Page 9 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

Mason, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 2020

After dinner, all the guys are sitting around the patio outside. The ladies are still inside. Mariel insisted on alone time with Millie and Raine. I think they’d both rather be out here with us, but I’ve not seen anyone yet who can say no to Mariel.

Chase is showing us the latest sonogram picture of his expected grandchild.

“Aw, man,” Ty says to Chase. “You don’t look old enough to be a grandpa. When’s your daughter due?”

“Two months. She lives in Colorado, so depending on how long we’re here, we might stop on the way back and stay there for a while. It’s her first kid—our first grandchild—so everybody’s a little bit anxious.”

“Sounds like that kid’s about to be spoiled,” Hawk says, laughing.

“Oh, yeah, I’m going to spoil her so much. I mean, not as much as Mack spoils Millie,” Chase says, laughing as he chucks Mack on the shoulder.

“No one on earth has ever spoiled anyone the way Mack spoils Millie,” I say quietly into my beer as I take a long swig.

“What’s that, boyfriend? You got something to say about the way I raised my daughter?” Mack tilts his head back and roughly rubs his beard. He’s got a dangerous look on his face again.

“No, sir. I do not,” I say. “Your daughter is perfect in every way.”

“That’s what I thought,” he says, nodding slowly.

“It does my heart so much good to see Mason Davis finally scared of someone,” Butch says, grinning.

“You mean besides Millie,” JJ says, staring right at me.

“Oh!” Everyone recoils in unison, laughing until they see my face.

I look at JJ, shaking my head. “You’re not going to leave it alone, are you?”

“I’ll leave it alone when you tell your woman what you want.”

“Millie knows what I want because it’s her.” I walk over to him until I’m standing a foot from his chair. “All I want is to grow old with Millie.”

“Yeah, that’s what she tells you to want.”

I’m about to close that final foot of distance between us when a chair comes flying from across the patio and lands with a thud into JJ’s knee.

“What’s your name? Jay?” Mack says—his leg still pointing toward where he pushed the chair.

JJ snaps his head around to Mack. “JJ—stands for Julius Jackson,” he says as he pushes the chair back in Mack’s direction—intentionally leaving it short.

“That’s my bad. I must have sounded like I cared what your name is.” Mack arcs his beer bottle into the trash can of empties, causing a clank that snaps every head in the backyard to him. “Here’s what I do care about: You want to trash Mason? Have at it. But keep my daughter’s name out of your mouth.”

JJ leans back in his chair and laughs. “Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it, old man?”

“Old man?” Mack sits bolt upright. “Any time you want some of this old man, you just let me know.”

As he starts to stand up, I leapfrog over a cooler and press his shoulders down. He grabs one of my wrists and almost breaks it with a quick snap.

“Mack!” I say, pulling out of his grip. I tower over him, but make sure I don’t touch him again. “I’ve got this. It’s between JJ and me. Stand down.”

He settles uncomfortably back into his chair. “Take care of it or I’m going to,” he growls with his eyes fixed firmly on JJ.

I turn back around to JJ. “You’re being an asshole. Never talk to my father—”

“What? Were you about to call him your father-in-law?” JJ laughs and shakes his head. “Because I thought Millie told you no when you asked her to marry you.”

Everyone looks down uncomfortably except JJ who stares right at me.

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