My mouth went dry as I stared over at the kid, horror-struck.
Cara looked at me and made an ‘eek’ face.
My feet moved toward them, and my heart stuttered when I saw my girl looking up at Wilder as if she was about to burst into tears.
“Imogen,” I called over. “Come with Daddy, baby girl.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and she looked up at me, her big eyes swimming with tears. Then she held her arms up to the boy standing next to her and wailed, “Wawa.”
Like a flash, Wilder was on his knees, taking her hand, his voice light as he soothed, “Don’t cry, Immie. It’ll be okay. I’ll play with you.”
The women’s sighs filled the air along with murmurs of, “How sweet.” Even a few of the guys let out quiet chuckles.
Gabby’s hand flew to her chest before she turned to Sunny and declared, “Wilder’s so cute the way he loves Immie.”
Sunshine nodded enthusiastically and announced, “My dad met my mom when he was Wilder’s age, and they used to playtogether all the time.” She leaned toward Gabby and told her sagely, “Grandpa John says all us Stones love hard, fast, and forever.”
My gaze settled back on Wilder, who was rubbing his hand down Imogen’s back soothingly while she gazed up at him, babbling in baby language.
Atlas sidled up to me with a knowing look on his face. “See that?” he demanded, nodding toward Wilder and Imogen.
I grunted.
“You know what it means, right?”
My head slowly swiveled toward him, and my lip curled because yeah, I fucking knew alright.
A wide grin split his face. “Basically, O’Shea. You’re fucked.”
My chest deflated because a weird feeling had settled in my gut the instant I witnessed a five-year-old hellion claim my girl, and it wasn’t leaving me anytime soon.
Atlas was right.
Iwaswell and truly fucked.
CHAPTER 15
ROSIE
“Is he okay?” Cara asked, glancing out of the window from the kitchen sink where she stood washing glasses.
I took a sip of wine, and my gaze drifted toward Donovan, who was standing in Cash’s garden with the rest of the guys, staring broodily at Wilder. The kid was picking flowers for Imogen as she stared up at him adoringly.
My mouth twisted into a half-smile. “Donny will be okay. He’s just a bit shellshocked.”
“Poor Donovan,” Layla murmured, rubbing her very pregnant belly. “Bowie’s the same when it comes to Sunny.”
“You expect it at Sunny and Kady’s age,” Kennedy drawled. “Immie’s not even a year old and she’s already been claimed by a biker boy. I’m not sure I would’ve been down with that.”
“A psycho biker boy too,” Cara added, her eyes drifting out of the window toward her son. “I’ve never seen him be so sweet with anyone. Not even me, and my boy loves his momma. I think Immie’s good for him, and she won’t find a better protector. My boy would take on the world for the people he loves, and Immie’s already been placed under Wilder’s big ol’ umbrella of mini-psycho-biker-boy protection.”
“Donovanwillbe pleased,” I muttered sarcastically.
The ladies laughed.
My stare settled on my man, taking in the hard set of his jaw and the tenseness in his shoulders as he stood in a huddle, talking to the guys. Not for the first time, a wave of unease hit me.
Something weird was happening with him, but trying to get him to talk was like trying to get blood out of a stone. Still, I pushed my doubts down and declared, “If it’s any consolation, Donny’s on edge today. He walked out of the gym earlier, holding Immie, and caught somebody taking photographs of them from a car parked down the street.”
