Page 7 of Brandishing Betrayals (Devil’s Psychos MC #2)

Marcos

T he baby’s cry was the first thing I heard when I walked into my sister’s house. My niece had a set of lungs on her to rival her mother’s. I would know, being ten years older than Kara, I had practically raised her as a baby.

The next thing I noticed was the pile of laundry stacked on the couch in the living room and mess of papers strewn across the dining room table. It wasn’t like the four of them to have a messy house.

I glanced around the house—there was no one to be found.

Lilah was still crying upstairs and she didn’t sound like she was getting any softer. I took the stairs two at a time, and headed down the hall toward her bedroom, wondering where the hell her parents were.

I got my answer when I walked into the infant’s bedroom and found all four parents sitting on the floor or in her rocking chair, heads leaned back and eyes closed—like they fell asleep sitting up and hadn’t heard the baby.

I ignored them and reached into the crib and picked up the fussing six-month-old. “Shh,” I murmured, smiling at my niece. “It’s okay, mamacita, shh,” I cooed softly.

Lilah soothed her tears once she was lifted from the crib.

I settled her into the crook of my arm and started rocking her gently.

God, I loved these moments with her. I rocked her a moment longer before I walked over to her changing table and got to work changing her diaper.

I felt like it wasn’t that long ago that I was changing Kara’s diapers.

“What’s happening?” Kara mumbled, jerking awake.

I glanced over my shoulder at my sister.

Her blond hair was in disarray, her makeup was smudged on her face, her clothes wrinkled.

She was a hot mess. I glanced at her men and saw they weren’t much better.

Johnny was leaning against the wall, next to the crib, missing a shirt, and had dried spit up on his sweatpants.

Derrick’s long brown hair was stringy and greasy; there were dark circles under his eyes even as he slept in the rocking chair.

And Kevin’s usually spikey hair was flat on his head, his shirt was inside out and he was in his boxer briefs.

Clearly the four of them were exhausted beyond belief.

“Marcos?” Kara asked, her voice groggy.

“Si, Lil Manita,” I murmured softly, not wanting to wake her guys.

“What are you doing here?”

I chuckled softly. “Just wanted to see my girl. Go to bed sister, I’ve got her tonight.”

“Whaa?” Kara asked, clearly not awake yet.

I finished up with Lilah’s diaper and zipped up her sleeper before I picked her up and turned to face my sister. She was still sitting on the floor half asleep, a dazed and confused expression on her face. I frowned slightly. “Necesitas dormir,” You need sleep.

“Si,” Kara responded. “Ella no ha dejado de llorar. NO sabemos que hacer.” She won’t stop crying. We don’t know what to do.

I nodded slowly; I had a feeling it was something along those lines. The four of them had been great parents and been especially great about switching off and taking turns. It was highly unusual for the four of them to be this fucking exhausted. “Go to bed, sister. I’ll take her tonight.”

Wood creaked to Marcos’s left as Derrick slowly got to his feet. “Shit man,” he grumbled.

I chuckled, seeing the big burly man so disorientated was a little bit funny. “Go, all of you,” I ordered them, as Johnny and Kevin slowly regained consciousness. “Get some sleep tonight. I’ve got her.”

“Seriously man?” Johnny grumbled, running a hand through his short blond hair.

“Yeah guys, go. Sleep all night, we’ll just be hanging out. Get a full night’s rest without interruption.”

“Thank you,” Kevin said, not even glancing back as he headed out the door.

I laughed and cooed at Lilah, ignoring them all as they filed out of her room. Kara padded over and pressed a kiss to my cheek, while rubbing Lilah’s head. “Thanks, big brother, I love you,” she murmured, before she left the room.

“Love you too, Lil Manita,” I replied softly to her retreating form. “Alright Lil Mamacita,” I cooed down at Lilah. “What do you say we head downstairs and make you a bottle. We’ll get you some of Tito Marc’s teething meds and get you some sleep too. It sounds like you’ve been a tiny terrorist.”

Lilah gave me a big smile like she knew exactly how much she’d been terrorizing her parents.

“Alright, good plan.” I nodded my head and walked out the door.

Marcos

Several hours and three diaper changes later, I finally got Lilah down for bed.

She was passed out on my chest and I was not about to move her.

Not at all. I had kicked off my boots hours ago and shrugged out of my cut as soon as I needed to burp the little girl.

In my blue jeans and plain white T-shirt, I was as comfy as I was going to get for the night.

I snuggled down into the corner of the fluffy sectional couch and closed my eyes. I’d already shut off most of the lights, only leaving on the dimmed accents lights that were aimed at the fireplace. Just enough light to walk around, but not enough to bother me while I dozed off.

Only I couldn’t sleep. The moment I closed my eyes and tried, my thoughts raced in my head.

I immediately thought of my son Lucas and how much I had missed out on the first nine and half years of his life.

All the teething sessions and diaper changes, all the first roll overs and steps, and all the damn cuddles.

I had missed out on so much, and it hurt my heart to see my son and know I’d never have those moments with him.

Luke was a great kid and the two of us had hit it off immediately. Luke had asked about me regularly growing up and Maya had told him everything she knew. When Luke started asking about meeting me, Maya had moved them home.

While some of that hadn’t exactly played out quite that way, Maya had never denied me my time with Luke since knowing he existed. She may not be open about why she left in the first place, but she was open with sharing her son with me now.

I needed to get a house, as soon as possible.

The one-bedroom apartment I lived in was not enough space for the two of us, and if I was honest, I missed living with Stone and Dagger.

After Maya had up and left, we’d tried staying in the same house, but things hadn’t been the same.

Things hadn’t been the same for quite a while, if I was honest.

I needed to bring up the subject with his brothers, see what they thought about moving in together again. Maybe we could pool our money and buy something faster than what I’d be able to.

Our previous club president Larry “The Butcher” Buckley had run the club’s finances and businesses into the ground.

The income we earned from the club had most of us barely making ends meet.

In the six months since I took over as president of the MC, I had made some great changes in the way we ran our businesses.

I also had mended business relationships that Buckley had let go by the wayside, or had shat on all together, like the protection detail with the Irish.

The IRA didn’t come through often, but when they did, they appreciated the extra protection.

They were not friendly with the Russian Bratva and moving guns was a tricky business.

I knew Johnny and the Knights worked with the Bratva, and had dealings with the Seratelli crime family as well.

Nico had his own ties to the Seratelli’s through his mother.

The whole web of crime syndicates that wove through Mourningside and Creekton was intricate.

Add in the Las Serpientes… and we were all fucked.

Lilah let out a little coo on my chest that stopped my grim thoughts and brought me back to present. I needed to set her down in her basinet and get some sleep, I had a feeling she would be up again in a couple hours.

With a reluctant sigh, I set my niece in the pack n play bassinet that my sister had set up in the living room, and grinned when Lilah didn’t fuss. I grabbed the thick fleece blanket off the back off the couch and wrapped it around myself as I laid down and closed my eyes.