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Tim is now finally annoyed at James’s attempts to thwart his actions. “We really need to make sure you’re all safe, James. I’m not sure a normal family can do that, however well intentioned.”
“Mine can.” James smirks, the arrogant little shit. He’s clearly enjoying himself, winding everyone up.
Xander has gone from staring daggers at me to laughing his head off, and Mick is shaking his head side to side. I sit, smiling at them all. Tim keeps looking at me for inspiration on how to deal with him.
Then James drops his security bomb.
“I hardly think CommSec International is a ‘normal family’ set up.” He even does air quotes when he says normal family.
Carl sits up and stares at him. “Your family owns CommSec?” he asks in amazement.
“Yeah. And ‘Intech Security.’” Again with air quotes.
“Fuck,” says Carl in awe. “Is Jackson still at the helm?”
“Yeah, my uncle,” says James.
“Jackson and Jonno Greystone are your uncles?” Carl says for clarity.
“Yep.” James shrugs, in a ‘beat that’ mode.
Carl sits back and smiles. “We can leave the security and internet stuff Tim. Those guys are some of the best in the world.”
“The best,” corrects James, arrogance once again oozing from every slumped limb.
Carl goes on, saying, “I’ll contact Jackson just to make sure we work together and know what they’re planning, but we don’t need to get involved with them.” James finally cracks a genuine smile at Carl, and says he’ll let Jax know.
Tim is looking a bit dazed, and I can tell he feels this conversation has gotten out of his control. I tell them I need to let my family know tomorrow, so could we hold off with the statement until the evening. With that opening, Tim looks at me to open the question of the paternity test.
I dive straight in. “James, there’s no easy way to ask this so I’m just going to come out and say it. Would you be open to doing a paternity test? The lawyers think it’s prudent.”
I can see him mulling it over before he says, “What do you think?”
Fuck, he’s clever. Tim, Xander, and Mick’s eyes zero in on me, daring me to say the wrong thing. So I say, “To be honest, I don’t care. I know what the results will be. I’m not blind. And I trust your mother.” James looks away as I say that, and I curse my outburst this morning. “If you don’t want to do one, we’ll still make the statement, but it would just make it official on all fronts, legally speaking of course.”
I can see James is wanting to say a lot of things, and probably none of it is pleasant.
“Okay,” he agrees suddenly. “When and where?” Patrick is so keen to get this tied up that he suggests a lab in London this afternoon. When Pat starts to try to give him the address verbally for him to ‘write down,’ James cuts him off. “Drop me a pin.”
Tim starts to recap the meeting and asks James if he would be happy to do interviews with me if he’s asked.
“He’s going back to LA, though,” he points at me, “in a few days.”
I nod. “Let’s just see how things pan out, Tim. We might be able to keep it low key ‘til I go, and then hopefully they’ll come to me. I’ll keep them happy from over there with hopefully enough to keep them away from James and Evie. I can do TV, radio, etc if I need to. James and his band are not playing any gigs right now due to exams, so he won’t get mobbed there.”
Tim nods, offering James luck on his exam, then asks, “Would your mum be willing to come on a call with me? Just so I can catch her up on plans and meet her.”
James transforms in an instant. Gone is the surly, reticent teenager, and in his place is a full on Alpha-protective man. Fucking hell he’s good. He pulls himself up tall and stares Tim down with the coldest expression on his face, stating, “Don’t contact my mother. The answer is no.”
No one says a word.
Tim, looking a bit taken aback with the venom and change in demeanour, looks to me. I just shrug. What can I do? What a fucking mess.
“Well if that’s all, you’ve got my details, Tim, yes?” James states. And with that, he dismisses us all.
Xander is rolling around on the floor, laughing, with tears in his eyes.
“That boy is a legend. I’ve never seen anyone dismiss Tim and the team in such a clinical fashion. Legend.”
