“Are you sure killing him is the right thing to do? What if he’s got stuff in play?” she asked.
“Gonzalez is going to get killed. He paid someone to whack Murphy and Tate. We’re waiting for the right time, and then we’re going to kill him.”
She stared at him long and hard. “You know when you’re going to kill him, don’t you?”
“The town hall. We’re all arranging for Butch and Pussy to get married there. Gonzalez invited himself. We’re going to lure him there, and then we’re going to kill him and the men who come with him. Pussy took out Homer. We can take him out. Whizz and Ned are already dealing with the men Gonzalez paid to hit back at us. We’re working from the outside in.”
“You’re not going to want me there, are you?”
“You and the kids are going to go to a safe place. I’m not willing to risk your safety because of this.”
She shook her head. “Don’t push me away.”
“I’m not. We’ll talk about more kids after this mess has blown over. Until then, I can’t think about it. Not right now.”
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him, cutting away at his soul.
“Baby, don’t cry,” he said.
“You’re not old, and I’m tired of your throwing that up in my face. I love you. I want to have more children with you. Why can’t you see that?” she asked.
“I can see that. I just don’t want to deal with more kids right now. After Gonzalez, I promise, we’ll have this talk.”
She cupped his face, dropping a kiss to his lips. “You better.”
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too. I’m sorry for being a bitch. I guess Gonzalez is finally getting to me. The stress of it all. I’ll back off about more babies for now. I’m going to grab the kids and head home. Will I see you tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m not sticking around here.”
“Good, I miss you when you’re gone. Are you bringing Lexie and Devil? They can come and eat dinner with us. Bring their kids, too. I’ll set up a room for them.” She passed him without saying another word. He felt bad for putting off the babies talk, but right now, he just couldn’t handle worrying about another person. Tiny worried about Eva so much already, and their two children, so more would just send him to an early grave.
Moving around to his desk, Tiny placed the files on top.
“I never expected to see Whizz whistling again,” Alex said, walking into the office.
“Don’t you have anyone else to bug or to annoy?”
“Nope. I’m not allowed to go back to Vegas, remember? I’m stuck here until I go back.”
“No one’s stopping you from jumping on a plane and leaving.”
“I’m not willing to risk the backlash off Gonzalez. The man’s a sick f**k, and I’ve got a kid and a club to think about.”
“You’re not going to make any snide comment about Devil and his crew being there for our prospects?” Tiny asked, looking up at him.
“No. I’ve been a dick, and I apologize. Did you tell Eva about the warning Butch gave us?”
“Yeah, I told her. I don’t think it’s going to do much good. She wants more kids.”
“So?” Alex took a seat opposite the desk.
“So, I’m getting f**king old, and I don’t want to start having more kids with all these f**king threats. It’s a struggle at times getting time alone with her. I’m a selfish bastard. I want more time.” Tiny ran a hand down his face. “Fuck, what happened to easy living?”
“You fell in love, and there went the easy living.” Alex shrugged. “I want more kids. Obviously I can’t have them with Cheryl, but I’ve been thinking about the future. I want more kids when the time is right.”
“Good for you. You need a woman to stay around long enough to get them.”
“I know. Money buys everything, Tiny, even women willing to give me a kid.”
Tiny shook his head. “What happened to you to make you so cold?” They’d known each other a long time. Tiny would never have pegged Alex down as the guy to screw a woman and leave a kid behind without checking to make sure first. The condom had broken from his encounter with Cheryl, leaving a kid as a consequence of a dirty weekend. Cheryl was now with Butch, and Alex was trying to make a relationship work with Matthew, his son.
“I didn’t get cold. Life happens, Tiny. Before you know where you are, you’re old and waiting for someone to make life meaningful.” Alex stood. “I think Lash is perfect by the way.”
“What?”
“To take over from you when you hand in the president crown. Lash is perfect. Angel is a lot stronger than people give her credit for. They would be great taking over the club you’ve taken so long to build up.” Alex walked toward the door.
“How do you know they’re perfect?”
“Because they’re strong together. They’re a solid unit, which is what this club needs. No one needs to follow someone who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. Murphy, he’s not got what it takes and neither has Tate. She’s my niece, and even I see the truth of the decision. I’ll stand by whatever you decide.” Alex left the room, leaving Tiny alone.
Standing up, he stared out of the window in time to see Eva climbing into the car. He’d take his bike to get home to her.
“It was a pretty interesting morning,” Devil said.
Without taking his eyes away from the window, Tiny nodded. “Yeah, three new prospects. It doesn’t seem real, does it?”
“Do you think one of them is working for Gonzalez?”
“No. Whizz did all the necessary background checks. I trust him with this. Whizz can do anything with a computer.”
Eva drove out of the compound, and worry filled him. What if Gonzalez was going to send someone to hurt her? She had been through so much as it was. All of the women in the clubhouse had been through a lot.
Running a hand down his face, he tried to fight the fear. This was part of being with a club, the expected part. People got hurt in their world or they got killed. Tiny wasn’t looking forward to putting another body in the ground. He’d been putting bodies in the ground for too f**king long.
“They all seem like good guys. I wouldn’t trust my judgment though. I got one of our own killed.”
Tiny knew he was talking about Ashley. The Chaos Bleeds club whore and overall sweetheart had lost her head to Gonzalez while she was working for the crew. The death had fallen on all of them quite heavily. Tiny saw it in all the men. They each felt responsible for her death, and no matter how much revenge they took, it wouldn’t bring her back.