“And if we aren’t all right then we’ll be not all right together which is a form of all right.”
As nuts as it was, as insane as the situation, I was both glad for my friend that she had that conviction about the man she loved just as I was jealous and wanted that for me.
And thinking that, my eyes held by the deep warmth in Tack’s, my heart clenched yet again but it was the good kind of clench.
Scared but excited.
And hopeful.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“I’ll keep you in the loop as much as Tack says is okay,” Lanie told me.
There it was. More. Tack was protecting Lanie (and Elliott) as well as me.
“I’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll tell Elliott you said ‘hi’.”
I wanted her to kick Elliott in the shin for me and, maybe, shove his shoulder and, possibly, lecture him for being an idiot in love and doing stupid shit the caliber of which ended in the mob snatching three women from an upscale mall parking lot but I didn’t share that.
Instead, noncommittally, I said, “Right.”
Lanie giggled quietly because she knew what I didn’t share.
“Roscoe found your ring. Did he get it to you?” I asked, changing the subject and Tack’s hand gave me another squeeze then he let me go and moved away.
“Got it. Thanks for that.”
“Thank Roscoe, he was the one wielding the metal detector.”
“Already did.”
“Good,” I muttered.
“I have to go, Ty-Ty. They just brought in our food.”
“Okay, honey, stay safe and stay strong.”
“Will do. And next time we talk, I want to know all about you.”
Translation: She wanted an update on me and Tack.
“Will do,” I repeated her words. “Later, honey.”
“Later, Ty-Ty.”
I slid the phone shut. When I did, Tack was right there sliding it out of my hand. He set it on the counter then he positioned in front of me, pulled my knees apart then he positioned in me. He did this by wrapping his arms around me and yanking me forward on the counter so his h*ps were between my legs and I was crotch to chest against him, tight.
His hand slid up and sifted into my hair while he muttered, “That sounded like it went okay.”
“Then it sounded wrong since she’s making the wrong decision, I’m scared as hell for her and I think the decisions Elliott has made has put in question his ability to make other important decisions in their future.”
“You’d be right about that,” Tack agreed.
Great.
“But, babe,” he continued, “I know about their plan and I’m arranging safe passage, new identities and a jumping off point where they’re gonna go. The Club is also gonna deal with the Russians. But that won’t matter for them. They’ll be long gone, buried in their new lives and all will be good. At least with that. We deal with the Russians, they can come back. Now, him not f**kin’ up again…” he trailed off.