Page 58 of The Vow

The infant made a little gurgling noise and the man shushed and rocked him.

“I am, yes,” Lena responded and felt an unexpected smile on her face and heard a shot of pride in her voice.

Penny beamed. “I hope you’ve been having a good time… a short engagement, a whirlwind arranged wedding… quite the fairytale really!” Penny said.

“Er…” Lena wasn’t quite sure what to say. “For some, I suppose, it was a bit… unexpected, I think for both of us… I’m still in college, so I need to finish that…”

Lyle leaned over and kissed Penny with reckless abandon, uncaring that Penny was attempting to have a conversation. Lyle, a sort of washed-up rock star look going on, holding a gorgeous baby, Penny, all made up but getting swiftly more loose by the second.

Sully leaned back on the sofa a little. “Here we go,” he muttered under his breath, unsurprised by their behavior.

But at that moment, Lyle stood up and another woman materialized, holding another baby.

“Here he is! Did he do okay?” Penny stood and fussed over the other baby, who had a wide, drippy smile on his face at the sight of his mom, and Lyle took him, holding both babies easily, looking like a natural.

“Oh yes, he’s doing great, he’s really taken to weaning you know…” The other woman carried on, listing how many diapers he’d gone through and what he’d eaten. A nanny then, clearly.

“I’ll take Finn then for his bottle-”

Lyle spoke up. “Becca, you finished your shift an hour ago, right? We’ll do that.”

The nanny shook her head. “No, it’s fine, I can stay a bit longer, you all deserve a break, twins aren’t easy-”

“They’re twins?” Lena asked, peering slightly to see their little chubby faces. They didn’t look too much alike.

“Yeah.” The VP, Lyle, grinned proudly, handing both babies over to the nanny as they gurgled and kicked. She expertly held the two boys on her hips, one on each side. Penny turned to Lyle and gave him a loving look and ran a hand over his shoulder.

Becca turned to leave with the babies when Sully shouted out, “Hey Becca, when you clock off, come find me, won’t you?” Sully was trying to act casual but the way he looked at her, he had one very pressing thing on his mind.

Becca turned, a coy smile on her face. “You come and find me,” she said, and carried the babies out of the bar area. Lena recognized that sassy hip walk she was doing, Lena was practiced in that, as well. Becca knew Sully was watching and drooling over her butt as she sashayed away.

Lyle and Penny, both stood up now, continued with their kiss like they hadn’t been interrupted. Like they weren’t feet away from a load of other people. Like they were madly, deeply in love. It reminded Penny of how Carmelo kissed her. She instantly felt heat in her core, and shifted her butt on the sofa.

And then two others approached, two guys.

One of them vaulted the sofa that Sully was sitting on. Lena saw the leather jacket, the cut, she squinted to see the name on it. Ash. Sergeant at Arms. She raised her eyebrows. Wasn’t the Sergeant at Arms meant to be the toughest bruiser of the whole MC? On the sofa sat a young-ish, lean guy with floppy brown hair, baby blue eyes and a playful grin. Next to Ardian and Kavan and all the other bodyguards and fixers the Zakarian Syndicate worked with, this guy looked like a pushover.

“Who you got on the fuck sofa, Sully?” Ash asked, elbowing Sully in the ribs playfully.

Sully swiftly cuffed Ash over the head gently, revenge for the elbow dig.

“Not mine, don’t get me wrong… this is Carmelo’s new fiancée, Lena Zakarian,” Sully introduced her. Hmm, Sully clearly kept his finger on the pulse and knew what was going on around here. He was just a regular member, as well. He was a perceptive guy, there was something in his eyes that warned Lena to be careful around him. Something calculating, something dark and secretive. She’d make a note to keep an eye on him.

Ash’s eyes widened in recognition.

“Welcome to the MC, Princess,” the other guy said. Lena couldn’t quite tell if he was being sincere or sarcastic. Now this guy looked like an MC member, no mistake. He was tall, lean, pierced, tattooed. Face of an angel but he had two nose rings and ear piercings, and a huge tattoo on his neck that went up into his hairline. Beautiful blue eyes with an amber ring around the pupils. Nix.

Lena cleared her throat. “Thanks,” she replied, ensuring her voice was strong, steady. Her ‘Mafia Princess—you will respect me’ voice.

“Good day at the office, boys?” Sully asked.

Ash nodded, putting a hand on Nix’s knee. “Yeah, Nix is such a slow fucker when it comes to driving the van-”

“It’s called a speed limit, Ash-” Nix bit back.

Lena blinked, watching Ash’s hand resting comfortably on Nix’s knee. Watching Nix not attempt to move it.

“Yeah, we’re an MC, Nix-”

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