Then, low and angry, he told me, “I’m not buyin’ ‘em, I’m takin’ care of ‘em.”

“They’re not yours to take care of,” I snapped and immediately he moved. Mooch jumped away and I found myself plucked out of the bed and planted astride him, my knees in the bed, his arms locking me close.

“It was a shit time for you, the worst, but you were there and you saw ‘em doin’ it. They crawled into this same f**kin’ bed with me, so did you, and when you did, you all became mine.”

“That’s insane,” I informed him.

“That’s the way it is,” he shot back.

“Joe, we were beside ourselves with grief.”

“Yeah, and when you are you don’t lock tight to some guy you don’t know or some ass**le you hate. You lock tight to what’s yours to remind yourself that it is and that you need it.”

“That wasn’t what was happening.”

“Buddy, you’re na**d in my lap, your girls want me in the house, you’re pissed at me, tellin’ yourself it’s over and all I gotta do is kiss you and you turn wild. This shit gonna sink in?”

“It did, twice,” I reminded him, “and no matter the signals you gave me, Joe, it wasn’t what I thought.”

“Not givin’ you signals this time, Vi, I’m tellin’ you straight out and I’ll tell you somethin’ else, always listen to your gut.”

“Joe –”

“It told you you belonged to me, I’m tellin’ you it was right.”

I felt my heart start beating fast and that feeling in my belly again, the one I liked, so I whispered, “Stop it.”

“And I’ll tell you somethin’ else. I’m fixin’ up my house to sell it, we’re movin’ on from this, from Sam, from Hart, and we’re doin’ it together, you, me and the girls and along the way, I want a kid, our kid.”

I stilled and stared at him, his words another sock to the gut but it was a gut that had already gone warm, it had gone soft and, even with the wind knocked out of me, I felt that gut flutter.

Then I asked in a whisper. “What?”

“You’re not cool with that, I’ll deal. The girls’ll be all I need. But I’m not tellin’ you what I need, I’m tellin’ you what I want and I want a kid, with you.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered and his hand went to cup the back of my head and bend it to his.

“You got a lotta shit in your head, I know, but I’m layin’ it out for you. There it is. That’s what’s goin’ on here. Now, buddy, you need to cut Mike loose or I’ll do it for you.”

“Joe –”

“You want him to know you spent this mornin’ with my c**k inside you, you keep playin’ this game. You wanna do it yourself, you end it with him.”

“I keep trying to but he’s like you, he won’t listen.”

“Then game on,” Joe announced.

“Joe –”

“He shoulda listened.”

“Why? You don’t listen.”

“You don’t belong to him, you belong to me.”

“That’s insane too!”

“Baby, you told me so your f**kin’ self.”

“Sexual coercion.”

He stared at me a second then burst out laughing, rolling me to my back and covering me with his body again.

“Joe, get off me!” I snapped, pushing ineffectually at his shoulders.

“Nope, feel like coercin’ you again,” he said in my neck.

“Joe, stop it.”

“Keep sayin’ Joe, baby, you’re makin’ me hard.”

I growled, he grinned against my skin then, Lord help me, he lifted his head, his mouth came to mine and he coerced me and before I came I told him I belonged to him.

Twice.

* * * * *

Cal stood, back against his truck, arms crossed on his chest in the Police Station parking lot and he waited.

It took fifteen minutes before Haines came out and when he did, he came out with Colt.

Fuck.

Both men looked to Cal, Haines’s eyes narrowed, Colt’s head dropped so he could study his boots and not give anything away.

Haines turned his head to Colt, said something, Colt nodded and they separated, Haines coming to Cal, Colt going to his GMC.

Cal’s eyes remained on Haines as he walked to him but he knew Colt wasn’t going far. This was confirmed when Haines arrived and Cal glanced Colt’s way, saw his h*ps to the back of his GMC, his eyes on Cal and Haines.

“You got somethin’ to say?” Haines asked and Cal’s eyes went back to him.

“Stand down,” Cal told him.

His mouth got tight then he asked, “You shittin’ me?”

“You’re confusin’ Vi,” Cal explained.

“I am?” Haines asked then clipped, “Yeah, you’re shittin’ me.”

“This isn’t gonna end well for you,” Cal went on.

“No, Vi makes a stupid decision, Callahan, it isn’t gonna end well for her. I’m just positionin’ myself to be there to pick up the pieces.”

At his insinuation, Cal wanted to straighten from the truck but he forced himself to stay relaxed against it. It wasn’t like he hadn’t earned a remark like that with his history with women and his history with Vi.

“You think I’ll f**k her over.”

“You’re Joe Callahan’s son.”

This time it took everything for Cal to keep his back to the truck because his father sure as f**k hadn’t earned that remark but his voice vibrated when he asked, “What the f**k does that mean?”

“It means you’re a one-woman man.”

“Yeah, I am. Hasn’t anyone clued in yet that that woman wasn’t f**kin’ Bonnie?”

He scored, direct hit. He watched it land as Haines’s chin jerked to the side almost like Cal had clipped him.

“I thought she was,” Cal forced his voice to steady, “but she wasn’t.”

“You sure?” Haines asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Cal answered.

“And how can you be sure?”

“’Cause no God is cruel enough to make the only woman you’ll love be the one who kills your kid.”

Another score, another direct hit. Haines’s jaw went hard.

Then Haines changed tactics.

“You’ve torn through practically every f**kable woman in the county,” Haines reminded him.