Tied - Part Four (The Tied Series) (6 page)

He let his bag drop to the floor with a dull thud. “I’ve had a lot of other shit going on,” he muttered, looking away. “Got something to run by you, too. Kind of important.”

“What’s more fucking important than this?”
I’m not mad at Mal,
I reminded myself. He was holding me back for my own good.

“Uh, Katherine?” he asked. “Your growing little family?”

I released a long-held breath. “What about her?”

“Just an idea I had.” I noticed for the first time that he looked tired. Dark circles framed his eyes. Jesus, he looked like he’d aged years just over the past month. What was going on?”

“Are you okay?” I asked, finally cooling down. “What’s going on?”

“We’re moving my dad out of his apartment,” he said. “We found a place for him in Jersey that we can just about manage to pay for. Sort of. Tony’s looking at moving out there to be closer to him and closer to our gym, which means the apartment will be empty.”

Guilty hope sparked to life in my chest. “You’re thinking about renting it out?”

“It needs a lot of work.”

“I’ll renovate the shit out of it if you can cut us a deal that we can afford.”

“Good,” he nodded, “I wanted to check that you were interested. We can’t afford to let it sit and we can’t afford to let you two stay there for free,” he grimaced, “But I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Thanks, man,” I said, “We wouldn’t want it for free, anyway. That wouldn’t be right.”

“Okay. Good. I wanted to make sure you were in before I ran it by Tony.”

I grabbed him and crushed him in a quick hug - something I didn’t do often with my friends and brothers, but if any guy ever needed it right then, it was him. “I’m sorry about your dad,” I said as he stepped back. “Really.”

“Thanks,” he said, offering a tight grin. “I’ll see Tony today.” His eyes narrowed when he went on, “And we’ll talk about Rabbit soon. I’ve been wrapped up with this shit with my dad, but I haven’t forgotten. Trust me.”

“All right. I know. We’ll bash his head soon enough.”

Maybe I’ll work out today
, I thought as I watched him go, gym bag over his shoulder. Lee had said my membership was still good. Just because that foot was fucking useless didn’t meant I had to let the rest of my body go. I could still lift - and I’d want all my strength if I was going to let loose on Rabbit’s face.

And at the very least, it would keep me busy after I woke up and waited for Katherine to get out of work. Those in-between hours were the worst. Waiting for her, waiting for revenge, waiting for my foot to get just a little bit better so I could shed the boot and learn how to walk with a tight-as-shit Achille’s… I had to fill up that spare time with something before I went crazy.
Well, crazier.

CHAPTER 7

I couldn’t have been more thrilled that Katherine was with me for the family summer party. Lisa’s kids had been driving her crazy, especially Amber - “Is Katherine coming? When are we gonna see Katherine? Can’t you call her and invite her over?”

They didn’t know that I’d been paying for her to tutor them. They didn’t know why their mother couldn’t afford her anymore.
Well, she’s practically family with that little Lockett growing inside of her. They’ll be seeing her plenty often, now
.

Katherine and I had taken the train out to my parents’ place on Long Island, where my sister-in-law Charlotte picked us up at the train station. “How have you been?” she asked Katherine, “Doing okay?”

“I was kind of freaking out after the attack when I was waiting around in the hospital,” Katherine explained to me, “Charlotte calmed me down and convinced me to go home and take a shower.”

I didn’t remember very much of that night or the days that followed, unfortunately - or maybe fortunately. They really were just a haze of painkillers.

“We do have a little news,” I said, squeezing Katherine’s knee. “Katherine’s pregnant.”

Charlotte’s face flip-flopped between distressed and elated. “Wow! I didn’t know you two were so serious just yet, but that’s… that’s good, right?”

“It wasn’t exactly planned but we’re going to make the best of it,” Katherine said with a smile. I had a feeling we’d be repeating that line a lot.

“No one else knows yet so let us spread the news, all right?” I said, and Charlotte agreed.

My parents went all out when they threw this annual party. It was hard to coordinate so much family, but this, we all made time for - my brothers, aunts and uncles, family friends. There was a big tent covering the long tables where everyone could sit and eat, and another small tent with speakers for the DJ. “Wow,” Katherine said, “This is a pretty big barbecue.”

“Yeah, my mom especially likes to go a little overboard,” I said, “But it’s sort of become a tradition.”

We were immediately accosted by Amber and Finn when we arrived - Finn still in his soccer uniform, Amber in a bright yellow sundress. “You’re here!” they shrieked, hugging both of us in turn.

Charlotte laughed. “I didn’t realize you two were so popular.”

I reintroduced Katherine around to my family. William, divorced lawyer. His kids couldn’t make it. Brian and his wife and kids. Charlotte’s husband, Paul. He was the youngest of us siblings. We sought out my parents last, lost in a sea of cousins and other relatives, some of whom I recognized. Some I didn’t remember at all. I swear, the party grew every year.

“Oh, this is your girlfriend?” Mom asked when we found them by the grill. She shook Katherine’s hand. “I thought she looked familiar. We’ve met, right?”

“Yes, at the hospital,” Katherine said.

“Oh, right! I’m so sorry!” She pulled her in for a hug. “I was so worried about Rob, I must have overlooked everything else. Forgive me if I was rude?”

“Of course!” Katherine laughed, “But you weren’t rude at all!”

My father had to put down his tongs to shake her hand. “Good to see you again,” he said before turning back to the grill. He was making the steaks first. My stomach growled.

“We have something important to tell you,” I said to them. My father put the tongs back down and wiped his hands on his white apron. Mom grimaced. “What is it? Not bad news about your foot?”

“No,” I said, taking Katherine’s hand. Mom eyed us both suspiciously. “Katherine’s pregnant.”

They reacted just the way that I expected - plastered, polite smiles, veiled questions about the future. “But you two aren’t engaged?” my mother asked quietly, obviously uncomfortable, but she couldn’t leave it unsaid.

“No, Mom,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Kids today,” Dad cut in, “They don’t do things the way we did them. Don’t mind us, Katherine, we’re just a little old fashioned. But we’re excited.” He jostled Mom’s shoulder. “Another grandchild!”

That finally got a genuine smile out of her. “If there’s anything we can do for you two, you just let us know,” she said.

Katherine breathed an audible sigh of relief when we finally extracted ourselves from that conversation. “I think they hate me,” she said, shoulders slumping.

“Stop, they don’t hate you, they just don’t know you.”

“I’m the Jezebel who lured their son into sin and now I have you trapped under my thumb with this baby.”

I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it - though to be fair, I may have been the one to plant that idea in her head in the first place. “Sweetheart, I wouldn’t want to be under anyone else’s thumb.” I kissed her softly to prove it. “All I want is to live with that thumb.”

She looked away. It was still a sore subject - but I hadn’t told her about Mal’s offer yet. I’d hate to bring it up only to have the plan fall through. But looking at that morose look on her face, I didn’t want her to think that I hadn’t been considering any options at all.
And we shouldn’t be hiding things from each other. Not ever
.

“Mallet’s father’s apartment might become available soon,” I said, leading her back toward the porch where the drinks were set up.

“I feel so bad for him and his brother,” she said.

“Yeah. I know. I do, too. But he’ll be looking to rent out the apartment, possibly. And he offered it to us, depending on how things shake out.”

“A place of our own,” she whispered, as if she couldn’t believe it. “Can we afford it? I’m making some money now, and I’ve got that job lined up in September, but I’m due in January…”

January.
It seemed far away and far too soon at the same time. “We’ll wait and see what kind of deal they can give us, first,” I said. I thought then of the donations - the check that Whitney kept trying to send me that I just couldn’t make myself cash.
That would float us for a little while
. Who was I kidding - it would be a huge help.

But I couldn’t take it. I was working. I wasn’t a fucking charity case.

“Come on,” I said, “Let’s not get too excited until Mallet and Tony can give us a price, okay? But it is one option. Another thing we can do is talk to Brian, he’s got a rental property or two on Long Island. Not good for commuting to our jobs but not impossible.”

“Yeah, talk to him,” she said, a dreamy look crossing her face.
She does want to live with me
. It really was just the shared space that was holding her back - not Patrick. Not the dread of being with me every day. Maybe we weren’t as broken as I’d feared.

“Tell me, do pregnant ladies crave red meat?” I asked her.

“Those steaks did look good,” she grinned.

“Good. Let’s cut the line.”

She grabbed my hand and lifted onto her toes for another kiss. “Am I allowed to say ‘I love you,’ yet?” she whispered.

“Soon, sweetheart,” I said, ignoring the lump in my throat. “Soon.”

○●○●○●○●○

Lisa and Charlotte both cornered me later. Amber and Katherine had run off to talk music with the DJ - a neighbor who was good friends with my parents. My sisters-in-law took the opportunity to pounce.

“Are you working?” They both wanted to know. They looked like a disapproving pair of mother hens, all geared up to offer advice that I hadn’t asked for.
Family
.

“I’ve got an overnight security thing,” I said, “The pay isn’t terrible, but… you know.”

“It’s not a career,” Lisa said.

“No offense, but I don’t want to be like Josh,” I said. He worked so much that he was hardly around. He missed seeing a lot of his kids growing up. And for what? They struggled for money anyway.
No one has it easy right now, do they?

“If you’re working at night it means you have some free time during the day, right?” Charlotte asked, “Have you thought about taking classes or something?”

I shrugged. “For what?”

They exchanged a look. “What were you planning on doing after the fighting? You had to know it wouldn’t last forever,” Charlotte said gently.

Yeah, but it should have lasted a lot longer.
“I wasn’t planning anything.” Lisa knew that much about me.

“You know you can always ask us for help,” Charlotte said, “Paul’s your brother, he’d do anything for you. If you guys need money. Or he could probably try to hook you up with a job if you were interested. He’s still working at that media company, and he says there’s a whole night crew if you wanted to keep working those hours.”

“And I’m sure once they baby is here, Katherine and I can work out some babysitting exchanges. I know she loves her job, she’ll want to get back to it when she can.”

My head was spinning. They backed off when they saw the bewildered expression on my face. “Just know that we’re here,” they said with sympathetic smiles.

“I appreciate it.” I scanned over their heads, looking for Katherine, but she and Amber had left the DJ’s tent and disappeared somewhere. “I really do,” I went on, “And I’m sure I’ll take you guys up on some of that once the baby’s here.”

Lisa cocked her head. “You still haven’t wrapped your head around it, have you?” she asked.

“Is it that obvious?” Listing a few names to Katherine over the phone was as far as I’d gotten considering the thing. There was so much more we’d need to do.
I’m in way over my head, aren’t I?

“Don’t wait until it’s here,” Lisa said, “Call us sooner. Let us help. For one thing, I’ve still got Amber’s old crib.”