“I’ll take it from here boys. Let’s let the experienced men get to the bottom of this, hmm?” Hutchinson told the rookies, already roundin’ em to shake hands with me and Bat. “Spot a trouble here, Garro?”
“Not much. The old thing crapped out on us. I’ll file an insurance claim and all that shit but I gotta be gettin’ home to my kid. You cool to catch up with me later if you find anythin’ in your investigation?”
Hutchinson nodded like the good ole boy he was. “Sure thing, Garro.”
I grinned at Danner and Gibson as I passed them on the way to my bike but I noticed the way Danner’s eyes caught on the photo of H.R. peekin’ outta my back jeans pocket, the flash of apprehension in those sharp eyes, and I knew he wouldn’t drop it for shit.
Zeus.
She was bendin’ low, her tight jeans strainin’ against her round ass, and every man in the fuckin’ room was lookin’ over at that pretty sight, droolin’ like a fool.
I knew ’cause dammit if I wasn’t one of ’em.
A kid with hair the colour of a fire engine sat between her spread legs, laughing up at her as she swung her long gold hair back and forth over them like a curtain. He grabbed a fistful of it and yanked so hard it musta hurt but her laugh only rang out louder, musical in a way I’d never heard music played before. She dropped to her ass, legs splayed around him like a bracket as she brought him into the fold of her body and smothered his face in kisses.
Felt my chest tighten like a bottle top closed too tight, the pressure buildin’ behind my ribs until I thought I might have a fuckin’ stroke.
Never seen anythin’ more beautiful than that teenage girl playin’ with a little kid like he was her own.
Before I could control it, the heathen inside me reared to the surface and thought about it. About claimin’ her for my own and plantin’ my seed inside that sweet body, watchin’ it grow even rounder ’cause a me. Thought about a sweet kid who looked just like my little warrior who I would call my own fuckin’ kin.
I clenched my fists against the impulse to throw her over my shoulder and spear her on my cock right there against the wall in front of everyone, so they would know she was mine. The only thing that held me back was knowin’ that even if no one else was aware of it, Loulou Lafayette was mine and she had been since she was seven years old whether it was fucked or not.
“Angel,” Mute grunted from beside and behind me, his eyes riveted to her like she was Mary Magdalene descended from heaven.
“Fuck me if you’re wrong,” I muttered.
Even though I’d spoke quiet, Lou perked up suddenly, her spine slammin’ straight and her head spinnin’ with unerring accuracy in my direction. I waited with pleasure as she took her time lookin’ me over, from the worn boots at my feet to the ball cap I wore backward over my unruly hair. Watched her lick that lush mouth and loved that she was too young to hide how much she wanted me.
“Zeus,” she breathed before clearing her throat and unconsciously dragging her kid closer to her chest like a shield. “What’re you doing here?”
As soon as we’d finished at Chapel, I’d set out to find her. Mute told me she spent every Thursday afternoon at the Autism Centre on the outskirts of downtown Entrance. He knew because he’d been tailin’ her for me since she’d cropped back up in my life at that fuckin’ party all those months ago. At first, it’d been a rotation of brothers who shouldered the duty but it was Mute who took a shinin’ to her and so it was him who I sent after her most often. He was a strange kid, my son’s best friend and like my own son after all these years. His bastard dad had ousted him from the house when he was just a kid because of his “fucked up” tendencies and he’d lived at the clubhouse or my place ever since. There wasn’t a soul I would trust more with Lou than him so he was with me, so I could introduce ‘im properly as her new bodyguard.
“Time to live and learn, little girl,” I told her with a wide grin, enjoying the looks of the receptionist and a few of the caretakers as they milled about the large space.
“Really?” she asked, excited like the girl she was.
My dick twitched at that enthusiasm, how it might be better applied to other things.
“Yeah,” I said roughly. “If you’re done here?”
Snappin’ back to reality, she looked down at her fire-haired charge and ducked down to rub noses with him.
“What time is it, Sammy?” she asked him softly.
“You can’t leave for nine minutes,” he declared in a loud voice.
“Hmm,” she stroked his springy hair back and peered up at me through her long fuckin’ lashes. “Do you want to meet my friend, Zeus? He likes to build things just like you.”
The kid, Sammy, stared up at her in awe then turned to me with his little mouth open in a perfect O. Fuck, I’d forgotten how cute kids could be.
“You like to build things?” he demanded.
I moved closer, noting the complex building blocks carefully ordered all around them and crouched low just in front of ’em. “Yeah, kid. I build bikes and cars.”
“No,” he breathed, his eyes so wide thought they’d fall straight outta his head.
I beamed at him. “Better believe it. My brother Mute does too.” I looked over my shoulder at Mute who lingered awkwardly by the door still. “Come ’ere, brother.”
He stalked forward, his mouth set in a firm line and I knew it was because Lou was spendin’ time with another kid. It was one of his things, he either liked ya or he didn’t and if he did, he wasn’t a big fan of sharin’.
Loulou seemed to notice ’cause she patted the ground to the other side of her and said, “Nice to see you again, Hero. I half expected you to be wearing a cape after your heroics of the other day.”
Then, for the first time since King had gone off to university and left his best friend behind, I saw Mute’s lips twitch then turn into a full-blown grin.
He reached out to tug on her hair as he lowered himself to the carpet. “Sammy, Mute.”
Sammy stared at ’im for a minute before saying, “Loulou’s my best friend so if you wanna play with us that’s okay but she signed a contract and everything so it’s kinda up to me to share her. If you can build something really, really cool, I’ll let you play with us sometimes too.”
The two kids, more alike than I woulda thought, stared at each other for a long minute before Mute nodded and reached for the Lego blocks.
I waited a tick as they both started to play before I reached out to knock Lou gently on the edge of her chin with my knuckles. “How ya doin’, kid?”
Her face was soft from watching her charge and her hero playing together and it socked a wicked punch to my gut that took my goddamn breath away when she smiled at me and tried to lean her face into my retreatin’ hand. I hesitated then spread my rough fingers against the silk of her cheek for a sec before pulling away.
“Good now,” she told me.
Fuck me, had I ever stood a chance against her?
“Wanna take you to Smoke’s Range,” I told her, tryin’ to focus on the reason I was there in the first place.