Twenty-Two
Moses
Iwant to strangle Mount for agreeing with Magnolia, but I’m being overprotective as fuck, and it could be marring my judgment.
Who can blame me? She’s my woman.
I spent fifteen goddamned years without her, and now that I have a second chance, I won’t allow anyone to take it from me. Especially not some NOPD detective who can’t be bought.
But because I’m a stubborn son of a bitch, I also refuse to let Magnolia out of my sight. Which is why Jules and I are both sitting in the SUV across the street from the police station, watching as V opens Magnolia’s door. The lawyer climbs out of Mount’s Maybach after her, and V walks them right up to the entrance of the building.
They disappear inside, and I’m not fucking happy about this.
“It’s going to be okay, boss. That fucker isn’t taking her out at a police station. And if our buddy Antonio Reyes so much as cruises past, we’ll be on him, and then he’ll be done.”
I rip my attention from the precinct and start scanning the street for that exact purpose, even though I don’t think there’s a chance in hell we’ll see him. I don’t feel that lucky.
He’s smart, which makes him doubly dangerous because he’s definitely vicious as fuck.
My right-hand man attempts small talk. “It may not be the best time to bring this shit up, but how is everything going with Magnolia?”
I glance over at Jules, a guy I trust with my life. “It’s going good. Better than good. You know, despite all this shit.”
His eyes crease at the corners as he smiles. “That’s what I like to hear. You deserve a woman who gets you after all the shit we’ve been through.”
I recall the conversation Magnolia and I had last night. “She wants a baby,” I tell Jules, my voice rough and low. It’s unfamiliar to discuss this kind of thing, mainly because it’s never happened to me before, and because guys just don’t sit around daydreaming together about bassinets and rattles. Yet, here we are.
Jules’s eyebrows damn near shoot up to his hairline. “Holy fuck. That’s fucking huge, Moses.” He slaps my shoulder. “Damn, man. Good for you.”
“I know.” And I’d feel a hell of a lot better about it if it weren’t for this thick, dark cloud blanketing my world right now with Reyes on the loose.
“You ready for that shit? So soon?”
I don’t second-guess or hesitate. “Fuck yes. With her, it’s all different. It’s gonna work. She gets it. Gets me. Mags is it for me. And if she wants a family the way I do, I’m gonna give it to her as soon as I possibly can. I’m marrying that beautiful warrior of a woman.”
Jules grips my shoulder. “Fuck yeah, you are.” He pauses, shaking his head with a smile on his face. “When you first told me what your plan was and why we were coming back, I thought you were even fucking crazier than normal.”
I choke out a laugh. “Yeah, I figured.”
“But, man,” Jules says, his grin growing bigger with each passing second, “I didn’t doubt you even then. You say something, and you do it, because that’s the man you are. And whatever your plan is after you get the family started, know I still want to be part of it.”
The topic hasn’t come up before, but while we’re here, I ask, “You don’t want to retire?”
“I’m too young for that shit. I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with my free time. Probably get into trouble. Why? You thinking about retiring for good this time?”
My shoulders rise and fall. “None of us ever needs to work another day in our lives.”
Totally replacing the darkness in my life with light would ensure I wouldn’t muddy up our future. It’s hard to have one foot in the door and the other deep inside a dangerous game. I’d never want my future with Magnolia—or our children—to be compromised. Suddenly, risks just don’t seem all that worth it anymore.
Then again, it’s all I know.
Jules reads my silence. “Don’t get me wrong, man. I understand if you want to bow out. But I fucking get off on what we do. Don’t know that I’m ready to give it up yet. Wouldn’t you be bored? You get a charge out of this shit just like I do. It’s not all about the money. Not anymore.”
I think of the people we’ve helped disappear—rescued, actually, in a lot of ways. People who, like the sons of bitches Reyes and Ortiz, would have otherwise been killed by the cartel or someone else who wanted them dead. As our skills got more in demand, we were able to pick and choose who we helped, and not all of them have been terrible people. Some were damn decent, just desperate.
“I don’t know what I want to do yet,” I tell Jules honestly. “But whatever we decide, it’ll be a group decision. You, me, Trey, and Mags. She’s part of the team now.”
“We’re all right with that. Besides, if you stay in the business, I bet she could help us take it up a notch. She’s something else.”