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Bear leaned forward in my direction but didn’t actually commit to taking the full step. Then he pointed at me. “Your day’s comin, lil’ bit.”
I sneered, looking the big man up and down like a princess eyeing a filthy peasant who’d been mucking out the pig barn. “Not from you.”
“Can we please get a move on?” Brick actually raised his voice. That was new. Usually, he just growled or snarled and everyone jumped to do his bidding. Well, everyone except Serelda. He never used his growly voice with her.
“Sure. Soon as the Neanderthal gets the fuck outta the way.” I gave Bear a cheerful wave.
“Glad that one’s leavin’,” he muttered as he stepped back. “Someone needs to teach her some manners.”
“I only use manners with people who earn that respect from me.”
“Which is to say no one.” I thought that was Smoke, but the man didn’t know me that well. OK, maybe he did. ‘Cause yeah. Manners were for pussies.
I was about to open a can of whoopass on Bear when the door to the inner compound opened and two younger girls walked out with suitcases in hand. A man who looked to be in his late twenties walked with them, pulling another suitcase. The girls grinned widely when they saw Scarlet and ran to her.
“Scarlet! You’re home!” The girls threw themselves into Scarlet’s arms, and she might have fallen on her ass if Mars hadn’t moved to put an arm around her and take the brunt of their exuberance.
“Yeah, honey. I’m back.”
“Byte had us pack our stuff. We going somewhere?”
Scarlet kissed the girl’s forehead before pulling back to look at them both. “Yeah. You’re coming back with me to Indiana.” She turned to look back at Mars. “This is Mars. I’m his old lady now.”
“Old lady?” One of them wrinkled her nose. “You sure about him?” She gave Mars a look like she judged him and found him lacking. “He don’t look like much.”
That got a snort outta Smoke. “I think that one’s already got your number, Mars.”
“Don’t need your help, Smoke.” Mars grinned, but I knew he was irritated. Though I agreed with Smoke. Whichever twin this one was had Mars pegged. He was all right I guess, but he needed someone to keep him on his toes. “I’m Mars. If it helps, your sister chose me to be her protector. We both kinda had a rough time of it, but we’re better when we’re together. Kinda keep each other grounded, I guess.” He held out his hand to the girl.
For a moment, I thought she might refuse to take his hand, but finally, she held out her own and gripped Mars’ hand. “I’m Rainbow. This is Sunshine. And if you say anything about our names, I’ll hurt you.”
I got that. Before Mars could open his big mouth and be a guy, I moved forward, putting my body between Rainbow and Mars. I took her hand firmly in my own. “I’m Lemon. I have a twin too. Her name’s Apple.”
Like I knew it would, that gave Rainbow a start before she grinned widely at me. “I think I’m gonna like you.”
“Ditto, kid.”
“Are you good with going with Scarlet, Rainbow?” The guy with them spoke for the first time. He wasn’t overly assertive, but I got the feeling this was a test of some kind.
“Yeah, Byte,” Sunshine answered. “Why wouldn’t we be?” She looked genuinely puzzled.
“We just didn’t want you feeling like you had to leave. If you want to stay, you can.”
“Wait,” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Ain’t we comin’ back later?”
“No, honey.” Scarlet said with a sigh. “We’re moving to Indiana to live with another club. Mars belongs to the Iron Tzars. I know you’ve heard Claw mention them.”
“Yeah. But why do we need to stay there?”
Scarlet looked up at Mars, uncertain of how to proceed next. I could tell she didn’t want to do this here, but I wasn’t sure she was gonna get out of telling Sunshine and Rainbow their father was dead.
“I’ll tell you everything when we get back to Indiana. It’s a long story.”
Rainbow nodded slowly and I knew she knew something was amiss. “Yeah. All right.” She turned and raised a hand for Byte to high-five. “See you in the game.”
“You can count on it, squirt.” Byte gave her a grin. “You know how to find me if you guys need anything, but I’m sure Scarlet’s got everything under control.”
“Of course, she does.” Sunshine lifted her chin. “She’s Scarlet!”
