Page 43 of Carver (Satan’s Angels MC #8)

Elowen doesn’t often wake up crying. She babbles to herself and generally gets going until she laughs so loud that one of us hears her immediately.

There’s no mistaking that she’s awake as she laughs so hard that her crib is probably shaking.

“I’ll get her.” Dom kisses me, even though I’m a mess. “Take however long you need to get ready. There’s no rush.”

“We can’t be late for dinner. That’s so embarrassing.”

“People understand, if you have a baby.”

“No!” I gasp. “We can’t use the baby excuse when it’s not even real. She’s never made me late for anything.”

“I didn’t say we’d use it. Just that people assume. But we won’t be late. I’ll get her changed and ready. We still have lots of time.”

We don’t, but his calmness steadies me. I do feel better now that I’m not being eaten alive by nerves and anxiety.

This is Dom’s night. I wasn’t trying to take away from it.

I’m glad we talked. We can go to dinner, and I won’t be wrecked on the inside, constantly churning over and over what I need to say. I can just go and be me.

Even if that’s me in smudged eyeliner.

***

Dom was absolutely right when he jokingly said that the eyeliner I couldn’t scrub off would be right in style.

Ella welcomes us to her home and pretty much the first thing she says to me is that she loves my makeup.

The three of us are quickly swept into the kitchen.

Tyrant and Raiden are out on the deck, the grill billowing out puffs of white smoke as they cook the steaks.

Dom only hesitates long enough to make sure I’m okay before he joins them outside.

They’re just beyond the sliding patio door.

The three of them make a semicircle to frame the grill.

They’re talking, but I can’t hear what they’re saying.

“I have some cooked carrots and mashed potatoes for Ellie to start, if she’s getting hungry,” Ella says, indicating the pots on the stove.

Her kitchen is gorgeous. Her whole house is gorgeous. They live in a newer part of Hart, in a subdivision where all the houses look like they’ve been built in the past couple of years.

I expected something a little more storybook or maybe a character house.

I’m not sure why, except that Ella is a professor with a love of the classics.

I know that much from the few times I’ve met her.

I didn’t foresee the modern house with the squares stacked on top of each other, all done in black except for the wood tone front and garage doors.

Inside, the house is all huge windows, modern wood grained cabinets, sleek dark furniture, and an open concept that feels endless.

“I- yes. That would be great.” I realize that I’m gaping and try to dial it back, mostly by pressing my lips closed so I’m not in a fly swallowing position any longer.

Lark gets out a highchair and Penny eagerly helps her position it at the table. “This used to be hers,” Lark explains. “I brought it because I didn’t want you guys to have to do that. Not when you’re our guests.”

“Can I have some mashed potatoes too?” Penny asks, sidling up to Ella and hugging her leg.

“Sure, honey. Your spot is right by Elowen’s highchair. Do you want to sit down and I’ll get you a plate?”

“No carrots,” Penny instructs.

Lark sighs, but Ella laughs, the musical sound filling the kitchen. “This is just a starter. Veggies are up for debate with the main course. I’ll leave that for your mom to decide.”

Penny makes a face, but races over to the table, pulling out the big brown chair and situating herself into it.

I can’t remember how old Penny is, or if anyone told me, but she’s adorable.

She’s got a lot of her mom in her, especially with her long hair and pixie face, but her eyes are completely her dad’s.

Lark takes a plate from Ella, sitting it in front of her daughter.

Her long pink maxi dress sways around her willowy body.

She has the tiny figure of a dancer, and she’s unbelievably gorgeous.

She has that kind of beauty that is so otherworldly that you catch yourself staring when you don’t even realize that you’re doing it.

Am I doing that?

I quickly take Ellie to the highchair and get her strapped in, arranging the tray around her. Ella has a plastic plate with potatoes, carrots, and a bright pink baby fork and spoon for her.

The girls both dig in. Penny eats gracefully, while Ellie goes for more of the shoveling technique.

I watch her from the side, to make sure she doesn’t make too much of a mess or stuff too much into her mouth at once.

Lark comes to hover behind Penny’s chair, but not anxiously. She watches me with her soft eyes for a moment before she speaks. I can tell that she’s had the words in her head for a while, but they don’t sound rehearsed.

“Tyrant and Raiden are giving Dominic the whole welcome to the club out there. They’re making sure that he knows that this isn’t the kind of club that’s going to demand time he can’t give, and there’s no expectations that he changes who he is to fit in there.

People come as they are, and they’re accepted as they are.

That’s the whole point of the Satan’s Angels.

” She takes a breath and I wait silently, not sure what I should say, if anything.

“When I was younger, I left Hart. I’d grown up here, but when Raiden went to prison, I- it was just really hard.

It’s a long story, but I made the wrong decision.

I went away for years because I was afraid of what the club meant or could mean.

I was young, and I had it all wrong.” She glances nervously at Penny, but she’s absorbed in the dwindling pile of potatoes.

“He was okay, but I panicked. It was a hard time. I didn’t have his support.

My parents were- uh- that was complicated too.

I was in love with Gray- uh- Tyrant, but I still made all the wrong decisions.

I was gone for years and I might never have come back if it wasn’t for my mom getting sick. I got here in time to say goodbye…”

She swallows thickly and my own throat prickles and aches for her loss.

“There was so much time that I can’t get back.

So many misconceptions. I just want to let you know that you don’t have to worry about that.

The threats that the club faced back then are over.

The club was made for brotherhood, and that’s the idea that Tyrant has really moved forward.

That will always be what’s most important.

That and the community. That’s what you’re getting from us.

Even if Dom never prospected, you’re a friend of the club, which makes you like a sister to us.

We stick together. So… I guess that’s a long way of saying welcome to the family. ”

Ella has crept up behind Lark and puts her hand on her shoulder.

“I married Lark’s brother, and that’s a crazy story too.

At first, we weren’t friends. I’m the daughter of a man who caused a lot of pain and hurt here, but that’s behind us now.

We’re more than just sisters through marriage.

We’re heart sisters. I know that you left your family behind to come here, but I hope that you find another family in all of us.

” She laughs, a little awkwardly and self-deprecatingly. “And that’s my long-winded welcome.”

I’m sure she and Lark didn’t have that timed, but the patio door opens, and Tyrant walks in with the steaks. Raiden is right behind him, Dom following them both in.

Tyrant sets the food down on the table and Lark and Ella quickly add the rest of the dishes. I offer to help, but of course they don’t let me.

Lark even cuts a bit of steak into tiny pieces for Ellie.

Penny doesn’t win her battle over not having carrots, but she only has to eat a couple pieces. She’s much more enthusiastic about her steak.

Dom and I get chairs right next to each other. Mine is right beside Ellie’s highchair.

There’s no more big speeches or talk about the club, but the atmosphere feels festive. Like we’re celebrating. Like we’re being celebrated .

I set my hand on Dom’s knee under the table and share a private smile with him before I go back to watching Ellie shovel steak and potatoes into her mouth.

It’s not just the air that feels celebratory, it’s all the smiling faces around the table, all the kindness and care before we even got here, the support this community has shown us. That’s what truly makes me feel like part of a family already. There’s no mistaking that Hart is our home.