Page 36 of Devil's Work: Dark

“Okay,” she breathes and I snicker.

“Take Baby Girl to the kid area. I got Ty.”

My eyes stay glued to her fine ass in those tight shorts until she disappears around a corner. After paying for the food and getting the table marker, I let the little guy drag me over to the Skee-Ball. It’s sort of like bowling, but partly vertical. Ty lets me help him with his form and when he rolls the ball, he gets it in the second smallest hole. His face lights up as he jumps and dances around. The kid’s a trip. Don’t think I don’t notice the other parents shuffling their kids down several lanes or skipping the Skee-Ball altogether while my kid dances his fool head off. Ty doesn’t notice. He’s too into his game and too innocent to pick up on their prejudices. I might wear a cut and have sleeves full of tatts, but don’t lump all bikers in to the same category. If it’s one thing I hate, it’s goddamn bigots.

“Dark,” Ty snags my attention back.

“Got more balls.” I clear my throat. “Let’s try that again.” He gets three points that time. By the time Ty uses up all his balls, he’s got a bunch of tickets. We move to another game, then another and another until we end up back at Skee-Ball.

“Hey, guys,” Rae calls over to us. “Food’s here.”

Ty, hyped on life, throws his fist in the air and yells, “Pizza!” Then he takes off running. Rae has Lacy in a high chair with pieces of the cheesy bread cut up into small bite-sized pieces.

When Ty climbs up onto the bench seat, he pats the table next to him. “Sit next to me, Dark.”

Sure. Why not? I slide in next to the kid and help him load his plate. Realizing that we need drinks, I pour us each cola from the pitcher the server brought to the table.

“Thank you,” Rae says, her big eyes shining on me. Damn, I have to look away. That look hits me square in the chest. I’m no superhero, but that’s the way she makes me feel. It’s just fucking food. I clear my throat again, then start filling my plate with pizza and wings.

“So I got a call when Lace was in the ball pit,” Rae says casually.

“Oh, yeah, who from?” I ask, tearing off another bite of pizza.

“Jayne at the Walmart eye center. I got the job.”

“Timing sucks, but you can feel good knowing that they wanted you.” To me it makes sense. She was attacked the last time she went to Walmart. She’s not taking a damn job. Not yet.

“I accepted, Dark,” she says and I drop my food onto my plate.

“Come again?”

“I accepted. Ty’s starting school. And I found out that the school’s early childhood facility offers childcare for the young ones at a reduced rate. It’s perfect. Maybe I can start to dig us out of this hole, you know?”

I glare at her good and hard to the point that she begins to squirm in her seat, but she needs to listen to me this time. “Men are trying to ki—er…” I realize that Ty’s listening to my every word and school my response. “Bother you, Rae. How the hell am I supposed to keep you safe? I can’t hang out at the Walmart all day in case some ass tries to nab you while you’re heading for the bathroom or to lunch.”

From the startled look on her face, I can tell she didn’t consider that scenario. But she turns those damn eyes on me and they’re pleading for me to understand her position. “We need the money,” she whispers.

No. She doesn’t. Not anymore. “I take care of what’s mine, baby.”

She sighs, her shoulders slumping like she’s about to tread carefully with what she has to say next. I shake my head slowly, waiting. “I don’t want to be taken care of,” she says. There it is.

“Too bad,” I shoot back.

“No, Dark. Please, listen. I appreciate what you’re doing for me and the kids more than you’ll ever know. I feel safe around you. I feel…happy. I haven’t felt safe or happy in a very long time. But Jim wanted to take care of me, of us, and look how that turned out.”

“I’m not Jim, baby.”

“No, you’re not, but—”

“Not Jim,” I say, cutting her off.Fuck.I need a smoke. I shoot up from the seat to walk outside without giving the table a second look.

What the fuck is she thinking? Jim left her with no family to support her while she got back on her feet. I’m not planning on going anywhere because I always got my brothers backing me up. We’re a force. We’re a unit.

I step outside into the blistering sun, pulling the pack of reds from my pocket before I find a place against the wall in the limited shade.

The first drag off the cigarette calms me a little. Fucking woman. Does she honestly think that if somethingdidhappen to me, the club would leave her ass swinging in the wind? Vlad, Sarge, Reap? The women? She’s not fucking alone any longer. She’s got a family. But she hasn’t seen that yet.Shit.She’s seen the men come to her rescue because helping women in tight situations is our thing now, but she hasn’t seen the club life. The family. I need to bring her to the clubhouse in an official capacity. She’s an old lady now.

One more long drag off the butt and I throw it down, stomping out the glowing embers with my boot. That’s it. She needs to visit with the women. See the brothers in their homes. I pull out my phone and call Nic.

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