CHAPTER 18

NAVY

The ladies are up to something. I can sense it! As a group, I know them better than most, as I, along with Cairo, spend the most time with them when they are all together. Mostly because they know that we’ll let them do shit their Old Men won’t. I figure it’s better to let them do it under supervision than to let them go rogue. This morning, I have a feeling that it has to do with Gia. I’m silent as I watch Gia, Hope, Molly, and Cally slip away.

Catching Cairo’s eye, I tilt my head for him to follow them, giving them five minutes before I follow along behind. It’s not hard; they’re not being quiet. They enter the shooting range that Hope had built years ago. Now I’m curious. Cairo stops at the door, holding up his hand as he peers in. When he’s happy we’re not going to be seen, he waves me forward. Together we slip inside, keeping to the shadows. There’s much laughter from the four women as Hope unlocks her gun safe and starts laying out different guns.

‘What the hell are they up to?’ I wonder. Both Cally and Molly can shoot and shoot well. As do all our women, we’d made sure of it. Colm O’Shea insisted that they come to his range at least once a month to keep their skills sharp.

My eyes widen when Gia picks up a handgun and competently checks if it’s loaded before taking a box of bullets from Hope and starts to load the clip before inserting it and pulling back on the slide. Taking the ear defenders Hope hands her, Gia walks over to a booth that’s been set up.

I watch in awe as she empties the clip into the target that Hope has set up. By the time she’s finished I’m grinning, seems my little Gia has secrets.

“Jesus, brother, you are one lucky fucker,” Cairo whispers next to me.

“She’s fucking perfect,” I agree. Now that I know that they are okay and that somehow Gia’s in on whatever mischief they are up to, I nudge Cairo’s shoulder and we leave as quietly as we arrived.

“What do you reckon they’re up to?” Cairo asks curiously.

“They’re going to try and fleece us, brother, that’s what I think. We have Hawk, but they have Hope. We’ll be evenly matched as not all the brothers practice as much as the ladies do.”

“Are you going to say anything?”

“Fuck no,” I reply, “I like my balls just where they are and honestly, I don’t think Gia’s ever had a sisterhood like this. I know Hope certainly hasn’t. She doesn’t fit in with any of these society bitches. The two of them need this. We’ll let them do what they planned, and we’ll not say a word. I’m proud of them.”

“Okay, brother, I’ll let Bond, Blaze, and Sam know not to volunteer to shoot. We’ll let the originals have their fun.”

“Fuck, brother, the originals? What does that make you?”

“Spare parts,” Cairo laughs and even though I can tell he’s amused, there’s a little something in his tone that has me worried. I make a mental note to speak to Reaper about our younger brothers.

Not saying anything, I slap a hand on his shoulder as we near the house, “You’re more than spare parts, Cairo. We’d be lost without you.”

Cairo shrugs, “I know, Navy, we’re just a little restless. Thinking maybe we should go and visit Noni for a bit. See a bit more of the world other than Europe.”

“That might be a good idea, brother. Speak to Reaper, you know he’ll do what he can.”

“We will, Navy, and thanks.”

Puzzled, I asked, “For what?”

Cairo stopped walking, “You don’t see it, brother, but you’re the one that everyone turns to. The women know they can come to you about anything, the kids gravitate towards you and sometimes it’s only you who can comfort them when not even their parents can.

“The second generation know that you’re there to help and guide them whenever they need you. Why do you think we left Sam with you yesterday?

“And then there’s us. Your brothers, the first person we think to turn to when we need a listening ear, and no judgement is you. Even Reaper calls on you for council, knowing that you won’t steer him wrong.

“I see the same thing here with your biological family. You, brother, are our glue. The one that holds us together and I’m not sure how you don’t see it.”

His word hit me like a sledgehammer. I was hard pressed to talk around the lump in my throat. I hadn’t realised that was how they all felt. I did what I’d always done and protected when I had to or lightened a tense situation with a joke.

“I don’t know what to say, Cairo. I’m just me. I protect what’s mine, whether it’s the woman, children, my blood family or my brothers. You’re all my family and it’s engrained in me to protect those I love.”

Cairo wraps an arm around my shoulder and pushes me towards the house, “We know, Navy, and that’s why we’d do the same for you. I just thought you should know. Now, how about we get this lot moving, so we can find out who’s the better shot out of you and your woman.”

Chuckling, we walk back into the house and rally everyone to hurry up so that we can get the morning on a roll.

Like the good brothers that they are Cairo, Bond, Blaze, and Sam, along with Derek and Tristan, offer to take the older children and get them set up for knife throwing.

Aggie and Hetty offer to look after the younger children and set them up doing crafts in the playroom.

With everyone sorted, the rest of us wandered over to the shooting range.

“You do know Hope has something up her sleeve don’t you,” Bas says quietly from next to me.

“Oh, I do,” I agree with a smirk.

“You already know,” Bas chuckles.

“I do, but we’re going to let them have their fun.”

“Thank you for bringing your other family to ours. It’s doing Hope the world of good. You know she struggles to make friends.”

“I do, Bas, and I’m sorry I waited so long. I should have thought about it sooner.”

Bas shrugs, “Things happen when they’re supposed to, Alan. Hope’s okay, but now she’ll be happier.”

Leaving it there, we enter the shooting range, and the brothers are murmuring, impressed with the setup. Not sure what they expected. With Hope shooting professionally, Bas had not spared any expense in setting this up for her even if she didn’t participate in the sport anymore. If we went through the door on the far side, it would take you out onto a field that Hope had set aside for clay pigeon shooting. If I’d thought about it, I should have invited the O’Shea’s as well — they’d have loved this.

There was always next time, though. I had a feeling now that I’d broken the ice, my two families would be mixing on a regular basis.

“Right, you bunch, listen up. We think a little wager is in order,” Julia called out.

“Here we go,” I whispered to Bas, not bothering to hide the grin on my face.

“What have you got in mind, Jules?” Reaper asked. It wasn’t Julia that replied though, instead she motioned at Abby to answer, “Old Ladies against the brotherhood. Buy in is ten pounds and whichever team wins gets to give the money to the charity of their choice and you get bragging rights.”

Reaper looks sceptical, “Babe, are you sure about this?”

“Are you saying we’re not good enough?” Abby growls, hands on her hips. Reaper holds his hands up placatingly, “I’m not saying that at all, I was just making sure that you ladies are good with this decision.”

“It’s fine,” Molly pipes up, “you guys have Hawk and we have Hope, the rest of us are all fairly even and anyway it doesn’t really matter who wins because it goes to charity.”

“Jesus, Molly’s being reasonable.” Dragon mutters, pushing Draco towards the door. “Quick, brother, check outside to see if pigs are flying.”

“Ha, ha, very funny, I can be reasonable, thank you very much,” Molly grumbles as we chuckle.

“So, are we good, then?” Hope calls out. “Because if we are, then let’s get this show on the road. I’ve set up two lanes, us ladies have chosen our weapons, if you gents would like to come over here and choose yours so you can have a practice round.”

It doesn’t take the brothers long to converge on Hope and all the wares she had on display. The envy was thick in the air, but eventually everyone was armed and ready to start.

Looking over their heads for Gia, I found her in the back corner, leaning against a booth, hair pulled back in a plait, ear defenders around her neck, looking all sorts of hot as she waited for us to start. Unable to help myself, I sauntered over, pushing up against her, smirking as her eyes widened.

Lowering my head, I whispered in her ear, “You’ve been keeping secrets, sweets.”

“What, no I haven’t,” Gia cleared her throat nervously as her eyes darted towards where the rest of the ladies were standing.

Nipping her ear to get her attention focused back on me, “Yes you have, baby. But don’t worry, I’ll keep your secrets.” With those words, I pressed my lips to hers in a soft kiss, and walked back to where the brothers were gearing up to take their practice round.

“We need a ref to collate the points and make sure there’s no cheating,” Molly decided.

Draco snorted, “Firecracker, there’ll be no cheating on our side.”

Molly narrowed her eyes at him, hands on hips, nostrils slightly flared, “Are you saying that we’ll cheat, Draco?”

“That’s not what I said,” Draco grumbled. These two always had us in fits of laughter at how much they fought, but they were just as fierce at defending each other should someone get between them.

“Don’t worry,” Hope assured Molly, “I’ve asked Tristan and Derek to come and keep score. Tristan will do the guys and Derek can score for us girls.”

Derek and Tristan walked in, and Hope filled them in on what was happening. I was the only one who noticed when Tristan caught Gia’s eye and smirked at her, but like a good brother, he kept his mouth shut. Her lips tilted up slightly but that was it.

“Okay, listen up,” Hope called out. “We’ll each get three shots at the targets. You have to be within the circle to qualify for one point. Bullseye and you get ten points. Once we’ve completed this part, we’ll move outside to the clay pigeon shooting, same thing goes: three shots, if you clip the clay it’s a point, if you obliterate it it’s ten points. Then we’ll move on to the sharp shooting same as with the handguns: one point for within the circle and ten for the bullseye. Good luck, everyone. Gents, if you’d like to take your practice shots now so we can get started.”

“Don’t you need to do practice shots?” Dragon asked curiously.

“Nope,” Hope assured him. “We came by earlier to help Gia get comfortable and let her practice without anyone around to make her nervous.”

I had to hand it to the ladies, they really sold themselves as innocent when they wanted.

Snaking an arm around Gia’s waist as she walked past me, I pulled her into my chest, smiling as she looked at me with wide eyes. “Good luck, sweets, show them what you’re made of.”

“You’re not upset that we’re messing with your brothers?” she whispered.

“Fuck no. I can’t wait to see their faces when you whip their arses.”

Dimples on display, her smile was so wide. Rolling to her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against mine, then with a wink, she left me to join the ladies.

“You’re a goner, brother,” Hawk chuckled.

“I so fucking am, Hawk, and I’m not unhappy about it. Come on, let’s get this competition going. I can’t wait to see the shoot off between you and Hope.”

“Me either, brother. I have a feeling she’s going to give me a run for my money. Not that it matters; our charities win either way,” Slapping my shoulder, he walks to the booth that’s been set up for us.

We all take a couple of practice shots before we start getting serious.

We’re all finished when Gia goes, the pride that fills me when she takes her stance and shoots. The cheers from the ladies and the astounded looks on my brothers’ faces when she gets all three her shots in the bullseye.

“Wait until you get to the clay pigeon round,” Tristan remarks. “Gia is no slouch at that.”

“We’ve been had,” Onyx laughs. “Jesus, we’re in so much trouble between your Old Lady, Cally, Avy, and Molly. From now on, if anyone give us trouble, we’ll just unleash the Old Ladies on them. And Rea can patch them up.”

Somehow, the brotherhood had all congregated on one side of the room and the ladies on the other. Tristan and Derek were tallying up the totals to let us know who the winner of that round was.

Pulling up a chair, Derek climbs on it, “Are you all ready?”

The ladies start whooping and hollering, and I can’t hold in the laughter that bursts from me, setting the brothers off.

Derek and Tristan grin at them, “Quieten down, ladies. Here’s the winners for this round. The brothers won by one point.”

“Ugh,” Molly grumbles glaring our way. Draco chuckles at her look.

“You’re not finished yet, ladies, it’s only a point,” Tristan points out.

“Hey, whose side are you one,” Rogue laughs.

Tristan smiles but doesn’t answer.

We all traipse outside after the ladies, and the brotherhood is again surprised at Hope’s set up. I did warn them, but I guess they didn’t believe me.

We lose the next one to the ladies. Gia shines in this round and I’m proud as fuck of her. Then it’s on to the sharpshooting, which most of us don’t do well in that one, then it’s up to Hawk and Hope. They battle it out and I can tell how impressed Hawk is with how well Hope shoots.

It was a fun-filled morning, full of laughter, teasing, and heckling. Gia hadn’t stopped smiling all morning. I was so fucking happy that she’d settled in with the Old Ladies. I’d had a feeling she would, it was hard not to like them.

We’d patiently waited as Hawk and Hope finished off. Tristan and Derek called it a tie but by then none of us really cared, the charity of choice made bank, and we’d all had a good morning doing something bonding, a helluva lot of fun, and I’d got to watch my girl shine.