Page 66 of Devil's Work: Dark

“The bastard has obviously been casing the place. My guess, she went willingly to keep the kids safe. These fucks traffic kids. She’d die before letting someone hurt the babies.”

“Let’s hope it didn’t come to that,” Reap says and I know he means to be positive, but I fucking lose it with him, my best friend.

I lunge, grabbing a fistful of shirt. “It didn’t,” I bark hard and loudly, spittle hitting his face and I feel like an ass, but Jesus, Rae. What the hell would I do without her? No, we haven’t known each other long, but she’s given me everything I was too stupid and up my own ass to know that I needed. A home. A family. Love. No, it’s more than that. The damn woman has inked herself on my soul. My goddamn soul. And I never saw it coming so there was no way to put my walls up. All my life, I’ve put up walls, learning young that keeping people out was a far cry better than letting people in and getting hurt. Until I found the Horde. Brothers who always have my back. But there’re still women to contend with. Starting with my own damn mom, women have found a way to inflict the kind of pain that cuts so deep, it almost kills.

Not Rae. She’s honest and straightforward. Something bothers her, she tells me about it—fuck, does she tell me about it. She’s sweet, sassy, and treats me with a kindness I’m still not convinced I deserve, but I’m too damn selfish to let her go to find a man who does deserve it. And it’ll give me time to earn it.

“It didn’t,” Reap repeats softer, pulling my fist from his crumpled collar. “Wink’s gone. I need to stay. Go, get your kids safe.”

My kids. He’s fucking right, those are my kids.

“Cops need to talk to Ty, either me or Nic needs to be with him—and Dusty. Get her up to the clubhouse. She needs to close up shop for the day, anyway—Oh, and Mable next door, she’s knocked clean out. Got an ambulance coming.”

“Right. On Dusty. Now go.”

Once I’m in the truck heading up to the compound, I can breathe a little—not much with Rae still missing, Mable injured, and Winky—god, I can’t fucking believe this.

“Taking you to Nic’s house while I go look for your mom, okay, bud?”

“Okay. Nic’s nice.”

“She is. And Dusty’s coming, too.”

“I like Dusty,” he says. The kid is trying to be strong. I hear the quaver in his voice, but he doesn’t cry.

“She likes you, too.”

Even though I want to gun the engine to get us there faster, I keep to the speed limit. I can’t risk hurting them because I’m worrying my ass off.

“Ty,” I call out the kid’s name with authority.

“Yeah, Dark?”

“You know I’m gonna make you safe, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you’re a good guarder man.”

“No. I mean we’re gonna get through this, then you won’t have to worry about bad men ever again. Not you, your mom, or Lacy.”

“My dad’s dead,” he says bizarrely and I don’t know where he’s going with this. But it makes sense with his mom missing that he’d be thinking about that.

“Yeah, bud. I know.” That’s all I can think to answer.

“Do you want to be my new dad?”

What the fuck?

Do I tell him the truth? Rae and I talked this out in the hospital. She knows how I feel, but would she be pissed at me talking to Ty about it without her? On the other hand, he asked point-blank and I can’t saynobecause it’s not the truth and might hurt him.

“Yeah, I definitely want to be your new dad.”

He smiles for the first time since I found them at the trailer. “I love you, Dark.”

Shit.Aside from Rae, I don’t remember anyone telling me that. My eyes get wet. I wipe at them and clear my throat. “Love you too, bud.”

“And Lacy, too?” he asks, making me laugh.

“Absolutely, bud. Baby Girl, too.”

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