Page 31 of Idaho

"Nothing."

Sighing, I planted my feet and turned to face him. "You're going to need to start explaining a few things if I'm going to accept your help."

"You already did, Duchess." He grinned down at me and I felt my heart skip a beat.

Dammit. I needed to watch myself around him. I didn't want to end up being some kind of conquest for him when all he wanted was to get to my father. "That's not fair," I told him, trying to keep my tone even. "You don't get to use my desperation to order me around and keep me in the dark."

"Seems to me, I get to do whatever I want. I'm not the one who needs help."

"I hate you," I muttered, turning away.

He chuckled and caught up with me easily. Thomas was following us, but keeping his distance. "No, you don't."

I didn't bother to answer him as we walked back into the main room. The men were all sitting around the bar, drinking and talking. They quieted when they saw us. I felt like an intruder. Like I didn't belong here. It was a familiar feeling. I never belonged anywhere. Even with my family. I was the black sheep. The one who wasn't happy with following every order from Father. Who didn't want to live in a gilded cage for the rest of my life. Marrying who he chose. Working where he chose. It was torture for me.

"Kit, this is Tatiana Desmet," Idaho introduced me to the woman behind the bar. "Tatiana, this is Kit Kincaid."

"Nice to meet you," I said with a smile. "And please, just call me Eva." I shot Idaho a look that told him that was aimed at him as well. I never went by Tatiana.

She nodded and gave me a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you, too. If you're going to be sticking around, the other women will be back soon and I can introduce you."

"She will be," Idaho answered. He turned and started pointing at the different men. "You've met Toxic."

Toxic winked at me, then gave Thomas a warning look. It said not to cause any trouble here. I smiled at him, trying to smooth over the rough first meeting.

"That's Butcher, Hush, Riptide, Dash, Mel, Ricochet, Smokehouse, and Hellfire. The mutts on the floor next to Hush are Auron and Jecht," he continued, motioning to each man as he introduced them. "Guys, this is Eva. She's going to be staying with us for a while."

"Why?" Butcher asked. It wasn't asked in a malicious way, so I didn't take offense.

"I'll explain that in church," Idaho replied. "Until then, just do me a favor and keep an eye out."

"For what?" a deep voice from behind me asked.

I turned and watched as Priest walked up. There were four little girls, and a woman with him. His arm was around her and she smiled at me in welcome.

"For anything out of the ordinary," Idaho replied. "You met Priest. This is his old lady, Taz, and his daughters, Gabby, Caitlyn, Taylor, and Cassie."

One thing my upbringing afforded me was the ability to remember names and faces. I was grateful for it now as Idaho rattled off the introductions.

There was no stopping my smile. "Hi," I said to Taz, then squatted down so I was on the smallest girls' level. "I'm Eva." They were about as old as my brother and it made my heart trip in my chest. As much as I didn't want to go home, I missed my family. Especially with the holidays almost here.

"Hi, Eva," the oldest girl, Gabby, said with a grin. "Are you dating Idaho?"

My eyes widened and I choked back a laugh at her brazen question.

Idaho chuckled. It was a warm sound that flowed over me and made me feel safe. Which was ridiculous considering he was a stranger and had only offered to help me out of self-interest. He'd even admitted it to Lockout, saying they needed me to help with something.

He squatted down beside me. "No, she's not dating me." He winked at Gabby, then looked at me. "Yet."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "You're ridiculous," I told him before looking down at the girls again. "I'm just going to be staying here for a little while."

Taz gave Priest a questioning look, but he shook his head. They were obviously having some kind of silent conversation, but I didn't know what it could be about. Finally, she stepped forward. "It's so nice to meet you." I shook her hand. "You can call me Jenny. The guys all use those names for us, but we women just use our regular names with each other," she explained.

"Thank you." I nibbled my lip, then asked her in a low voice so hopefully most of the men wouldn't hear. I wasn't trying to offend anyone. "Everyone has very strange names," I admitted. "Is there a reason for that?"

She laughed and glanced over at Idaho. "He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"