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“Because you never forget,” she answered, her tone tinged in disappointment. “Not even in the heat of the moment. Or did you forget we talk about all that shit? Or that I’d forget how many times you’ve told Jackson to keep condoms on him, so he doesn’t do something stupid to ruin his life. You’re going to tell me you played the hypocrite card and jizzed in a woman’s pussy because, frustration?”
In a word, yes. I did. If that nosy damn caseworker came back to this house and we weren’t all on the same page, everything Cobi and I worked so hard on would come undone. It would put a little girl on the radar of some bad people, and I couldn’t have her death or kidnapping on my conscious. It was better this way. For all of us. “Yes. It happened. I was drunk, okay? I was really into her and jealous of you and Mack. I did something stupid and now I’m paying the consequences for my actions. Call it my FAFO moment.”
Fuck Around and Find Out, indeed.
“I don’t believe you,” Ireland snapped. “There’s something else going on.”
“Like what?” I prodded, needing to know how close she might be to the truth.
“I’m still trying to put the pieces together to see the picture clearly,” she snapped, her gaze not leaving mine. “I can’t believe you’d just ejaculate in some woman’s vagina and walk away. That’s not the big brother I’ve known all my life.”
Well, it was the big brother I had to become to keep Destiny safe. Which reminded me, if Mack Jr. was awake, Little Miss would be too soon. “I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you, Ire. I really am. But Destiny is here now and I’m going to do my very best to make sure she’s taken care of and loved.” I didn’t have to lie about that. Once that caseworker lady left, I stared at Destiny and made Hope a promise. Her daughter would want for nothing in her life. I’d do my level best to give her everything she’d ever wanted.
“But where’s her mother, asshole?” The exasperated way she sighed slid down my spine like disgusting black tar, covering me in her disappointment. Why the fuck couldn’t Miss Roberts show up any other fucking time andnotwhen I’d been babysitting Mack? I couldn’t even come up with a plausible story to tell everyone before they started showing up.
“I don’t know,” I forced out between clenched teeth. “A nosey fucking social worker dropped her off. Bitch thought Mack Jr. was my son, too.”
There, direct the attention away from me and back onto someone else, like Posey fucking Roberts.
“What?” Again, I knocked Ireland speechless. At least for now, I was keeping her off balance. Given enough time, she’d start digging. When she did, this whole thing would blow up in my face. I just had to hope the trials came and went with no one getting off on a technicality. “What do you mean you don’t know where her mother is? Or the state doesn’t? How is...” She licked her lips, shaking her head. “This isn’t adding up, Hunter. Are you sure Destiny’s yours?”
“Yeah, Ire. She’s mine. I fucked up, okay? I did something stupid and now I’m paying for the consequences of my actions. I don’t know what happened to her mother, but she put me down as the dad and the crazy fucking caseworker brought her here.” Then she tempted me with all her lush fucking curves and caustic tongue. I wanted to bend her over the couch and fuck the sass out of her. Learn if she was a screamer or if she was shy and would whimper for me. I yearned to see her on her knees, staring up at me while I fucked my cock between her pouty lips and down her tight little throat.Fuck!I needed to stop. My dick twitched to life, pressing against the fly of my jeans painfully.
Still, as I told myself to think of Posey Roberts as the enemy, I couldn’t. She was a perfect fit for me. If I didn’t get my thoughts under control, I was going to slip and blab everything, destroying Cobi and the government’s case against the rest of Edgar’s men. Hope named me as Destiny’s father for a reason. Whatever caused her to choose me, I couldn’t let her down.
“This is ridiculous, Hunter.” Ireland placed her hand on my chest, and I hated the connection we had. Surely, she felt the rapid beat of my heart. The way my breath came in soft pants. She was like a human lie detector. “I’m going to regret this because I know you’re not telling me everything.” Her tone was droll, lacking any emotion. “What do you need me to do to help you?”
I exhaled an unsteady gust of air. “She’s going to call you Ireland. She made me give her everyone’s phone number. Just...” Why was this so fucking hard? “Tell her I’ll be a wonderful dad. That I’m not some piece of shit off the streets.”
Ireland chuckled and not in a funny, ha-ha way either, as she hoisted Mack Jr. into her arms. “I don’t know, big bro, right about now, you look like a piece of shit.” She ran her tongue over her teeth. “I didn’t think I’d ever have to use my three-strike rule on my brothers until now. This is your first strike, Hunter. Don’t make me get to three.”
Ireland and her fucking three-strike rule. “It’s not like that.”
“There’s something else at play here. What it is or why you won’t let me in is your first strike. You can’t expect me to just buy this shitshow as truth, big bro. However, you have always been in my corner, even when you got pissed off at me. So, I can do this for you.” She glanced up at me with fire in her emerald eyes. “But don’t think this is over. I know you, Hunter. I know when you’re not being honest and when you’re hiding something big. You’re doing both right now, with me. Don’t worry, though, I’ll figure this shit out and when I do...” She sighed. The dark sound filled with reckoning and venom. “Your ass is grass and I’m going to be the fucking lawn mower.”
Destiny’s soft whimper drew Ireland’s attention from me. She shoved Mack Jr. back into my arms and stalked off down the hall. “Ire?”
“Don’t use my nickname, Hunter. If this is how it’s going to be, then I should get to know my niece.”
I glanced at Mack Jr. who stared at me with the brightest hazel eyes, more green than blue as he grinned. The little shit knew his momma was raking my ass over the coals. “Fine. I agree. She’s in our lives permanently now. She should know everyone.”
Ireland returned with a fussy Destiny and everything Posey said came back to me. “I need to make her a bottle. Probably need a better schedule, too.” Most of what I was mutterings to myself. I couldn’t imagine how underweight the little girl was, but she didn’t look six months old.
“How old is she?” Ireland followed Mack Jr. and me into the kitchen. “She feels light too.”
I really didn’t want to have this part of the conversation, either. “Miss Roberts said she’s six months old and her mother wasn’t taking very good care of her. Said all her formula cans were empty and there was drug paraphernalia too.”
Ireland hissed. “You don’t sleep with crack whores, Hunter.”
“You’re right. I don’t. Miss Roberts did a blood test on Destiny while she was in the state’s custody. She’s not withdrawing or anything, so that’s good.” Probably meant Pedro was the drug user and tried to get Hope to do them too while they were on the run. Still made little sense why Hope and Pedro stuck around for so long. They could have gone anywhere. Since they were now dead, that was another question none of us would know the answer to now, unfortunately.
“Do you not trust me?”
Ireland’s words were so soft, I barely heard them. It had nothing to do with trust and everything to do with the ongoing investigation and the subsequent trial. I wouldn’t do anything to fuck this up for the feds or the state. “No, sis. It’s not that. I wish I could tell you everything that’s happened in the last eighteen months or so. But I can’t. When the time is right, though, I will.” I switched kids with her, Destiny into my arms and Mack Jr. into hers. “She wasn’t a mistake, Ireland. Okay? I’m going to do right by Destiny. Give her the life her mother wanted her to have.”
“You’re saying things I can’t decipher,” she muttered, rubbing Mack Jr.’s back.
“I know.” Cradling Destiny to me, I gave her the bottle I’d made for her. “I’ll explain when I can, but not now.” Maybe not for a while.
