Page 81 of Outlaw

There were three new faces that I hadn’t met. Luther I obviously knew.

Linc glanced back over his shoulder. “And this is her mother, Branwen.”

It seemed I was getting introduced this time.

“Ladies, this is Mal, Jonas, and Hale,” he informed us, pointing the bottle of beer in his hand in the direction of each one as he said their name.

All three men were attractive. They had theSouthern wealthvibe about them that reminded me of the men onYellowstone. I would guess they were all between forty-five and fifty-five maybe.

“You copied and pasted, didn’t you, darlin’?” One of them grinned at me, leaning back on the sofa with one booted foot resting on his knee.

“Lucky for her, she didn’t get her daddy’s ugly mug,” the one with the most salt-and-pepper hair and pale gray eyes said.

I believe that one was Mal. I wasn’t sure exactly if that was right. Linc had introduced them so fast and pointed from one to the other, and I didn’t want to say their names in case I got it wrong. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need to address them.

“My dad is not ugly,” Stevie said defiantly, sitting up straight, as if to challenge the man.

Linc smirked. “Seems the prettiest girl in the state of Mississippi believes otherwise, Mal.”

“You put damn Disney World in the backyard for her,” the one that I thought was Hale said. “You are a king in her eyes. Don’t let it get to your head.”

“We all know I’m the best-looking one,” Luther drawled, and then his eyes swung to me. “Ain’t that right, Branwen?”

My eyes widened. I was not getting in this conversation. I especially wasn’t going to give Luther any wrong ideas. I’d already seen some of his penis.

“Fuck, Luth, Jesus,” Mal said, reaching over and shoving him on the arm while chuckling and shaking his head.

I felt like I had missed something they all seemed to find amusing, except Linc. His jaw was clenched, and the veins in his neck were standing out.

“Mommy, my dad is the most handsome, isn’t he?” Stevie said, turning to look at me.

Why, Vivi Lu, are you bringing me into this?

“Stevie, sweetheart, don’t do that to your momma,” Luther drawled. “God knows he’s barely spoken to her today…” He trailed off. “She doesn’t want to defend him.”

An embarrassed flush rushed up my neck.

“For Christ’s sake, Luth, when he has you by the neck again, I’m not stepping in to stop him,” the one I thought was Hale said.

Luther only flashed me a wicked grin, then turned his eyesback to the television.

“I don’t know how he lives with your ass,” the third one, speaking for the first time, told him. He’d be Jonas, if I was right about Hale.

“I own half the house,” Luther drawled. “He ain’t got a choice.”

Linc whispered something to Stevie, and she smiled, then hopped down from his lap to hurry over to me. “Let’s go play on my new swing set,” she told me, then bent to scoop up Maui, who had followed her.

He was ready to get rid of us, and I didn’t blame him. I wanted to get out of this situation too.

“It was nice to meet all of you,” I told them before letting Stevie start to lead me away.

“You too, darlin’,” Mal called out.

We were almost around the corner of the tree line when I heard one of them say. “Holy fuck, Luther wasn’t exaggerating. Jesus, Linc. If you’re gonna knock one up, that’s sure one I don’t blame you for.”

A pleased smile tugged on my lips, and I hoped Stevie hadn’t been listening. Her vocabulary was getting larger—and not in a good way.

“Shut up, Hale.” Linc’s voice sounded like an angry growl.

---