Page 23 of JoJo

“I’m sorry you heard what I said to your brother, but I won’t apologize for saying it.”

“No, not that. I meant the whole morning. My brother searching for every loophole to screw me over, including my death.”

“Nothing will happen to you while I’m around, babe. I promise you that.” I smiled over at Steel as he drove. He definitely just called me babe again, and damn if my insides weren’t dancing a little jig, despite the horrible morning I’d had.

“Thank you for being there with me today, and for sticking up for me. It means a lot.”

“JoJo, have you been doing all of this alone the whole time? Your dad, the business, dealing with the lawyers, and your brother?”

“I guess so, yeah. I have Chuck and Clyde working at the garage. Clyde helped a little with how to order the supplies when my dad got to sick.”

“What about your club? Where have they been in all of this?”

“I don’t know. They’re always there if I need to talk, I guess. Keys organized the trip to Vegas too.”

Steel made a very disapproving noise and continued driving. I hated that he brought up the fact that no one had been helping me. “Our club has gone through a lot over the past couple years though. We took out another club that was responsible for kidnapping women in our area and trafficking them to other countries to be slaves, most often sex slaves. We took them down not once, but twice. Angel and Sweet had their own dramas going on. Legs was, and is, still searching for her daughter. Her ex was awarded visitation despite her claims to the court that he was violent. The first time Legs dropped her little girl off, the bastard disappeared with her. The police have been all but useless in helping to locate her again, so a lot of club resources and time have gone to helping her. Then Keys had a new relationship starting up with Quickshot too. There was always something going on, and I hadn’t wanted to burden anyone else with my responsibilities and problems.” Even though I’d just justified the fact that no one had helped me, mostly because I hadn’t asked them to, it still hurt that an outsider had to ask the question. They all knew what I was going through, and I probably shouldn’t have had to ask. My stomach sank a bit, and I began rethinking my going to help out with Angel’s room again. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t totally for her though. This was an effort for an innocent baby whose mom was probably giving her up, simply because she didn’t get her way and get the man she wanted for her own.

“I was thinking we could start on the living and dining room floors this week. We’ll just have to use the back door to get into the kitchen and upstairs until we finish.” I could kiss the man for changing the subject and pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Sure, that sounds good. Clyde has an electric sander he said I could use. I’ll let him know we’ll need it then.”

“Hey, I was also wondering, do we need to take out an ad in the local paper or something about the marriage?” Steel chuckled at his own thought. “How else are the local people going to know we were married, and that it’s okay to come back into the shop?”

I had to laugh too. Not just at his silly suggestion, but at his ignorance of small southern town culture. “Oh, I bet half the town already knows. We here in the south rely heavily on the grapevine still for our sources of information. I bet you anything Amber, Mr. Alexander’s daughter and secretary, was already calling and texting her momma and friends about the man I walked in with and the marriage certificate she no doubt made copies of in order to scrutinize it for details.”

Steel laughed heartily at that. “Well, I guess that’s one way to announce it.”

“The other will be when they see you around the garage. The men folk around here are just as damn chatty as the women.”

Steel’s eyes twinkled at something I said. “What?”

“Whenever you’re talking about southern issues, or when you’re mad, that accent of yours gets stronger.” When I rolled my eyes at him he chuckled again. “It’s cute.”

“Whatever!”

“See that, just one word, but so beautifully drawled out.” He got another eye roll from me, but it was accompanied by a smile this time.

“Damn, who in the hell is at your house now?” Steel’s question had me looking up at the big black truck in the driveway.

Quickshot and Keys sat on my small front porch swing waiting for me. When I got out of my truck, I noticed the glasses of sweet tea they were both drinking. “Well, you could have waited inside since you already broke in for beverages,” I teased.

“That just seemed rude,” Quickshot quipped back.

“Sorry, JoJo. I got thirsty. We’ve been here a while trying to figure out where to look for you two. We already checked the garage. One of the guys said you left word that you wouldn’t be in today. They thought it was on account of your recent nuptials. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear the amazing fantasy sex life you lead in Chuck’s imagination.” Keys visibly shivered at that. “I can’t scrub his descriptiveness out of my brain.” She pouted then. “It hurts, honestly.” Everyone laughed at her then.

“Why didn’t you just try calling?” It seemed like the thing to do, but I could be wrong.

“Well, honey, we did. Your phone is turned off or something.”

“Oh,” I remembered why now. “We were at the lawyer’s office with CJ this morning,” I bit out.

“I guess I don’t need to ask how that went.”

“Actually, her brother was an ass, and even went so far as to ask what he would get if she should meet an untimely death before the requisite five years of marriage was up,” Steel informed them.

Keys gaped at Steel, and Quickshot’s jaw tightened. “That little shit needs an ass whoopin’.”

“I second that,” Keys agreed. “Why didn’t you tell me he was being such a jerk? I mean, I knew he was fighting you, but that’s terrible JoJo.”

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