As I passed by Kira’s room, I heard her ask softly, “Can we leave the bathroom light on tonight?”
I moved into the doorway.“Of course, sweetheart.”I kept my tone light.
“He’s not coming in,” Zelda said with conviction.“Tiny won’t let him.”OK, Zelda caught me off guard with that one.When had my fiercely suspicious daughter developed such faith in the giant biker?
“You’re right,” I agreed, surprising myself with how much I meant it.“Tiny and Knight and the others will keep us safe.”
Kira nodded solemnly.“Tiny promised.He doesn’t break promises.”Christ, this girl.Kira was only twelve, but she could read people better than any adult I’d ever met.Sure, she played like a kid sometimes, but she was growing up too Goddamned fast, and I had mixed feelings about it.
Once the girls were in bed, I lay awake in my own bed, staring at the ceiling as sleep refused to come.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Andy’s face, his perfect hair and expensive clothes masking the monster I knew lurked beneath.
I turned onto my side, pulling the blanket tighter around me.When we first met, Andy had seemed like salvation.A stable, successful man who wanted to take care of me and my twin girls.After struggling alone, working multiple jobs while being a new mother to twins, his attention had felt like the biggest relief.
Now, I realized how carefully he’d groomed me, how patiently he’d waited until I was fully dependent before the mask began to slip.Until the first full-blown rage that left me cowering in a corner, wondering what I’d done wrong.By then, my friends were gone, my independence surrendered, and my self-worth so eroded I believed I deserved everything he wanted to dish out.
I closed my eyes, but the darkness only made the memories sharper.I forced myself to focus on something else.Something good.My mind drifted to Tiny, standing between Andy and the door, immovable as a mountain.In the weeks since we’d arrived at Haven, I’d watched him with my daughters.The careful way he held himself when they were near, the gentle rumble of his voice when he spoke to them, the genuine care in his eyes when Kira had that panic attack.
The image of him sitting cross-legged on the floor, letting the girls drape tinsel over his massive shoulders, flashed across my mind.He’d been gentle as he steadied the card tower for Zelda.When Kira offered him Mr.Hoppers, that sacred threadbare rabbit she barely let out of her sight, he’d cradled it with such reverence, understanding the trust implicit in her simple gesture.
Andy’d never understood my daughters.They were possessions to him; extensions of himself when it suited him, annoying inconveniences when it didn’t.But Tiny saw them.Really saw them, their fears, their needs, their small, brave hearts.
I shifted again, restless with conflicting thoughts.Wasn’t this how it’d started with Andy too?Hadn’t I once thought he saw me when nobody else did?The fact that I was lying here, considering trusting another man after everything, made me question my own judgment.What if I was making the same mistake?What if the warm safety I felt around Tiny was just another trap waiting to spring?
But something deep inside me rejected the comparison.Andy had isolated me from day one, subtly cutting me off from friends and family, positioning himself as my sole protector.Tiny did the opposite.He facilitated connections.Like with Violet and the other women at Haven, and the entire support system of the club.Andy had demanded control.Tiny offered choices.Andy used my fears against me.Tiny acknowledged them without judgment and promised to protect me from them.
I traced my finger over the faded twin stars tattooed on my wrist, remembering the day I’d given them to myself.Sixteen and terrified, with newborn twins and no idea how to be a mother.I’d been determined to mark my body with this permanent symbol of my love for them.
I couldn’t go back to Andy -- that much was clear.Even if the club, Haven, and Tiny himself all disappeared tomorrow, I’d sleep in my car, under bridges, in shelters across the country before I’d take my daughters back to that house.But running forever wasn’t a life.The girls deserved stability, safety, normal childhoods if such a thing was even possible after what they’d been through.
Maybe Tiny was our best hope for that.Not because I needed a man to protect us.I’d learned the hard way depending on someone else for safety was its own kind of trap.But because he represented something I’d thought was a fairy tale.He was a good man who used his strength to shield rather than to harm.
I checked the door one more time, making sure the electronic lock and the deadbolt were both engaged.On impulse, I pressed the security monitor to look outside the room.There, on the other side of the hall directly across from our door, Tiny stood guard between us and whatever came next.The knowledge settled over me like a blanket, heavy and warm and real.I remembered that hug, how safe I’d felt in his arms.I wanted to feel that safety again.I had no idea if he was interested in me beyond friendship, but the more comfortable I grew with Tiny, the more I wanted to be around him.
Tiny had promised to watch over us.I wasn’t sure if it was a hero complex or Zeus Instinct, but I thought I might need to find out if that kiss affected him the same way it affected me.Was I stupid for even thinking about getting involved with not only another man, but an ex-con to boot?Possibly, but I didn’t think so.There was too much proof to the contrary.
Sleep beckoned at last, and I surrendered to it.My last conscious thought was that Tiny could keep us all safe.And, if he was willing, I would let him.
Chapter Six
Tiny
I leaned against the wall in Haven’s common room, watching the morning light spill through the windows.Caleb had brought over his gaming system, and now he sat cross-legged on the floor with Zelda and Kira, all three hunched forward with controllers in hand, faces lit by the glow of the television.The twins were different kids when they played.Kira’s perpetual wariness softened, and Zelda’s defensive posture relaxed.Actually, Kira could be vicious when she didn’t win which surprised me enough to laugh.She glared at me and I had to cough to cover my humor.Something in my chest tightened at the sight.Thiswas how kids should look.
Penny stood in the kitchen doorway, cradling a mug of coffee between her hands.Dark circles shadowed her eyes from another restless night, but she smiled as she watched her daughters.That smile hit me like a physical blow.It transformed her face, made her look younger and less haunted.I wanted to see her smile like that every day.
The security door separating the reception area and the common room opened.Knight strode in, his arms loaded with equipment cases, his face set in grim lines.He scanned the room, caught my eye, and jerked his chin in a silent summons.
“Everything OK?”I asked as he set down his burden on a nearby table.
“Need to talk,” he said, his voice low.“You and Penny.Now.”
I straightened, every protective instinct on high alert.Knight wasn’t one for drama.If he was concerned, there was good reason.I caught Penny’s eye across the room and motioned her over.Her smile vanished instantly, replaced by the wary expression of someone who believed, because of life experience, unexpected news was rarely ever good.
Knight glanced at the kids, then positioned himself so he could keep them in his peripheral vision while we spoke.Smart.No need to alert them to trouble if we could avoid it.
“Found some shit while setting up the monitoring equipment,” Knight said, keeping his voice low.“Been digging into that ex of yours.”He directed this at Penny, who went rigid beside me.“He’s got gambling debts.Big ones.To people you don’t want to owe money to.”
Penny’s fingers curled into fists at her sides, her knuckles going white.“How bad?”
