Page 17 of Providence

The Prospects nodded solemnly.

“Good. I’m having McCool rush through all the bureaucratic bullshit, so it should only be a couple of days.”

Judas went through all the rest of the details and I tuned out. I watched the woman out the corner of my eye. She was listening intently to Judas, but there was something different. The longing in her gaze was gone. I’d bet my left nut that they fucked.

Jealousy roared through my veins, but I couldn’t tell who that jealousy was aimed toward. Was I jealous of the woman for touching my one constant, the last person who possessed a shattered fragment of my heart? Or was I jealous of Judas, because I desperately wanted to be the one sinking my cock into her soft flesh?

My dick hardened and I wanted to cut it off.

Judas was wrapping shit up and I was on my feet as soon as he was done. I needed to get out here. Get my shit under control. I raced for the door, but Serendipity was suddenly beside me, her soft hands wrapped around my forearm.

I jolted, staring at her beautiful golden skin beside my ink darkened flesh. “Goliath, wait a second?”

Judas walked up behind her, and she turned, passing the baby into his arms. Judas stared down at him with true fear in his eyes. She looked over her shoulder at my President. My lover. “Could you watch Madoc for a minute? I just want to talk to Goliath.”

Judas inclined his head, shifting the baby to his shoulder gently. I watched him trail his fingers over her hip with envy. When he did the same thing to me, my eyes whipped to his. He was trying to tell me something with his eyes, but I was ignoring it. I couldn’t deal with it right now.

Then the room was empty except for me and Serendipity. Was she going to tell me that she was fucking Judas? Ask me for my permission or forgiveness or some fucking such thing? I’d give it even though the idea fucking tore at my chest. Because deep down, I wanted Judas to be happy. All I could bring him was guilt and misery. It would be almost a relief to shed myself of that last little piece of humanity.

She gave me a soft smile that made her look like a goddamn angel. Beatific or some shit. “Goliath, can I take you on a date?”

I would have been less surprised if she’d pulled out a gun and shot me. Say fucking what now? My eyes were stretched wide, and I turned and bolted from the room like a coward.

“I’m taking that as a yes!” she yelled after me, but I didn’t turn around. I ran all the way out of the Clubhouse and to my bike.

I didn’t let myself breathe until I was far, far away from her.

9

Serendipity

Goliath was avoiding me, but I knew he would. I wasn’t worried. It was going to be slow steps with him. I was in for the long haul. But I discovered something important in the last week. I’d spotted it one quiet moment when he was holding Madoc. I thought I had imagined it, but I’d seen it again when we had a meeting that Trigger had dubbed the ‘Mongoose Shitshow’.

I’d seen the raw desolation on his features. The Goliath that wanted to be saved. Wanted to be loved. Who wanted to love in return.

That Goliath still existed, buried deep down under emotional rubble so deep, it was going to take me a while to sift through it all. But I was immortal. I had time. And I knew in my gut he would be worth it.

It had been a week since that meeting, and McCool the lawyer had rushed all the sales through with head-spinning quickness. Apparently, Judas had security contractors at the apartment, making sure that it was all but impenetrable. Cain had managed to talk him out of killing all the contractors after they were done, saying that it was just taking it a little bit too far. But Judas was serious about our safety, and I was happy to let him be. Staying wouldn’t be as safe as running, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave. Not yet. Not until I could convince them to run with me.

I sat in the back of the truck beside the baby car seat Madoc was strapped into. Cain was driving, and Judas was in the passenger seat. Marco and the kids followed behind us in his bulletproof Mercedes SUV that cost more than a house. His car was packed tight with boxes of stuff, and the back of the truck was filled with furniture. Two bikes rode in front of us, and two behind.

When we pulled up in front of a huge house, a massive wrought iron gate blocking the drive, I almost swallowed my tongue.

“Judas, what the hell? This isn’t an apartment!”

He looked over his shoulder at me, his grin completely mischievous. He took my damn breath away. “No one said anything about an apartment, Dippy.”

I blinked as the gate opened and the bikes rolled in, us close behind. Behind the gate wasn’t a mansion, but it was a huge two storey ranch house, a porch wrapping right around it like a skirt. There were several big trees on the property, and expansive green lawn. A massive six foot high fence ran around the perimeters, blocking off the view of the neighbors. It was like a green oasis in the suburbs.

Cain parked near the front steps. He looked over his shoulder, just as smug as Judas. “Welcome home, Sera.”

Judas opened my door, helping me out. Everyone else had pulled up, and Sammie and Cara were out of the car and screaming across the lawn. My face stretched wide in a smile. It was a family home, and these guys were fast becoming my family.

The thought made my chest swell with emotion. I reached back into the car for Madoc, but Cain was there, shooing me. “Go check out the house, I’ll bring Madoc.”

Judas held out an arm, and I hooked my hand through it. “The yard has top of the line perimeter sensors. If someone so much as breathes on the fence, we will know. All the windows are bulletproof. The front and rear door are reinforced steel. There’s two panic rooms. One on the top floor where the bedrooms are, and one in the basement.” We strolled up the steps, and stopped at the front door.

Solomon came from nowhere, sweeping me into his arms. “Gotta do this shit properly, Pres. Have to carry her across the threshold.”