Page 13 of Honor Me (Men of Inked 6)
“It won’t happen again.”
“What’s more concerning is her language. Telling the boy that he was hers and only hers. He was in tears this morning.”
Clearly his parents didn’t use that language at home. “She didn’t mean anything by it. She’s heard it said by many members of our family. It’s harmless.”
“I don’t know what kind of unhealthy relationship you have at home, but that type of expression is not acceptable.”
I stood quickly, smoothing my dress before leaning over her desk. I was done with her insinuating there was something wrong at home for Gigi to act the way she had. “There’s nothing wrong with her father and me. We love each other. We’re committed to each other. Maybe if you had someone as devoted to you as we are to each other, you wouldn’t find the language so disturbing. I’m sorry your life is so bland and boring that claiming someone as yours is out of your realm of comfort, but I can assure you that it’s not meant in a negative way. I’ll speak to Gigi about touching others, but there is nothing wrong with her or our family. If you continue to single her out as an issue, I will take you to court for harassment. Just try me, Ms. Wisen. I’ve worked in education for years. I know how it works, and once you target a child as an issue, every small thing they do can be picked out and used against them. You need to leave my child alone and pay more attention to the real problems in the school.”
The fucking bitch. I could feel her attitude and disdain for Joe and me before she even began speaking. Maybe I was wrong. Wisen wasn’t a teddy bear at all. She was a frigid, prude of a woman who needed to get fucked six ways to Sunday.
“There’s no need to get lawyers involved, Mrs. Gallo.”
“My husband may be a tattoo artist, but we are in no way poor. If you mess with my family again, I’ll sink every dollar I have in my bank accounts into ruining you. Do you understand me?” On the outside, I appeared calm and collected, but my insides were shaking. Not out of fear, but in anger.
She held her hands up in front of her in a defensive manner. “Understood. I didn’t mean any harm.”
“Saying my daughter is sexually harassing someone is just being an asshole. I’m taking Gigi with me for the rest of the day. I’ll share the incident with her father and let him decide how to handle the situation.” I stuck my purse under my arm and straightened my body. “It’ll be entirely up to him. I don’t know if he’ll be quite as kind as me with his words either.”
Without a backward glance, I marched out of the office and slammed the door. That earned me a look of shock from every person sitting in the office waiting. My hands shook as I texted Joe and told him we’d discuss what happened at the school tonight. I already knew he would be more pissed off than I was, but I’d figure out a way to calm him down. I always did.
“Hey, Mommy. Why are you so mad?” Gigi asked, placing her hand in mine after she walked into the office.
“Some people aren’t very nice, Gig.”
“I know.” She tugged on my arm so I’d lean over. “Ms. Wisen is the meanest there is too,” she whispered in my ear but not quiet enough not to be overheard.
“I know, baby. Daddy will deal with her.” I smiled because the busybody office ladies would pass that on to the evil Ms. Wisen.
Gigi backed away so I could see her face with widened eyes. “Oh, is she going to get spanked like Daddy does to you?”
I bit my lip, hiding my laughter and feeling my face heat with embarrassment. “Not quite like that, Gig. I see we have to have a long talk about Mommy and Daddy. You’ve heard too much, baby.”
“I hear it all, Mommy. You’ve been a bad girl.” She mimicked Joe’s voice, and I wanted to wipe the words from her mind.
“Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream and talk about what happened today,” I told her before lifting her into my arms to get out of there as quickly as possible before she said something else.
* * *
“We gotta talk,” I said to Joe when he walked through the front door after work.
“Wisen?”
“Yep. And a few other things Gigi said today.” Standing on my tiptoes, I kissed him on the cheek before nuzzling my nose against his five-o’clock shadow.
He shook his head and smiled. He knew the things that could come out of her mouth, and usually, he was pretty proud of his little spitfire. “What did she say now?”
“Well, for starters…” I led him by the hand to the couch and pushed him down by the shoulders. “She told a boy today that he was hers.”
His head fell forward. “Jesus, isn’t she too young for this shit?”
I kneaded his shoulders, trying to relieve some of his tension while using him as a human stress ball. “She’s just acting out what she’s seen at home.”
“Shit, I hope not.”
“That’s another thing.”
“What is?”
“It seems that Little Miss Gigi overhears us.”
“I know. She’s mentioned things to me that she shouldn’t know about.”
My hands stilled against his rock-hard shoulders. “So you knew?”
“Yeah, she said some things to me months ago and I forgot.” His body started to shake under my fingers when he began to laugh.
“Well, today she wanted to know if you were going to spank Ms. Wisen for being a bad girl just like me.”
His laughter grew louder. “It’s kind of funny, no?”
“I’d be laughing if it weren’t so embarrassing.” The very thought of it still made me want to puke.
“She has no idea what it means.”
“Especially since she never gets spanked.” Neither of us believed in hitting our children. It was a line we’d never cross. Gigi had to be confused why I got spanked but she didn’t. There was no way in hell I’d explain it to her either.
“I’ll talk to her. Why did Gigi want to know if I was going to spank Wisen? What did that bitch say now?” A low growl came from him, his body vibrating under my hands.
“She said that Gigi’s behavior bordered on sexual harassment.”
He turned around and faced me without a single ounce of humor left on his face. “She can’t be fucking serious.”
“She was.” I started to work my fingers again and tried to get him to relax. “Don’t worry, I put her in her place.”
“I want to know everything that happened.”
I spent the next hour discussing with him the ramifications of Gigi’s actions and how Wisen felt our home life might be unhealthy for a child. By the time we were done talking, Joe was more pissed off than I thought he would be. If I were Ms. Wisen, I’d be worried. Hell hath no fury like a papa bear protecting his little cub.
Past Comes Back to Haunt
Joe
Thomas texted me before I left work to gather my brothers and meet at ALFA before going home. We were under strict orders not to share the meeting with Izzy.
When I pulled into ALFA at eight sharp, the rest of the gang was already there and waiting. There was something gnawing at me about this meeting. If it was no big deal, Thomas would’ve talked about it at my parents’ house. But since he called a special meeting, there had to be something he didn’t want the rest of the family to overhear.
The front office was deserted except for Thomas, who had waited at the door for me. After I walked inside, he looked around outside before locking the door and escorting me down the hallway.
“What has you so freaked out?”
“I’ll explain once we’re in the conference room,” Thomas answered before pushing open the door to a full room. Around the table sat James, Anthony, Mike, Sam, Morgan, Bear, Frisco and Tank. This wasn’t just a group—it was an army.
“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Thomas said before taking a seat at the head of the table with me at the opposite end. “I know I didn’t give you any details, but there’s something I need to share with each of you, and we felt this was the best way to do it.”
We all leaned forward, silent, and ready t
o hear whatever Thomas was about to announce. I could tell by the worry in his eyes and his paranoid behavior at the entrance that he wasn’t about to announce good news.
“I just received word that a few of the members of the Sun Devils MC have been released.”
“What?” Sam asked, slamming his fist down on the table. “How is that even possible?”
“Some technical bullshit. Their lawyers have been working tirelessly on appealing their convictions.”
“How many?” Frisco asked and rubbed the back of his neck. “I need to know what we’re dealing with here.”
“One, possibly two members, max.” Thomas leaned back in his chair, rocking nervously.
I closed my eyes and tried to control my rising blood pressure. I knew when he finished his assignment with the DEA and the Devils were behind bars that it would never truly be the end. “Now what?” I asked, opening my eyes and staring straight at Thomas.
“I want everyone to be extra vigilant and careful. If there’s anything suspicious, the rest of the group needs to know. I’ve been assured that they’re unaware of who I am or that I was part of the DEA—the same for James and Sam—but we can’t be too careful.”
“You think they haven’t figured it out?” Mike asked as he rubbed his temples with his head resting in his hands.
