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“Hey, man!” I looked up to see Optimus walking over to me. I’d just finished cleaning my bike and the bitch was fucking sparkling. Just how I liked it. “Any chance you can shoot round and pick up Jayla from Lucy’s place. One of the other girls called in sick at X-Rated and Luce has to cover for her.”
He held out the keys to his truck. “Sure, but where’s Chel? Thought you’d get her to do it.”
He came closer and dropped the keys into my outstretched hand.
“We’d go, but she’s been having some issues with her co-ordination lately, and I want to take her up to the hospital and get her checked.” I could see the concerned look on my brother’s face.
“Shit,” I muttered. Chelsea did pretty well these days, even getting back into her regular running routine.
He nodded. “Yeah. I just hope she hasn’t been pushing herself too hard.”
I had to smile, that girl was strong and determined. Op had been lucky to find such a perfect Old Lady.
“Look after your girl. I’ll head over and grab the squirt,” I called over my shoulder as I headed for his truck which was parked at the edge of the compound.
“Thanks, man!”
Jayla was nearly five years old. Her mom, Hayley, had been a stripper at X-Rated. Unfortunately, she was caught in the crossfire during our short confrontation with the DePalma family, and Marco DePalma, Rose’s father, had killed her right outside the strip club.
Jayla’s father was unknown and Hayley’s family had thrown her out on her ass because she’d gotten pregnant at such a young age. That thought alone made me furious. She was just a kid trying to raise a kid. She didn’t deserve to be tossed out to fend for herself. It’s times like this I’m thankful for the club. We were family, stronger because we built our family together. Without the club who knows where I’d be now. After my mother left, it definitely wasn’t my father who raised me, he was too busy drinking and going out on club business to care where his teenage son was. It was the old ladies and club members that made sure I had a home and people to watch out for me. They taught me the real meaning of family.
So far we had managed to keep Jayla out of the system, putting off court hearings and making sure we had our shit sorted before we stepped up and made a claim for her. Because in our eyes she was ours, she was one of us, and there was no way in fucking hell that a judge was going to deny us our right.
I jogged up to Lucy’s apartment and banged on the door. It squeezed open just a few inches and I looked down to see two bright eyes staring up at me.
“Hey, squirt.” Her nose crinkled, but it wasn’t long before I saw a little smile. Jayla didn’t talk much. None of us were sure if it was because she’d lost her mom or whether she’d always been that way. Hayley had only been with us a short time before she was killed, so no one had really got to know them very well. “You ready to go?”
She pulled the door open a little further and held out her little princess backpack for me to take. I rolled my eyes, but took it from her hands and threw it over my shoulder.
“Hey, Blizz. Thanks for coming so quickly.” Lucy came down the hallway, handbag swung over her arm as she attempted to put her earring in her ear. “I have to be on stage in half an hour.”
“No prob. We got this.” I rubbed Jayla’s hair and she looked up at me and huffed. She’d obviously been spending too much time with Harlyn because the attitude was coming through loud and clear.
Lucy picked her up and walked with me to the truck, buckling her into the booster seat in the back and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
“Bye!” she called with a quick wave as she jogged over to her own car and climbed in. How she even walked in those heels, I’ll never know but they were sexy as hell.
While the brothers had rules about sleeping with the strippers who worked for us, I’d had my fair share of them. Lucy was no exception. She was hot, sexy, and all kinds of kinky in the bedroom. But she was also never one to cling and that’s how I liked it.
“All right, to the clubhouse,” I said and climbed in the truck. I looked over my shoulder and Jayla’s face beamed back at me. She may have lost her mom, and there was nothing that was going to take that pain away but, at least, we knew she was happy.
The drive through town was busy with everyone heading home from work. I groaned as I sat backed up at a stoplight, we weren’t moving at all. My hands itched on the steering wheel. If I had my bike, this wouldn’t be a fucking issue.
“She’s pretty like Mama.” My eyes widened at Jayla’s words. It was probably the most I’d ever heard come out of her mouth in one go.
“Who, Jay?” I asked. Her little finger tapped on the window, so I turned to look at where she was pointing.
My stomach sank.
She looked just like I remembered her. Long dark hair flowing freely down her back, tight jean shorts that showed off her tanned athletic legs, and a crop top that showed just enough to tease a man.
Rose.
She was in town.
My heart stopped and I wasn’t sure if it was anger I felt building in my stomach or need. Maybe a mixture of the both. I watched as she hustled down the sidewalk, her head down so I couldn’t see her face. But I knew it was her. I would know her anywhere. I had her body memorized.
Car horns sounded startling me and I realized there was no longer anyone in front of me and the light was green. I wanted to jump out of the truck and follow her. Demand to know why she was here, but I couldn’t. There was nowhere to turn around and the only way I could go was forward.
