Page 54 of Astrid
“I’ll work on it,” John quickly reassured her. He settled down in the bed, as she rose, moved the covers back on her side, and crawled in. Once she settled, he snuggled up to her back, and wrapped an arm around her. “I’m not used to dating a strong woman, or an independent woman for that matter. In the past, the women I always hooked up with only wanted one thing from me, and I refused to give it.”
“What’s that?” Astrid thought she knew the answer, but what came out of his mouth shocked her so much, she flopped over onto her back and looked at him in shock.
“They only wanted to date me, so I’d give them the rocker for the club, indicating that I belonged to them.”
“Shouldn’t that have been the other way around, and that they belonged to you. Though even that sounds stupid to me. Why would any women with a head on her shoulders, and a mind that worked, want to be labeled as belonging to someone else? It’s a free country, and the woman’s choice is to do as she pleases.”
“Yeah, but that’s the mentality of some of the women I dated in the past.” He shrugged then looked at her sheepishly. “It got me laid.” If it wasn’t for his boyish grin, she would have slugged him, but that grin caused her to laugh. Shaking her head, they repositioned themselves and settled down for the night. The last thought Astrid had before falling asleep was that she was glad he never expected her to wear something to say she belonged to him. Maybe in the future she’d wear a ring, but nothing so glaring as a property patch for a motorcycle club. At the same time, she was thinking that, John was picturing what type of ring he would buy her in the future. He mentally viewed several stones, and finally settled on an emerald, to match her green eyes. With a smile on his face, he followed her into slumber.
* * *
Around four o’clock thenext afternoon, the four women sitting at their desks looked up when the office door opened, and expecting one of the brothers, they sat back and smiled at their newest arrival.
“You here permanently?” Morgan asked Carl as he entered, and shut the door behind him.
“Not permanently, permanently, but long enough to close this case. Where do you want me?”
“Why don’t you take one of those desks?” Morgan said as she pointed to the desks close to the door. “Let me give you a tour. As you can see, we’re all in here, there is a kitchen, and a bathroom through here. We ask that if you empty the pot of coffee, make a new one.” She proceeded to show him where everything was, and at one point Carl frowned and asked.
“What’s that door for?”
Morgan grinned as she walked over there, crooked her finger at him, then flipped on the switch on the outside of the door, opened it, and went down five steps. She looked back to see if he was following her, and when he was, she nodded. “This leads from the office to the house. We plan on only using it if we have a break in and need to get out... or, and Astrid will hook you up later, but she’s designed a program that if someone enters the house, and doesn’t reset the alarm, a silent signal is sent to all of our phones, alerting us to an intruder. Since I live two miles away, and Dillon is another mile further out, we’re what you’d call the cavalry. If by some chance the alarm is tripped, Dillon will come to me and Wyatt, we’ll make our way here, and come into the house this way.” She stopped at one point and pointed. Carl frowned, then moved so the light shone into where she pointed, and he grinned. “Please, only use this tunnel in an emergency. If you come out to the office, then use the front doors. I’m only showing you this way to get it out of the way first.” She grinned as she pointed to the wall again.
“Guns?”
“Yes, and ammo. Alex was the one to suggest we have these cubbies here and store some weapons. We never know when we might need them.”
“It is good to have backup. Do you have a gun safe in the house?”
“One here in the basement, one on the first floor, there’s even one where the bedrooms are, and up in the attic. The office has one, also.”
“So, if the cavalry is called in, and you don’t have time for your weapons, you can access them before entering the tunnel?”
“Yes. In the case of us ever being attacked and taking on gunfire, I don’t think we’ll sustain any damage, unless it’s to the siding on the outside.”
“How can you say that?” Carl frowned at her.
“Two layers of concrete block, and between the layers is reinforced steel.”
“Shit,” Carl said as he shook his head and looked around. He whistled as they entered the room he remembered as being the office he’d visiting a time or two.
“You’re more than welcome to use this space as an office, or a desk next door. I don’t know if you have other BCI work to do, and need the privacy.”
“I do, and thank you.” He went over and looked down at the table, then frowned. “What’s this?” He stepped back as Morgan came over and looked down at what he was indicating, thinking it might be something she’d left behind.
Morgan looked, then laughed. “These belong to my brother, Justin. He’s a construction engineer.”
“And he’s hooked up with Ava?”
“Yes, Alex is with Joyce, and John and Astrid have a thing going.”
“Okay.” They continued on the tour, and after looking over the entire house, except for going into the occupied bedrooms, they ended up back in the kitchen. “I’ll give you the quick rundown on meals. Anyone can cook if they want to, however, it’s expected if you don’t help in prepping the meal, that also includes setting the table, then you should help clean up after.”
“I can work with that.” Carl nodded. “I’ll go out to my SUV and bring in my bag. Do you know where I can park my vehicle?”
They turned as the front door opened, and Morgan called out. “John, help Carl get his things, and show him where to park.” Then, she turned on her heel, and headed to the front door, leaving the two men staring after her.
Carl walked forward and stuck out his hand, and together, they unloaded Carl’s bags onto the front porch, and then went to the garage. They stood around talking for some time before Carl had to give himself a mental slap to get his things into the house and get unpacked. As he followed John down the stairs, he wondered if he would be able to live in a house with so many people. Sure, he’d grown up in a large house, though he’d been living on his own for almost twenty years, but he could do this.
