I doubt Stump cares about the specifics of Sparky’s babies. As long as he can sell the shit and turn a profit, he’ll be interested. But Stash nods anyway. Doesn’t take much for him to say yes to a run.
“We’ll decide who’s going once I set up a time.” I glance around the tab
le. “Anything else?”
Ravage and Stash shake their heads and stare at the door. “What’s your problem? You both look like you’re about to piss your pants.”
“Swan said there was pie,” Stash answers. “And we want to get back to the table before Hope—”
Ravage elbows him in the ribs, shutting him up.
Wrath’s got his head down, rubbing his forehead, but on closer inspection, the fucker’s laughing. Under the table, I kick him. “Ow! What the fuck?”
“You’re a dick.” Dex glares at Stash. “Saw you stub your toe the other day and bawl like a baby. You were doing what she’s doing, you’d be curled up in the corner in the fetal position sucking your damn thumb.”
“He already does that every night,” Z says with a straight face.
“All right. Enough already. Jesus Christ.” I point to the door. “We’re done. Get out.” I glance down the table. “Except Sparky. Stay put for a minute.”
As soon as Wrath opens the door, the sounds of Alexa screaming her head off greet us. Teller and Murphy both hustle out of the room.
Chuckling, I turn and shake my head.
“That kid’s gonna grow up so fucking spoiled.” Z laughs.
“No man’s ever gonna make her happy,” Dex adds.
Wrath snorts out a laugh. “I think that’s the point.”
Even though I only asked Sparky to stick around, Z stays in his seat. After everyone’s gone, he lifts his chin at Sparky. “Hey, I didn’t mean that to sound how it came out, bro. You know I think you do good work.”
That’s more or less the reason I asked Sparky to stick around.
Usually stuff just rolls right off Sparky’s back, but he’s still defensive. “Bro, I hate coming to the table and saying I failed.”
“You didn’t fail, Sparky.” I sit forward, leaning my elbows against the table. “Now we know that strain doesn’t fit into our plan. We cut our losses and move on. No big deal.”
“Okay, boss. I just don’t like you disappointed in me.” He shoots a glare at Z. “I don’t care what you think.”
“I haven’t been disappointed in you yet, Sparky,” I assure him. Z, thankfully, doesn’t take the bait and keeps his mouth shut.
“Thanks, boss.” He eyes the door. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah, yeah. Go get your fuckin’ pie.”
After he leaves, I sit back and close my eyes for a second.
“You should be feeling better about this father gig every day, Rock,” Z says. “You’ve certainly had enough practice.”
“Amen to that. Christ, you think it’s time we dial back his smoking?”
“Good luck there, brother.”
“Stay for a minute? I want to give Stump a call and set this up now.”
“I’d call Chaser. I don’t think Stump’s all with it lately.”
“I can’t disrespect the old man. He’s still their president.”
“Let me make the call, then. I’ll call Chaser. VP to VP.”
“Just try not to set it up on a Thursday. That’s when I’ve been trying to schedule Hope’s doctor’s appointments, so she doesn’t forget them.”
“She happy we finally got the tests set up?”
“I think so. She’ll be happier when it’s done.” I glance at the door, making sure it’s still shut. “You know what she told me she’s fuckin’ worried about? Helping out whichever poor, unfortunate soul fathered that kid. She’s worried about our numbers if whoever it is ends up moving out there to be near his kid.”
“Damn, Rock. I think most girls would be worried about some bitch trying to sue their man.”
One corner of my mouth slides up. “Well, she worked out a defense strategy with her friend. In case Inga winds up mysteriously dead in a ditch, she has a plan B.”
There’s a murderous gleam in his dark blue eyes. “That’s our girl.”
Hope
Trinity pushes the dining room doors open wide and sweeps into the room with a wicked grin, Heidi trailing behind her. “So, ladies. Did I mention that little sister plans to peddle sex toys?”
“What the… what?” I ask, staring at both of them.
Heidi’s red from the neck up, but she tosses a catalog in my direction. “A girl at school sets up these parties. It sounded like a fun way to make some extra money.”
“Mercy hosted one of these last Christmas.” Charlotte reaches past me and grabs the catalog and flips through it. “It was fun. When are you thinking of hosting?”
Heidi snatches it out of her hands. “You—my brother’s fiancée—are not invited. No way.” She plops into her chair and heaves out a sigh.
Charlotte sits back and pouts. “No fair.”
Trinity plucks the catalog from Heidi’s hands and glances at the front page. “I leave the toy buying to Wrath.”
“Well, he is an overgrown child,” I tease, making her snicker.
“Who’s an overgrown child?” Wrath asks as he strides into the dining room.
Heidi slides down in her chair. “Kill me now.”
“No one,” Trinity says, passing the catalog to Heidi before jumping on Wrath to distract him. No seriously, like flying spider-monkey jumping on him. He catches her, and for the next five minutes, it’s nothing but obscene noises and whispers from their corner of the room.
“Guys, seriously, I just ate dinner,” I warn.
“Don’t be jealous, Cinderella, your man should be here soon.”
“I’m not jealous, you big man-beast.”
He chuckles and leans over to tug the catalog out of Heidi’s hands. “Whoa, whatcha got here, lil’ Heidi?”
“Seriously. Someone stab me with a fork,” she mutters. She glares up at Trinity. “Why?”
“You’ll probably get a ton of business from these guys,” Trinity responds, patting Heidi’s shoulder.
Heidi seems less than convinced.
Murphy joins us, wrapping his arms around Heidi. He leans over and kisses the top of her head. “Your brother has Alexa.”
“Your girl’s trying to corrupt us,” Charlotte informs him.
Murphy frowns in confusion and looks to Heidi for an explanation.
“Stop picking on Heidi, please,” I plead. “There’s nothing wrong with a little side-action,” I add, throwing a wink at Trinity.
“Good one, Hope.”
“Oh my God. This is my worst nightmare,” Heidi mutters.
Wrath hands the catalog to Murphy. “What have you done to our sweet, innocent Heidi?”
Murphy’s eyes widen, and the corners of his mouth slowly curve up. “Is this the thing you were telling me about, beautiful?” he murmurs while squeezing her shoulder.
“Yes. I made the mistake of telling Trinity about it, and she ratted me out to everyone,” she says, sending accusing looks to Charlotte and me. “And then Bat Ears over there overheard.” She gestures to Wrath, who snickers.
More of the guys trickle back into the dining room while Heidi’s explaining. Her cheeks turn redder and redder with each brother who takes a seat at the table.
When Ravage notices what they’re discussing, he stops in his tracks, turning away from the kitchen. “Are you really gonna let your woman sell that stuff?”
Murphy snorts. “Let her? Fuck yeah. I’m gonna be her biggest customer.”
“Real men don’t need sex toys,” Stash announces.
“A real man enjoys pleasing his woman any and every way he can,” Wrath corrects.
“Truth,” Murphy adds.
Teller returns with a sleepy-eyed Alexa in his arms and takes the seat next to Charlotte.
Rock joins us next, and the table falls silent. He eyes each of us with suspicion before sitting next to me.
“What did I miss?” he whispers in my ear.
“Wait for it.”
Teller glances around the now-silent table. “What’s going on?”
Wrath’s gaze darts around the table as if he’s trying to figure out who gets to break the news to Heidi’s br
other.
Ravage’s cheeks are red and round from the effort of holding in his laughter. “Yoursister’ssellingsextoys!” bursts out of his mouth in a big rush before he gulps in a lungful of air.
“Smooth, bro,” Wrath notes.
“Huh?” Teller glances at Charlotte, then Heidi, then Murphy. He reaches over and grabs the catalog. We all watch as the slow realization of what he’s holding washes over his face. “What the—what the fuck is this?”
“Your sister’s new side hustle,” Trinity says.
“What?” He glowers at Murphy. “Haven’t I put up with enough? I’ve been pretty good about the two of you—”
While the rest of us laugh or mumble some variation of, “Yeah, not really,” Murphy holds up one hand, wobbles it back and forth, and says, “Debatable.”
Charlotte taps a page of the catalog and nudges Teller to get his attention before he chokes Murphy. “You did burn out my Purple Pleasure Stick. You owe me a new one.”
“Gross,” Heidi mutters. “I so didn’t need to know that.”
“Did you use it on him or the other way around, Charlotte?” Rav asks.
“I’m going to be sick,” Heidi moans. “Too much. Way, way too much information.”
Teller chucks the catalog on the table and hugs Alexa to his chest. “I can’t deal with my baby sister selling sex toys. I need to pretend none of this happened.” He throws a glare at Murphy. “I blame you for this, pervert.”
“Me? A girl from school set her up with it.”
“Damn, I knew I should’ve gone to college,” Ravage says.
“They got any of those buzzy cock ring toys?” Sparky asks, grabbing for the catalog. “We should buy a mess of ’em for the Champagne Room.” He glances around the table. “Even the quick-shooters want to make sure their ladies are satisfied.” He pauses and seems to consider what he just said. “Not that I have any experience with premature ejaculation.”
“Sure, Sparky,” Stash snarks.
“Now I’m going to be sick,” I mutter.
“Can we not discuss cock rings around my niece?” Teller shoots a glare at Sparky. “Or your sexual dysfunctions?”
“Her mom’s the one dealing the cock rings,” Sparky points out.
“I’m not dealing them,” Heidi protests. “It’s a legitimate sales business. We throw a party where we demonstrate—”