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“Danny, who the fuck is Bean and why the fuck are you stabbing him and James knocking him out with a table lamp?”
“He’s the dad of the little shite that had Daniel kicked out of school.”
“And why didn’t I know you went to have a friendly chat with him?”
“Because you’ve been a miserable fucker recently, and I didn’t want to burden you with my family politics.”
“I am part of your family.”
I pout. “Fancy a beer?”
“Yeah.” He scowls. “Seems like we’ve both got shit we want to share.”
“We have?”
“Yeah.” Brad gets in the Range Rover and rests back in his seat. “But I need a drink first.”
Sorry, cousin. You’ll be needing more than just a drink with the bomb I’m about to drop on you.
40
BRAD
* * *
The ride to the boatyard is painfully quiet. Danny thinks I’m pissed off with him. I would be if my mind wasn’t pre-occupied with how the fuck I tell them about Pearl. I’m taking her out tonight. Not sneaking her out. Taking her out. And everyone will watch me. Accept it. And when we get home, she’ll be coming to my room and getting in my bed.
I get out and immediately light up, my eyes following two jet skis across the water. “Beer?” Danny asks.
“Yeah.”
He and James stride off together side by side, talking quietly, and I’m about to go after them and find out what the hushed whispers are all about, but stall when my cell rings. I answer to the contractor who’s working on my apartment. “Brad,” he says, his Texan accent thick. “Quick update for you. We should have everything done and be out of your hair in a few weeks.”
“Thanks, Barry.” I hang up as Tank pulls up, and the flash of red in the passenger seat flips my stomach. I told her not to leave the fucking house.
Pearl gets out and glances over at me briefly, and maybe a bit cautiously. I give her an expectant look. She shrugs. Rose gets out the back, and Tank helps her get the stroller from the trunk as Pearl lifts Maggie out of her infant car seat. I frown when Fury pulls up too, Beau and Esther getting out. And Anya. And Zinnea. What is this, a family reunion?
What the fuck’s going on?
Beau looks me up and down as she comes to me. Checking for blood. “How did it go?”
“How did what go?”
She looks at me tiredly. “Come on, Brad.”
She’s a gem. “Beau, babe, how long have we known each other?” I drop my cigarette on the ground and try to waft the smoke away as she gets closer.
“Not that long, actually.”
“Feels like centuries,” I mutter, chuckling when she whacks my arm.
“Oh my God,” she gasps. “It laughed.”
“If you weren’t pregnant?—”
“Don’t let that stop you.” She moves in, getting her face up in mine.
I snarl, then scrunch my nose and kiss her cheek. “What are you all doing here, anyway?”
