Of course, now he was living in Little Memphis with his lawyer fiancée and her preteen daughter, Dillon.
Lula Reed had a swanky house that didn’t really fit Exile’s tastes, but he seemed comfortable here. So did his younger sister, Nova, and her girls, Skylar and Lyric. They were a package deal. Where Exile went, his posse of drama llamas followed.
As I entered the room, Nova stared at me. She was a good-looking chick with emotional blue eyes, silky brown hair, a nice rack, and a full ass. If she had grown up in Baton Rouge, Nova would have been a hot commodity. Instead, she had been stuck in a small town with few options. No doubt she thought the violent fuck she married was the best she could do. Hell, she might have been right. But the asshole was still decomposing in the Mississippi River.
“Why do I sense you’re jealous?” I taunted Nova. “Were you hoping I’d put a bun in your oven?”
Exile grunted at how I poked at his sister. He was too sweet to her. Nova wasn’t fragile. The chick survived a bullet to the back. She needed to be poked until she fled her safe space and started living life.
“Don’t feel sad that Elle enjoyed my cock first.”
Gasping at my wording, Nova looked to see if her girls had overheard. I could see they were out back with Lula. Once Nova felt reassured by their continued innocence, she unleashed her most hellion expression in my direction.
“That’s disgusting.”
“Jealousy really isn’t a good look on you.”
“Okay, let’s stop this shit,” Exile grumbled and stepped between us. “Zodiac, what’s the plan once you get the test result? Are you heading back to Baton Rouge tomorrow? Do you need me to come with you?”
“Are we sure Zodiac is the father?” Nova asked.
“No one else got in Elle’s pants,” I replied, grinning at how she poked at me. “I’m the dad, and I plan to put Elle into a cage to keep her safe.”
“Oh, she won’t like that.”
“Elle lives in her daddy’s basement. I bet the woman loves cages.”
Nova shook her head. “Elle is a free spirit. She will break free from your cage.”
“I’m relentless when I want something, and Elle has my critter burrowed inside her.”
Nova grimaced at my wording and grabbed her belly like I might curse her with a creepy child.
“Lula needs help with the girls,” Exile lied as a way to encourage his sister to leave the kitchen. Once we were alone, my VP snarled at me, “Stop hassling Nova.”
“She’s fine, and you know it. Your sister isn’t a fainting goat.”
“Whatever. Let’s figure out what happens next.”
“You need to take a fucking chill pill. Once I get the results, I plan to walk over to enjoy my dinner with the Reed family. Tomorrow, I’ll ride home. You can come with me if you want. But keep in mind, we’re moving York into your old house soon. That’ll take a few days. If you can’t bounce back and forth for the trip home tomorrow and York’s thing, don’t ride back with me.”
“If you don’t need me to shadow you on the ride back, I’d rather bring everyone down to Baton Rouge to help York. I think it’ll be good for Nova and the girls to see the house filled with York’s stuff, so they can say goodbye.”
Smirking, I taunted, “You’re like a fucking therapist now.”
“Lula’s teaching me to acknowledge the things that I used to ignore.”
“Aww, I love how fucking whipped you’ve gotten,” I told him and chuckled. “But a simple South Dakota boy like you is lucky to have such a hot woman. I completely understand why you’ve sold out your balls to make it happen.”
Exile glared at me and spat out, “Fatherhood’s bound to make you soft.”
“You’re right, man. I had no weaknesses before I knocked up Elle. Now, I have her and the critter to worry about. Maybe I need to get meaner and kill a few people over nothing. Do you think that would protect my reputation?”
“Or don’t change at all, so people will think nothing affects you.”
Wagging my finger at him, I smiled. “That’s smarter. Show that nothing sends me spiraling. Not a kid or the blonde babe carrying him.”
Exile glanced out at his nieces and asked, “Are you going to flip out if it’s a girl?”
