Damaged Goods

Chapter 13- An Ally for Aria

One of the benefits of being pregnant, Aria realized after they left the doctor's office, the sex was out of this world! Never in her life had she felt as sated as she did right now. Sated and very sleepy. Marcus noticed the change and didn't complain. He'd been chowing down carbs like he was preparing for a marathon, and he supposed in a way he was. She was insatiable now, seeming to never get quite enough and Marcus was more than happy to oblige. Each time they made love she would get more adventurous and he realized he had a real hell cat on his hands. As Aria drifted off to sleep cuddled into his side, he thought about how much his life had changed in the last month and how much changing it still had to do.

A baby! He was going to have a baby! Sure, biologically there was the possibility of it being Colin's but he didn't let that phase him. Colin wasn't here now, he had messed up his chance. Marcus would love this child as his own regardless and that meant hefty protection with Mason on their back. They'd had a break from him for the last month, but he knew they would be back once they found the two. He would need to cash in a few favors tomorrow. But for now, he just let Aria's light snores lull him to sleep.

-- --

The next morning Marcus awoke bright and early to make some calls. He kissed Aria's forehead and left the room before he changed his mind.

"Marcus? It that you, cousin?" Nate asked sounding surprised on the other end of the line.

"It is. Listen, we need to keep this short and sweet. I'm in the area you could say and need you to come by. Say eleven?" Marcus hinted casually, knowing Nate would catch on that he was at the beach house. His place in Oklahoma was a temporary home of sorts when he had the odd job in the area, but Nate knew when he said 'in the area' that he was back home by the main building of their business.

"Sounds great, want me to bring something hot by to eat?" he asked secretively. This was another code word of theirs they'd developed. 'Something hot' referred to packing heat, or firepower. He wanted to know if he should bring some weapons by on his visit.

"You know it, man. I'm starving; bring the whole damn store if you can afford it," he laughed trying to lighten the mood in case the phones were tapped. This didn't keep Nate from knowing this meant he was in big trouble and would need all the help he could get.

"You offend me, Marcus! I'm loaded, you know this! I'll be there around eleven," Nate replied and disconnected the call.

Marcus could breathe a sigh of relief now that he knew his cousin was on their side and apparently itching for a fight. That was just like Nathan though, always ready to rumble. Wiping his hands down his face and exhaling loudly, he decided on a quick shower before making Aria breakfast.

The smell of grilled peppers, onions, hash browns, sausage and eggs woke Aria from her slumber. Luckily, her morning sickness had been very mild so far, and she threw on a robe before sauntering to the kitchen to see what Marcus had concocted.

"Good morning love," Marcus began. "Eat up for you and that baby. We have company coming by later to talk so as much as I love seeing you naked except for that thin robe, you'll need to put actual clothes on today."

"Aren't you the comedian this morning," Aria grumbled. "Who is coming over?"

She was slightly put off she wouldn't be able to run around naked today, she was really starting to like that. But who was this company and why did he want them over? Oh hopefully not an ex girlfriend or something, she knew she wouldn't handle that well. She could see the headlines now reading about how she'd slain her lover's ex for simply being invited over. No, Marcus couldn't be that stupid, especially with all these extra hormones running rampant in her system. Nope, she couldn't be held accountable for her actions.