Ruthless Sinner (Ashby Crime Family)

Humiliation burned deep in my gut at the direction my thoughts had gone, thinking that Jasper cared about me beyond my basic well-being. He was just protecting his empire, and if this baby was his, he would keep the child close, which meant—by default—keeping me close.

“Leave you alone?” Jasper let out a deep, rumbling laugh. It was light and free; unlike any sound I had ever heard from him.

The sound brought a smile to my face.

“If that’s my baby you’re carrying, we’re bound for life, Mo. For life.”

When he said it like that, it sounded more like a threat than a romantic promise.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jasper

“Where the fuck is Cal?” I convened a meeting with Terry and Virgil, and as usual, Cal had left us hanging.

“He’ll be here,” Virgil assured me with an exhausted sigh. “Said he had to get a sitter situation settled for Ava Rose.”

I didn’t believe that shit for one second. “Yeah, right.”

Terry’s brows furrowed. “Is this meeting specific to something or just a state of the union type of deal?” Terry sat back with his legs crossed at the ankles, relaxed as could be even though it was early in the morning and it was just us three inside the dining room. I wanted to meet without the staff listening in. Before Maisie and Kat woke for the day.

I sighed, grateful to Terry for trying to keep this shit show on track.

“Something specific. Some asshole attacked Mo in the parking lot of Emerald Isle. Claimed to have a message for me, but I beat the fuck out of him before getting the message. Later, he didn’t have much to say. It’s hard to speak without teeth, apparently.”

Terry and Virgil both laughed. “Who was he?” Virgil’s low growl told me he was as pissed off as I was, even though he didn’t have all the details.

“No clue. He didn’t say much before I pulled all of his teeth and shipped him out of town in pieces.” I flashed a smile and sighed.

“The question,” Virgil said with a smile, “is why did this asshole come after Mo, and why did you just happen to be at Emerald Isle?”

He wiggled his eyebrows expectantly, and I sat dropped down in the chair with a sigh.

“I’ve been fucking her,” I growled in response. “And now she’s pregnant.” There was no point beating around the bush. I invited them here for a reason, and that was one of them.

Terry let out a loud roar of laughter first, smacking the table with his palm, cracking up. “You sure the baby is yours?”

“Right,” Virgil added. “I mean we are talking about Mo, and she gets around, Jas.”

I knew what they were saying, and even though it pissed me off, they were right. There were no secrets about Mo. She fucked for cash all the time. Anybody. Anywhere.

“Yeah, well, we fucked, and we did it raw so the possibility exists that the child is mine.”

“But it’s a slight possibility,” Virgil added. “At least three different guys have turned up for her at Midnight Mass this month alone. And,” he squirmed a little because of what was coming next. “we’ve all been with her, Jasper. All of us.”

“Not me,” Terry offered and raised his hands defensively. “Not for years, anyway.”

“I fucking know that, and I really don’t need to hear it, Virg.”

“Oh shit,” Terry laughed. “Please don’t tell me you have delusions of turning Mo into an honest woman.” I frowned, and Terry laughed even harder. “Oh no, you are!”

“This has fuck all to do with honesty, and Mo has always been straight up about what she wants out of life. But if she’s carrying my kid, I need to be there for her.”

“And if the kid isn’t yours?” I knew Terry was trying to be helpful, to give me a different perspective, but it only pissed me off.

I had no right to be pissed about it, not when I said pretty much the same words to Mo, but I was.

“She didn’t tell me. She didn’t rush over to me with a smile and dollar signs in her eyes,” I admitted. “If I hadn’t shown up when I did, I’m not sure she would have said anything to me at all.”

That was a damn hard pill to swallow, especially considering most women would leap at the chance to have a wealthy man father their children. Hell, I half expected Mo to strut up to me and tell me she was knocked up with my kid and, in the next breath, demand an exorbitant amount of monthly support. But she hadn’t done that, and I didn’t know why.

“Ouch,” Terry said with a frown. “That’s rough.”

“Tough breaks,” Virgil added with a shake of his head. “A kick in the nuts.”

“No shit,” I growled angrily. “I don’t need your fucking sympathy.” The blood test would be processed in the next twenty-four hours, and I’d have my answer one way or the other. These men were my brothers, but they would have answers only after I did. “That’s not what we’re here to talk about,” I reminded them.