It was a good insight for Tasha to see how it could be once all of this bullshit with the Strikers was over. I could tell by how she’d been tonight that it had given her hope.
“When you guys are done at the clubhouse, there’s a couple of rentals up for grabs right now,” Mason told us, between mouthfuls of his steak. “Houses. Two-bedroom. Well kept. Furnished. Basically, move-in ready. I’ve been seeing them on my patrol route this week.”
An awkward look passed between me and Tasha.
We’d been avoiding talking about all of that.
For a reason.
The stakes of what was to come were so high, it seemed like a jinx to make concrete future decisions.
We’d both basically been walking on eggshells around each other. Whenever one of us had fallen into the trap and started going there, the other would blow it off quickly and change the subject.
Mason gave me a chin lift, getting that I needed him to back off.
But the message didn’t register with Luce and she pressed Tasha, “You guys are moving out of the clubhouse, right? I mean, how are you going to raise a baby in that crazy, noisy, booze-filled place?” She misread our hesitation, looking crestfallen. “Oh, you’re going to go back to the city, is that it?”
“Pixie,” Mason said, laying his hand on her hers and shaking his head at her, willing her to drop it.
Startling me, Tasha pushed her plate aside and turned to me sharply. Folding her arms across her chest, she told me forcefully, “We’ll buy a house here. It’ll be close enough to downtown, but not right in the thick of it. Three bedrooms. I need an office. I’ll run my business out of there, work from home so I can be with my baby. For the first year, you’ll cut down on your shifts with the club, so we share baby duty evenly. This is a nice, safe, peaceful town. I like it and we’re staying here. I’m getting the impression that Lucy wants to be around her niece or nephew as much as possible too, and you’ll also be needing your best friend’s support.”
Flabbergasted, I struggled to take in everything she’d thrown at me. “Okay… is that everything?” I choked out.
She held up her left hand. “I want a ring. And a wedding.”
Jesus Christ.
“I thought we weren’t gonna do this, talk about the future and—”
“Yeah, well, I’m done with that. I’m sick of being at everyone else’s mercy, of being restricted in so many ways. I don’t like being trapped and I won’t stand for another second of it. We need to focus on what’s best for this baby, to prepare everything before he or she comes along.”
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in close. “Okay. It’s all right. I know. We’ll do it, all of it.”
Instead of accepting my comfort, she jerked away and shot out of her seat.
In the next moment, she was running out of the room.
I heard a door down the hall slam a second later.
“Fuck,” I muttered. “Sorry,” I told Mason and Luce.
“She’s going through a lot,” Luce said. “All of this—the Nik thing, being stuck in the clubhouse and confined to this town—is too much stress. Especially for a pregnant woman.”
“What else can I fucking well do?” I bit back at her.
“Tell Slade to go to hell.”
I shook my head with disbelief at her naivety. “You’ve got no clue.”
“Maybe not,” she shot back. “But either way, it seems obvious you need to make a choice. Natasha and your baby, or the Steel Titans?”
“No,” Mason rumbled.
“What?” Luce exclaimed.
His gaze dark and determined, he rose to his feet and told her, “I need a second. Go check on Natasha, little darlin’.”
It looked like she was about to argue with his order. But he flashed his eyes at her and she merely huffed, then took off out of the room without a single protest. Wow. That wasn’t the sister I knew. He’d really changed her, calmed her, somehow.
It seemed she’d changed him too, because he was actually backing me on this, he’d come around on Natasha, on the idea of us together too. I’d honestly never thought I’d see the day.
“She doesn’t get it, because we never let her in on club life. There’s no way she can understand it on the level that we can. But she just wants you to be happy.” He pulled up Natasha’s chair and settled himself on the edge. A small smile played on his lips. “Plus, you know, her and Natasha did make a deal and she wants to see it through.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah? What deal is that?”
His smile grew. “Natasha said she’d get you off Luce’s back. In exchange, she’d have hers.” He rolled his eyes. “Luce would back her no matter what. It’s all just jokes.”
“I don’t need to be on her back anymore.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah, she’s got you now. What does she need me for?”
“You’re her brother. Forget the whole suffocating protection thing and just be that. Be her brother.”
“Yeah. Okay. I can do that.” I leaned back in my chair. “You realize we can never talk about any dirty shit like we used to now it’s my sister you’re… with. We’re clear on that, right?”
“Believe me, after the way you first reacted to us, we’re clear. Besides, I respect Luce. I’m not gonna talk about that shit with anybody. It’s well and truly private.”
“Good.”
He sat forward and eyed me intensely.
“What?” I asked, when he just continued his invasive staring.
“You knew, didn’t you? You knew there was something between us.”
“I didn’t know for sure. I suspected. When you suddenly washed your hands of her a few years back, my suspicions gained some weight.”
He shook his head, then scrubbed his hand over his face. “Fuck.
