“I’m well aware of that, honey,” Blythe agreed quietly.
“I’ll pay him a visit,” Savage volunteered immediately. “Have Code get an address for me.” Damned if some man was going to take Darby from her home to play mother to his child. That was some bullshit right there.
“You won’t be paying him any visit, Savage,” Blythe decreed. “Czar, this man is off-limits. Do both of you understand? He’s off-limits.”
Czar sighed. “I see no reason why I can’t just have a talk with him, Blythe. He’s way older than she is. I won’t embarrass her.”
Blythe rolled her eyes. “Don’t be obtuse. You know darn well you’ve already embarrassed her just by riding with six of the boys past Crow 287 when he was coming out of it. You did it on purpose. Twice. It was no coincidence, like you told her. I’m not that naïve. And he isn’t all that much older than she is.”
“You did a rollout and I wasn’t called?” Savage objected.
“We thought you might be a little busy,” Czar said, then grinned sheepishly at his wife. “It wasn’t really a rollout. We were just riding together.”
“See the kind of thing you’re going to have to deal with when you have children, Seychelle? Especially girls.” Blythe sipped her tea and chose a pretzel.
Savage was happy to see that Seychelle was relaxed enough to eat a few of the vegetables with the dip. He realized that was another of Czar’s gifts. He knew she was extremely nervous—that even Savage wasn’t his usual calm self—and he’d deliberately introduced a topic that would make everyone have a lively conversation involving someone else. It also gave him the opportunity to see how Czar and Blythe interacted when they disagreed.
“Darby is a very headstrong, stubborn young woman, Czar. If you push her, or threaten this man in any way, she will turn that protective nature of hers straight to defending him, and she’ll rush right into his arms.”
Czar flashed her another grin. “I notice you never give me his name.”
Savage realized that Czar didn’t disagree with Blythe. Czar read people too easily. He would know his daughter’s nature inside and out. He knew if he pushed too hard against her dating the fireman, she would rebel. He also knew she expected his resistance. And there was no way Czar would ever allow Darby to date a man without knowing his name.
Blythe burst out laughing. “You know very well his name is Asher Larkin and his two-year-old son is Caleb. He has full custody of the little boy and takes excellent care of him. You even know his shoe size.”
Seychelle’s laughter joined Blythe’s, and Savage saw those golden notes drifting toward the ceiling. He was dazzled by her musical notes and the fact that, after so many years of not being able to see people’s musical colors, he could see hers—and once in a while, others’.
“Tell me this Asher at least rides a motorcycle. A Harley. He does ride.” Savage made it a statement as he watched the notes mingling with Blythe’s notes of reds and pinks.
There was silence. Czar sighed and snagged another pretzel. “Code hasn’t done a DMV search yet, and I’ve seen no sign of one, but he always has the boy with him. He’s being safe with his son.” That was said grudgingly.
“I thought Lana was going to bring Tessa here today,” Blythe said, clearly to change the subject. “She called to ask permission and then suddenly changed her mind. Tessa’s come a few times, but I haven’t had time to actually visit with her. She disappears into Darby’s room.”
“Lana had to get some work done in her shop,” Czar said. “Tessa was going to help her.”
“A while back, Darby had actually talked to us about Tessa. It was months ago. Before Jimmy.” Blythe looked down at her hands. “I should have insisted on Darby bringing her here then. At least to meet us. At the time, Tessa was still going to school and living at home with her father.”
Czar reached over and put his hand over Blythe’s. “I remember the conversation. Darby was extremely worried about her. We told her she could bring Tessa here on a weekend to meet us. Darby said Tessa’s father was an alcoholic and there was no mother around. Said her home life was awful and she suspected her father not only beat her but molested her. Tessa never admitted that, and Darby had no proof—it was just a suspicion on her part.”
Blythe nodded. “I couldn’t sleep a couple of nights and reminded Darby to invite her, but then Code came to us about the little boy being put up for auction online.” She looked at Seychelle with tears in her eyes. “His parents were murdered by a man known only as the Collector who sold him to a pedophile who had ‘ordered’ him from a brochure. He had no other relatives, so eventually everyone stopped looking for him. When Jimmy got ‘too old’ for the pedophile’s taste, he was auctioning him off, bragging that no one would ever come looking because they had forgotten his existence. He was in a cage.”
“Oh my God.” Seychelle turned to Savage as if to ask him if that could possibly be the truth. He slid his arm around her.
“He’s safe now, baby. Czar and Blythe have him. They’re adopting him.”
Blythe dashed at her tears. “I forgot all about poor Tessa. It took us forever to actually track down Jimmy and get him away from those vile people. But that’s no excuse. I just left that poor girl in a terrible situation.”
“Blythe. Don’t,” Czar said. “Tessa isn’t your failing or mine. We can’t save every child. It’s impossible.” He put his hand over Blythe’s again and waited for her to look up. “We would have taken her in, you know that. We would have welcomed her, but it wasn’t in the cards. Sometimes things happen for a reason. Lana might need her as much as she needs Lana right now.”
Seychelle nodded. “The only time Tessa appeared to show any interest at all was when she told us that she liked fashion design. Apparently, at one time she thought she was good at it and wanted to get into it. Lana has launched a very successful company and has been looking for an assistant. I think she plans on offering Tessa the job. At least, I think she’s working on giving Tessa the self-esteem she would need to attend a school that would help her along in that career if she chooses after working with Lana.”
Czar frowned. “Lana does have a big house. So does Alena. The two of them have always house-hopped. Now they’re staying at Lana’s with Tessa.”
“Do you really think they’re equipped to help her?” Blythe asked.
Savage could tell she was being very careful. Even so, Czar’s penetrating gaze moved over his wife’s face.
“I would say, if anyone knows anything about poor self-esteem and having to rebuild their lives, it would be Lana and Alena.” There was no reprimand in his tone; in fact, Czar sounded gentle, even loving. He reached over and took Blythe’s hand again. “I imagine we will be seeing a lot of that young lady.”
“I imagine so,” Blythe said. Her smile was intimate. For Czar alone.
Savage realized that it had been the relationship between Czar and Blythe that had started the change in him. Czar had brought the members of Torpedo Ink here, to this place, hoping to give them a chance at a different life. He’d given them Blythe and then the children to show them they could be something other than what Sorbacov had turned them into. Czar had them come to his home and be with his wife and children nearly every day until his family were their family.