many girls had suffered before. And how many would suffer in the future if she didn’t shut this asshole down.
Her life certainly was worth it when she compared it to the hundreds—thousands—of girls she could save by taking his miserable ass out.
“I have no idea what you’re thinking, but it must be pretty awful,” Sarah said.
P.J. blinked and looked at Garrett’s wife, who was sitting across from her in a lawn chair. For that matter, all the women were staring intently at her.
P.J. offered a grimace. “Nothing worth talking about. Just an asshole who needs killing.”
Sophie lifted her brow. “Several come to mind when you say that.”
Rachel gave a wave. “Don’t listen to her. She’s pretty bloodthirsty.”
P.J. cracked a grin. “She sounds like my kind of woman.”
It was then that P.J. realized Rachel wasn’t drinking any wine, and for that matter, only four glasses had been placed on the table. She frowned and held her glass in Rachel’s direction. “Do you want some wine?”
Rachel’s cheeks tinged a soft pink and her eyes lit up like twin sunbeams. Then she patted her softly rounded belly that P.J. hadn’t noticed before. P.J.’s mouth fell open.
“You’re pregnant?” P.J. asked.
“With twins!” Rachel exclaimed, her smile getting bigger all the time.
“Holy shit!”
The women all laughed at P.J.’s reaction. P.J. shook her head. “I had no idea. Looks like I’ve missed a lot in the last six months.”