Page 23 of Baring it All (Men in Charge)

“Take a seat, baby. You want a drink?” I ignore the way Mel is trying to get closer and attempting to say whatever it is she came to say.

“I’m good. Maybe afterwards.” She slides onto a barstool. I stay standing, needing to have some semblance of control in case this situation goes from bad to worse.

“Alright,” I tell Stormy. My eyes lock on the two idiots in front of me. “Say what you need to say and then leave.” I’m not mincing words. These two created a situation that could have been handled if Zach had just stopped the farce of a wedding. I mean seriously, what the fucking fuck? Did he think his shit wouldn’t come to light or that Stormy wouldn’t divorce his ass if she didn’t’ find out till after the wedding?

“Stormy, I wanted to tell you. Believe me, I did, but I had no way of coming out,” Melissa starts. I grunt, locking eyes with my niece, who is full of shit. Stormy blows out a puff of air. I’m not sure what’s going in my woman’s mind right now, but it better not be forgiving them so easily. Especially Mel. They’ve been friends much longer than Zach and Stormy were together.

“Yet still no apology. I think we’re done here, Mel.” Stormy starts to get up from her seat, clearly done with the conversation, and I’m damn proud.

“That’s not all. You deserve to hear it from me instead of others.” Mel stops, looks down at her hands, gripping her fingers in a twisting sort of manner. A tell she’s nervous. As she fucking should be. She’s wreaked havoc on a lot of people, and the dick bag standing next to her is saying not a fucking thing. Well, it shows the lack of balls he has between his legs.

“Then by all means, please get on with it. This whole situation is stupid. Clearly, Zach and I weren’t in love. And that’s okay, but you two could have fixed this before it got worse. You don’t even know the half of what you left me to pick up. I’m not the only adult in this situation, except I am, and if it weren’t for Griff rescuing me when he did, I’d have probably come out a lot less unscathed.” Damn straight. I squeeze her shoulder in solidarity.

“I know, and I am sorry. We’re sorry.” Mel points from herself to Zach. He still stays silent. Clearly, Mel wears the pants in this scenario, the entire time, too. I’d be willing to bet she calls the shots in the bedroom. Fucking awful to think about with my own niece, but it says a lot about the man himself. In the bedroom, Stormy knows I’m in control, even when she’s riding my cock or on her knees. I’m not one to give it up. The woman comes alive when I make her stay still while fucking her sweet pussy.

“And, well, I didn’t want to say it like this or tell Zach.” I watch as Melissa looks at Zach like he’s hung the moon and stars above. Damn, she’s in deep. Zach, on the other hand, doesn’t return the favor in the way of looking like he’s in love. In fact, the guy looks bored. “I’m pregnant.”

You can hear a pin drop. The bar, which had a few others talking, comes to a halt. Even the music is silenced, and I’ll bet Barbie has something to do with that.

“Uhh, congratulations,” Stormy says, probably at a loss for words. My eyes find Jack’s. He’s pissed as fucking hell. Obviously, he didn’t know anything about this either.

“No fucking way, It’s not mine,” Zach states vehemently. His face turns red. This is probably the first time he’s got an expression on his face that isn’t one of boredom.

“What do you mean, it’s not yours?” Mel interjects as the door to the bar opens, letting the sunlight in along with someone else to see this shit show come down.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” I groan, seeing who walks through the door.

“It’s not mine,” Zach states more firmly.

“What isn’t yours?” Laura the cunt Busby has entered the chat. She keeps going, “Oh, you mean the debt Stormy has yet to pay for the ceremony? We know that already.” My blood slowly boils. It seems my woman hasn’t told me a whole lot about the circumstances left behind from the wedding.

“I’ve had a vasectomy. The baby isn’t mine.” Audible gasps come from Zach’s mom and Melissa.

“I’m grabbing the vodka. Too bad we don’t have popcorn, or I’d settle in,” Barbie interjects. My fingers go the bridge of my nose, calming myself down.

“Well, it’s not like Zach is going to pay half like we bargained when we planned the wedding. So, excuse the fuck out of me if I’m trying to make sure I can survive in order to pay something off that I didn’t want in the damn first place.” Stormy hops down from her seat, starting to get closer to Zach and his mom. I hold her back even if my hand is itching to come down on her ass.

“What do you mean, you had a vasectomy? Why does that even matter?” Laura says, ignoring Stormy. I sure as fuck haven’t. We’ll be getting back to that subject as soon as these fucks get out of here.

“How could you have a vasectomy without telling me? You said you wanted kids, that we’d have a future,” Mel exclaims.

“I said I wanted kids. I didn’t say when. I’d have gotten a reversal, but now that’s out, and so am I.” He turns on his heel to leave. Melissa is reaching for his arm, but he’s shaking her off with each step he takes. Mel wants his attention so bad she keeps after him.

“We’re talking about this. You kept something from me that I could have helped you with.” I bend down to whisper into Stormy’s ear.

“No, no way. You’ve helped me in more ways than those assholes ever have. I’m going to pay it off. Everything else, the deposits handled. I’ll pay those back to my mom, and I’ll deal with the ceremony.”

“Yes, you will, little girl. I’m not responsible for your debt,” Laura interrupts.

“Get fucked, lady.” I look directly at Laura. Her son is creating more damn drama, and she’s worried about a debt Stormy is going to attempt to handle on her own. Absolutely the fuck not.

“You can’t talk to me like that.” My arm is still wrapped around Stormy’s chest, holding her in place. Anger is vibrating off her waves. Now I’m done, completely fucking done.

“Listen the fuck up, right the fuck now!” I get everyone’s attention. Barbie smirks. She knows when I’ve met my threshold and is already reaching for the bat we keep behind the bar. “Get the fuck out of my bar now. Everyone fucking out.” I point at Laura. “Including you. Your fucking son will pay half, or he’ll deal with me. As for you, go figure out why your son decided to have an affair with my niece while being engaged.”

That shuts her up. Barbie grabs Jack’s hand. The other patrons are already leaving. A good thing it’s mainly the usual bar goers, or I’d be fucked. It’s also a Tuesday evening, so it’s slow as hell.

“We’re not done here,” Laura stammers.

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