Page 53 of Fourth Wall

“You need better security here.” Julian kept typing.

“I am your security. I’ve got it here, too.” He laughed. “In fact, I knew that Maeve spent the entire time sleeping in my bed while I was gone. Little did she know it was all on tape.”

“Jesus, West. You are pussy-whipped.”

“You are too.”

“Proudly,” Julian admitted.

“Tell me what this trip is and what we’re doing.” I leaned in to where he was typing.

“Since Chelsea’s brother Ronan is back in the States. The Irish mob owes us. Alex needs part of his big, public hospital funded, and the mob contractually told us that they would give us two million.”

“Lemme guess. They haven't paid, and we need to collect because Ronan is too much of a pushover to do anything about it.”

Collectively, we disliked Ronan. Alex was still pissed at him for what happened with Chelsea, and the rest of us were loyal to Alex. Now, it was getting annoying. Julian and I were usually called to figure it out when an underworld organization didn’t make good on their promises or contracts. Oftentimes, that was by force.

When Julian first approached me after I got sober, he told me what his job was. Julian recruited me after hearing about how well I did as a squad leader in my MARSOC unit and how they begged me to get sober and stay.

Initially, I was upset with his offer. For fuck’s sake, I was a Marine Corps vet and was the epitome of working for the government. Then I realized what Alex and Julian were doing was trying to fund good projects that went to help people. Whether or not we were involved, the underworld would exist, so it was a way to leverage money through legit resources.

In return, these crime organizations got away with a lot. They got to move their products through our highways, they got away with laundering some of their money, and those who participated in our little hustle stayed out of prison.

We were just working within the state currently, but the plan was to expand. Alex’s goal was to become president, and theneventually, Julian, James, and I wouldn’t have to do the heavy lifting. We could just hire people who could.

“James will get the intel for you, and the plan is to meet the guy in Bakersfield next week. Ronan says he’s good for the money, but I don’t know if I trust him.”

“Alright, but it's gotta be a day trip, yeah?” I wanted to be home so Maeve didn’t think I was leaving for long.

“You got it.”

Julian got up to leave, then turned toward me. “You may think you’re without a family, but you’ll always be my brother. Whether the feeling is mutual or not.” With that, he left without another word. Little did he know that he was a brother to me, too.

29

Maeve

“Spill the tea.” Tatum leaned in on her elbows as if somehow I would whisper it. The three of us had all changed into our suits and were lounging in Gianna’s pool while Elio cleaned up from the party, and Julian and Christian walked the girls home.

“No tea,” I insisted.

“Come on,” Chels provoked me. “You are always the one asking to spill the tea, but now it's time for you to.”

“It’s different with the girls involved. I don’t know. He came home this morning and acted like everything was all fine and dandy.”

“Do you want to be something with him?” I didn’t know, honestly. I was pissed at him. Maybe it was just miscommunication, but I wanted him to prove he would be there for us.

“Do you trust him?” Gianna added.

“Of course.” There wasn’t even a question about that.

“When I was married to Tyler, I always felt second fiddle to his dreams, his goals, and his ambitions. He made me feel like I was dumb and didn’t have the answers. Even this whole taking me to court thing is making me feel ridiculous and second-guessing everything I’m doing.”

“You are an amazing mom,” Tatum chimed.

“You are an even more beautiful human,” Chels offered, and I leaned over to squeeze her hand. The water felt warm around us, leaning into the comfort my friends provided.

“Thank you, guys. I just think I need to feel it for myself, you know? When Christian just left for God knows what, it felt like I wasn’t part of a partnership. Not that we are together; we are just fake dating.”

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