Page 32 of Marx

“No, wait, she’s right,” Chewy says.

Rustling has me looking over my shoulder, Chewy has Chomper in her arms and she’s pacing, thinking and stroking him like that Dr Evil guy in an old film Tav made me watch. He’sbeen giving me movie suggestions from the past almost 40 years, in the hopes that I’ll be able to catch up or something. If I’m honest, some of them were depressing. That scene in the Never Ending Story where the horse died? I cried like a baby and then asked Elio way too many questions about quicksand.

“Renae Sullivan is the cartel’s contact that got the kids we couldn’t save. We got rid of Candice, there’s no real reason we can’t get rid of Renae.” Chewy comes to a stop in the middle of the room, looking over us, one by one.

“Well, even if we wanted to, Renae Sullivan isn’t even in this state and we’re officially on lockdown from 4pm today,” Nat points out.

“Who says we have to get to her immediately? We can be patient and wait this out.” I sit up so I can see everyone. “The most immediate threats are the cartels and the sheriff. If what Moss says is true then the sheriff will be unprotected soon and he’ll be taken care of. The five men the cartel sent to get rid of us are trussed up in Pops’ office and they’ll be dealt with soon enough. With the immediate threats gone, lockdown should ease up.” It all makes sense in my mind, but whether it’s a good idea or not is another story.

Chewy’s lips turn up, and then a huge, predatory grin stretches her pretty face. “I like the way you think.”

“Wait, hold up, I just want to know where this Lovely has been hiding?” Ana says, waving her hand around in my direction.

“Yeah! What happened to sweet, innocent, caring Lovely?” Nat teases.

I roll my eyes. “See! She even rolls her eyes now!” Mira laughs.

“Ladies, she’s my sister. Ofcourseshe’s a badass,” Blanche teases, before a serious look comes over her face. “Lovely may look like a little lamb, but under that pretty face and sweet voiceis a fucking wolf. Mark my words. Those bastards threatened our family and our babies. Lovely ain’t gonna let that lie.” My big sister nods at me and I can feel my chest filling with pride.

“Um, knock knock?” a voice calls from the other side of the door.

Before one of our lazy butts can get up to open it, Mama Debs throws the door open, herding in Kaia with the two teenagers from the diner following behind. “Come onwhanau,family, they’re not going to bite.” She steps in behind them then wraps her arm over Kaia’s shoulder. “Kotiro,I’m sure you all know Kaia, and these are her babies.” The boy snorts but then covers it with a cough. I try not to laugh, but he’ll soon see that no matter your age, everyone is Mama Debs’ baby. “Jackson and Annie-Bella.”

We all wave, and I move to sit on the side of the bed. No one likes greeting people from bed. It’s weird.

“Ooohhh, come closer, we need alllll the goss,” Mira says, clapping her hands and no doubt overwhelming the poor woman.

“Ae, good idea!” Mama Debs shoves Kaia in our direction, “I’m going to take the kids to find Sage and Niko. They don’t want to hang out with the mums and the babies.” Debs bustles off as fast as she arrived and we all stare at the back of her.

“OK ladies, I need the full breakdown of what the hell is going on,” Kaia says, a frown on her face.

She’ll fit in perfectly.

Marx

Standing outside Lovely’s cabin I decide I should probably knock on the door rather than force my way in to “look after her”. That’s been my excuse as to why I’ve been in her home sleeping on her couch since she left the hospital, but I doubt that excuse is going to fly now. She’s healing up well, still a little tired, but she’s moving around. She also joined the Girl Gang in a street fight today, so I probably shouldn’t piss her off.

Before I can raise my hand to knock, the door opens, Lovely staring at me. “Is everything OK?”

She’s wearing an oversized DRMC shirt with tiny sleep shorts and my brain short circuits because I realize I have never seen her legs before. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Usually she’s wearing very modest, slightly loose fitting clothing. I mean this stuff isn’t fitted by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just there is skin on show and now I feel like a Victorian man blowing his load over an exposed ankle or some shit.

“Marx? Are you OK? Do you need something?”

Flicking my gaze from Lovely’s shapely calves and thick thighs I see the concern of her face and tell my dick to pull himself together. “Ah, yeah, I was wondering if I could crash here tonight.” I clear my throat, to get some of the huskiness out.

Her brows pinch together a little, before realization dawns on her face, “Of course! Judge, Kaia and the twins needed your trailer. Um, I mean, you’ve slept on the couch the past few nights, if you don’t mind hanging out with me and Bee then I guess it’s fine. You’re my Pres so I’d be glad to share my space.” She smiles at me but I can still see a hint of wariness in her eyes.

What I said to her and how I’ve pushed her away really fucked her up. Which makes me feel like a fucking monster, given that I know a snippet of what she went through with her husband. He treated her like shit and then so did I. As much as I’d love to grab her and kiss the hell out of her, I know that I needto earn that right. Firstly, I need to get her to see me as maybe more than just the Pres of the DRMC.

“Is that all I am? The Pres?”

She swallows and gazes over my shoulder, as if getting her thoughts in order. “Well, I mean, I guess we’re friends, too. I really appreciated all you did for me at the hospital and helping me with Bee.” She smiles, but I can still see she’s unsure.

It’s in my nature to push, but not tonight. Tonight I accept that we’re friends, which is more than I deserve. Tonight two friends will eat and talk and get to know each other better. Then once I have an idea of what she likes, I’ll let Pops help me formulate a plan to woo her, properly like she deserves.

“Friends. I’d like that,” I say, with a smile.

She beams at me and then opens the door wider. “Come on in, you already know where everything is. I was about to sit down and watch The Princess Bride.”

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