I laugh because I was thinking the same of her. I glance down at my jeans then back up to Lovely with a grin. “Who knew, huh? Can I tell you a secret?”
Her eyes grow wide as she nods her head, leaning closer. “I went shopping for normal people clothes and only bought jeans. And fancy underwear.” I roll my lips between my teeth, wondering if I’ve gone too far.
Instead, Lovely punches the air with her fist, a beaming smile on her face. “Aw yes, you did!” She throws her arms around me once more. “It’s so good to see you thriving, Loyal. You deserve this and so much more.” Sniffling, I pull back, then echo her words back to her. “Thank you. I have more than I ever imagined. Marx!” she calls over her shoulder and the largestman I have ever seen steps up behind her, his large tattooed hand snaking around her middle, pulling her against him.
“You yelled, Buttercup?”
“Yes, I want you to meet Loyal. Without her I would have never met you.” She looks up over her shoulder at him, and the large man melts.
Reaching around her he offers me his hand. “Thank you, Loyal. For giving me my Buttercup and my little Bee.”
Tilting my head I look at Lovely in question.
“My daughter-”
“Ourdaughter,” the big man murmurs.
Lovely rolls her eyes, “Ourdaughter, I named her after the two women who saved me. Blanche Loyal Paxton. Marx adopted her. We call her Bee so the Blanches don’t get mixed up.”
I barely hear the full story because after she mentioned my name my ears filled with my heartbeat and emotion clogged my throat. Someone thought I made a big enough impact on their lives as to name their child after me.
“Thank you,” I manage to croak out, barely a whisper.
“No, Loyal, thankyou.” Lovely grips my hand and gives it a squeeze. “Come on, this is a celebration, let me introduce you to everyone.”
I smile at that. Lovely is a completely different woman to the one I helped that fateful night, all because of the love of a good man and a family of people willing to welcome her and her child. If this is the type of power the DRMC has, then I look forward to my own transformation.
Chapter 6
Vex
It occurs to me about three minutes into the DRMC being here that Loyal has never once seen a happy couple. I get it, I never did either until I spent a little more time outside of the Keep, but even then it was peppered with unhappy couples. This, what the DRMC men have with their women, it’s something to behold. Each and every couple has found their perfect partner. Sure, they have disagreements, but instead of the submissive party being disciplined, they work together to resolve things. Like Rhodie is trying, right now, to get Chewy to agree to not go anywhere without him.
“Babe, I love you, but I can do this stuff. I do it all the time,” Chewy reasons, standing toe to toe with a man almost twice her size.
“Yeah, that’s the problem,” he says, exasperatedly.
Mad Dog shakes his head, he and Pops moving in my direction.
“So, what’s with the lovely Loyal, huh?” Pops asks, wriggling his brows.
Shaking my head I begin to back away. “Oh no, no way. I have everything in hand.”
“Oh?” Mad Dog raises a brow. “So you don’t need our help then?”
“No. Not at all. Loyal and I are going slow.”
Pops looks dubious. “Does she know that?”
“Well, no, but look, there’s a lot of history there. We will get there, in our own time. It’s been years in the making, and it may be years still and that’s OK.”
Pops stink eyes me for a moment, before tipping his head. “I’ll leave you with that then.”
“If you really want to help, Chef ain’t doing too good.” I nod toward my brother, looking like someone pissed in his Fruit Loops.
He’s lurking in the corner, eyes on Sage as she moves around the room. My niece is kind, sweet and beautiful, but she also has an edge, much like her mother. If Chef thinks he can break her heart and she’ll be fine with it, he has another thing coming.
“Oh, that idiot boy?” Pops purses his lips, sharing a look with Mad Dog. “Come on, let’s go make his life harder as payback for breaking my grandbaby’s heart.”
