Scion (Norseton Wolves Book 4) by Holley Trent

illegal betting behind his wife’s back.
    “Thought I didn’t know about it, huh?”
    “The prize is five thousand tax-free dollars, babe. It was either I stand back and let one of the wolfpack assholes or opportunistic Afótama gamblers collect money on my kid, or I’d toss in some cash and try to scoop it up myself.”
    “Five thousand bucks, huh?” She rubbed her chin and narrowed her eyes. “You know what I could do with five thousand bucks?”
    “You? I was thinking of using it to finish paying off your bride price.”
    “Ha ha. I’m worth more than five thousand bucks.”
    “So much more, but the going rate on an ex-Madeira with a Carbone husband is fifty thousand bucks.”
    “Whatever, Vic.”
    He entwined his fingers and sank a little lower in his seat, pulling his gaze down to his outstretched legs.
    “Seriously, tell me you’re joking.”
    If only.
    A knock sounded on the door, and Jackie pushed in the portable ultrasound machine before they could respond. “Let’s see if we can figure out how big this kid is. Your amnio said his lungs were mature, by the way. So—labor could happen at any time.”
    “ Mm-hmm ,” Ashley hummed.
    Vic looked up at her, and as he expected, found her looking at him, and not Jackie who was bent over plugging in the machine.
    “What?” he mouthed.
    She narrowed her eyes at him. “Fifty thousand dollars?” She didn’t even bother whispering, but in five months, he’d learned that was Ashley in general. She didn’t keep things hidden, and she didn’t lie about important things. She didn’t have to, because she tried so hard to be decent—maybe harder than anyone would have expected her to. Sometimes, he wondered if she believed she had something to prove, and perhaps that was partly his fault.
    He sighed. “It’ll be worth every penny.”
    “How much have you paid them so far? And where did you get the money? And what, exactly, does it buy?”
    Jackie tamped the bottle of ultrasound goop against her palm and looked from Ashley to Vic and back. “Should I step out?”
    “No need to,” Ashley said. “We’ll probably be loud enough that you could hear us anyway.”
    “You gonna yell at me, babe?” Vic asked.
    “If I have to. Have you forgotten how loud Italians can be without trying?”
    “Okay, look. Shit. I used to do penny stock trading in my downtime. I took it up when I was out of commission because I’d broken my dominant arm. I was going to use the money on the new house, but this was more pressing.”
    “They blackmailed you?”
    “Yes and no. A couple of your dad’s enforcers caught up to Anton and me when we were on the road last month with the Afótama royalty. Let’s just say some threats were issued—on both ends—and your father agreed to forget you or anyone with the name Carbone has ever existed for the previously stated amount.”
    “You shouldn’t pay it. That pack’s got nothing on us, even if they do outnumber us ten to one. They’ve got no strength. What the hell do you think they could do? You guys are already sniffing the mail that comes into this place for bombs and chemicals. Nobody comes in here that hasn’t been cleared, and us girls rarely even leave the Norseton boundaries unescorted.”
    Jackie turned her stare to Vic and made a Well? gesture. The conversation would probably turn out to be the most entertaining thing she’d witnessed all day. If she wanted to see real entertainment, though, he’d direct her to his parents.
    “Maybe they can’t really hurt us, but they can annoy the shit out of us. Fifty thousand dollars is a small price to pay for a little peace if we can get it. We’ve got enough problems without that petty bastard stirring up drama.”
    Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose and sputtered her lips. “You’re giving him the last laugh. You know that, right?”
    He shrugged. “Let him laugh until he cries. He’s not always gonna be the leader of the pack, and when he’s cast aside, all