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“Is Venom around?” Angel asked as he dished up a plate for Trace.
“Naw. Said he’d be back tomorrow sometime.” Facet was the one who replied. At least, I was pretty sure that was his name.
“Mmm” was Angel’s reply before he raised the plate at me. “You hungry? If so, come make yourself a plate.”
A little uncomfortable, I didn’t feel like eating. But then my stomach growled, reminding me that none of us had eaten since the night before. Well, except Trace. They’d swung through a drive-through for him after the airport.
Angel set Trace’s plate in front of him and gave him a fork. The boy dove right in like he ate brunch with a bunch of bikers every day.
Once I’d sat next to Trace, Angel sat across from me and Jasmine sat next to him in the seat Chains had vacated. She yawned again before drinking some of her coffee. Then she looked at me and shook her head. “Lord, girl, it’s been years.”
When she gave my son a good look, her fork clattered to her plate. Food forgotten, she stared. Then she looked at me. Then Angel.
“What. The. Hell?” she mouthed as she blinked rapidly.
“Long story,” Angel murmured before he dug into his food.
“Heard from Coy’s crew this morning,” said Facet. The men all looked in his direction. I tried to stay focused on my food and my son.
“Yeah?” asked Ghost, who had been staring a hole in my head since I’d sat down. I was thankful to Facet for taking his attention from me. Trace was seated between us and seemed oblivious to the heavy air in the room.
The man they called Squirrel had been quiet since we’d walked in, but suddenly stood. “Nice meeting you. I gotta run.” He didn’t wait for my reply before he hauled ass out of the room. My mouth was open to answer him, and it stayed that way.
“Don’t mind him. That’s Squirrel for you,” said Angel with a shrug. I shut my mouth and gave myself a little shake. Strange group of guys.
I noticed Voodoo and Angel having what seemed like a wordless conversation, and my eyes went back and forth between the two. Ghost then rubbed a hand over his mouth and nodded to the door. I looked, but no one was there.
“I’ll be right back,” said Angel to us, and all the men got up from the table and left the room. Voodoo kissed Kira before he left, and I wanted to whimper. More than anything I wanted that, but I knew better than to hope for it.
Sure, Angel had shown he was still attracted to me, and he’d said we weren’t leaving but surely that was because of Trace—not me. My heart wanted to hope, but my mind shut it down.
“So how old are you, Trace?” Kira asked my son in a friendly tone.
“Seven. I’ll be eight June!” he burst out, then shoveled the last of his eggs in his mouth. I cast a quick glance in Jasmine’s direction and could see her wheels turning.
“Wow. You’re so big for your age and so handsome. You must look like your dad, huh?” My gaze snapped to Jasmine’s. She looked at me in challenge.
Not wanting to make enemies of her any worse than she already was leaning, yet not willing to stand for her interrogating my child, I cleared my throat. “He knows who his father is, Jasmine. We’re working our way through everything.”
“Hmm. Well, I’d love to catch up when you have time.” She batted her eyes, and I knew exactly what she was referring to when she said catch up.
“Sure,” I said with a false smile. I hated that we’d evolved to this. As kids we’d been friends. “So you live here?”
“Uh, no,” she abruptly replied, and she pushed her food around on her plate. She wasn’t eating much.
“Are you staying with someone here?” It was difficult to speak in code but with the little ears of my son, I wasn’t going to ask if she was screwing one of the members of the club. Her face flushed bright red, and her eyes went wide with guilt.
“Of course not!” she huffed indignantly. “I’m only staying here while, um, the guys do some renovations for me.”
Her answer reeked of bullshit, but I kept my mouth zipped.
“Oh. Right.” I flashed another flat grin.
Kira spoke up, breaking the tension that was growing between me and Jasmine. “Trace, if it’s okay with your mom, would you like to go meet my dogs after you eat?”
His eyes lit, and he turned to me, nearly bouncing in his seat. “Mom! Can I?”
“Are you sure?” I asked Kira. She was very pregnant, and Trace was an active little boy. Trust wasn’t an issue. If Ogun was with her and Angel trusted the two of them, I wasn’t worried about him being with her.
