Page 28 of Honor Me (Men of Inked 6)
“He does sometimes, baby girl.” Izzy kissed Gigi’s nose. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Gigi was a clone of Izzy. They were two peas in a pod. Not only did Gigi have the Gallo traits, the two of them had the same spitfire personality.
“Naked? Daddy’s butt was hanging out.” Gigi wrinkled her nose.
“Sometimes.”
Gigi’s eyes grew wider and she brought her face closer to Izzy’s, smashing her cheeks more. “Why?”
“Because that’s what couples do. You’ll understand when you’re older,” Izzy told her and rubbed her back.
“I don’t ever want a boyfriend. They’re gross, Aunt Iz.”
Izzy pulled her closer, cradling Gigi in her arms. “They are, Gigi. Don’t ever have a boyfriend.”
“Mommy and Daddy boss me around enough, I don’t need a man to boss me around like Uncle Jimmy does you.”
I bit my lip to hold in my laughter as my eyes met Izzy’s. We often think our kids don’t really see what’s going on—that they’re too young to understand. Even with their innocence, they see everything that happens around them.
“Uncle Jimmy doesn’t boss me around.” Izzy stroked Gigi’s hair and started to rock back and forth in the chair.
Gigi twirled a strand of Izzy’s hair, the same shade of brown as her own, around her finger. “Does he spank you? Daddy spanks Mommy when she’s bad.”
Izzy dragged her eyes to mine. “Sometimes I get a spanking when I’m bad too. Just like when you’re a bad girl, Gigi.”
“But Mommy seems to like it when Daddy spanks her, Aunt Izzy. When I’m a bad girl, I get a time-out, not a spanking. So why does Mommy get spanked?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and wished for a quick escape. Not this again.
“You’d have to ask her, Gigi.”
“Mommy?” Gigi said, turning her face toward me.
I stood quickly because I couldn’t answer her with a straight face, and I didn’t want to have to explain my sex life to my child. “I think I hear Joe calling for me. I’m sure Aunt Izzy can explain it to you.”
I walked out of the kitchen before anyone could stop me, especially Gigi. I dreaded the day I’d have to explain the birds and the bees. The day she realized Daddy wasn’t punishing me for being bad would be the day I’d want to crawl into a hole and hide. Above all, hopefully, she’ll realize how much her father and I loved each other.
Bang Bang
Joe
“I’ll shoot off the fireworks. The rest of you keep your eyes on the perimeter.” Morgan bent down and grabbed the grill lighter.
“You know what you’re doing, man?” Frisco asked, dragging his fingers through his hair.
“I was shooting off fireworks when you were still jackin’ off to tittie magazines.” Morgan smirked before letting out a booming laugh. “I got this.”
“Let’s spread out.” Thomas pointed around the yard where our friends and family sat on their blankets, waiting for the fireworks display to start.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Mike shifted from foot to foot before stalking off to the right corner of the woods.
“It’ll be fine,” Sam said before jogging off in the opposite direction.
I smoothed my hands down my pants, wiping off the sweat that had started to coat my palms. For once, I agreed with Mike. I had a shitty feeling. Just days ago, someone had been sitting in the woods, watching me, and now everyone I cared about sat on the lawn in plain view.
“Joe, come with me,” Thomas said, yanking on the sleeve of my shirt to get my attention.
“Right,” I muttered and looked over my shoulder at Suzy, Gigi, and the babies, spread out on a blanket near the door to the patio. My heart ached at the thought of anything happening to them.
There wasn’t one person sitting in the yard that I could handle losing. Even Sam. No one deserved to lose their life to the shitheads from the Sun Devils MC. The government was supposed to protect Thomas’s and James’s identities, but just like everything else, it could be bought for a price.
When the first firework exploded above, I jumped. “Fuck.” My heart started to race and I shook my hands out, rolling my head on my shoulders to let go of some of my anxiety. I caught a glimpse of the red embers as they cascaded toward the ground.
Thomas turned to face me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Relax, Joe. Nothing will happen to anyone.”
“I wish I had your confidence, brother.”
“Just breathe. This will all be over soon.”
“How do you know?” I don’t know if I’d ever been as fearful as I was in that moment. Not for myself, but for my family.
“They won’t stay hidden for long. They can smell the blood.”
For fuck’s sake—his words didn’t bring me solace.
I stood next to Thomas, trying to keep an eye on the woods and not get distracted by the sound of the fireworks. Every time one exploded, my eyes would dart around the yard to make sure it was only the fireworks and nothing else.
The hair on the back of my neck stood at full attention. Movement in the woods caught my eye. “Thomas.” I narrowed my eyes, honing on the same familiar red glow in the distance. “Over there.”
He turned slowly. “Act normal. Don’t give it away that we’ve spotted him. Walk with me.” He motioned with his chin toward the woods in the direction of the glow.
Slowly, we made our way into the woods, pulling our guns out of the back of our pants as we walked. The guy got away last time, but there was no way in hell it would happen again.
Less than a hundred feet into the woods and the light disappeared. Thomas motioned to head to my right while he headed to the left. Hopefully, we’d come up behind him without him knowing we were heading in his direction.
I listened for the sounds of branches breaking under the feet of whoever was watching us from the woods, but I heard nothing.
All that mattered was making him run in the opposite direction of the family.
My feet moved faster, matching my heartbeat as I pushed aside the twigs. The sound of a breaking branch in the distance made my breathing falter.
I took off running, heading straight toward the noise, seeing Thomas doing the same out of the corner of my eye.
A loud bang rang out, and I thought it was firework until Thomas fell to the ground. Oh God! Thomas’s body crumpled and I ducked, trying to find out where the shot
came from.
Every muscle in my body tightened and the adrenaline kicked in, pushing me forward after the intruder when I heard another branch crack.
I didn’t have time to stop.
I needed to get the man who had just shot my brother in order to keep everyone else safe. My hands shook, gripping the gun tighter than I should have as I ran in the direction of the gunshot. Tree branches smacked me in the face, blocking my way as I got closer.
The distance between us shortened, but before I could get to him, another gunshot rang out. I didn’t stop running, picking up the pace and heading straight into danger. If it took my life to keep everyone else safe, it was worth it. No one would hurt what was mine. No one could take them away from me. Holding the gun in front of me, I cleared the brush and saw James standing above something on the ground.
“Joe! It’s me. Don’t shoot,” he said, hunching over and resting his hands on his knees with the gun still in one hand. “I got him.” He sucked in a breath.
I turned to where Thomas had gone down and saw lights in the distance. “He shot Thomas,” I told him, running up to the body and looking down, clutching my chest.
“Fucking Cowboy.” James spit on him and he moaned, gurgling up blood as it started to ooze from his mouth. “Piece of shit.”
“What the fuck, man? How did you get here so fast?”
“I came around from the back before Morgan started shooting off the fireworks. I just didn’t get here quick enough.” He straightened and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, still clutching the gun.
“He’s not dead.” I pointed toward the piece of shit and stood with my feet wide apart, lifting my gun and pointing it at him.
“He will be.” James wrapped his hand around my wrist. “He won’t last long. Don’t shoot him, man.”
My hand shook and my finger started to squeeze the trigger.
“Don’t do it, Joe. I know you want to, but you’ll go to jail. Think of your family.” He pushed my hand down, slowly removing the gun from my hand.
My arm was still extended with trembling hands. “I should’ve been the one to shoot him, James.”
“Killing someone, no matter whom, is a guilt you don’t want on your
