“Lower your voice,” Ford warns him, his tone too calm. His gaze rolls to mine like sharpened steel. “Did you know about this?”
I sit up a little taller and ignore the slightly panicked look from Camilla. “I found out yesterday and I was about as happy about it as you are right now.”
“What are you thinking?” Lincoln asks. “Seriously—ten thousand dollars?”
“I was thinking that it’s my money and I can do whatever I want with it.”
The corner of his eye on me, Ford directs his attention to his sister. “That’s true. You can. But that doesn’t mean you should go loaning people ten thousand dollars. And I know you know Nate, and it’s Dominic’s brother—”
“Which only makes it a worse choice,” I cut in, throwing up my hands. “I have major issues with the fact that neither one of them told me.”
“Can I speak frankly?” Ford asks.
“Yeah, cut the shit.”
“Do I need to worry about this?”
“Clearly we fucking do,” Lincoln shoots off, shaking his head.
“No, you don’t have to fucking worry,” I say, turning my heated glare on Lincoln. “My brother is a stand-up guy.”
“We’ve met,” Lincoln deadpans.
“Exactly why he told me not to even come here today,” I reply.
Cam’s linen napkin goes sailing on the table. We all look at her and almost see smoke coming out of her diamond-studded ears. “I’m not listening to any more of this.”
“We’re just making sure—”
“Ford, enough.” She scoots her chair back, knocking my hand off her leg in the process. “I’ve never once given you crap about any of your life choices, even when I was a teenager and watched you make a slew of bad ones. I’m not asking you to approve mine, so if that’s what the two of you are thinking,” she says, looking from one to the other, “you can get that out of your head right now. I’m allowing you to meet Dom out of respect for you. I would appreciate some respect of my choices back.”
My jaw drops. If we weren’t sitting here, I would pick her up and swing her around for finally having a backbone. It’s obvious this is a new thing for them. The look on Lincoln’s face is priceless—brows shot to the ceiling, jaw hanging open like mine. Ford is more reserved, but there’s no mistake he’s trying to wrap his head around this too.
I place my hand on her thigh again, but she knocks it away.
“And as far as the money goes, it was from my account. It cost you guys nothing. If I come to you broke and crying, you can shove it all in my face—but only then. I won’t listen to it before.” She looks at me. “And not from you either, Dominic.”
Ford whistles through his teeth, letting his fork hit the table. “Well, okay then.”
“I loaned that money to someone I trust, to the father of a little boy that reminds me a lot of Huxley, and I won’t feel bad about that. Going forward, I won’t ask any of you,” she looks at me, “including you, Dom, what I can or can’t do with anything—money or otherwise.”
No one says a word, not even to Lola when she comes by to check on us. I give her a little wave, letting her know everything is fine and to encourage her to leave. After a couple of long minutes, I take a drink.
“I know what this must look like,” I say. “She’s dating a guy that works on air conditioners for a living. I don’t eat at places like this or golf or belong to a country club somewhere. You gotta be thinking she’s lost her damn mind forking over that kind of money to Nate. You have to.”
“I’m not saying we don’t,” Lincoln admits.
I look at my girl. Her skin is flushed, her eyes crystal clear, looking more beautiful than ever. I give her a reassuring smile and her shoulders sag at the gesture. Leaning forward, she presses a kiss to my cheek.
“I don’t want my family,” I tell them, “right or wrong, to come between yours. So I give you both my word, man-to-man, that she will be paid back.”
Ford pauses, looks me over, then smiles. He extends a hand and we shake again. This seems good enough for Lincoln as well. He takes a big bite of his burger.
“How old is your nephew?” he asks with a mouth full of meat.
“Four.”
“The loan. What’s it for?” Ford asks, cutting into his chicken breast.
“He’s redoing The Gold Room. Wanting to make it less . . .”
“Seedy?” Lincoln offers, taking another bite of his burger. “No offense.”
“None taken. It’s really just basic things that should’ve been done decades ago. Paint. New flooring. New seal on the roof. Things like that.”
“How long has he owned that place?” Ford asks.
“A while.” I pick up a fry and drop it. They’re using forks for fries. Shoving my hands under the table, I feel my face flush. “Nate got into it originally for a fuck fest, I think. Then he got married for a few years and they had Ryder. Now it’s just the two of them, he’s seeing things a little different.”
“Kids will do that to you,” Lincoln nods.
“You know,” Ford says, taking a sip of his water, “I know a guy that does flooring that’s affordable. The guy was in the service with me, but is damn smart, hard worker, and is just getting started. I could hook you up if you are interested. No pressure.”
“That’d be great,” I say, feeling thrown off-balance. “Thanks.”
Lincoln takes another bite. “What’s Troy’s brother do, Ford?”
“Yeah. Travis is a roofer, I think. I’ll ask and send that to you too if it would help.”
Camilla beams, the smile on her face the widest I’ve ever seen it. “I love this, you guys.”
“What?” Lincoln asks.
“Not you talking with your mouthful,” Cam groans. “Mom would kill you right now.”
“Mom’s not here.”
Cam rolls her eyes. “You’re disgusting.”
He makes a point of swallowing, much to Camilla’s disgust, before looking at me. “Tell us about yourself, Dom.”
“Dom?” Cam laughs.
“You call him that.”
“I’m also having se—”
“Easy,” Ford warns, making us all laugh. “We don’t hate him now. Don’t push your luck.”
The table bursts with laughter, Camilla leaning her head on my shoulder. I lay my arm along the back of her chair. My tattoos peek out from beneath the rolled-up sleeves of my shirt, the edge of a cross that I had inked to remember Joey visible.
Something about the moment stills time. The voices around me are muffled as I feel trapped somehow in this weird spot mentally—thinking about Joey, how he had Nate’s laugh and our mother’s need to please everyone. If he were an adult, I wonder how he’d fit in this situation. Probably better than me.
I look up to see two women sitting at the table across the aisle from us. They’re decked out in bright dresses and huge, tacky necklaces. They smile politely at Ford, and I wait for them to also look my way. I hope they don’t.
Their smiles falter, slipping from their faces when they see me with Camilla. It’s almost a look of horror before they recover when Cam sits up, posture perfect, and addresses them.