Page 94 of Iron Hearts

We were having a barbecue out at Stormy’s place, some party time by the pool, and I was looking forward to good food, good beer, and my baby girl in my lap.

We held hands as we walked the beach and talked about things.

All sorts of things, really.

Her hopes and dreams were simple ones. She eventuallydidwant to go to school, as soon as the boys were in school themselves, and I loved her even more for the way she’d put her life on hold for that. She knew childcare was expensive and worked as much as she could and had taken on roles that were far too adult for herself at an early enough age when she should have been starting life for herself.

She did so much and asked so little in return, and it ground my gears that even though her grandmother was supposed to be there tohelp, she usually did far more to complicate things.

We talked about projects around the house that her dad had wanted to do, and hadn’t gotten to, and I made the decision to take a few of those on if it would make her and her mom’s life easier.

All in all, Rarity was an easy girl to love, and part of loving her meant loving those boys and her mom and yeah, even her complicated and messy grandmother and her poor granddad that was more often than not affable and forgotten somewhere in the background.

It was wild, but it was also organic, and easy, and wholesome in a way I hadn’t expected my life to take a turn for.

I was alright with it, though. I liked planning with my baby girl. I liked scheming and dreaming with her. I liked that her dreams were simple enough without a whole lot of flash and that she was a calm to the general storm that was life with the Bastards.

It was nice, and just walking barefoot along the beach with her like we were now, was almost a surreal and freeing experience in and of itself.

We laughed and she bumped shoulders knocking me off balance, when I told her we needed to find her a hobbyotherthan her little brothers, when she couldn’t come up with anything that she did outside of working and caring for them.

Although, truthfully, those boys were a hoot, and I’d loved watching their little faces light up at the Gator Farm.

“Where to, now?” she asked me as we dusted off our feet as best we could and donned our shoes again.

“We’re off to Renegade’s for a club dinner and just to relax and hang around the pool,” I said. “Then when you’ve had enough food and enough of people, I’d like to take you home to my place and snuggle my little girl and just have a low-key evening.”

She grinned and nodded and said, “I like the sound of that.”

The ride to Renegade’s was refreshing, and it was probably a little eye opening for Rarity. I mean, I was used to this shit, but I could tell as we rolled along the big, gated mansions and houses as we delved into one of the richer neighborhoods of St. Augustine, she wasnotprepared.

I rolled up to the gate and hit the intercom button.

“Who goes there?” a voice came over the speaker box. I revved the bike twice, which was the proper response, and the gate swung open for us.

Rarity giggled behind me as we swept down the long drive and pulled into the circular drive at the end. She hopped off so I could back the bike into the line already up against the curb.

She stood on the front step, staring at the fountain in the center of the drive as I shut off the bike and pulled the key, looping the ring around my index finger and catching the bundle of keys in the palm of my hand.

“This is Renegade’s place?” she asked, and she looked a cross between intimidated and suitably impressed.

“Yep. When I said his custom shop was one of the best in the business I wasn’t exaggerating,” I said.

I went to her and took her hand.

“This place is… a lot,” she said and I chuckled.

“Wait’ll you see theinside,” I said dryly.

I went to the front door, arm around my girl, and put my hand to the latch, depressing the button with my thumb and going right on in. We didn’t stand on ceremony, the guys and I when it came to Renegade’s place. As our President, he made it clear to each and every one of us – fancy digs aside,mi case et su casa…or whatever the saying was.

Rarity stepped over the threshold, and I smiled to myself faintly.

For me? This was more of a coming into the inner sanctum than being at the club or hanging in my own home.

Renegade’s wasn’t for club bunnies and sweet tits to come around. We only came around the manse with real ones, and by bringing her here, the boys would know – Rarity was as real as it got for me.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX

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