Page 81 of Cup of Lies

“She can sleep in my bed,” Kaitlyn says, pointing to the air mattress on the floor. “Sunshine will make sure she doesn’t fall off.”

Guilt seizes my heart in my chest. I’m supposed to be the head of this little family and we’re shacking up in a fucking clubhouse of a motorcycle gang. They deserve a real home.

Like the one they shared with Seth…

“Maybe when she’s a little older,” Romy suggests. “Right now she’s small and needs to nurse a lot in the middle of the night.”

“She gets milk from Mommy’s boob,” Kaitlyn explains to the dog, who sits patiently beside her, also curious about the baby. Sunshine cocks her head to the side as if this makes sense to her. “When will she be big enough to play Barbies with me?”

I’ve noticed Kaitlyn has a lot of questions these days and Romy has endless patient answers. It’s strange to me how life works out. Kaitlyn lost her parents and was forced to live with my brother. Then she had her mind twisted and forced to live with Seth. Somehow, through all that, she found Romy and has taken to being her daughter as if it were always true. I’m grateful the kid isn’t well and truly fucked in the head from all she’s been through.

“Before you know it,” Romy promises. “Can you go find Grandma and see if she’ll take you to Walmart to buy some things for Nova?”

Excited about her new adventure, Kaitlyn bolts, but not before giving her sister a kiss on the forehead. Once she’s gone and we can hear them talking in the next room over, Romy relaxes and closes her eyes.

I lie down next to her and stroke my fingers through the massive amounts of dark hair on Nova’s head. Her features are so tiny, yet she’s one hundred percent a human being. We made her. I’ll never get over that.

“Caius,” Romy says, voice thick with emotion.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for saving us.”

I tear my gaze from Nova’s face and look at Romy. “It won’t be like this forever. I swear to God, love. I’m going to give you a home and whatever the fuck you want.”

She smiles and touches my cheek with her free hand. “You already gave me those things.”

Relief floods through me. She’s right. Here at this clubhouse with our little family where we’re safe feels right and perfect.

“I loved living on the land when I was a kid. What do you think about living close by here? You’ve made friends.” And so have I… Strange concept, but it’s true. I like Koyn and Nees and even Dragon. “We could get a pool.”

We both softly laugh because that’s inevitable with Kaitlyn.

“Oklahoma,” Romy says wistfully. “It’s a far cry from New York, but I like it here. Especially in the air conditioning.”

I lean forward and kiss her pillow-soft lips. “We’re almost there, love. One day we’ll have the life we want, not a life someone created for us. Nova will never be tainted like we have by the horrors of the world.”

We talk quietly until Romy drifts off. I gently take a sleeping Nova from her arms and set her in the bassinet Eva had waiting for us when we got back from the hospital. Then I tiptoe out of the room to give them time to rest.

Koyn is leaned against the bar off the living room area, talking softly to his brother. He straightens when I make my way over to them.

“Everything good with the kid and the woman?”

“Perfect,” I say with a stupid grin on my face.

Copper and Koyn share a knowing smirk. I’m a part of the daddies club too now.

Koyn grows serious and shows me an article on his phone.

Two bodies discovered in hotel fire. Arson suspected. TPD are still trying to identify the bodies as the room was booked under an alias. This is an ongoing investigation.

“Should we be worried?” I ask, handing him his phone back.

“Nah,” Koyn says with a shrug. “I’ve already been in the file on their database, mixing shit up and deleting things. It’s untraceable and minor enough not to draw attention. There’ll be something new next week they have to throw themselves at. This case will fall by the wayside like so many others.”

It’s a shitty thing to say, but in our case, I’m glad.

The last thing we need is it getting out that Ava died by the hand of one of Huxley’s previous patients. We’re all soconnected to them that the information could explode. We don’t need unnecessary eyes on us. Not now when we’re so close to shutting down this operation. Getting rid of Solomon and Ava were huge wins in stemming the trafficking bleed. Those above and below them are no doubt scrambling without those middlemen.

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