“You good?” Dex asks, coming to stand beside me, his shoulder brushing mine.
“Yeah. Just making sure Loyal is all good.”
I ignore his gaze, boring into the side of my face. “Loyal is a lot stronger than you think, brother. She’s taken to those two little girls like a duck to water. Her friend ends up here, shit kicked outta her and instead of bursting into tears she checked her over and relayed everything to Switch so he could assess her. She’s going to make one hell of a paramedic one day.” He slaps me on the shoulder. “And one hell of an Ol Lady.”
Without looking back he stalks off, headed for one last word with Marx. The rest of the DRMC family are busy hugging each other, saying their goodbyes before they get on the road. It’s busy and loud and even though I know I’ll miss them when they leave, I also look forward to the peace that will descend upon us so we can keep things calm and light for the girls.
Flicking my gaze around the room, it lands on Bree and Addy, sitting quietly with Elio and Judge’s daughter Annie-Bella. She’s a sweet kid, too sweet for her own good, but the twins look at her as if she hung the moon, and she pays them the attention an older sister would.
I arch back when something bony jabs me in the ribs, swinging to catch Saint and he jerks away laughing.
“You asshole,” I growl, taking another swipe at him.
I miss him as he dodges away from me, but it doesn’t matter. The moment I had, which I admit was me perving at Loyal from across the room, is now gone.
“So, you doin’ something about that?”
I jump at Mad Dog’s soft rumble, a little too close for comfort.
“If bythatyou mean Loyal, then yes. I am. I’m letting her lead.”
“Good. Cos I don’t want to see you fuck this up,” Pops says, on the other side of me.
I have no idea what made the Tombs family so sneaky and terrifying, but whatever it is I guess I’m glad they’re on my side.
I study Pops, eyes narrowing the longer I stare at him. “Why are you two so invested in our love lives anyway?”
“Love makes the world go round, son,” Mad Dog says, clapping a hand on my shoulder before moving toward the door.
Pops stares me down and I return it. He takes a breath, letting it go slowly. “Look. My grandbabies are all coupled up, living their best lives. The rest of you shitheads? Well, I look at you all like you’re all my grandbabies. I know what it’s like to be lonely. Now that I’ve found love again,” he turns, gaze finding Mama Debs across the room. She blushes prettily under Pops’ gaze before he turns back to me., “I want everyone to have what I have. The person that understands them. And no one understands you better, than that girl over there,” he tipshis head toward Loyal, who beams when she sees Pops and my attention on her. “Oh, and if you tell anyone I told you that, I will punch you in the dick so hard you won’t be able to use it for months.”
“Noted,” I say with a curt nod.
Pops grins at me. “Call me if you need help.”
I give him a mock salute and he rolls his eyes on a growl before wading through all the kids to reach his woman as she migrates toward the door, the rest of the DRMC moving in that direction alongside her.
The Keep all assemble outside the doors, offering last handshakes, bone jarring back pats and in Chef’s case, longing glances toward the woman he can’t have. Yet. Judge, as road captain, starts his engine first, the rest of them following a moment after until the air is nothing more than a deafening roar. Marx holds his hand up, circling his finger in the air slowly pulling out. We watch as one by one, the riders head down the drive, the DRMC SUVs following close behind until silence descends over the Keep.
“So, when can we see them again?” Damian asks, the mastiff dog by his side.
Dex looks at him, then at the dog at his feet, brows raised. “Where the fuck did he come from?”
“I think you’ll find he’s a she, mon ami,” Damian replies smoothly.
Dex stares at him, before taking a deep breath, “Where the fuck didshecome from?”
“Yeah, Damian, where did she come from?” Justice asks, a bored look on his face.
“We went on out to get Miss Joe’s dog. When we pulled up, there’s two of ’em sittin’ there, just lookin’ at us like we were the ones lost. She ain’t never said nothin ‘bout there bein’ two, so we didn’t know which was hers. I looked at ‘em and said, nah,a woman like Miss Joe, she’d ownthatone. Turns out she owns the little one and I don’t know why this one was chillin’ with Mosely.” He shrugs.
“Who the hell is Mosely?”
“Miss Joe’s doggy,” Damian answers as if that’s obvious.
Dex pinches the top of his nose. “So then who the fuck owns this one?”
“What does her tag say?” Loyal asks, voice smooth like silk, stopping Damian from answering with riddles or nonsense.
