Page 2 of Judge
I’m thirty-three years old. Kaia is thirty-two, thirty-three in three weeks. That big annoying kid looks to be maybe thirteen orfourteen? Kaia left when I was eighteen. My gaze shoots to hers, my stomach dropping into my boots.
“Kaia,” my voice barely a whisper above the din in the diner. “How old is your son?”
Her eyes widen, dark pools staring directly into my soul, a resigned look on her face. “He’s fourteen. They both are.”
Kaia
I watch as the father of my children slowly crumples to the floor, the big bastard taking out my waitresses’ tray, spilling pancakes and maple syrup onto the floor before his giant ass lands in it.
“Ah, shit kid, come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” A kind faced older man with the same leather vest Leo wears grips him under the arm while Jax and Annie-Bella come racing over.
“You OK, Mom? Want me to kick that guy’s ass?”
A little huff escapes me, “Jax, what have I told you about kicking asses?”
“No need to kick ass when you can use your words,” he replies in a bored voice.
“Don’t worry, Mom! I have the bucket and mop,” Annie-Bella sloshes water onto the floor where Leo’s ass print is proudly on display.
“Baby, I’ll do that, you go serve the MC women,” I smile gently at her. My little girl is a nurturer.
I have no idea how I managed to raise two completely different people, but I did. Jax is a lot like Leo at the same age. Big, talented at sports, academic at school. The only difference is he got my smart mouth and terrible temper. Annie-Bella is quiet,gentle, also sporty like her brother but her academics starts and ends with reading and writing. She hates math and science, but give her a pen and paper and she can make whole worlds out of nothing but her imagination.
“Um, hi. You probably don’t remember me-”
“Of course I do, you’re Lovely, right?” I reply immediately.
I know all the women sitting along the countertop. They come in often for mommies group with Pops, Chewy’s grandfather. They’re a hell of a good time, if not a little nosy. They know all the sordid details of why I don’t talk to Leo, or want him anywhere near my diner.
“Oh! Um, yup, that’s me.” Lovely’s pale cheeks pinken a little. I have no idea why she would think I’d forget her. She’s got this sort of gentleness about her that you just don’t see much. Especially not in women who hang around the MC.
All the women, aside from her and Mira seem to be the type to not take shit from anyone. I quite like that about them, too.
“Um, Judge, if he ever comes out of the bathroom, is going to ask you to accompany him, us, to the farmhouse we are all staying at. I’m not sure if you heard, but the clubhouse was attacked? We’re all fine, but the clubhouse is not.” Her eyes are wide and she darts them to the bathroom door, then back to me.
My brows pull down in confusion. “Wait, why would I need to go with him?”
“We have reason to believe that the person who did it knows about your connection to Judge.”
“Leo. His name is Leo. Well it was when we were young,” I mutter. Back when we were inseparable. Best friends. “Besides, we have no connection to each other at all.”
She raises her brows, flicking her gaze to the two teens behind the counter. “Really?” Lovely asks, her gaze swinging back to mine.
My blood feels like ice as it pumps through my veins, thumping in my head, “Are you telling me there’s a threat tomybabies and Leo is the reason? Because if that’s the case I will cut his balls off with a rusty spoon. It’s bad enough what he did, but endangeringmybabies with his life choices? Oh, hell no!”
The door to the bathroom slams open and my gaze is laser focused in that direction. I have no peripheral vision anymore. It’s all on the big bastard walking out of the bathroom hall with the gall to look shell-shocked. My feet move me in his direction before I even have the time to think.
“You!” I hiss, finger pointing directly into his stupidly hard looking chest. “Leo-fucking-Jackson, mind telling me what the hell is going on and why the hell there’s a bad guy out there thinking we have a connection?”
Leo stares down at me, those damn green eyes I used to dream about filled with confusion. Well he can stick his confusion. I sent email after bloody email to LeoLovesLasagne@hotmail and text messages and never got a reply. So screw him and the horse he rode in on.
He takes a deep breath in. His huge chest, level with my eyeline puffs out like an overinflated air mattress. How much does this guy bench?
“Kaia,” he says gently and I want to slap my name out of his mouth. “You’re in danger. Your, m-my,ourkids, are in danger.”
“Mykids, not yours. Mine. Because of you!” I jab him in the chest, just because I can.
His gaze drops to where I jabbed him, and he looks somewhat amused, but I’m not falling for that lopsided grin. He must remember why he came here because he takesanotherdeep breath, his shoulders slumping as he exhales. “I don’t want to argue with you. But, we have shit going down. I don’t know how they knew about you. Or the kids. All I know is they’re dangerous and the safest place you can all be, is with the club.”
