Page 43 of Smoke

“You bet your sweet ass he is.” I flip open the laptop on my desk and bring up my email. “But two can play that game.”

“You going to hit up the other chapters for help?” Sometimes Stone can read me like a book.

“Just Florida for now, but that might change.” I bang out the message to Cannon, the President of the Young Outlaws, Florida chapter. “Now go see Oriana. You’ll need to sweeten her up because you’re going to be tied up for the rest of the day. We’ve got club business to deal with.”

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

Oriana

“But which is your absolute favorite?” I chuckle as Sasha kneels on the floor, her finger tapping against her mouth as she tries to make a decision. In front of her she has every one of her Disney princess dolls laid out side by side. Their pretty dresses and hair immaculate, as only just taken from the box. Sasha cares for her dolls like they're real and, when playing with them, treats them like delicate glass that needs to be handled with great care. If they get a little ruffled she will spend the time needed to straighten their dresses, and put in place every hair of their glorious tresses.

“Ariel,” she eventually says. “No wait, Elsa is my favorite.” Her hands fall to her side and her shoulders drop, and her head tips to one side. “Aww, I can’t decide,” she huffs, her little foot giving a single frustrated stomp against the floor.

“I guess that answers the question,” I reach out, pulling her gently back into my lap. With the tip of my fingers, I start to tickle her around her neck. Her shoulders crush up and her infectious giggles fill the surrounding air. “You love all the princesses.” Her body wriggles around, her laughter punctuated with short, sharp squeaky breaths. I stop with the tickles. Sasha twists herself around until we’re face to face. With a soft hand on each of my cheeks, she looks me right in the eye.

“I love you, Mummy.” My heart bursts with pride. Sasha has started calling me Mummy, yet this is the first time she’d not added Orio at the end, her nickname for me. It shakes me up, but despite the twinge of guilt towards her paternal mother, I can’t deny the feeling of delight, too.

“I love you tooooooo,” I let my fingers flutter over her ribs and her giggles fill the room again.

I love Sasha as if she was my own and my life, here with her and Stone, is complete and utter bliss.

The front door opens with a whoosh of air. Speak of the devil, Stone is kicking off his boots at the door and making his way towards us.

A single look of my man and my heart is beating double-time. God, I love his broody eyes, rich dark hair and thick beard that stupidly seems to extenuate his plump lips that I could spend the rest of my days kissing the fuck out of.

He shucks off his cut and lays it over the back of the sofa before making his way around it and over to where we’re sitting on the floor. He locks his gaze to mine and gifts me with a smile that would melt even the modest ofladies’ panties off. But those bitches have no chance because he’s mine, and mine alone.

“Hey baby girl,” he drops to his knees in front of us and kisses the top of Sasha’s head. “Darlin’,” I’m up next and his lips come to mine, bestowing me with a searing, lingering kiss full of love, lust and a promise of more to come. “By the sounds of it, my ladies are having fun.”

“Daddy Gabe,” Sasha swiftly bounces from my lap to Stones. “Mummy was tickling me.”

I internally cringe, not knowing how Stone will take the dropping of my nickname. He’s always insisting that Sasha never forget her actual parents and we speak of them freely, and have pictures on display, so I’m a little unnerved as to how he’s going to respond.

“Mummy was, was she?” Our gaze meets, and the emotion I see in his eyes is pride. He smiles and winks, and I let out the breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“Have you seen all my princesses?” Sasha, still sat in Stone’s lap, dramatically sweeps out her arm. Her body twists and flips backwards so suddenly, that if it hadn’t been for Stone’s strong hold on her, she’d have back flipped on to the floor.

“Wow, I didn’t realize you had the whole Disney collection.” He fakes a gasp and does a few more wows as she proudly sits upright on his knee. “Sasha, sweetheart, I’ve got to work tonight, so how about you go upstairs to your room and grab a book? I’ll read you a story now, as I’m not going to make it back before your bedtime?”

“Okay,” she places her hands on his cheeks and bestows him with a kiss, the same way she had done tome. On her feet and skipping towards the stairs, I quickly move and take her place, curling into Stone’s lap.

I thread my fingers into his hair and rush his lips to mine. Instantly, the heat between us ramps up to boiling point as our teeth and tongues clash in need of connection.

“Oriana,” Stone murmurs against my lips. “I have little time. Smoke has called Church.”

“How long?” I ask between devouring his mouth.

“We have about twenty-five minutes.”

“And you want to read story books?” I titter, resting my forehead against his. “If you’d be giving away precious time to anyone else other than Sasha, I’d have had to kick your ass.” I plant a firmer kiss against his lips. “But for our beautiful child, you’re forgiven.” I go to stand, but he pulls me back into his embrace.

“I’m sorry. Things look to be ramping up with Dunne and the Death Valley Irish.”

“You have intel?” I ask him. He gives me a quick sharp nod, but the way he avoids my eyeline tells me there’s more to it. If I am not mistaken, there’s an element of guilt in his expression.

It’s not normal for a brother to divulge information to his woman, however Stone does. He trusts me, so why is he holding back this time? “Where did it come from?”

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