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“There’s something that would make me happy.”
“You are insatiable.”
“Well, yeah.” He pulled a goofy face. “But that’s not what I want.”
Mandy’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just . . . I know you said you wanted to wait, but I was thinking this would be a great weekend to talk about our future.”
Mandy patted her rounded belly. “I think we got our future right here.”
“You know what I mean.”
He’d asked her to marry him the minute she told him she was pregnant, but she said she didn’t want him doing it because she was pregnant. She said they should wait especially since they had just gotten back together again, but shit, that was almost nine fuckin’ months ago. How the hell long was a man to wait?
“It’s not important to me.”
“Geez, thanks.” Wasn’t it usually the chick who wanted to get hitched? Fuck, maybe he was watching too much Dr. Phil. Goddamn growing a pussy now.
“Not you, marriage.” She stroked his arm. “I want to be with you forever.”
“Okay, then what?”
“I’m a little skittish. What we have now is great and I don’t want to ruin it.” She looked away from him. “Sometimes marriage ruins things.”
“I get it babe, but I ain’t like your father. I’m never gonna walk out on you or the baby, or five more babies.”
“Five?” Mandy choked out.
“Be kinda cool, right? Having five kids.”
Growing up the way Mamba did he envied kids with lots of brothers and sisters and now maybe he could get that life for himself.
“I love children and I definitely want more than one, but five?”
“Well, we can work it out later, just promise me we’ll talk about the other thing.”
Mandy stifled a yawn. “I promise.”
“You get some sleep, it’s almost eleven.” He checked his phone. “I’m gonna sit up for a while.”
“Not too long. You know I sleep better when you’re in here with me.”
He kissed her forehead and tucked her in. How the hell did he get so fuckin’ lucky. A sinner like him would find his angel.
He flipped off the light and he swore she was already asleep. Then he hit the fridge in the kitchen pulled out a beer and sat outside on the deck. He kicked his feet up on the railing, sipped his beer and listened to the wind ruffling through the pines. He stared into the pitch-black wooded area intrigued by the absolute silence. He’d spent most of his life shacking up in one city or another or doing time in the joint. Both noisy as fuck. Before he got with Mandy he lived over the Gold Mine which was two blocks off the Strip, so the honking of horns and general noise was the norm. Even the development him and Mandy lived in now had the usual neighborhood noises, but this was absolute silence. Almost creepy.
He finished off his beer, pushed out of the chair and froze. Footsteps? He stood perfectly still and listened hard, but nothing. He waited another full minute, headed for the slider and he heard it again. Like a shuffling of feet over leaves. He moved to the railing and peered at the ground below him. His eyes adjusted enough to the dark so he could make out the trunks of the pine trees. He stared below him until his eyes hurt, then chalked it up to his overactive imagination and all the bullshit he’d been threw the last few days.
He pulled the slider open, then closed and locked it behind him. He threw the empty bottle in the recycling bin, then shut off the kitchen lights. He moved back to the slider looking out into the vast darkness. With the lights off he could see the pine branches swaying in the breeze illuminated only by the half moon.
Must’ve been the wind or some animal outside. He didn’t scare easily, but he couldn’t shake the wonky feeling in his gut, or the need to investigate further.
He unzipped the duffel bag he’d dropped in the living room earlier, then reached into an inner pocket and pulled out his gun. He shoved it into the waist of his jeans, then headed back to the slider and eased it open. He stepped out into the dark night and the cool breeze swept over him. He stood and listened to the wind, then he moved along the multi-level deck until he reached the stairs going down to the next level. He gripped his gun tighter as he descended the stairs all his senses on point and ready to pounce.
When he reached the lower level, he had a better view of the ground below him. The property sloped off sharply into the woods so there would be no way someone could be walking around back there. He edged his way along the banister his eyes burning into the pitch-black night.
When he reached the end of the deck he turned back and headed for the staircase satisfied no one was out there. The wind kicked up and something fluttered to his left catching his eye. He moved closer to the object laying on the deck, then bent down and picked up what looked like a bouquet of flowers. Retracing his steps he went into the kitchen, flipped on the light switch, and flinched at the sight of six black roses wrapped in a black ribbon. He laid them on the countertop, and a card slid from beneath them.
