“Dad, enough already. You keep questioning Angel then Lash is going to kick your ass.” Tate took a spoonful of her cereal and smiled at him. “Besides, Tabitha’s more likely to hurt Angel than Lacey.”
“Am not.” Tabitha’s little voice came from the corner.
“Are too,” Tate said, sticking her tongue out at her little sister. The two sisters were also giggling as they played with their dad.
“Stop it, you two,” Tiny said, shaking his head. “Your mom’s going to see Lexie with Simon. I better not hear any more crap from you, missy.” He pointed his finger at Tabitha before moving onto Tate. “You should know better. You’ve got a kid of your own and one on the way.”
“Will do.” Tate saluted him.
He shook his head, walking out.
Tabitha walked over to her sister, and they high-fived. “We had him, did you see?”
“Yep.”
Was this what it was to be a family? Lacey had been ten years old when her family had been torn from her. Pushing the thoughts aside, she finished eating as Zero walked into the kitchen.
“What have I told you about leaving my bed?” He pulled Prue into his arms, slamming his lips down on hers.
Lacey wished she could have something like that. Zero was careful of Markus as he kissed Prue.
“You were snoring your ass off. I’ve been awake for ages. I’m not lying around all morning just to get a kiss with your morning breath.”
“Woman, I swear I’ll spank your ass.”
Prue’s smile grew wider. “Is that a promise?”
Everywhere Lacey turned the signs of love and devotion were clear to see. Lacey finished her food, climbed off her chair, and made her way to the sink. She washed the dish aware of her hands shaking.
Angel stood beside her. “It’s okay to be nervous. I was nervous when I first arrived here.”
She smiled at the other woman, hating her reaction to being around the club. Lacey wanted to be part of it while she felt she didn’t deserve it. Her family was long gone, dead, by the men who were now around her.
“Stop mauling me.” Prue slapped Zero in the gut. “It’s time for us to go before we get stuck in a shitload of traffic.”
“Come on.”
“Wait, have any of you seen Rose?” Zero asked.
Angel had grabbed her arm and started leading her out of the room. The two women stopped to look at Zero.
Prue tilted her head to the side to observe her man. “We don’t know.”
He stared right back at her. “You know where she is.”
She snorted. “Of course I do. I’m not going to tell you for you to run right off back to Hardy. That man needs to learn to go without. He should have known to keep his dick in his pants.” They headed out of the clubhouse with Anthony and Markus with them. Prue placed the two pushchairs in the trunk of the car as Angel secured the two kids in their car seats.
“Right, Lacey, you’ve got a choice. You can sit between the two brats or you can sit beside me. Angel doesn’t mind where she sits so long as she’s got an eye on the boys.”
“I’ll sit up front with you.” Lacey didn’t handle kids, and hadn’t touched kids since her ordeal. The last thing she wanted to do was get involved with what she could never have. On the road she couldn’t even get a puppy as they didn’t have the means to keep one. From the moment the guys had it fixed in their head to deal with Gonzalez, she hadn’t been able to settle down.
Get over it.
Lacey didn’t know what to expect from the future. If she was honest with herself, the prospect of the future terrified her.
****
“What’s going on?” Tiny asked, brushing past Alex to walk into his home. Alex heard Sunshine in the kitchen dealing with his breakfast. He enjoyed being at home a lot more than he did being at the clubhouse right now. The men were angry at him for what he had done to Butch and keeping it from the club. It had been his idea, his decision that Tiny had agreed to, and the men were not happy with it.
“Nothing.”
“You’re hiding out in your house because of the shit that went down between Devil and me?” Tiny folded his hands. The sound of pans banging around drew Tiny’s attention. “Who’s that?”
“Sunshine. She’s my housekeeper and has been since I bought this place well over a year ago.”
“You’ve had this place a year and you didn’t tell me?”
Alex hadn’t told anyone about his purchase of this place. He didn’t want any of the club descending on him unnecessarily, and also, he didn’t want any of the club to be near Sunshine. By keeping his place a secret, he kept Sunshine to himself. From the moment he saw her he’d not touched another woman, hadn’t wanted another woman.
“This is my business, and it doesn’t affect the club.”
“You wanted to give up your life in Vegas, the casino, all the shit Ned had coming your way to come to my town. Why the fuck are you in my town if you’re going to keep shit from me?” Tiny asked.
“I helped create this town. I helped you, Tiny.”
“Yeah, I know you helped me. I know you were always there, but you were not part of the club, Alex. You were a businessman who wore a fancy suit. I did all the shit here. I got my hands dirty while you stayed away. When Michael came out of the woodwork, you told me you wanted to be part of the club. What’s changed?”
Alex rested his hands on his hips. He wore a pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt. The scent of Sunshine was on everything. These were the clothes he bought when he hired her. She washed and pressed them regularly even though she didn’t need to. Everything smelled of her. She’d been the only woman in the house for so long, and he loved it. He didn’t have to share her with her family as they stayed within town. Sunshine did leave the house to visit them.
“Devil was right. I don’t know the first thing about running a club. You need to take care of The Skulls by yourself.”
“You’re not backing away from the club. You wouldn’t even let Butch back away.”
“I’m not backing away. I just see it useless me trying to be something I’m clearly not.” Alex shrugged. “He was right.”
Tiny started laughing. “Devil and I are no longer talking and you’re going to back down from the club.”
“He was right.”
“What about Michael? What about your son? He’s part of the club whether you like it or not. Are you going to back down?” Tiny asked.