Page 21 of RiffRaff's Reward

“You sound like that asshole on that show,The A Team,” Kodiak retorts, grabbing another beer.

“Fucking good show,” Conan says. “Where do you think I come up with some of the ideas I’ve had over the years?”

I chuckle when I hear him say that because while it was a fictional show, some of the shit they did was absolutely brilliant.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Kodiak bellows, shooting Conan a glare that would incinerate him if Kodiak’s eyes had lasers in them.

“Nope,” Conan replies before shoving the last of his pizza crust in his mouth then grabbing another piece. “Relax, Kodiak, I still did my due diligence to make sure it was feasible.”

“Who the fuck are you and what did you do with my brother? He doesn’t use phrases like ‘due diligence’ for fuck’s sake,” Kodiak muses.

By now I’m laughing so hard I can feel tears streaming down my cheeks, especially since I’ve heard Brick, Banshee, and Kracken banter back and forth in the same manner.

“Hey now, I may just look like another pretty face, but behind these good looks is a genius mind,” Conan rebuts, smirking at Kodiak.

“Y’all are killing me. I feel like I’m at home right now,” I admit as I use my bandana to wipe my face. “Brick and two of the brothers he’s closest to act the same way.”

“Alright, let’s focus. I’m sending Cuda a message to check with Joce to find out when that asshole will be gone for the majority of the day. I’d prefer it if he was gone for several days, but we’llfigure it out if we have to streamline things a bit,” Kodiak states. “That’ll give us a better timeline.”

I realize that because I’ll be getting back so close to Christmas, I won’t be able to shop, I’m gonna need some help from my daughter-in-law. However, she isn’t going to be able to help me with one thing I want to get for Jilly. Plus, I want to make sure she gets a stocking. I heard somewhere that most women don’t get one at Christmas because their partners don’t think about filling them, but my goal is to spoil my ol’ lady for the rest of our lives.

Finally finished, I look at the two of them and say, “Gonna hit the hay. Let me know what Cuda says in the morning.”

“Sleep well, brother,” they say in unison.

“Y’all do the same.”

Once I’m in my room, I grab a shower then relax on the bed, the television volume set on low to the local news so I can hear the weather report and call Jillian. After catching up on our respective day, she tells me she managed to get some of the things on Kimber’s Christmas list.

“Does she have a wish list?” I question.

“She does. Why?” she asks.

“Can you send me the link so I can do some shopping?”

“RiffRaff, you don’t have to do that, she won’t expect it,” Jilly says.

“Babe,” I rumble out.

I hear her huff which makes me smirk then she spits out, “Fine.”

“I didn’t expect you to give in so quickly,” I admit.

“You’re gonna do what you want to do regardless of whether or not I protest, so might as well just give you what you’re asking for. Just don’t go too crazy, RiffRaff, okay?”

“I’m not gonna make any promises, Jilly. Worst case scenario, some of it will be for her birthday and I’ll have the girls wrap them accordingly.”

“You’re not gonna wrap them?” she teases.

I laugh out loud because my wrapping jobs consist of handing over whatever I’ve bought in the bag from whatever store I purchased it from.

“Yeah, that’d be a no, sweetheart. I’m gonna let you get some sleep, Jilly. Love you.”

“I love you too, RiffRaff. Stay safe and we’ll see you soon.”

“Absolutely.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

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