Page 62

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

REED

The voices around me drone out as my mind wanders to how beautiful Gia looked when I left her this morning.

Watching her feed Jax makes my chest fill with indescribable pride. My little man is the perfect blend of both of us, and I couldn’t be prouder. His little bow lips are just like his momma’s, and he’s delicate, his hair silky to touch and dark like both of ours. Gia is convinced he’s a mini me, and I smile each time she says it.

We’ve not had any sexual contact since Jax’s birth, and it’s killing me, but I’m determined to wait until Gia is healed. She’s made moves to suck my cock, and she’s literally offered her tit to me to suckle from, but I refuse to do any of that until I can put my cock where it belongs, in my woman. Only then will I take milk from her as her pleasure slides down my shaft.

“Reed, are you fucking listening? I said I need to go to LA!” Mase snipes out.

I glance around the boardroom table; all the guys are staring at me as if I’ve missed a vital part of the meeting, so I sit up straighter and drag a hand through my tousled hair. “Who? What?”

“Jesus.” Shaw chuckles and shakes his head. “Your head’s at home, isn’t it?”

“Wait until Jax starts cutting his teeth. Believe me, your head will be back at work pretty damn quick.” Owen inserts on a belly laugh.

“Back to me,” Mase snaps, which is completely unlike him. “My father died. I mean halle-fuckin’-lujah. But now I need to go to LA so they can read the will.”

“Okay,” I mumble, unsure as to why the fuck he’s so disgruntled about a man he hates passing away.

His jaw drops slack. “Okay? Okay? So, you’ll book us flights?”

I jolt. What the fuck did he just say, us?

“Absolutely fucking not,” I clip back, and face him head-on, and anger rears its ugly head.

He scoffs obnoxiously. “Reed, you’re my damn lawyer and I need you.”

I wave my hand toward him. “You’ll be fine.” Does he seriously think I have the time to fly to the other side of the country right now?

“Dude, he needs to make sure he isn’t getting screwed over,” Tate adds, and I want to kick the fucker in the balls. There’s no way he’d leave Ava and his baby; no fucking way, and I refuse to ask her to travel in her condition. Can newborns even travel? No. He’s going to have to suck it up.

I cross my arms over my chest. “No.”

He sits forward. “No?” His nostrils flare. “Seriously?”

“Your mother made sure your father couldn’t screw you over in her will. What could possibly go wrong?” I lift my shoulder.

Mase throws himself back in the chair and pinches the bridge of his nose.

Tate’s eyes light up, and he sits forward, the excitement in his eyes childlike. “Maybe you could look at properties while out there for us to expand.”

Mase’s head snaps toward Tate, and he glares daggers. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

“You’re very angsty.” He grins back at him. “I thought you were getting serviced last night?” He wiggles his eyebrows.

Mase’s cheeks color, and his chest rises. He looks like he’s about to explode. Then he pushes back on his chair and begins pacing the room like a caged animal.

“You fuck anyone since the first girl?” Owen throws out, and Mase spins to glare back at him.

“No,” he clips.

“She broke you.” Tate chuckles.

Mase’s nostrils flare. “Shut the fuck up!”

“What was the problem? You said she was amazing, best night of your life, blah blah blah,” Shaw drawls.

Mase’s shoulders sag as he drops his head forward, and his Adam’s apple slowly slides down his throat while we wait on tenterhooks for him to speak. “That was until the end. The bit I keep trying to block out but fail. Every. Fucking. Time.”

“Was she really a man?” Tate chuckles, and I’m pleased when Owen reaches out and smacks him on the back of his head.

Slowly, he lifts his head, and his pale face has me sitting forward with concern. “Nope. A schoolgirl.”

You could hear a pin drop.

“That’s not possible. Oscar has rules that the women have to be twenty-one or above,” Owen interjects.

Mase rubs at his forehead, and a pang of sympathy hits me for my friend. He has no fucking luck with women, and if he thinks he’s slept with someone so young, no wonder he’s not in a rush to do it all again. If Owen is right, someone in Indulgence has seriously fucked up.

Shaw turns to me. “Sounds like he needs a lawyer.” He winks.

I blow out a deep breath. Great, another fucking job to add to the list. At least this one is in New Jersey, not fucking LA.

“Are you coming to LA or not?” Mase asks, his sudden change in conversation a welcome relief. Let’s face it, who the fuck wants to deal with that and the extra workload it will bring?

“Not,” I state.

He exhales theatrically. “I’m out. Looks like I’m going to LA alone !” He huffs and slams the door behind him.

“What’s gotten into him?” I ask as my eyes narrow on the door.

“Oh, I don’t fucking know, Reed. You’re meant to be his damn lawyer, and you just threw him to the wolves to stay home and play house. Not to mention, he thinks he slept with a teenager and can see a lawsuit coming.”

I scoff back at Owen. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same.”

His lip twitches and he shrugs. “Probably.”

“Besides, the teenager thing won’t be a problem. If what Owen is saying is right, I could sue the company for not following through with their own safeguarding and rules.” I grin widely.

“You’re going to sue the Mafia?” Owen asks with a raised eyebrow.

Yeah, probably not the best idea, and I wince.

I drown out of the rest of the conversations while my mind wanders to why Gia hasn’t messaged me back yet. She usually lets me know when Jax has his afternoon feeding and nap. Something isn’t right. Gia always sends me messages throughout the day. I pull up the tracking app I have on their phones, and when they both signal being at home, an ominous feeling deep inside me twists, making my blood run cold. She always messages me and tells me Bryce made it home safe.

Something is wrong.