Page 100 of Ace of Spades
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“It’s time for you boys to turn over Aces and Eights. With all that’s gone down with each of you, your faces are becoming too well known. You’ll still own the bar on paper, but no one will know that.”
When Rothmire had mentioned a few weeks ago that he wanted to talk to them about something, Nate had assumed a new case was on the burner. He glanced at his brothers, seeing the same shock on their faces that he was sure was on his.
Yet, as he let the idea sink in, he found that he had no desire to protest. A month ago, he would have fought tooth and nail against letting go of Aces & Eights. But that was before Taylor. And as his eyes shifted between his brothers’, he knew they were thinking the same thing. It would mean nights at home with their wives, or in his case, his girlfriend.
Taylor had been living with him for two weeks now, and he’d never been happier. There wasn’t an inch of his condo that hadn’t been christened by the two of them. And now they were starting over tonight ontheir balcony after he got home from the bar—usually around three in the effing morning. That was her favorite place to make love, thus it was his. If she wanted to make love on the moon, he’d find a way to make that happen.
Yeah, he was ready to have a normal life, and he was pretty sure his brothers felt the same. But what did Rothmire have in mind for them? And who would take over Aces & Eights? The bar was a bitch queen, demanding and volatile. She would require special hands to keep her happy. He and his brothers had always thought of the bar as the queen of diamonds, but turned out they were wrong. There was a queen of diamonds in the Gentry family. Their sister. All they had to do was find her and their mother.
“I think Rand and Josh could step in and do a good job,” Rothmire said. “Maybe not at the level you boys reached, but the only other choice is for you to sell out or shut the bar down, and I’d rather not do that. It’s proven too useful for carrying out covert operations.”
So that was why the boss had been keeping Rand out of sight lately. And Josh was so new that very few outside of their field office knew he existed. They would both be able to slip into undercover roles without difficulty.
As for Aces & Eights, Nate didn’t want to see it shut down either. He and his brothers had put too much blood, sweat, and tears into the place to see it become nothing more than an FBI legend before it was forgotten about completely.
He raised a brow at his brothers, getting nods from both. “How are we going to make that happen?” he asked their boss.
Rothmire smiled—a canny one, in Nate’s opinion—and said, “You boys are going to have a public falling out, and then just as publicly say the bar is up for sale because you can no longer work together. Your supposed buyers will be Rand and Josh.”
“How fun,” Alex said.
Nate rolled his eyes. Of course Alex would find that fun. He was probably already planning how to put him and Court on their asses—in public—and crow about it.
“You so much as touch me, baby brother, and I’ll delete you from existence,” said Nate’s computer-nerd middle brother. Court apparently guessed as Nate did that they’d better keep their eyes on Alex during the little charade Rothmire had in mind.
Nate gave them both an evil grin. “Either of you come at me, and I’ll tell your wives about that time you two streaked through the Florida State campus, wearing nothing but matching pink bras and pink thongs.” They’d done it on a dare, and his only regret was that he didn’t have a picture.
Rothmire snorted, then coughed, then choked. “Need water,” he gasped as he left the room.
“You play dirty, bro,” Alex said.
Nate smirked. “Always have, but you know that,bro.” He settled back in his chair. Yeah, the boss probably did need a drink of water, but he’d also left them alone to talk. “So, you two good with turning over the bar?”
“I am,” Court said. “Being gone every night but Sundays is putting a strain on my marriage.”
That got Nate’s attention. “Problems?”
“Nah, not like that. It’s really me more than Lauren. I hate leaving her alone every night. I know she doesn’t like it, but she never complains. She accepts that it’s my job. It’s just that lately, I’ve been thinking that I’d like to have a somewhat-normal life. As much as the FBI will allow it.”
“Madison’s amazing,” Alex said. “She never makes me feel guilty for my late hours. But I’m echoing Court. A somewhat-normal life without the crazy hours we put in sounds agreeable to me.”
It did to Nate, also. It would mean he could join Taylor and the girls for dinner whenever she spent an evening at Rosie’s. And although the idea of finding a house big enough for all of them had been brewingin his mind, he hadn’t mentioned that to Taylor. With the bar, his hours were too disruptive for a family, especially since Taylor often welcomed him home by jumping into his arms the minute he walked in the door, usually without a stitch on.
“Look at the way he’s smiling. He’s thinking dirty thoughts about his girlfriend,” Alex said.
Court smirked. “Pretty sure he is. Actually, I’ve been seeing that smile on his face a lot since she moved in.”
“Stuff it,” Nate cheerfully said, then couldn’t help grinning. When had he ever thought he’d becheerfulabout anything?
“Who are you and what have you done with our sourpuss-faced brother?” Alex put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “In all seriousness, I’ve thought for a long time ... no, more like I’ve been afraid that you’d never figure out how to be happy, and I hurt for you.” He lowered his eyes to the surface of the table. “I didn’t like it.”
“What he said,” Court said. “You raised us. You were our mother and our father. If not for you, I hate to think where we’d be now. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you, Nate.”
“We’re going to be crying in a minute if you two don’t shut up.” Although it was a lame attempt to lighten the mood, he was deeply touched by his brothers’ concern. As for raising them? What choice had he had as the oldest brother? Sure, there’d been times when he’d both hated and resented the responsibility, but the two clowns he called brothers had brought him great joy. Still did, and he was damn proud of them.
He pushed away from the table, scowling at the gleam in Alex’s eyes. “No, I’m not doing a group hug.”
Alex snorted. “I can make you.”
“True, but remember what you said yourself. I play dirty.” He smirked. “You really want your wife to know you like wearing pink panties?” He left his brothers laughing as he went to find Rothmire. Just what plans did the man have in mind for them once they turned over Aces & Eights?
