Jagger: A Caldwell Brothers Novel by Chelsea Camaron, Mj Fields

pocket. “They may look like a couple of badasses who would put up a fight, but they are loyal to the old man.” She seems to relax a bit, and he reaches out his hand. “Hendrix Caldwell.”
    She smiles and shakes his hand. “I knew the Caldwell name was familiar, but Hendrix is unforgettable. Your wife is a social worker. Olivia, right?”
    “Yeah.” He nods and smiles.
    “Good.” She looks back. “He doesn’t want to suffer, and he doesn’t want the two of you to, either. We will make him as comfortable as possible.”
    An hour later, I can’t fight the sickness in my stomach anymore. I hate hospitals, the smell, the sounds of the machines, the fucking uncomfortable chairs.
    “I’m gonna step out. You want coffee?”
    Kid shakes his head. “Take your time. When you get back, I’ll take a walk too.”
    I lean down and kiss the old man’s head. “Not ready to let you go, champ. You’re like a father to me, better than any man I ever knew. Fuck, Shaw, I love you, man.”
    Half an hour later, I am waving goodbye to Hendrix. I told him I would run back to the waterfront, and he knows I need to let off steam.
    When I walk back in the hospital room, I hear a familiar sound, and I run in.
    Kid is on his knees next to Shaw’s bed, and I hear him sniffling. I look up as the nurses and the doc come rushing in.
    I push past them and hold his hand while he takes his last breath.

Chapter 14
Tatiana
    “Hi,” I say shyly, opening the door for Olivia Caldwell.
    She smiles big at me from behind her glasses. She has this ease about her that soothes me.
    Olivia moves to the sitting area and drops shopping bags on the couch. “All right, girlie, it’s time to have some fun!” Her excitement bubbles over, and she snorts, making me cover my mouth to hide my own laugh. “I don’t know what you like, but Jagger gave me sizes from what he’s been getting you, and I got a little variety. I can take back whatever you don’t like.”
    I pause, taking in the moment. For the first time in my entire life, a female bought me clothes. I have never had anything purchased for me by a woman. A lot of my stuff actually came from evicted tenants when we seized their contents after they got served or the people who moved on and just left their junk behind. I taught myself to sew by hand with a small sewing kit enough to repair the worn hand-me-downs.
    My life feels like I am on a crazy merry-go-round. I am spinning and spinning. Will it ever stop? When I step off and into the real world, what happens next? My father is dead. I am hiding in a hotel room, trusting that I didn’t kill the man who gave me life, based on the word of a man I barely know. Suddenly everything is blurry, and the room is spinning.
    I sit on the couch and drop my head to my hands.
    “Tatiana?” Olivia says softly.
    I look up at her, feeling like a child.
    Jagger hates my father. Would he tell me the truth about his death? I haven’t had much in life, but everything I did have up until six months ago, literally everything, was provided by him. Now he is gone, and I probably did it.
    “This is supposed to be fun, not sad.” She rubs her butt, and I am curious if she has an itch. “Be in the moment.”
    I raise an eyebrow at her in question.
    “I don’t know all your problems, but I do know you mean something to Jagger. For Caldwells, everything is about family.” She starts to rub her butt again, then stops herself, biting her bottom lip. “Be in the moment. Right now, let go of everything going on in your head and let’s have girl time. We don’t know each other, but I hope, by the end of the day, we do.”
    And that is when my day with Livi starts. She is a firecracker, full of energy. Even with her little baby bump, she doesn’t slow down.
    I try on so many outfits I can’t remember which bottoms go with which tops to over half of them. She giggles and snorts when we come to the final bag.
    “Tatiana, I should tell you something.”
    “Okay,”