As we rounded the building, the deep sound of thumping bass reverberated through the bricks. It wasn’t just dinner inside, but a party.
The back door flew open before I reached the handle. Music blared, and the scents of barbeque and booze enveloped me. Home.
A woman fell into my chest—a half-naked, very drunk woman with a big set of fake tits. She giggled and looked up at me, her head leaning on my chest. “O-M-G, I’m so glad you were here to catch me.”
Her voice was much too loud. She slid her hand around my neck. She wasn’t one of the regulars, but she’d fit right in here.
Before today, I would have slapped her ass and thrown her over my shoulder. Before Paige. Before Evelyn.
I looked down at the kid beside me. Her eyes were wide as a full moon.
Paige was right. This was no place for Evelyn, at least not tonight, not during a party. She looked like she was freaking the hell out, and this was nothing compared to what was likely going on inside.
“Join me, blue eyes,” the woman said. “I’ll show you a good time.”
I gently but firmly removed the woman from my chest.
I turned to Evelyn. “Let’s go the other way.”
She nodded, but didn’t say a thing.
We went back around the building and entered through the business side where our offices were. The music was still loud over here, but everything was dark and empty, and devoid of sex.
I led Evelyn up the staircase. “Sorry you had to see that.”
She still didn’t say anything.
I flipped the light on in my room, and saw a little pink backpack leaning on the wall by the door. Evelyn ran over and picked it up. Brick must have left her things in here when he passed her off to me.
“Is that all you have?”
She nodded. Her eyes were still wide, and she hugged the stuffed animal Paige had given her. The tough little badass I’d first met was gone, and what remained was a scared little girl who’d lost everything. Shit.
I scanned the room. I hadn’t thought this through at all. I had one bed, a single, and a chair. “All right. You get the bed.” I looked at the chocolate sauce smeared all over her face. “Shower first. Do you have pajamas in that bag?”
She nodded.
“Good.” I showed her the bathroom and how the knob to the shower worked. It was a little wonky, and sputtered if it wasn’t turned just so. She just looked at me, and I couldn’t tell if she was getting it, so I decided to turn it on for her. I figured when she was done, I’d just turn it back off for her, too, if she needed me to.
“I’m going to go downstairs a minute. I’ll be right—”
“Please don’t go.”
Her lips turned into a tiny frown and my heart broke. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be right out in the room. You come on out when you’re done, okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded.
I grabbed a beer from the mini fridge and settled into my well-worn recliner. It wasn’t a bad place to sleep, but we could only do this for so long. Having a kid was forever. Even if we found her mom and shared custody, nothing would ever be the same. I couldn’t rely on Brick to lend me his truck forever. And it wasn’t fair to make Evelyn see the kind of shit that happened downstairs.
My whole life was about to change, and I hated change. It was hard. Work had been hard switching from doing whatever we got paid for to doing whatever we got paid for that was within the boundaries of the law. Sure, I could go out and use my law degree and do something away from the Butchers, but Hawke and Brick, Shaundra, hell, even Ray—they were my family. I didn’t mind doing the contracts for the security gigs, or fighting to keep guys from some of the other chapters out of prison. But now I had another family to think about.
Soon after the sounds of water cut off, Evelyn opened the door. Her hair was matted down to her head, and all the chocolate was washed away. She stood there in pink pajamas with unicorns on them, and held tight to both her backpack and her stuffed animal. She looked younger somehow than she had before.
I cleared my throat. “Bed’s all yours. Hop on in.”
“I don’t think I can sleep yet.”
“Maybe I could borrow a tablet and you could watch some YouTube.”
“Okay.” She climbed up and set her bag next to her on the pillow and held tight to her unicorn. “Jett?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll come right back, right?”
Broke my heart every fucking time. I smiled at her before heading out into the hall. “I promise.”
I expected to have to go down to the party, but Brick was there, leading two women to his bedroom.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, you have my keys?” Brick narrowed his eyes at me. The women rubbed their hands all over him, vying for his full attention.
“Yeah.” I reached into my pocket and held them out.
He didn’t take them, and instead clenched his jaw. “You still have the kid?”
“Yep.”
“Then keep the keys until you get something else worked out.”
It wasn’t like him to do favors. Maybe he just had a soft spot for kids. “Thanks.”
“Oh, don’t thank me. I’m taking your bike.”
Hell no. No one touched my bike. But then, how was I going to drive Evelyn?
I growled under my breath and said, “Fine.”
Brick turned and opened his door. The women ran in and jumped on the bed, stripping off what little clothing they had left.
I nodded toward the women. “They aren’t anything like Shaundra.”
Brick growled low and fierce. “Nobody is like Shaundra.”
“Wait.” I caught his wrist before he shut the door. “Can I borrow your tablet?”
“Sure, whatever.”
He grabbed the device from his dresser and handed it to me. “Don’t come back asking for anything else. I’m busy.”
Before I could respond, he slammed the door in my face.
Fair enough.
Across the hall, I cracked open the door to my room. Lying in the bed, still holding tight to her unicorn, Evelyn was fast asleep.
My eyes shot open, to pitch black. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest.
What the hell had startled me? A bad dream? A loud noise?
I blinked hard and my eyes adjusted. There was motion in the bed. Evelyn was tossing and turning.
A shrill screech filled the small room. The kid—the kid had woken me. I rose from my chair and went to the bedside, unsure what I could do to help her.
“Hey.” I touched Evelyn’s shoulder.
Her eyes didn’t open, but her face squinched up as if she was in pain.
“Evelyn, it’s okay. It’s just a bad dream, and I’m here.”
Her body settled and the stress lines smoothed from her face, leaving her still except for the gentle rise and fall of her chest. I waited there, afraid to take my hand away, afraid she’d wake up or worse, that the nightmare would take over again.
Time passed, and I wasn’t sure how much, but it seemed like she was okay. I slid down to the floor, sitting against the wall, with my hand still on her shoulder, and I closed my eyes in search of sleep.
Sliding in and out of consciousness, I found myself dreaming.
Images of big brown eyes, of straight black hair and thick curves, filled my mind. With them were memories of her walking away, frustration that I hadn’t made her stay, and undeserved hopes for a future. I’d never given much thought to finding a mate. The kind of women who were worth settling down with weren’t the kind I associated with, with the exception of Shaundra. But I didn’t think of her like that.
Given a chance with Paige, I was sure to fuck it up. End up like my parents.
Paige. I remembered how she’d glared at me, hands on her wide hips. Before I’d even said a word to her, she hated me. My mate.
My nose bent under soft pressure. My eyelids were still heavy, but light crept through.
“You shouldn�
�t sleep on the floor, silly.”
I opened my eyes and found Evelyn sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling, and her pointer finger aimed at my face.
“You’re right,” I said. “It was stupid of me.”
“You said it, not me.”
I nodded and smiled.
Today was the day I’d promised Hawke I’d go to Greenville. I’d expected to wrap up the whole Evelyn thing yesterday, but that was before I knew she was mine. And now, I had no fucking idea what I was doing.
“Go get dressed,” I said. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
She grabbed her bag and headed into the bathroom. When she was done, I threw on some deodorant and brushed my teeth. We left the same way we’d entered the clubhouse, through the office side so we didn’t end up seeing any naked bodies sprawled out anywhere. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for learning something and not making the same mistake twice. I’d figure this parenting thing out, one day at a time.
A quick stop at a drive-thru for some breakfast on the way, and we both filled our guts before either of us said anything beyond meaningless pleasantries. By that point, we’d reached Greenville City.
There were a shit ton of questions I needed answers to. One bugged me more than the rest. I didn’t know what Evelyn was thinking, but I needed to figure out how to press her on the woman who’d ambushed us at the ice cream parlor the day before—my mate.
“Hey squirt, what can you tell me about Paige?”
She turned her whole body toward me. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve known her forever, right?”
“Yep.”
We approached the Briggs Unlimited tower. I’d scope out the area from afar today, only see what we could see from the truck. It wasn’t like I could take the kid inside, so it was a start.
“Was she your neighbor or something?” I asked.
“She used to live with me.”
“Oh yeah? You and whoever you were staying with before hanging out with me?”
She turned back around and looked out the window, completely disengaging. “No.”
This was dangerous territory. Evelyn’s stiff stature and crossed arms made it clear I’d touched a nerve. Something safer—I needed to think of something more comfortable to ask her, or our conversation was over.
We passed the tower. Security wasn’t as heavy as I’d expected, at least not from the outside. I decided to park two blocks down to observe the flow of traffic in and out of the building. Here in front of a bank there’d be plenty of cars passing between us and Briggs’s tower, plus a decent view of the lot and entrance.
“You have a favorite food?” I asked.
Evelyn looked back over at me and let her hands fall to her lap. “Chocolate.”
“That’s a good one.” This was easier than I’d expected. “Favorite color?”
“Yellow.”
“Really? My first guess would have been pink.”
She made a sour face.
“But your pajamas are pink.” I thought back to the day before. “And your backpack.”
“Yeah, but they have unicorns.” Her sharp tone made it clear that this was all the explanation that was required.
“Uh-huh.” I shifted in my seat. “So unicorns are good, but pink isn’t. What about purple?”
“Better. But yellow’s the best. Like dandelions.” Her eyes sparkled and she smiled at me. It was the craziest thing, but just one little smile made a warm feeling spread across my chest.
“Or your hair.”
“My hair’s not—”
The truck jostled. Evelyn threw her hands against the dash, bracing herself, and squealed. I balled my fists, ready to shift, ready to defend my daughter. A man stood in front of the truck, his arms extended over the hood. He lifted a bottle covered in paper and stumbled onto the sidewalk beside us.
“Sorry.” He waved from hands and knees.
It was a harmless encounter, but that wasn’t the point. My wolf seethed just beneath the surface. It could have been Briggs and his pack. It could have been gunfire instead of a drunk. I was distracted, and that was unacceptable. Evelyn couldn’t be here.
I’d fucked up.
I rested my hand on the pocket that held a business card. I needed help. More than anything I wanted that help to come from the woman I knew was my mate, if only I could get her to trust me.
Chapter Six
Paige
My article wasn’t writing itself no matter how many cups of gritty coffee I picked up downstairs, or how hard I glared at the screen. The bed and breakfast was perfectly nice. The whole damned town seemed perfectly nice. Even Jett had acted reasonable given the fact that I, a total stranger, had tried to steal his kid.
It had been a whole twenty-four hours—nope, twenty-six and a half hours since I’d arrived in town, and the incident went down. Why hadn’t they called? Okay, I knew why. But I really wanted them to call.
How long was I supposed to sit around in this room waiting? What if Greyson never called?
My stomach churned. Maybe it was all the coffee. Maybe I was just getting a little stir-crazy. Either way, it seemed like the perfect time to stretch my legs.
I left my room and headed downstairs. The scent of tuna hit me halfway down, which reminded me of Graybeard, my favorite alley cat. I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted my next door neighbor back home, Mrs. Foster.
P: Hey. Wanted to make sure you remembered to feed the cat.
F: Of course. Don’t worry. Have fun on your trip.
Fun? Yeah, right. But she didn’t know why I was here or what I was dealing with. I didn’t really want to text it to her, either.
P: Thanks!
There. Perfect.
“Joining us for dinner, Paige?”
I looked up and found the lady from the desk. Mrs. Something…I couldn’t remember her name. She had her gray hair up in a tight bun, and her squinted eyes made me think she desperately needed glasses. She had the look of a television librarian. Not the hot, lets her hair down and then she’s gorgeous kind, but the normal kind.
“Yeah, I, uh.” Dinner...ugh. My stomach growled and twisted. I couldn’t eat. “Do you have any crackers?”
“I have rolls.”
“I’d love a roll.”
She disappeared into the dining area and I stood a moment, unsure if I was supposed to follow or wait here. As soon as I took a few steps after her, she returned, with bread on a little plate with flowers painted on it.
She smiled at me, but if I wasn’t mistaken there was a sadness there. Was...was I supposed to sit down to eat with her? No. Pleasing other people wasn’t my job. I had two jobs while in town—
Evie, and writing.
“Thank you.” I headed back up the steps and plopped down on the bed with my roll and my laptop and read the start of my article.
Screw stiff jeans. Gimme comfort. Gimme a pair of palazzos paired with a crop top and
Not so good. Maybe bad writing was better than no writing. Start getting the creative juices flowing and magic would happen.
I like pants. I like comfortable pants.
I took a bite of the bread and considered what else I could write.
I like bread, too.
It was terrible, ridiculously atrocious, and not at all what I wanted to write. What I wanted to share was the image that appeared in my head every time I closed my eyes. I wanted to write a ballad of adoration for the tight white t-shirt that perfectly showcased biceps the size of my thighs, that stretched across broad shoulders and his thick and tapered chest. I wanted to know the feel of those firm pecs and sculpted abs beneath my palms, instead of just guessing what it would be like based on the impact of my face when I’d crashed into Jett fucking Greyson. And I wanted to feel all these things about someone else. Anyone other than that lying, cheating, no good—
My phone buzzed and tickled my thigh.
I hopped out of the bed, grateful for the distraction, and hit accep
t. It was probably Janie wondering where the hell my article was.
“Hello.”
“Paige?” Holy hell, it was him. That deep rumbly voice shot excitement through my entire body like he’d reached through the phone and run the pad of his thumb across my ear.
“Yes. Who is this?” No question, I knew it was Mr. Sexy Ink, but I could pretend to be not desperate. There was no lie for him to detect, even if an untruth was implied.
“It’s Jett. We started off on the wrong foot. I’d like to remedy that.”
“I think we started just fine.” Okay, that was a lie.
There was a rustle of movement on the other side of the line. I imagined him smoothing his hand over his rough beard, up through his brown hair, his eyes flashing with something not quite readable.
“We should get together and do this in person.”
Don’t seem desperate. Don’t be too eager. “Do what?”
“I need your help.” He paused. “With Evelyn.”
Hell yes, the ball was back in my court...or in my court for the first time. “That’s why I’m in Ashwood.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”
“Twenty—” Uhhhhhh. “Yeah, great.” Totally great.
“See you then.”
The line clicked, but I was still standing there like an idiot. And then I realized I was getting what I wanted—a chance to see Evie, make sure she was okay. I’d convince Jett to send her home where she belonged, where she could see her friends and resume her normal life. As much as that was possible. He needed my help because he wasn’t equipped to be a father, no surprise there.
Parenting wouldn’t be easy for me, either, I was sure. But it wouldn’t be forever. Linda would get better, and I’d be there to hold the pieces together until then.
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