“Did I mention how much I love you?” he asked, kissing her temple.
“Hey, I’m Vincent’s, but I know what it’s like in those early days. You’ve got a kid with another woman. The least you can do is give her some loving to butter her up.”
“You know I’m not letting her go. Do you think I should?” he asked. Phoebe had put Vincent on the straight and narrow. When Devil hadn’t been able to rein his boy in, Phoebe had come along giving him a purpose and a home. Vincent was a good man, but there were times even good men lost their way.
“Nah, she needs someone to take the lead. She’s been through too much, and you can see that in her eyes. Vincent was fond of her though. He talked about her all the time. He was impressed with the fact she was taking care of a kid that wasn’t actually hers.” Phoebe tapped his arms. “Whatever you decide is up to you. I don’t think she’s going to leave that boy easily, do you?”
She didn’t wait for his answer and walked in the opposite direction.
Staring at Lexie he felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. He was old enough to be her father, and yet he was lusting after he like he was some kind of f**king teenager.
“What’s up, Boss?” Ripper asked, approaching him.
“Nothing. I’m not sticking around here tonight. You and the boys need to clean that shit up at the strip club. I want it open for business. We need to make our stand. No drugs or squabbles. I don’t run a kindergarten,” Devil said.
“I’ll tell Curse to give the word out.”
“You do that.”
“Is she sticking around?” Ripper asked, nodding toward Lexie.
“She is, and she’s mine. Don’t even think about trying to take her. I’ll kill you first.”
“You’re damn lucky. She’s sexy as hell, and I bet not many men have been between her thighs.”
The thought of any man knowing what she’d be like in bed made him angry.
“Shut it, Ripper.”
He left his boys alone to go to Lexie’s side. Her hair lay down her back, begging to be held. Standing beside her, he saw she was looking out of the window, pointing things out to Simon.
“We’re not staying here tonight.”
“Thank God, I thought you didn’t have the first clue of the right environment for a baby.”
Stroking her hair, he kissed Simon’s head.
“He’s staying with Phoebe and Vincent. We’ve got the night in their pool house.” Her eyes went wide, but she didn’t say anything to dispute him. “Got any questions?” he asked.
“No, you’re the boss.”
After a couple of hours passed of making a list of things he needed and what would need to happen, Devil left the cleaning in the hands of Phoebe, who had already assembled a team. The ride back to Vincent’s house was slow.
Phoebe and Lexie made dinner while he played ball with Vincent and the boys. When the boys started fighting Vincent started talking.
“You’ve got a thing for Lexie, haven’t you?” Vincent asked.
“What makes you think that?” Devil caught the ball off his friend and dribbled it down to the hoop, landing a shot right in.
He bowed as the boys squealed in delight.
They took a time out as the boys played, trying to score into the high hoop.
“She’s a good girl.”
“And a stripper,” Devil said.
“She was a stripper to take care of your kid. I can’t believe I held that boy and you hadn’t even seen him.”
Devil tensed. “You did the test to make sure she got the body for dancing?”
“Yeah, like I do with all the girls. I didn’t touch her at all.”
He couldn’t be angry at his man for doing business. “She’s not dancing anymore, do you hear me?” Devil asked.
“Yeah, I already got that. She made a lot of money.”
“Don’t care. We’ll find other girls who can make that kind of money.” Devil stared at the house wondering what shit Phoebe was saying.
“I’m pleased you’re going to do right by her. She deserves it.”
“You barely know her. How do you know she wasn’t passing him off to others to look after?” he asked.
Vincent chuckled. “She talked about him all the time. It was the only reason she danced. I asked her about it, and she told me if another job came around she’d take it in a heartbeat even if it was cleaning toilets. Girl had it bad for the boy. She’d do anything for him.” Vincent sighed. “What happened with you and the sister?”
“She was a woman on the road. Didn’t give me any kind of shit and was offering what I wanted, a quick easy f**k. Condom broke and she was pregnant.” Devil shrugged. He couldn’t do anything to change what happened. It was just rotten f**king luck the one time the condom broke, the girl got knocked up.
“What are you going to do about the girl?”
“I don’t know. She’ll turn up, and I’ll see if I’m in a forgiving mood.”
“Dinner is ready,” Lexie said, appearing in the doorway. The boys ran in almost knocking her over in their need to get food.
“Where’s your f**king manners?” Vincent asked, charging ahead to ward off his boys.
Lexie giggled then smiled up at him. Devil was struck by how young she was. Reaching out she took his hand, and he drew her to him. “What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He lifted a brow waiting for her to relent.
“Okay, this is something I’ve always wanted.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t laugh at me, but I imagined having a house like this and calling my man in for dinner with the kids.” She shrugged, and her cheeks were a nice shade of rouge. “Do I sound insane?” she asked.
“No, you sound like a woman with a plan. You never lived in a house then?”
She shook her head. “Mom lived in a little flat, and when she couldn’t afford to keep up with the rent we moved into a trailer.” She shrugged. “There wasn’t a lot going on growing up.”
Pushing her hair back, he saw the bruises from his lips. “It’s good to have dreams.”
He was going to make her dreams come true.
“You’re not going to tease me?”
“No, I’m going to tell you to hold onto those dreams. They might come true.” He leaned down, claiming her lips.