"So am I, but we manage."
Grinning, I point out something that might give Pax pause. "They can cramp a couple's style."
Pax gets my meaning but only smiles. "We've gotten good at sneaking around and doing what we can when we can."
His wink makes me laugh. "Where will we put the baby?"
"My room," Tallulah says.
"Babies cry and take up space."
My daughter shrugs. "I know."
"Here's what I was thinking," Pax says, caressing the back of my hand. "We'll turn my room into a playroom. We'll need to clean the hell out of it and paint and shit, but it's plenty big enough. That way, Tallulah will have a room for her toys and schoolwork. I'll move my stuff into the bedroom upstairs. That way, we're all together. In a few years, we can find a house that isn't so broken up. For now, staying here sounds best."
"I like this house," Tallulah mumbles with a mouth full of food.
Pax and I share a glance. Our daughter craves stability. In love with this house, she already talks about the playset Pax wants in the backyard. Living here makes her feel safe.
Tallulah and I will soon leave Little Memphis though. Eating dinner, Pax is thinking the same thing. I see the worry in his eyes as he finishes his meal. Our new life is damn perfect, and he has big plans, yet the future relies on what happens with the club. If they go down in flames, Little Memphis will never be our home again.
43
Pax
The Girl I Used to Know
I've seen plenty of dead bodies in my life then gone out to eat. Seeing Maggie so torn up makes me want to vomit though. Ford's expression hides his disgust. Knowing him, I feel he's as freaked out as I am. We stand in Maggie's bedroom and stare at her butchered body on the bed. Dried blood covering the walls and ceiling, Zombie made one hell of a mess.
"This was Manny," Trigger says, entering the room. "He's sending us a message."
Joker doesn't react to this statement about Jose's cousin. When Madden follows his father into the room, I notice he doesn't look at Maggie's body. My gut says he doesn't avoid looking because he's scared. More like he's already seen it. I'd guess Ginger sent him pictures.
"No one can find him," Big Dick says as the room gets crowded. "Manny's people have to be getting help from the locals, or we'd have found them by now."
The guys around me mutter about out of town gangbangers, but I'm sick of the lies. My phone vibrates in my pocket. Figuring it might be Bebe, I check it even with all the fuckers around me.
Zombie's name on the screen tenses me before I even read his text.
"Don't worry Homerun. I won't even breathe on your bitches before I take the shot."
Showing the text to Ford, I move towards Joker. "Zombie's going after Bebe at the mall."
Joker's wife and ex are at the mall with my woman. He doesn't show his panic but nods to tell me to go.
"What's happening?"
"Zombie's off the reservation," Joker says.
Trigger just shrugs, but he's got to be pissed. His plans are already in jeopardy because of Ginger and a Chicago gangbanger. Now his nephew decides fucking things up even more.
"Round up the idiot," Trigger says, glancing at Maggie with disapproval. "She was a whiner anyway."
Before Trigger finishes, I'm out the door with Ford right behind me. We hide our panic until a block away from Maggie's place. Opening the throttles on the bikes, we dodge traffic on the way to the mall where Bebe and Shay are enjoying an engagement lunch with the girls.
Based on Trigger's orders, he expects us to bring Zombie back alive. The old man must have lost fucking brain cells from that heart attack if he doesn't believe his nephew takes his last breath today.
44
Bebe
Big Bam Bang
Tallulah steals the show at lunch. Her little bob is too adorable, and she knows it too. My normally shy daughter smiles at everyone, telling anyone who will listen how her new haircut was her daddy's idea. I don't correct her about that last part. My life is too perfect to worry about getting credit.
I sit next to Darby with Graham on her knee. His mommy Perri is a few seats down, holding her daughter, Haley. On the other end of the table, Shay is laughing with Jenn and Amanda while Lupe does her impression of Charo.
With the youngest kids joining us, we skip the alcoholic drinks and get buzzed on funny stories. Darby razzes Jenn about being a high school slut. Jenn mocks Lupe's horrible English. Lupe sings a soft, tender Spanish song. Based on the Hispanic waiter's horrified expression, I suspect the lyrics involve violent threats.