Page 46 of Idaho

Once the girls were done, the men dutifully posed for pictures with them, then took the clippers themselves and finished cutting the rest of their hair. I studied the tattoo on Butcher's head that hadn't been visible before. With his hair short, I could see that it was a bird flying through a ring of barbed wire. It made him look even more dangerous than normal. A slow smile spread over my face.

"What?"

Looking over at Idaho, I shrugged. "If my father knew I was here right now, he'd shit a brick."

Idaho barked out a laugh. "Where the hell did you learn that expression?"

I didn't want to throw the girls under the bus, so I replied nonchalantly, "We watch a lot of your movies back home."

"Listen up," Lockout called out and everyone quieted down. "I know this has been a hectic year, but I want you to know that we're all damn glad to have each of you with us." His gaze swept the room and he looked relaxed and happy. His eyes settled on Idaho for a minute, and something flashed there that I couldn't place.

I turned my head to study Idaho, but his expression wasn't giving away anything about how he was feeling.

"I know a lot of you are missing your own homes, but I'm just asking for you to hang on a little longer. We'll get...everything taken care of and when it's safe you can go home."

"This is home," Seek called out with a smile. "You might just be stuck with us permanently after this."

Everyone chuckled at that.

Lockout grinned at her and raised the beer bottle he was holding, saluting her. "I know it's going to be a little crazy over the next few days, but I'd like everyone to come out to the apartments tomorrow and spend the morning with the women and children there. We'll be making breakfast for them and handing out some presents we got everyone."

"That's so nice of you all," Sloane said, the threat of tears making her voice husky. "When are we going over?"

"Nine," Lockout answered. "Could you text them all and let them know?"

"They'll be so excited," she said, with a nod. She already had her phone in her hand.

"The following night, on Christmas Eve, we'll be having dinner together as a family," Lockout continued. "I know I already mentioned it to most of you, but some of you are new here," his eyes met mine and he smiled. "Dinner's on me, so you don't have to bring anything unless you want to."

"When did you learn how to cook?" Hush joked.

Lockout held up his hand, his middle finger on display as an answer to Hush's question. "Otherwise, Christmas day is for your individual families. A bunch of us will be hanging out down here if you want to join us. You won't hurt our feelings if you don't."

"Pretty sure most of us don't have feelings," Smokehouse added.

The ribbing continued on after Lockout's speech ended. Eventually, the guys went outside while the rest of us began decorating the tree. Seek came to stand next to me and she gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I sort of have to do this." I didn't get a chance to ask what she meant before she was hugging me.

I froze for a moment, then wrapped my arms around her. She was around my age, but she reminded me of my oldest sister. I squeezed her tight, grateful to be accepted into this family, even if it was temporarily.

CHAPTER 17

Idaho

The next morning, we showed as a group to the apartment building where the women and children from the cult were living. One of the women, clearly the designated leader of the group, came up, smiling from ear to ear. "Oh Sloane! It's wonderful, thank you so much." She looked over at Lockout. "We can't thank you enough for the playground."

Lockout exchanged glances with Riptide. Together they said, "Playground?"

I stepped forward, folding my arms over my chest, grinning as I watched my brother try to figure out what was going on as the woman pointed off to the side, where all the new playground equipment was sitting. Children were swinging and climbing on monkey bars, and doing exactly what kids should do.

"I can't tell you how excited the kids are. And the Santas! Oh how they loved that, all the delivery men and workers putting it together, each dressed like Santa. The kids will remember this forever."

They looked from her to each other, then back "Santas?"

The hair on the back of my neck lifted, and I turned my head to find my brother staring at me. "Did you do this?"

I shrugged. "Remember those investors who like to donate? They had extra money burning holes in their pockets."

The woman, Angie was her name, clasped her hands together and smiled at me. "They love it so much. It was hard for them to wait for the men to finish installing, and then they wanted to be out there all night long."