Page 139 of Avenging Devil: Part 2

“More than okay,” she answers him, her arm tightening around my waist. “I feel my life’s been given back to me.”

And I feel Road and Swift have the right idea. I want my woman naked. There were times today I’d feared I might never see her again. “Lost?” When Prez turns to me, I shout, “Saffie and I are just—”

“Going to fuck!” Dusty yells.

Saffie goes bright red, but I couldn’t give a damn. “What he said!” I agree. She makes no protest as I lead her off.

After an hour or more of life-reaffirming downright-pleasurable lovemaking with my woman, I leave her sated and sleepy as I come down to find everyone milling around with drinks in their hands having a celebration.

“Duke come around yet?”

Salem raises his glass to me. “Prospects are using a water hose on him. He’s getting the message.”

“Ross okay with that?”

Salem frowns. “Ross heard about Saffie. He was disappointed that prospects were only involved with warming them up. Susie’s there as well, by the way.”

Susie. The bitch I hate almost as much as Duke.

“She hit Mary, ya know?” Salem adds.

Christ. It will be down to me to make her hurt on Grumbler’s behalf. My problem is, however provoked, I’m not sure I can hit a woman.

“Fuck,” I breathe out.

“I hear you, Brother.” From his tone, I know Salem’s views coincide with mine. “Maybe let Swift handle it?”

It’s a tempting idea, but something tells me this is something I should man up and do for myself.

“A word, Brother?”

Turning, I raise my chin. “Sure.” When Sharpshooter leads the way to a free area at the end of the bar, I follow him.

“Cyn,” he starts, glancing at me to make sure I’m listening.

Damn it.I came down from making love to my woman and he’s brought me back to earth with a bump. I don’t want to think about my sister. She’s a problem that needs solving, but that will come after I’ve dealt with Duke. But now he’s approached me, I can’t see how I can avoid it.

When I give an exasperated sigh, Sharp shifts, his eyes falling away from mine for a moment, then says awkwardly, “I’m not sure about your relationship with your mother.”

I get the feeling that whatever he says is going to be difficult, both for him to say and me to hear it. For that reason, I give his question some serious thought. “She was a great mom, up until my father died. They’d been happy. It broke something inside her when he was killed. She came back to life when she met Grover.” I pause, thinking back, then add, “Though I think that was convenience rather than a love match.”

“Grover’s Black, yeah? Like your father?” When I raise and dip my chin in confirmation, he resumes, “Hester’s White. You know that?”

I’d assumed from the name that he’d been Black. Don’t ask me why. Stormy’s revelations about the man hadn’t told me his skin colour. But I set that aside, instead querying what I’d been told.

“Is it true he never hit her?”

Sharpshooter sighs. “Seems that way, Brother. He loved her and wanted her back. Even after he took the punishment that he didn’t deserve.”

“I thought Cyn wanted to return to him?” That’s what I’d been led to believe. She was here, wasn’t she, to keep them apart?

Sharp shakes his head. “No, she did not. Cyn didn’t reciprocate his feelings.”

“Then why the fuck was she with him?” I don’t understand.

He draws in a breath, holding it for a second before letting it out. “Your mother.”

“Mom?”

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