Page 28 of Emergence: Prequel
“Morning, honey,” I replied, pressing my lips to his, then pulling out of his arms to greet my boys and to check them over.
“Morning, Momma,” Kyle muttered tiredly, kissing my cheek.
“Morning, baby,” I answered, hugging him before turning to Ford, who smiled and held out his arms to me. “I knew I’d wear you down,” I chuckled, kissing his cheek before rearing back and looking at him with narrowed eyes, “Care to tell me why there’s a strange girl in your bed?”
His eyes widened in shock, going from mine to Roman’s, “I don’t know anything about that. What the hell?!” He went to push past me into the house, but I held him back.
“Let her sleep, Ford, she looks exhausted and she’s just a little thing.”
Kyle chuckled at the pained look on Ford’s face. “Rowena,” they said in unison, shaking their heads.
“Short red hair and glasses that look too big for her face?” Ford asked.
“Not sure on the glasses, but yes to the red hair.”
“She helped us last night,” Kyle grinned, “and you seriously don’t want to get on her bad side. She’s a vicious little thing.”
His words made me wonder what she’d done, but then it probably wasn’t the first time people underestimated her. Deciding I’d find out later what was going on, I looked over Ford’s shoulder at Blake, Robbie, and Cash saying, “Welcome, Blake, Robbie, come grab some breakfast. Jessie and Raven are still asleep. Cash, if you want to get Lizzie, Chrissie, and RJ, I’ve cooked a tonne.”
“Will do,” Cash agreed, sauntering over to his house while I ushered everyone in and to the kitchen.
It was becoming a bit of a thing having our house full at breakfast, and I was loving it. The girls woke up with all the noise, Raven stumbling downstairs.
“Thanks for the breakfast, ma’am,” a soft voice said from next to me, making me jump and slap a hand to my chest.
“Sorry,” the voice apologised. Looking down into big bright grey eyes under a shock of red hair, I got my first good look at Rowena. The girl was stunning.
“That’s okay, I didn’t see you come in.”
“Not many do,” she smiled at me, but there was a tinge of sadness to her words. “I can clean up for you if you like.”
There was something about this girl that made me want to wrap her up and hold her tight.
“That’s okay, sweetheart. Have you had enough to eat?”
“I have, thank you. It was delicious. Thank you for letting me stay this morning. It’s the best sleep I’ve had in a long time.” With those cryptic words, she left me to finish wrapping up leftovers and glided silently away to sit at the table. I had to bite my lip when Blake jumped when he looked to his right and found her sitting there. What hit me was the amusement in Ford’s eyes as he watched her. I bet if asked, he’d have been aware of where she was at all times.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready for this next step in their lives,” I muttered quietly, heaving a silent sigh. Kids were so much easier when they were little.
Much later that night, once everyone was back in their own homes and the house was silent, Roman filled me in on everything that had happened. It was hard to believe that tiny little Rowena had done so much damage, but I also knew that grief and heartbreak could change a person, and having lost her twin, the other half of her soul, I imagined that she had a lot of anger built up inside her. It made me want to gather her up and hug her tight. I’d have to do some checking to find out whather family life was like. Either way, I’d ensure she knew she was welcome in our home.
Closing my eyes, with Roman’s steady heartbeat under my ear and our kids safe in their own beds tonight, I relaxed for the first time in hours and let sleep claim me. Whatever happened, we’d deal with the fallout if it came our way.
MAESTRO
It had been a couple of days and so far, there had been nothing mentioned anywhere. Hard-Drive was monitoring all news channels as well as official police channels. I’d heard nothing from our FBI contact either and figured I’d give him another day before calling.
We’d pulled Blake and his family into the fold and put them up in the cottage that Emily had been staying in. She’d moved in with Dad, much to his happiness. It was good to see him looking more like himself after the dark few years we’d had with Chains being killed and Mom dying. It was like, finally, things were slowly coming back together.
I’d given Blake a job in the garage under Buck. I wanted to find out what the rest of the officers thought of him, but if they liked him, I was going to offer him a place in the MC. Not sure how I was going to get around the prospect aspect, but something would come to me.
Broken from my musings by the ringing of my phone, my brows rose as I recognised the number. Picking it up, I answered.
“Maestro.”
There was silence for a minute before he spoke, “Was it you?”
“Was what me?”