Page 38 of Devil's Own: Roughneck

Dusty gets going with the pitcher of virgin margaritas in the blender while I set the table. The doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it,” Reaper offers as he jogs down the stairs. A few seconds later, he and Aja enter the kitchen.

“Hey,” I greet her.

“Hey,” she answers.

“Cutter here?”

“Not yet. He ran to go grab something for him and Reap.”

Little Freya is sleeping so soundly. Aja sets her carrier on the floor to unhook the baby and lift her up. Does she actually think she’s keeping hold of that precious angel? I don’t think so.

“Gimme,” I say while flapping my hands to signal I want that babynow. I adore that little girl. Having a daughter wasn’t in the cards for me. Given the life we led, it wasn’t feasible to go out and get myself knocked up just to give my son a sibling that we really couldn’t afford. And now he’s an adult. Still, I can dote on my friends’ girl. That can be enough.

Aja sets her in my arms and I immediately start talking to her. “You know, sweet girl, if Mommy and Daddy need a night out… or even a night in, I’m happy to hang with you.”

“Don’t know how Rough’ll feel about that,” Reaper says. “You two still in thefucking every nightstage of the relationship.”

“Don’t you lose me a sitter,” Aja teasingly snaps at him.

“Trust me, you’re not losing anything. Rough adores this little girl.” The timer goes off on the oven. I kiss Freya’s head, hand her back to her mom, and then walk over to pull the pan from the oven. The beans and rice have heated through on the stovetop. Then I fill a plate for Reaper, handing it off to him. “When Cutter gets here, send him up for food.”

Reaper smiles at me as he takes the plate, bending down to kiss the top of my head like a big brother. He kisses Dusty like a husband who is hopelessly in love with his wife. He presses his hand to Aja’s face and kisses the top of Freya’s head before heading down to the lower level.

Who would’ve thought? A biker as big, bad, and intimidating as Reaper being so sweet.

Given her hands are full, I make a plate up for Aja and set it on the table for her. She thanks me and sits down. Dusty brings her a glass of the virgin margarita, setting one down by the different place settings for each of us before walking back over to the stove with me to make up her own plate.

There’s a knock on the door again. It must be Cutter. “Got it,” Reaper hollers. I let him have at it, moving back over to the table, just getting situated when Cutter bounds up the steps.

“Hey, babe,” he says to Aja.

“Hi.” She’s all smiles, clearly in ‘I love my life’ mode.

He shoots a chin lift to both me and Dusty. “Dus. Gee.”

“Help yourself,” I offer, gesturing to the food on the stovetop.

He has a disarmingly charming smile, one that he aims my way. “Reap said you made enchiladas. I’m all over that shit.”

I watch as he fills a plate, then avert my eyes back to my girls. “Things still going well?” I ask Dusty. She’s pregnant with her and Reaper’s first baby, which they recently found out arebabies.

“Yeah, I’m good. Tired a lot of the time, but good.”

“Growing two humans will do that to you,” I answer.

“Reap thinks I should reduce my hours, but I can’t do that. I’m not a car mechanic. People need medical care.”

“Part of me is with him, but I understand you.”

“Betty helps a lot. She’s back in school to become a nurse practitioner. But we’re always so swamped.”

“I do what I can,” Aja says because she works for Dusty. She works the front desk and does the billing. “But right now, I just don’t know how I can do more.”

“You do more than your share,” Dusty says.

“Well, it helps having that little daycare room in the back of the office. I’m not worried about what’s happening with my girl. That’s huge, being able to pop back there whenever I need to.”

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