Jacked Up (Bowen Boys #4)(43)

Elle looked at them and suddenly her chest clenched. She didn’t even dare to speculate what would happen if she had to testify against Maldonado. Witness protection program, probably. Which meant severing all ties with her family. Forever. Now that she’d started manning up and showing up for her life and she’d be cut off from everybody. Her mom, Tate, her nephew, the Bowens. Rosita’s.

Panic rising inside her, she pushed that thought away. No, no, no. One crisis at the time, please.

She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. “Thanks. I almost forgot. I have the things for my next flash mob in here.”

“Do not aggravate him,” James warned her, looking more serious than usual. “And for the love of God, do as he says. This is his area of expertise.”

Elle hugged her brother-in-law. “Don’t worry. I’ll return him to you safe and sound. I promise.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about, you nutcase,” James muttered.

They walked out of the house, and she noticed right away Jack was holding a quiet baby in his arms. He was talking to Jonah. Smiling at him, his huge hand cupping his tiny head, his thumb caressing his cheek. The giant was not fond of big displays of affection; he always greeted people with a curt nod—if he greeted them at all, because minimum physical contact seemed to be his mantra—yet he looked so comfortable with the baby.

James took Jonah and after saying their good-byes, Jack and Elle got in the truck.

“You’re great with kids,” Jack said.

“Of course I am. Kids are very smart. They sense awesomeness,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “You are not bad yourself. You got him to stop fussing.”

Jack shrugged, his gaze on the road. “I had experience.”

In true Jack form, he dropped that bomb but didn’t explain further.

“Well, I do love kids,” she continued. “I plan to have a bunch of them.”

He narrowed his eyes, looking surprised. “You want to have children?”

His skeptical tone rubbed her the wrong way. “Of course I want kids, sunshine. And before you ask, sorry, but I’m a firm believer in modern diapers and child vaccinations. Along with electricity, indoor plumbing, and cars. Oh, and when I say I plan to have a bunch of kids, I mean three, not eighteen.”

“I’m not against modern conveniences.”

“Your future Amish wife will. Never been in one, but considering your size, good luck surviving a buggy ride. On the plus side, it will be your speed.”

A smile flashed across his face. “I never said I want an Amish wife. I said I want a woman whose priority would be her family. I don’t have anything against her working.”

“As long as she’s devoted to you and satisfied with that kind of life.”

“I plan to be devoted to her too. And keep her plenty satisfied.”

“Keep her chained to the foot of your bed, you mean.” Pregnant and barefoot too.

He turned to her, his expression intense. “However I have her in the bed, tied or otherwise, I can f*cking guarantee she’ll be satisfied.”

That last part she believed. She could still feel him inside her, making her come like crazy. But she wasn’t about to admit that. “So, where are we going?” she asked, attempting to distract herself.

“I need to check some things at V-2.”

“V-2?”

“My bar.”

Oh hell, yes!

The bar she had been dying to check out for ages.

“Okay, if you must.” She tried playing it cool, afraid he would change his mind and drop her off home first. Then again, he’d been the one insisting they were attached at the hip. About time she got to enjoy the perks.

After driving for a while, Jack parked in front of a bar on the outskirts of Boston, a humongous row of bikes by the front door.

“So here it is, your famous place,” she said. “James never told me the name.”

She would bet big money Jack had sworn her brother-in-law into silence under threat of severe torture and beheading.

“James values his balls. It’ll be five minutes. Wait for me in the truck,” he ordered and got out.

Yeah, right. In his dreams.

Elle wasn’t letting the chance pass her by.

She tried the door. Surprise, surprise, it was unlocked. Not her fault if Jack still lived in la-la land and thought that she was obeying him.

As soon as he disappeared from sight, Elle sprinted to the bouncer, who let her in right away.

It took her a second for her eyes to become accustomed to the darkness. V-2 was much bigger than it seemed outside. A watering hole with loud music and even louder patrons, rather popular by the looks of it.

She spotted Jack talking with a man behind the bar, so she moved in the opposite direction, meshing with the crowd. Hopefully that would buy her enough time to snoop around.

“First visit, right?”

She looked into the direction those words had come from and saw a big guy. Her kind of guy: leather pants, muscle shirt, long hair, sexy beard, tattoos up his arms. Thick rings on his fingers. A bike probably waiting outside.

She nodded.

“I figured. A face like yours, I would have remembered. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Thanks, but I don’t have that kind of time.”

She turned around and crashed into a big chest.