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Just in case.
Chapter Three
Jag
“Your girl has brass balls man. Titanium. If she hadn’t laid it all out like she did, we would’ve all been completely fucked.”
All of us, the entire Reckless Bastards organization owed Rocky a debt of gratitude. She’d saved our asses and made sure none of our brothers left the world before their time.
“Anything she needs.”
Lasso looked at me with a grateful but exhausted grin as he slumped in a cafeteria chair, his eyes going to the elevator every fifteen seconds since Rocky had kicked him out of the room for the next hour, demanding some privacy for herself and rest for him. “Rocky’s not exactly the asking for help sort,” he said with a snort and a laugh.
“Maybe not but she is pregnant as hell which means she’s got disgusting midnight cravings, weird needs or whatever. Trust me, I learned more than I ever wanted to about the craziness of pregnant women. Mom spent years as a nurse in the maternity ward and she never spared me the details. Mom thought it was the best form of birth control.”
That pulled a laugh from Lasso. “I’ll be sure to let her know.”
“No need. I’m just telling you because she’s your woman. And because I don’t think she’ll cash in all that good will she deserves.” If possible, Lasso had met a woman more stubborn than him. Rocky was smart as hell and twice as stubborn, which went against Lasso’s natural tendency towards chivalry.
“Probably not but I’m not opposed to it.” His blue gaze scanned the cafeteria. “Stitch all right?”
“Hell yeah. He’s eating up all the attention from the Reckless Bitches, getting massages and sponge baths and shit. Eating it up.” The kid had made it through a tour and a half in the desert without catching a bullet only to take one at a whorehouse on the outskirts of Las Vegas and he was giddy. “The bagged tacos for Rocky were from Stitch.”
“Then why is it that it’s my woman and baby hooked up to monitors upstairs but you look even more worried than me?”
Damn, I didn’t realize I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding my emotions. The past few days had drained me, physically and emotionally. The appearance of Vivi compounded everything to keep me uneasy and anxious as fuck. “Remember that girl I told you about? NextGen? She showed up the night the shit hit the fan.”
Lasso let out a long, low whistle. “No shit? She say why?”
I shook my head because that was the motherfucker of it all, wasn’t it? “Nope. I didn’t give her a chance with all the shit going on that night but she left me her number.” That had been a couple days ago, though. “She’s probably long gone by now.” I didn’t know what to think about her just showing up. “I haven’t talked to her in more than a decade.”
That didn’t mean Vivi was ever far from my thoughts, she wasn’t. When Mom was killed, I wanted to reach out to her, let her help me with my grief but the sting of rejection combined with said grief had me doing the only thing an introverted loner could. I withdrew into myself. But I couldn’t deny that when life was hard—basic training, my first tour, special ops—she was the first person I’d thought of and wondered about.
“I mean it is suspect that she showed up when she did but i
t sounds like a random fucked up coincidence. Are you gonna call her?”
“I have no clue, man. I mean between all the shit that went down and then seeing her for the first time ever in my whole fucking life it was like a fucking nuclear shock. I couldn’t even fucking speak. My thoughts alternated between you and Rocky and why Vivi was on my doorstep. Even now I can’t process her being here. In Vegas.”
“Call her.”
“It’s probably too late. She said she’d be in town for a couple days and that was two days ago.”
Lasso shrugged and stood, his dry hospital cafeteria cheeseburger all but abandoned on the plastic tray. “Aren’t you some bad ass computer hacker dude?”
“Allegedly.” But the fact was that if Vivi had kept up with it, she was likely miles ahead of me in skill and talent. Even with my covert training. I sighed. “Maybe it’s better if she’s already gone.”
We walked back to the elevators in silence, both of us lost in thought before Lasso finally spoke. “You know, if Rocky had thought I was some jerk who wouldn’t care, she wouldn’t have ended up on my door step and I wouldn’t have her in my life now.”
“You were always going to find a wife and make a bunch of ankle biters, man. That’s what your big Texas ass was built for.”
“Yours, too, even though you refuse to believe it. I’m happy to argue that with you another time but for now, something must be wrong for her to finally decide it was time to meet you in person. If you can turn your back on that, maybe you’re not meant for those connections you hate so much.”
I sighed. “I don’t hate them, man. It’s just that some people aren’t built for that shit. Just look at the string of broken connections in my life for proof.”
“Bullshit. I’m still here and so is Gunnar and the rest of the Bastards, which proves your little theory dead ass wrong. But that’s okay, you do what you gotta do brother. I’ve got a pregnant wife to hover over until she screams with annoyance.” He flashed a smile that told me exactly how much he loved it as he pushed inside the room. “Thanks for the food, clothes and company, man.”
“Anytime, brother. Take care of our girl.”
