Center of Gravity (Marauders Book 3) (24 page)

I tried to swallow my tears. I knew that, but I didn’t want to think about that at the moment, and I definitely didn’t want a think about how much it hurt that he’d said that the friends idea was something he was fine with. It had been my goddamn suggestion, but it still hurt. We’d messed up, and it might never… But I still nodded in agreement. He deserved that—and more.

“I think we both need time to adjust, and we’ll see what happens. Okay?”

“Okay.” And he finally smiled more honestly. “I need to get going, but I’ll call. Just fucking make sure you pick up.”

“I will.”

“And call Lisa,” he said as he got up. “She’s about to rip my balls off.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

I hadn’t really thought about it, since I’d sort of avoided everyone for the past weeks. Seeing Lisa while trying to hide that I was freaking out and pregnant hadn’t seemed like a good idea. Especially since she’d know it was Mitch’s baby.

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “We’ll work it out. Promise. I’m just gonna go get hammered for tonight.”

“I don’t blame you,” I laughed. “I wish I could go and get hammered.”

“No drinking!”

“Promise.”

I followed him to the door, and he took a long look at me.

“Ice cream is okay.”

“Good to know.”

I took a deep breath once he was gone. All in all, it hadn’t been as bad as it could’ve been.

-o0o-

I called Lisa the next morning, and we agreed to meet up later. She’d been pretty pissed, but said she just wanted to meet, and I could explain then, which suited me just fine. I didn’t want to tell her I was pregnant on the phone. I’d already done that with my parents, and it had been very, very strange. They were happy, though. Maybe a little worried because it was Mitch who was the father, and I hadn’t even gotten around to telling them he didn’t know.

I had an appointment with the doctor in the morning, and Irina picked me up from home, since she wanted to come with me. I had no problem with that. It was nice not to have to do it alone.

It was my second visit at the doctor. I’d just barely been present on the first one; I only remembered a million tests, including every STD test known to man. He’d muttered about my BMI being low, and I’d told him I’d been a dancer, realizing that I for the first time had been able to say it in past tense without a tug in my heart—that was something.

This time it was a lot shorter. Just my weight, I’d gained two pounds, which he said was good, blood pressure, which was fine, and then he listened to the baby’s heartbeat. Somehow, being rid of the pressure of telling Mitch had made me more susceptible to it all, and I realized that the sound I was hearing was my baby’s actual heartbeat. My child was living inside of me. When the doctor pulled the device away, I took his hand.

“Please, just a few more seconds.”

He smiled and did as I’d asked. It was amazing, and I looked at Irina with a big smile.

“That’s my baby!”

“I know,” she said and leaned forward to give me a kiss. “A strong heart.”

“Yes,” the doctor said with a nod. “It all sounds good. Next time is the ultrasound so you’ll see the baby as well!”

That sounded amazing. I’d see my baby!

While we were on our way out of the hospital, I had to stop. I sat down on a chair and started to cry, but this time I wasn’t upset. I was really happy. Irina sat down next to me and took my hand, and when I looked at her, she was crying, too.

-o0o-

I stood up when Lisa walked into the diner. She looked around for a few seconds, and when she saw me, she gave me a big smile, and I exhaled. At least she wasn’t angry with me. She half ran up and gave me a hug.

“It’s so good to see you. Did you order me wine?”

“Yes,” I pointed at her glass, and we sat down. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Tell me what happened instead. I thought Mitch had fucked up, but he seemed honestly confused. He thought you’d met some old boyfriend in New York or something.” I watched her empty half the glass and then she took a deep breath. “Okay, sorry. Messy day. Tell me.”

“I’m pregnant.”

She stared at me, picked up her glass again, emptied it, signaled the waiter for another, and then looked at me.

“Does he know?”

“Yes. I told him yesterday.”

“This being Mitch, and him not being half as smart as he can be most of the time, I’m guessing—”

“Actually, he took it pretty well. I think.”

“Really?”

“He knew. Mac had seen me outside an abortion clinic.” She eyed me. “I just needed to know,” I tried to explain.

“I understand. Don’t worry. But you’re not doing it?”

“No.”

“So… You and Mitch?”

“I don’t know. We’ve sort of decided to stay friends for now. Or I told him I needed it. I’m still very confused.”

“Don’t blame you for that, either,” she smiled. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“You don’t say.”

“Damn!” She shook her head. “I thought you two were being careful. What happened?”

“Shower sex.”

“Ohhh, hot!” she smiled. At that moment I really, really loved her. “How are you doing, with all this? How do you feel about it?”

I’d panicked, I’d cried, and I’d seen everything just fall apart, but just that day something had changed. I’d heard its heartbeat. I’d heard my baby. It wasn’t the best of situations. In fact, it was a pretty shit situation, but I would figure all that out, and it would be worth it.

“Good. I feel good now. I heard the heartbeat.”

“Aww, how many a minute?”

“163.”

“A girl. It’s a girl.” She noticed my skeptical face. “Yeah, I know it’s an old wives’ tale, but I’m telling you, it’s a girl. We don’t get enough girls.”

“Think the rest of them will be okay with this?”

“Are you shitting me?” she laughed. “They’ll love it. They all love kids. Well, no one has said that they
don’t
, but they’ll be there for you. All of them.”

I did like the thought of my baby having a big family, but it kind of scared me a little, too. There were a lot of them, and I didn’t really know what they’d think of me. One of Mitch’s fuck buddies that he accidentally knocked up, but it was a relief that Lisa seemed to be sure they’d be fine with it.

-o0o-

The physical therapy had taken a lot longer than usual, since I’d finally admitted to Brett that I was pregnant. He wanted me to keep him updated on what the doctors said regarding my injury and what affect a pregnancy could have on it. I’d honestly not even thought about it, but nerve problems during pregnancies were apparently not uncommon even among perfectly healthy women, so that was slightly depressing. I’d accepted that it would probably mean more pain, but it wasn’t until then I realized just how bad it could become, and smoking some pot for relief was out of the question. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. Irina had already set up a diet plan for me, and she made damn sure I followed it.

Since it was my Thursday morning appointment, it was Anita who gave me a lift home. She kept insisting on it, and she still told me every time how nice it was of me that I’d agreed to let her husband have my appointment.

“So you’re pregnant?” Anita asked me as she drove me home.

“Yes.” And I realized that it was maybe the first time I felt really at ease about it. I gave her a big smile. “Yes, I am.”

“That’s wonderful. How far along are you?”

“About fifteen weeks.”

“It’s so exciting,” Anita smiled.

“Do you have children?”

“No, I don’t. My husband has a girl from a previous marriage, but she’s all grown up now.” She put a hand on my knee. “And the father? Is he involved?” She must’ve noticed my expression. “I’m sorry, that’s none of my business. It’s just I know you live with your aunt.”

“No. Don’t worry about it. It’s complicated.”

She laughed. “It’s always complicated. I think the thing hanging between their legs scrambles their brain and makes everything more complicated than it needs to be.”

“That could be it,” I agreed. “But we had a… complicated thing going even before I became pregnant.”

“You’ve been through a lot of difficulties, you’ll get through this one, too,” she said and returned her hand to the steering wheel of the old Volvo she was driving.

It was the only car I’d seen her drive, and it had a faint smell of manure. I’d asked about it once, and apparently they had a small household farm with chickens. She’d offered to show me, but I wasn’t very interested. Frankly, chickens kind of scared me. I knew it was silly, but it was just something about how they moved their heads that freaked me out.

Since her husband had been in his accident, the farm had been a way for them to start again. It had been more Anita’s dream to have a small farm, live with nature, and be self-sufficient, but he’d agreed. It all sounded a bit hippie to me, but who was I to judge? I’d spent the first twenty-five years of my life doing nothing but dancing, and that seemed about as deranged as living in the middle of nowhere growing carrots and whatnot. I had wondered how her life ambition to be at one with nature added up to an old shitty Volvo, which was hardly environmental friendly, but again, who was I to judge? Given her fashion sense, I had a feeling they weren’t exactly swimming in cash. I had wondered about how they could afford weekly visits with Brett, but maybe they’d had insurance covering it. That was one thing I hadn’t asked them about, but I had wondered.

“Okay,” she said when she stopped outside my house. “I’ll see you next week, sweetheart.”

“See you, Anita. Take care.”

“You too, darling.”

Irina was waiting for me in the kitchen, and she wasn’t alone. Mitch was there, too, and he smiled when he saw me.

“Thought we’d try to figure this out,” he said. “I’ll try to stay calm this time.”

“I thought you were pretty calm last time.”

“Fucking hell,” he chuckled. “Still think it’s a good thing you told those cops the truth because you are a shitty liar, Anna.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Along for the Ride

-o0o-

It had taken him two weeks, but he was on top of things when it came to the club business again. It had all continued as usual, since Mech and Sisco had covered for him, but Mitch needed to figure out what had been done, and where they were.

Some other things had also been decided; one was that the first meeting with the US side of Ghouls was going to take place the next weekend, and that they were going to Amsterdam six week later.

Laura’s murder investigation had come to a staggering halt, though. They were all in agreement that it was Hump who’d done it, but they couldn’t fucking find him—he was gone.

“How the fuck does someone disappear?” Brick bellowed from his place at the head of the table. “How is that even fucking possible?”

“It’s not that hard,” Sisco shrugged. “He’s had a lot of time to set it all up, too. I’m more worried about what his next move would be. Anyone got any ideas?”

“Would depend on what he’s after,” Bear speculated. “I think it’s safe to say it’s not going to be a quick retaliation, which would mean it’s a slow mind-fuck.”

Brick gave Mitch a worried look. “You need to look after your house, son. Make sure everyone around you is safe. Anna, for example. Maybe you should try to keep her close.”

“We’re not exactly…” He had no idea how to end the sentence. “We’re keeping it friendly.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” his dad asked.

“Means he’s not fucking her.” Mace’s chuckle turned into a laugh when Mitch glared at him. “And that look sealed the deal. Didn’t you just buy her a birthday present?”

“Fuck you,” Mitch answered, but he had. Unfortunately, the entire club had been around when it was delivered, and it wasn’t small. “Can we focus on Hump and not where I stick my dick?”

“What do we know?” Bear said to get the conversation going.

“I talked to Manchu,” Mac started. “As far as he knows, Hump was gone the week after he’d been dropped off at the E.R. His house has been sold, and they don’t know where anyone in his family is.”

“Big family?” Bull asked.

“Not really. An ex-wife, a kid, and a new old lady.”

“Rabbit said the same thing, and I’m inclined to believe him,” Brick nodded. “I don’t think he’s had any contact with Hump.”

“Sure?” Bull asked. “Those two were close.”

Brick looked at Mitch, who nodded. “I’ll go through Rabbit’s stuff to make sure,” he answered Brick’s unspoken order.

Things were still frosty between him and his dad, but he was hoping to sort it out. He had a hunch that bringing Anna by to meet the family would be enough. Just to show Brick he really had taken care of his business, and that it wasn’t just something he’d said.

“Okay that with Dutch and Chucky at the mother charter before you do. I don’t want us to step on any toes while we do this. I’ll have a talk to Rabbit eye to eye when we meet him in Englewood next weekend, too.” His dad leaned his elbows on the table. “Try to bring Anna into the family at least. Get her closer, I want us to be able to keep an eye on her without freaking her out.”

“I was going to anyway. Don’t want her to die of shock when she’s having the baby and all you ugly fucks show up at the hospital.”

As much as he wanted things back to normal with his dad, he wasn’t looking forward to bringing Anna closer. It was fucking torture to be around her at the moment, and he usually just wanted to rip off her clothes and fuck her stupid. She’d shown up at the door with a tight tank top the day before, and he’d seen that her usually flat belly wasn’t as flat anymore. She had a small bulge, and he was fucking dying to touch it—to touch all of her.

“And the hacking thing?” Bear asked while he put out his smoke. “Anything more on that?”

“There’s nothing there,” Mech answered. “The Dutch Ghouls even let us use their guy, Stakkato, and he couldn’t trace the fucker, either.”

“I thought you said he was shit?” Sisco asked.

“He is shit, but he’s also really careful, which is why he’s not very successful. It’s like he’s poking us with a really fucking long stick.”

That wasn’t a very good description at all, but it meant the rest of the table were nodding like they understood, which was the important thing, so Mitch didn’t protest. It was always better to leave the explaining to Mech.

“Have any of the other clubs had any problems?” Dawg asked.

“No,” Mitch answered. “None of them, and they’ve had their guys double-check. I’ve checked the ones that don’t have good enough tech guys.”

“I didn’t expect him to mess around with anyone else, either,” Brick said. “I know what you said about Hump not knowing enough about computers, but he doesn’t have to be alone in this. He must’ve gotten help. Do we know what his accounts looked like and how much he might’ve had left?”

“We emptied them,” Mitch answered. “We went through all of it, and even found an offshore account, but I’m not saying we can’t have missed something. And if he’s got a hacker friend, he could be making money now.”

“Wouldn’t he need medical help?” Sisco asked. “We chopped off his hand.”

“Not necessarily,” Bull said. “People survived that shit during the Middle Ages, so there’s not much needed once the bleeding stops as long as he didn’t get an infection or some shit like that. Has anyone called Russ on this?”

Russ was the Nomad President, and practically a living legend in the Marauders. He’d joined in his early twenties, and he was the only member ever who had started out, and stayed, in the Nomads. He had a base in Vegas, a house he owned with his Old Lady, and she lived there with their four kids. Veronica-Lynn, or Ronnie as everyone called her, was actually Wolf’s niece. Mitch had some vague memories of a bottle blonde who wore an enormous amount of makeup who used to hang at the club when he was younger. He’d never heard the full story about how Russ and Ronnie ended up together, but he had a feeling it was something because Brick’s jaw still tensed up for a second when Russ was mentioned.

Bull, on the other hand, had always been close to Russ, probably because they were both crazy as fuck.

“No,” Brick said with a laugh once the tension in his jaw released. “Give him a call, Bull. No fucking idea why we didn’t think about that. We’re obviously too fucking focused on computers and shit when we don’t even think about calling our own damn members. He’s coming to Englewood for the meet there. Give him a call now, and he might have some news for us next weekend.”

The rest of church was mostly practical stuff. Mitch was meeting up with Sisco once the meeting was over, and they were going to work on the finances, but he took a beer by the bar with Brick and Bear while he was waiting for Sisco.

“You know he’s gonna wanna come here,” Bear chuckled.

“Yeah, I know,” Brick said.

“It’s been over a decade, might be time to let that shit go.”

“I have. Just… fucking hell! She was Wolf’s niece and he nailed her in secret for five years.”

“On the bright side,” Bear said with a smile. “His visits don’t empty the clubhouse of strippers anymore.”

“What? Russ used to empty the clubhouse?”

“He’s got some… preferences… tended to bruise them up a little. Not too bad, but you know how strippers are about bruises.”

Most of the girls didn’t mind some kink, some spanking, or even being tied up, but the strippers didn’t like getting bruised. Bruises usually meant they lost money. It was a huge turn-off for most guys who visited the strip clubs, so they tended to get a bit pissed if they had handprints all over their ass after a night with a member.

Mitch noticed Sisco coming out from his room, so apparently he’d had his dick sucked and was ready for some work. Mitch turned to his dad.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Sure,” Brick said.

He was about to ask if it was okay if he came by the next day, but then realized it was just odd. Things might be tense between them, but there was a good chance Brick would get more pissed if he asked. He’d never made sure it was okay that he came by before, so why start now?

-o0o-

It was Anna’s birthday, and it had started out at her place, with Irina and Lisa. He’d taken her up to Brick and Mel after they’d had some weird cake that he was suspicious about, since it was named after Pavlov, and he fucking knew who Ivan Pavlov was.

He and Anna had sort of reached an agreement. He was paying all the bills, he’d insisted on that one, and she was keeping him informed. He got her a maternity pillow for her birthday. It was the most insane thing he’d ever seen, but Vi had said that Anna would need one. The weird-looking pillow was the only reason Vi had able to sleep during the nights when she was alone, and since Anna was going to sleep alone—at least he hoped she was, unless she was with him—she would need the huge pillow.

Those hours in Irina’s kitchen, when they’d discussed how to deal with her being pregnant, had confirmed that he was still insanely attracted to her, and she to him. He didn’t want to push it, though, because he didn’t want a quick fuck. He wanted all of her and unless he thought he could have that, he’d drop it and go with her insane ‘friends’ idea.

Bringing Anna to his dad’s place would show him that he’d taken care of business. And if she was gonna have Brick’s grandkid, it was best she got used to him. Mitch wasn’t worried; Brick had a way with younger women, and he’d win her over in no time.

“Are you sure about this?” Anna asked with a worried expression. “I don’t want them to feel bad. I mean, it’s not like they knew it was my birthday or… you know. And if they ask about us…”

“Anna, I’ll take care of this. They won’t feel bad, and knowing what Mel, she’s gonna bake you a cake in less than an hour. And it won’t be named after a crazy Russian mind-controlling scientist.”

“What?” Anna stared at him and then she started to laugh. “It’s not named after Ivan Pavlov! It’s named after Anna Pavlova, a ballerina, and I’m named after her!”

“Suuure it is,” he muttered as he got out of the truck. “I know women, this is all about ‘conditioning,’ making men do what they want you to. Drooling as soon as you come near us.”

“You think I’m using the Pavlov technique on you with the help of a meringue and fruit cake?”

He halted. “Fuck! That was meringue?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “And you missed it. I’m gonna eat all of it when I go home tonight.”

“Damn!”

“And
that’s
is how you use a Pavlova to train men,” she giggled as they walked up to the door.

She was right. She totally had him, he was still obsessing about missing that cake because he loved meringue. Next time they put some weird food on the table he’d just eat it.

“Don’t push it,” he grumbled as he opened the door to the house. “Anyone home?!”

“Woof,” she said to him.

He really wanted to just grab her and kiss her, both for the barking referring to Pavlov and for being her usual funny and cute self. Things had been a bit weird and tense between them, but so far that day she’d been like she had been before. But back then he could kiss her. He really missed kissing her whenever he felt like it.

Mel was the first to come and meet them.

“Oh, hi!” she said when she saw Anna. “Welcome.”

“It’s Anna’s birthday. Thought I’d bring her by.”

“Of course!” Mel smiled and gave Anna a hug. “Happy birthday.”

“Hey!” his dad yelled as he came down the stairs. “And the ballerina! Good to see you and happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” Anna mumbled.

Brick grabbed her and gave her a hug. “Let me know if I need to talk to him again.”

“No!” Anna exclaimed. “No need at all. It’s all fine. We’re great.”

“Woof,” Mitch mumbled as he walked past her.

As suspected, Mel and Eliza immediately started on a cake. A normal, American, chocolate cake. Anna immediately told them about him not eating her cake, because he thought it was named after Ivan Pavlov, which Mel of course found hilarious. They continued to mock him, and he concluded that Anna would fit right into his family.

They didn’t say anything about Anna being pregnant. He didn’t seem to be able to find the proper opening for it in the middle of all the ‘Mocking Mitch,’ and he thought it might be easier for Anna if he told Mel and Eliza when she wasn’t there. Instead they had cake and talked, and if Brick had told Mel about Anna being pregnant, she didn’t mention it either. When it started to get late, he stood up, and Mel walked Anna to the door while Brick stayed behind.

“I’m just gonna take her home,” Mitch said to his dad. “I’ll be back afterwards to talk to the rest of you about it.”

“Good,” he nodded.

He dropped Anna off and then went back to his dad and Mel’s. They were waiting in the kitchen with serious faces.

“Don’t think for a second I missed that bump,” Mel said and glared at him.

“I didn’t think you would,” he said as he sat down.

“Is it yours?” Mel asked. Brick must’ve grimaced or something because her next line wasn’t to Mitch. “What? Do you need me to introduce you to your own son? It’s not such a weird question! I mean she’s nice, but steady relationships are not really Mitch’s thing, and he’s usually pretty up front about that.”