Page 132 of Riot's Thorn
“Riot and Killer took care of her asshole ex last year, right?”
“That was a good day,” Killer sighs.
“Yeah, well, the dude has a brother, and that brother found Chap. I guess the asshole didn’t tell his brother where he was going, probably because his intentions were to kill her. But the brother put two and two together and has been around, asking questions.”
“Okay, so we just take out the brother,” Riot says. It feels all sorts of wrong while he’s holding our son, so I steal the baby this time. He snuggles right into the crook of my arm, and it feels like he was always supposed to be mine. It was the same way with his dad. Overnight, these two guys changed my life.
“Not that easy. He’s a detective.” Golden runs his hand through his thick head of hair. “The only person who knows he’s dead, outside of the club, is Chap, but she’s not a rat, so I’m not too nervous. I just don’t like that he’s sniffing around her house and bothering her.”
“Okay, so we just wait to see how it plays out.” Rigger tucks Navy into his side. Even if the threat has nothing to do with her, his protective instincts go haywire—must be some kind of PTSD from finding out his dad was doing sick fucking things to her.
“There’s another problem,” Golden says.
“When it rains, it fucking pours. What is it?” Rigger asks.
“Corbin’s back in town.”
I lean over to Riot and whisper, “Who’s Corbin?”
“Golden’s half-brother.”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Because wherever Corbin goes, drama follows him.”
“Yikes.” I tune back into the conversation.
“Why is he here?” Lucky asks.
“He said he’s got his shit together and just wants to be near family,” Golden says.
“And you believe him?” Lucky folds his arms over his barrel chest, already anticipating a fight.
“I don’t know. He got certified to be a personal trainer and found a job already.”
“That’s already better than last time he was around, when he was hitting you up for cash all the time,” Lucky mutters.
“I guess we do the same with him as we do with the detective. Just wait and see.”
“All right.” Golden stands. “Well, that’s all I got. Riot and Parker, cute kid. I’m glad Ty will have some cousins to play with soon.”
“Thanks.” Riot stands, and they do the back-slapping hug thing. That’s another change; Riot has learned to deal with casual touch and not feel like he’s being burned from the inside out.
“I think it’s time for us to introduce the baby to the family,” I announce and hand him to Riot so I can hoist myself off the sofa. No one tells you that after you give birth, you still look and feel nine months pregnant.
Navy and Myla coo at the baby one last time before we walk out to our cabin. I felt bad that Riot did all that work on the spare room, only to have to turn around and convert it to a nursery, but he didn’t mind.
“We’re home, and we have your little brother with us,” I say, approaching the rat habitat. Never did I think I’d become a rat parent, but here we are.
“He’s not their brother. Humans and rats cannot be related.”
I roll my eyes and open the door. Lucifer, Cindy, Cadence, Trevor, and Holly come running out. A pang of sadness hits me that Ben and Amy aren’t here to meet Chance. Ben passed afew months after we found out I was pregnant, and Amy quickly followed. I think she died of a broken heart, but Riot said they were just the same age and had the same life expectancy. He’s so unromantic.
Riot crouches, keeping a hand covering Chance’s eyes as the rats run over to check out the new scent. They’re standoffish at first, but eventually, they crawl on Riot to inspect closer. It’s adorable, and it brings a tear to my eyes.
“Why are you crying?” Riot asks.
“Just hormones, I think.” I sniffle.
