Page 95 of Sterling Clay

“Not shacking up with him like you did with that fool Wesley.” Her father wants confirmation.

“Daddy,” she groans.

“With all due respect, sir.” I begin. “Speak to her again like that, and we’ll have a problem.”

He eyes me like he can’t imagine what sort of trouble I’d make. And while I’m not a fighter by nature, I’m also easily twenty-plus years younger than him and I’ll hold my own until the last strike.

Slowly, his mouth ticks up and I see the similarity to Mavis’s smile.

“Got some big balls.” He chuckles.

“Daddy,” Mavis chides. “Not in front of Dutton.”

His thick brows lift, as if something crossed his mind.

“How come my grandson isn’t giving this old man a hug?” He tips up his chin, waiting for me to release Dutton, but Dutton isn’t letting me go, burrowing his face into my neck. His cold nose against my skin reminds me we are outside in the November chill. I should be inviting everyone inside but all I really want is to collect Mavis and Dutton and take us to my bed, where I’ll keep them wrapped in a protective cocoon.

“It’s been a long twenty-four hours,” Mavis answers.

“He hurt you?” Her father isn’t talking about me anymore, and I want to know who he references.

Mavis shakes her head, lowering it. “He just wants to chat.”

“We’re going there next, but I wanted to see for myself that you were safe and whole.” Her father pauses a second. “I love you, baby girl.”

“I know, Daddy.” With that, she uses her hand to remove my arm from her waist and she slowly walks to her father. There’s no rush in her steps, more like she’s hesitating, but the second he opens his arms, she melts into them, letting his leather-covered limbs engulf her. He kisses the top of her head, mutters something to her, and she looks up at him.

With a slow smile on her face, she responds, glances at me, and then pulls out of his arms.

“Dutton.” Her father’s tone is sharp. “Give Granddad a hug and then I’ll let you be.”

Dutton wiggles from my arms and rushes to his grandpa, whose entire demeanor changes. He smiles wide as he hikes Dutton easily into the air, tossing him upward and catching him before tucking him into his side. He says something to Dutton as well and Dutton wraps his arms around the man’s neck, but quickly releases him.

“Look after your mama,” he says, patting Dutton’s behind before setting his grandson on his feet and watching him rush back to Mavis.

The motorcycle man does another swiping gaze over me and whomever is behind me.

“I’m still gonna be available whenever you need me,” he states to Mavis.

“If I need you,” she replies, but slowly smiles back at him.

“Don’t get sassy like your sister,” he teases. “And call your mama again. She’ll want to know you’re safe.”

He nods at me, with no other acknowledgement, and climbs back on his bike. Mavis walks with Dutton back to me and curls into my side. I wrap both arms around her again, squeezing her tight as her father and his two men turn in my drive and then disappear down my driveway, the crunch of gravel softening, the scream of motorcycles picking up as they first hit pavement.

Then silence.

I kiss the top of Mavis’s head. “Let’s get inside.”

Releasing her, I reach down for Dutton and hike him up to my hip. When I turn around, my family is standing in a straight line. Ford and Sebastian both stand with arms crossed over their chests. Judd has his hands lowered behind his back. Stone has his hand hitched into his belt, fingers near his holstered gun. Even Vale is standing in the cold without a jacket, hands tucked into the back pockets of her jeans.

A man who has siblings who love him cannot do worse.

Families come in all combinations. Siblings with no functioning parent. A mother to her sister’s child. An orphan with an aunt that loves him. A set of men collected by a common interest. And yet, love is no less in any form where family is concerned. The desire to keep the ones we love safe and protected, comforted and claimed is no different.

And this is my family. My siblings and their extended families.

Mavis and Dutton.