Chapter 6: CONNOR

"Thought you weren't gonna go there, brother?"

"Is there a problem, Ty?"

"Nope, just saying. We had this long, drawn-out conversation where I told you to go for it, and I distinctly remember you giving me a laundry list of reasons why that wasn't such a good idea."

"Yeah, well, shit changed."

"Congratulations, man. So when are you bringing her home?" Logan was grinning like a proud papa the ass.

"Tonight."

"You need help with the move?"

"Nah, my place is already furnished if she wants to change shit, she can just buy what she needs."

"She knows she's moving in here?" Quinn asked while refilling my coffee; nosy fuck.

"Yep." That got a good laugh out of all of them, but I just gave them the finger. They pretty much knew that I'd most likely ordered her as opposed to asking her.

"Let's go, slackers, that building isn't gonna erect itself." I pushed back from the table and got to my feet.

"We were waiting for you, lover boy. You sure you got enough strength left for this?"

"Piss off, Quinn." We headed out for work, some in trucks, some on bikes. I had to leave my bike home since I would be picking up my woman and her shit after work. My woman, fuck, that felt good.

***

We each had our part to play when it came to the business. As equal partners in a business this size and being who we are. Men who don't trust anyone outside our core, we had to handle everything ourselves. We had a secretary to field phone calls because none of us wanted to do that shit, but everything else we handled ourselves.

No accountants, no lawyers, none of that shit. Everything was done as a team, all decisions had to be approved by all, or it was a no-go. So far we hadn't had any problems and weren't expecting any.

We'd protected each other in some of the worst the world had to throw at us. I saw no reason we couldn't do this just as well. That's what comes from having each other's best interest at heart.

I never thought I'd feel that way about anyone else but my brothers. Never thought I could let anyone else get that close. Fucking Dani had done it with ease.

I didn't even mourn my freedom. I didn't feel constricted the way I always thought I would. Quite the opposite, I actually felt freer somehow. Weird fucking feeling to be looking forward to losing your freedom; this falling in love shit is a racket, and women are slick as shit.

All sweet smiles and come and get it looks. Leading you around by your dick. That wasn't so bad, I guess, but when they wrapped themselves around your heart, that's when your ass was in trouble. Shit.

***

We each agreed that the reason the commander had left his earthly goods to us was because he'd overheard us on plenty occasions talking about what we wanted to do when we got out. The one thing we wanted was to stay together.

There was no question of that, and we had two choices of what kind of business we wanted to have security or construction. To a man, we chose construction.

After living a life of uncertainty, it was good when things just fell into place like they have been since we came back stateside. And our new home wasn't too shabby either. It was a far cry from what any of us had known before.

The town had about twelve thousand residents, most of whom had lived here their whole lives. Not exactly a metropolis, but Savannah wasn't too far away, maybe forty-five minutes if we felt the need for a big city getaway.

Business was looking good so far, and we were slated for jobs as far away as Atlanta and even into the Carolinas.

We weren't strapped for cash. The SEALs paid pretty well, and it was a good living, especially for men who didn't have families and knew from early on what they wanted to do with their lives when they got out.

The commander had also hooked us up with a good money guy after he started taking an interest in us outside of navy life.

Coming from money himself, he knew a lot of the ins and outs of that world. A world seven young guys who at the time of their meeting were from some of the worse neighborhoods in the country knew fuck all about.

He'd handpicked us right out of combat training to form the special team. We were like a force within a force; not even the navy knew what the fuck we were doing half the time.

Not only had he overseen our Ops, but he'd also taken a personal interest, and that's how we ended up where we are now.

It was hugely due to him and his talks that we had found ourselves on the paths we'd taken in life. I guess you can say the old man had molded us into the men we are today. Men who could be proud not only of their service to their nation but also of who they were inside as men.

I knew for myself I'd come a long way from the hell that had been my beginnings. I didn't even want to think about that shit today. I wanted nothing to blacken my day.

I'd just made a monumental change in my life. She was the best part of me, the best thing to ever come into my soiled world. Fucking amazing.

***

We rode through town to the job site, no doubt looking like a caravan of thugs. I'm pretty sure this town had never been overrun by the noise of six Harleys at top speed.

I never really gave two fucks what anyone thought of my brothers or me before, but I'm guessing shacking up with Dani might change that. I played around with the thought in my head for a hot minute.

Nah, not gonna happen. I still don't give a fuck. She knew what I was when she started making eyes at me. She'll deal.

We pulled into the lot, where the rest of our crew was already hard at work. Our present project is an office complex that, if done right, would take us at least half a year from start to finish to complete, and we planned on doing it right.

We charged top dollar for anything we signed on for because we had other men and women to support. Men and women that the government had fucked over after they'd lost part of themselves fighting a war, not of their making.

We already had a waiting list a mile long of more of our brothers and sisters looking for work. This little town was gonna be overrun with old seadogs by the time we were through because we didn't plan on leaving anyone behind.

"Hey, Rosie, you sure you wanna get all sweaty and shit? Might take away your girl's scent, brother."

"Fuck off, Quinn. They all had a good laugh at that before we got ready to do our thing.