“Thanks, Mort,” she said.
Mort supposed they should talk about Bailey’s fuckery, but he didn’t want to ruin his morning with his wife’s latest bullshit, so he kept his mouth shut.
“I guess I should get inside,” Bunny said as Mort’s phone dinged.
“Later, baby,” he told her, taking his phone out of his pocket and smiling at seeing Harley’s name.
Baby girl: Daddy, can you get to Hortensia General? Uncle Val needs five million dollars.
Choking, Mortician read the message andre-readthat motherfucker. Harley had to be fucking joking. There was no fucking way she didn’t understand what the fuck asking Mort for that amount of money would do to him. Make him break out into a cold fucking sweat, especially since he’d just had to pay Prez the same fucking amount to save Digger’s life.
Baby girl: It’s an emergency.
What kind of motherfucking goddamn fucking emergency required five million dollars ofMortician’sfucking money? Had Val lost his fucking mind?
What kind of emergency requiredanyof Mortician’s money?None, that’s what fucking kind. Fuck him.
Baby girl: Can you get the money from the bank and bring it to the hospital?
No, Val hadn’t lost his fucking mind.Harleyhad. She also had no fucking concept of money if she thought he could waltz his ass into a financial institution and get five million dollars. He’d have to alert the bank in advance.
Baby girl: Daddy?
Glaring at his phone, he searched for words to respond to his daughter. No, fuck talking to Harley. He’d call Val—
Val: Harley asked me 2 hit u up since u not responding 2 her. I understand if you can’t do it.
Baby girl: It’s for Molly. Uncle Johnnie negotiated a new contract with the new hospital admin/club liaison. It’s a long story, Daddy. They won’t move Molly to the secure unit because of that. Even if Uncle Val calls Uncle Christopher and Aunt Meggie to split the cost, he won’t have it. What if this reminds Ryan that his parents can’t help Molly, but CJ’s can?
Mortician still didn’t care that much about Ryan, but that was Val’s son and Harley’s whatever. Now that Molly had been found, he was certain their status would change. However, that little motherfucker was part of the family.
The last thing Mort wanted was Ryan to lose the little sense he was getting and turn on CJ again. Meggie girl had been through enough without having her son and nephew reignite their war.
Butfive million fucking dollars? The idea of withdrawing that fucking money hurt his goddamn heart and made him fucking dizzy.
Baby girl: We’re on the way home.
Val: Sorry, Mort.
Mortician gritted his teeth, ignoring the cold sweat popping up on his skin.
Val, hang tight. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.
Before he headed inside to get his keys and his wallet, Mort texted Harley.
I’m on the way, Harley. I’ll take care of it.
Megan Caldwell’s morning had been quite busy and she still had a plethora of tasks to complete before her family began arriving. However, Axel begged her to join him in the natatorium after lunch, so she ignored her remaining chores. Meggie gave her permission for CJ to skip school, then Christopher chimed in and added Ryder, Ransom, and Axel to that list.
Once their daddy spoke, she knew she’d never get the boys under control so they’d even get ready for school. Then, Christopher and Axel noticed her annoyance and they’d both apologized to her. In turn, the other boys followed suit. Although Christopher went to the club after they visited Jo, her sons stuck close to her once she returned, offering their assistance to prepare for tonight. When Diesel decided not to go back to the law firm after lunch, Meggie reassured her sons that she was fine.
But Axel didn’t believe her. He wanted her to spend time with him. In the natatorium of all places.
As much as she hated the thought of returning there, it was still too cool for the outside pool. Meggie appreciated Axel’s resilience and didn’t want him affected any more than he was by all that had happened.
Changing into her bathing suit and braiding her hair took a longer than expected, so Axel’s impatience didn’t surprise her.
“Mom!” His yell traveled from the bedroom and into her bathroom, just as Meggie finished her hair. “MOM!”
