Page 20 of Tav
“Niko, Sage?”
Niko blows out a breath. “I don’t like that he claimed you, but I think it means something different to what it means in…there.”
“Yeah, Mom. This way someone has your back. I didn’t like it when you didn’t come home. I couldn’t sleep. I need you to be safe and if you have to become a biker’s Ol Lady to do that, then I want you to do it,” Sage tells me, her voice wobbling a little.
Shit. I’m on this mission because it will make the world a better place, but I don’t want my choice to ruin my kids’ lives. I try to keep both sides of my life separate. This is the first time it hasn’t worked out as planned.
“I hate to say this but, he seems like a good guy.” Niko says with a grimace. I let out a snort because I know how hard that would have been for him.
Niko has been overprotective of me since he was a little boy. For the first few years of his life, we were on the run from Royal, using the networks my brothers put in place. Royal caught up to us three times, and all three times he tried to take Niko with him. The very last time there was a hell of a fight, Niko witnessed the whole thing and has never forgiven him. That was when I decided it was time to fight back. Eden’s Keep hates anything to do with law enforcement. They want to draw as little attention as possible to themselves, so the restraining order I slapped on Royal, combined with my threat of going to the media, had him backing off. After that I moved to Rose Grove, joined my brothers’ network and have been rescuing people ever since.
“Just, lay down the rules. You’re your own woman. You don’t take orders from men.” Sage parrots the words I told her when she started dating.
“Well, looks like you lot are gonna see me on the back of a bike,” I snort at the mental vision.
“Cringe, Mom.”
I turn to open the door and find the surprised faces of Tav and his family, minus the in-laws, before they look everywhere but at me.
“So we’re thinking of going with a light floral wallpaper for this hall,” Pops says waving his arm around the hallway as the others “hmmmm” and “ahhhhh” and nod. Well, Tav and Gus play along. Jules stands like a statue and Chewy keeps asking what he’s talking about.
Niko gives me a look that screams, “Are they for real?” before shaking his head. His shoulders shaking as he tries to hold in his laughter.
“Oh, you lot ready for dessert, then?” Gus says to my littles who whoop and run back into the dining room followed by the older kids.
Tav hangs back with me, his large hand brushing against mine until I grip his, giving it a comforting squeeze. The tension melts from his body and he gifts me with a brilliant smile.
“You won’t regret this, Pixie.”
Chapter 6
Tav
“Hey big Daddy,” I greet my brother as I drop into the seat across from his ridiculously tidy, big wooden man desk. No sleek lines for Gus. Just well oiled wood and a big leather chair. So manly, so cliche.
“Will you stop calling me that? It’s creepy in a weird sex way, and I don’t want our employees to hear you.”
I wave my hand at him, and he frowns back. First off, our employees know how we roll. Second, he exudes big daddy energy so I tell him so.
“Rhodie does too, you know,”
I jump a little, unaware that Chewy was behind me at the conference table. “Jesus, Dayz, you almost made me shit myself. Also, don’t say shit like that about Rhodie again.” I shiver at the thought of my sister doing anything remotely sexual or calling Rhodie daddy. Gross.
“Whatever.”
Two knocks on the doorway and Jules walks into the office, giving me a shove before flopping down into the chair next to mine. This is how we always sit. Dayz at the conference table on the other side of the office, Gus in his manly seat, and me andJules in the two chairs facing him. I don’t know why it’s this way, it just is.
“Ah, there is our little ray of sunshine,” I cheesy grin at Jules while he gives me the stink eye. His usual setting.
“We have a few things to cover. Least of all is what the hell you are going to do with an Ol Lady and four kids, Tav. Have you even thought about where you’re going to live?”
I knew this shit was going to come up. Gus is the ultimate worry wart and over planner. Well, he was until he got a wild hair and proposed to Ana in the middle of a security meeting. Although I can’t begrudge him that, he now has a wife, a baby on the way, and is disgustingly happy. Has he become somewhat more relaxed? No. But does his wife like to bust his balls, therefore making her dear to our hearts? Yes, yes, she does.
“We’ve spoken about it, and for the meantime, we’re just going to take things slow. Obviously they can’t fit in my house, and with the little kids we don’t want to confuse them with my moving in too soon. So I’ll be spending evenings with them and see how it goes.”
Gus nods absently before frowning again. “What about prospecting?”
I roll my eyes, “Got that covered. I’ll stay weekends and Mondays at the clubhouse like I have been doing. It’s going to be fine, Gus. As the kids say, it’s all Gucci.”