Ella crawls up into my lap and lays her head on my shoulder. Shortly after that, I can hear her soft snores and realize that she’s fallen asleep. She’s such a good girl, that sometimes it boggles my mind that she’s only two years old.
Just as Gunner goes to grab the landline and call Pops up, his head lifts up and his jaw basically touches the ground. I didn’t hear the door open, so when I turn my head, I’m stunned when I see the women standing there. They are all an exact replica of Star, as a matter of fact I can’t tell which one is my woman and which ones are imposters.
“Touché,” I grumble out. “How the hell did you accomplish that in such a little amount of time, Star?” I ask all four of them, since I don’t know without hearing their voices which one of them belongs to me. I knew women were masterful at times, but I had no clue that I could be fooled so damn easily. If you were to ask me an hour ago, I’d say that I’d recognize my woman from any other out there. Now, I’m flabbergasted that I have to eat my own damn words.
All four of them turn in my direction and smile at me. That’s when I know which one is mine. My woman has a prominent dimple on her right cheek, one that I can never get enough of viewing. I stand up with Ella still glued to me and walk over to her planting a kiss on her lips. “There you are,” I say with a smile plastered on my face.
“How’d you know,” she huffs, planting her closed fists on her hips.
“Because, no one besides you has a dimple so deep and sweet that it makes my balls ache,” I respond. Star’s eyes widen as she takes in the sleeping girl whose head is firmly nestled into my shoulder. “She’s sleeping, baby, otherwise I would’ve been a lot more subtle than I just was.”
“I’d hope so,” she skeptically says as she takes me in with narrowed eyes. “How long has she been out for?”
“About twenty minutes or so,” I answer her.
“I should take her up and put her to bed,” she announces.
“Nope,” I adamantly reply, “she’s perfectly fine right where she’s at.”
“You’re going to spoil her and we’ll never get her to sleep in her bed if you keep it up, Shamus.”
“She falls asleep where she feels safe and protected, Star. And right now, that’s in my arms and I plan on letting her stay here as long as she feels the need to.”
“Okay, guys, I think Star has made her point. Now, we need to come up with a new improved plan,” Gunner says interrupting our banter.
“I really don’t want Star getting caught up in this shit, Gun,” I express my worry for her safety.
“We’ll keep her well-hidden and protected, none of us wanna see anything happen to her either. But she made her point, she knows these women inside and out. She knows their walk and so on. She’d be an asset to us, Shamus,” he rebuts.
“I’ll only agree if she has two men on her at all times,” I shoot back.
“We can make that work,” he informs me.
So we sit down with Star for the next hour and go over exit points and what kind of vehicles and protection follows the woman who meets with Jamie.
Chapter Sixteen
Shamus
The fifteenth is in two days from now, so we’re getting our gear together and making sure that we have enough ammo stocked to bring with us. I’m bringing enough weapons with me to cause a world war.
I’m not playing around with this motherfucker anymore, I just wish we were getting two for the price of one, but according to Star, the two are very rarely around one another. It’s only on rare, unplanned occasions that they are in the same place as each other.
Star informed us that Jamie just shows up to the strip club unannounced and expects Jeremiah to just be there, or is there within minutes of being informed that he’s made an appearance. Doesn’t surprise me much, considering that Jamie is a narcissistic motherfucker.
He thinks all of those he associates with should be at his beck and call and available on his schedule. It’s gonna be an absolute pleasure to rid the world of his ass. He’s a special kind of breed, and that alone speaks more volumes and lets me know more about Jeremiah than things that have been shared with me.
You can tell a lot about a man through those they associate with.
“How many magazines are you packing?” Malice asks me as he takes in what I’m picking out. “It looks like you’re expecting to face down the apocalypse or something.”
“I’m tired of this motherfucker, if I have to use every damn bullet in these casings, I will; whatever it takes to get rid of him, I’m willing to do,” I supply.
“We’re all ready to be rid of this enemy, brother. But do you seriously believe it’s gonna take that kind of arsenal to get the job done?” he inquires.
“Not sure, Malice, but we thought we had him before. I’m not taking any more damn chances. It’s bad enough that Cameron was his target, but now that we know that Mane is in danger as well, I’m that much more determined to get the job done for good this go around.”
“Heard Jessia and Star talking earlier,” he tells me. “They were making plans for Ella in case things go sideways.”
“Nothing’s gonna go wrong,” I claim.
“Yeah, but you know how women are. They need everything mapped out and a backup plan securely in place.”
“So, don’t keep me in suspense, you fucking nosy ass. What
