Twelve hours after getting home having a nice meal, calling Sophia letting her know that she's on multiple agencies radars including her deal with the CIA for support in taking over territory.
"Thank you for the heads up Papi, but I know about my status of being on multiple watchlists."
"Okay I just wanted to make sure, should probably have one of the T-X series take your appearance and act as a body doubt as extra security for you and our child." I start to babble a little bit and Sophia smiles softly.
"Si, Papi...I will. I have to go finish some work stuff but I'll call you later."
"Oh wait Sophia what do you know about Carter Verone's operations here in America?" I ask and Sophia blanches, "Papi, whatever you are involved in get out of it Verone is a coño compared to his sister Elena. Becareful Papi!" My call with Sophia cuts off and she was surprisingly unhelpful.
I turn to face the girls receiving glares galore…before getting dragged to the bedroom and tied to the bed and he-hem, punished in a very enjoyable way for being a dumbass, that needs to be more considerate and less impulsive.
On my way to meet up with Tess at a private airfield to go retrieve Roman from his shitty RV in Barstow.
I give Roman a call, "Hey Bri, what's up?" Roman asks me and I can tell that he's surprised I'm calling.
"No bull, bro but I'm working on something and I'll need your help, I'm on my way to get you now." I say to Roman, and he makes a sound in the back of his throat that I can barely hear over the phone.
"Alright Bri…I'll be ready where do you want to meet?" Roman asks and I know he's nervous about leaving the range of his anklet even though we've got that setup to allow him to leave his range whenever he needs to but he doesn't like the risk it carries with his PO showing up at his residence on a random inspection.
"Just stay in your RV near the demolition stadium, I'll be going there to pick you up."
"Cool, Brian…and thanks for looking out for me Dog, I'm sure this wasn't easy to set up."
"Ehh, you're family Rome, look I gotta go see you in five to six hours, Bro."
~~ — — — — — — — — — — ~~
"So you're sure this Roman Pierce can be relied upon for this mission? His records say otherwise." Tess asks me and then proceeds to point out Roman's criminal records.
"He'll be solid because I need him to be and his freedom is on the line…" I say to her and she nods but still has an air of doubt lingering around her.
"Tess, I know we haven't known each other long but you seem off, is everything alright?" I ask the blonde after watching her out of the corner of my right eye.
Tess sighs and turns to stare out of the little window on this private jet, through her reflection I can see her struggling to decide what to say.
"I-I'm just so confused right now Brian…I've learned things in the past couple of days that I never even could have guessed about…but now that I think about it I should have expected them." The words just explode out of her in a whoosh and suddenly she's turning to look at me with tears running down her face.
Not sure why I find myself standing up and sitting down on the seat directly beside her and pulling her into a hug, Tess presses her face against my chest as I rub her back while holding her in a hug.
'If this is an act to make me lower my guard she's damned good at being a spy/actress…much better than Brie Larson that's for sure.' I think while leaning backwards in my chair, arms wrapped around Tess, she's stopped crying now and now she's looking up at me like a cornered…wounded animal.
I let my arms fall and Tess fixed herself in her seat. I don't say anything and neither does she but within ten minutes of taking off from the airstrip, Tess nods off and rests her head against my arm.
'What am I getting myself into here? At this rate I'm going to destroy my relationships with Letty, Mia…I don't really care about Suki. She's fun and adorable at times but I don't feel much of anything for her besides some basic sexual attraction.
Sophia is somewhere in-between committed and a sugar mommy/booty call with me, but we have a child on the way. Then there's Supra now that Supra isn't my car our relationship is suffering…and to me it feels like it's disintegrating completely.'
'The truth is I rushed into things way too damned fast, first with Mia then with Letty, then Sophia…that's not even accounting for Supra and Suki. Mia and Brian's relationship was cannon and probably unavoidable unless I really made an ass out of myself…then again Brian's and Mia's relationship never lasted this long in cannon, by the time they got back together they were pretty much done with life and about to go on the run.' I try to shake off my thoughts, my eyes growing heavy out of boredom.
~~ — — — — — — — — — — ~~
The feeling of tires hitting the tarmac pulling me out of my sleep, the intercom sounds, "We have landed at the Barstow-Daggot Airport." The captain says.
I notice instantly that Tess is sitting upright and now I'm the one laying on her. "Have a nice nap, Brian?" Tess asks me so I turn and tilt my head upwards only to find Tess smirking, as her arm keeps my head held against her chest.
"Yeah, one of the best naps I've ever had." I say back with a smirk in my voice but don't make any effort to move.
"Well, we should probably get going…" Tess remarks playfully and I pretend to be annoyed as I sit up right my back thanking me as I do so.
'You'd think being more durable and having a healing factor would mean no back pain after sleeping in an awkward position…but I guess not…' I complain in my head while getting out of my seat, following Tess out of the plane and to an undercover police sedan that had been left for us by someone.
I do a cursory inspection for explosives and tracking devices using my advanced contact lenses, that have been upgraded with various X-ray and see through objects functions getting a nice view of what Tess has underneath her power suit.
Besides her rockin body, there are also four guns and a bunch of knives, hidden by her clothes.
I grab the keys from the inner fender well and then slide into the driver's seat disengaging the X-ray vision by rapidly blinking my eyes.
Driving to the stadium, feeling that Tess wants to ask me something but is holding back from doing so for some reason.
Pulling up in front of Roman's RV, Roman walks out with a duffle bag.
"How much did you tell your friend?" Tess asks me.
"Other than that I needed his help with something, nothing." I say to her leaving out the part about telling him that he'll get his name cleared.
"And even though he's on parole with an Anklet he's willing to help you?"
"Yup, that's what family is Tess." I say to her and she gets out of the car, Roman is stunned stupid and mindlessly lifts his left and pant leg when Tess tells him to and she uses a key to remove the anklet.
Within a few minutes we're back on our way to the airport and getting on the plane back to Miami.
~~ — — — — — — — — — — ~~