Page 18 of Eros
“Good. Have you been able to pinpoint which Viper yet? I know it’s a long shot, but if we knew who we were up against, we might have a better shot at handling the situation.”
“I have Libby digging into it. She can get that kind of information quicker than I can even though it’s going to be slow go on that front. We have to make sure we don’t trigger the wrong crowd with our search.”
“Okay. Just keep me in the loop.” I stood. “I’m going to get my answer from our guest, then go home. Lydia’s watching Ambrose.” I was sure by now Bear was having a fucking fit his old lady had him all day. “I’ll be back first thing in the morning. If you find anything before then, call me.”
“You taking her with you?” he asked when I reached the door.
“Hadn’t planned on it.”
“I think it would be best if you and Ambrose stay here for a while, too.” He faced me. “It’s safer at the clubhouse. The Vipers know we have her, they’ll come after you. I know you won’t forgive yourself if Ambrose got caught in the crossfire. At least here we all can protect him.”
Fuck! I hadn’t even thought about how all this shit could follow me home. I hated having Ambrose at the clubhouse because the shit that goes on here, and he’d already been here longer than I liked while I’d been handling the shit with Crash and Janea. But Knox was right. There was no safer place he could be.
“You’re right. Ambrose is probably raising hell because he’s tired, anyway. You know where to find me if you need me.”
Knox faced the computer screens, and I closed the door behind me. I made my way to my room I used at the clubhouse. I hadthe choice to stay here or move into Crash’s old room, which had been designated the prez’s room. It was larger, but I liked the fact that this room was further away from the other brothers, giving me a little privacy, especially with Ambrose staying with me, when we had to crash here.
When I reached the door, my steps faltered at my son’s laughter filtering through the door. I quietly opened it, then stopped in my tracks. I didn’t expect my son, who didn’t really like anyone other than a few of the old ladies, to be in the bed with Janea, with his head on her shoulder as she read his favorite book.
As she made another silly voice, his laughter shifted something inside my chest. I didn’t know if it was because of him, if it was her, or if it was the image of them together.
“What’s going on here?” I asked even though I hated to interrupt the moment.
Janea stopped mid-sentence as her eyes went wide as saucers, and Ambrose’s smile got even wider. “Nea is reading me a story,” Ambrose said.
He sounded so happy. Not that my son wasn’t a happy kid, he was just very weary of people. But not with her, which said a lot. At his age, he had very good judgement when it came to people.
“Nea’s reading you a story, huh?” I asked, not able to keep the smile off my face at his mispronunciation of her name. “And you didn’t think your old man would have loved for you to come get him so he could also listen to Nea read you a story?” I asked as I walked closer to the bed.
Her guard was completely up, which I understood, but unless my kid’s life was in danger, she had nothing to worry about when he was around.
“You can listen now,” he said, as he slid over to make room for me.
I looked at Janea, and she still looked like she was about to have a heart attack, but I waited until she gave me the go ahead. I wouldn’t get this close to her in bed unless she was good with it.
She nodded although reluctantly, and I got in bed beside my son. “Where was I,” Janea said.
As she started reading, I couldn’t help but smile. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think we were one big happy family. I never thought about a moment like this before, but as I laid here, it wouldn’t be bad to have something like this for me and especially for my son.
Chapter Nine
Janea
Ihadnoproblemwatching him while Lydia, who apparently was the old lady of someone named Bear, as she called herself rushed home after receiving a call from him. She assured me, Eros would come get Ambrose as soon as he was done with club business. Whatever the hell that meant.
“He’s a sweet little boy,” I said, closing the book I’d been reading to him for at least twenty minutes. “Where’s his mother if you don’t mind me asking?”
Ambrose was wide awake when he came in here earlier looking for his father. You could tell he had been trying hard not to fall asleep before he got to see his dad. So, when Lydia left, I played with him, then convinced him to let me read him his favorite book.
I couldn’t imagine that the man who kidnapped me was a loving father, but he was exactly that because as soon as his eyes landed on his son, the emotionless façade he wore disappeared and was replaced with nothing but pure love.
“Why do you want to know?” he asked with a smirk like he figured out some dark secret of mine. “Trying to find out if I have an old lady?”
“I have no idea what an old lady is other than Lydia is Bear’s.”
He chuckled. “She’s something like a wife. But Lydia is Bear’s old lady and his wife.”
When he smiled, the lines around his eyes crinkled. And for a brief moment, the fact that he kidnapped me didn’t even matter. It was like I wasn’t lying beside the man who had altered my life in an instant.
