Page 8 of Judge (Devil’s Rose MC #7)

Instead of waving off my concerns, Lovely told me exactly what happened and why I wasn’t invited.

As the newbie it was deemed best for me to sit that one out.

I guess I could see the thinking behind it.

I’m new here and they don’t really know me.

But instead of leaving it at that, Lovely decided to throw together a girls night and now here I am, walking to Lovely’s cabin, with strawberries and chocolate brownies in hand.

“Kaia! Wait up!” Spinning I catch Blanche power walking my way, with her little girl strapped to her chest.

I slow to a stop and wait for her at the bottom of the steps.

“Heard you were sad you missed out on the show? Don’t worry, there will be others.” She wags her brows at me, and for some reason, the promise of future violence makes me feel a little better.

“Sounds good to me,” I smile back, walking through the open door.

“Mama needs a drink!” Ana announces, and I can’t help myself, I burst into laughter.

We bustle around in the kitchen dining area before migrating to the couches, joined by Pops, Mad Dog and two Russian men Ana says are her best friend and his brother.

I still have no clue how the hell a girl from small town New Zealand managed to befriend the Bratva, but it seems to work.

She throws insults in Russian and teases Sasha about being the girl in his relationship with Roman.

We all laugh at the big blonde man, and then I laugh even harder at the look on his brother’s face.

“Soooo Kaia, how’s everything going with Judge?

Have you gotten the flutters of remembrance of the good times you shared with each other?

” Mira waggles her eyebrows, “Oh oh! This would make the perfect second chance love story, I love a second chance. I’ve written a few of them, you know.

” She nods and I still marvel over the fact that she’s a famous writer.

“OK, I admit, I love your second chance romance books, but there is no second chance for me and Judge. No way. There’s too much water under the bridge, so to speak.”

“I dunno girl, I think there’s still a spark there,” Pops adds, smirking.

“Nope! No way, nuh uh, you keep that smirk to yourself, Pops! I’m just here to keep my kids safe and then I can go home, back to the diner and continue to let Judge ignore us. I mean, I’m all for forgiving him, even if it was his fault that he never checked his damn emails.”

“Boys are so dumb!” Ana slurs out.

“So dumb!” I agree. “But even after the fact, after the whole missed emails reveal, he still hasn’t made any moves to get to know the kids or talk to me. The Leo I know would face things head on. Judge, well, he seems to be hiding his head in the sand. I don’t need a man like that in my life.”

Pops gives me a shrewd look, before nodding his head. “I’m just going to pop to the big house for some ice.”

“So, you don’t think you’d ever, in the history of the world, want to see Judge naked again?” Mira asks, a glint in her eye.

My core clenches and I have to tamp it down.

When we were kids he was always handsome.

Oh OK, I admit it, once we hit teen years he was the hottest thing on two legs.

Thick, brown, wavy hair, bright green eyes, skin that tanned in the sun.

He was always bigger than most of the kids our age, but with puberty came muscles.

So many muscles. Now though? With that shaved bald head and tattoos and the scar just above his eyebrow?

That shit can melt panties clean off your body.

“Nope,” I lie through my teeth.

Nobody buys it either, they all laugh at my expense, even Dima who up until now has remained fairly stoic, sitting stiffly between his brother and Ana.

“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he would be good in the sack. He’s all intense and stuff,” Chewy says, looking thoughtful. “He wouldn’t be as good as Rhodie though. He’s perfect. And he lets me do things to him.”

“For shit’s sake Chewy, do not mention any more butt stuff with my kid!” Mad Dog grumbles.

“But he’s just such a giving lover!” she argues back with a glint in her eye.

Lovely plops down next to me on the couch. “Pretty crazy, huh?” I smile, nodding in agreement. “Feels good though, right?”

Turning to her, her kind eyes hold my gaze, long enough to make me tear up.

“You’re not alone anymore, Kaia. No matter what happens with you or Judge or the kids, you have us now.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“What she said!” Pops yells out, back from the big house drawing attention to us. “You’re girl gang now, girl. So if Judge doesn’t sort his shit out, I’ll do it for him.”

“We’re always open to a little ass kicking,” Mad Dog adds with a grin.

“Hey! Since we’re here and we’ve got all night and we have new members-” Mira waves at me and then Sasha and Dima, “I say we play a get to know you game.”

Some of the women cheer and I look at Sasha and Dima on the couch in horror. No way. Not happening. There is nothing worse than getting up and sharing stuff about yourself. Judging by the groans from some of the other women, namely Remy and Blanche, I can tell they aren’t down with the idea either.

“I dislike sharing with people,” Chewy bluntly states.

“Says the woman who likes to talk about Rhodie’s ass,” Nat says under her breath, causing me to snort into my wine glass.

Mira’s wide eyes narrow, “OK, well, how about this, we’ll call it ‘Would you ride it?’ and we each come up with a character description, then the person whose turn it is has to answer if they’d ride it or not.

I’ll definitely be able to tell a lot about you from your answers,” she waggles her brows and this seems less sweat-inducing than the alternative.

“Nat, you’re the first victim. Ummm,” her face screws up before she brightens, and I can just tell it’ll be a doozy, “He’s 6’5”, voice that could melt your panties, rides a hog called Lucifer, but he says ‘yum yum in my tum tum’ everytime he eats vajayjay?”

We all stare at Mira in horror.

“Ew,” Pops says, looking grossed the hell out. To be fair, we all are.

“Is it a one off ride, or a long term ride?” Mad Dog asks. Pops gives him the side eye, frowning, “What? It’s good to know the rules,” he grumbles under his breath.

“Oh, it can be as long a time as you like,” Mira grins.

We turn to Nat, waiting with bated breath. Even Dima, who seems to have no expression at all, is leaning forward, waiting for her answer.

Nat takes a deep breath, “Ride. With ear plugs.” She grins.

“Good work around,” Remy says, the rest of us women nodding in agreement.

“Oh, I want to go next!” Ana waves her hand in the air. “Sasha, this one’s for you,” she has a glint in her eye as she stares at her best friend. “He looks like Jason Momoa, but he has an aggressively unkempt bush. That he refuses to manscape.”

“Jesus,” Lovely whispers and it makes me snort laugh because, I mean, it’s Lovely. She shared a little about her background with me today, and she’s told me she has faith, but doesn’t really feel the same way about religion as she once did. So for her to be using Jesus’ name, well, shit.

“How aggressive are we talking?” All heads whip toward Mad Dog, and I can see the glint in Pops’ eye as he moves to open his mouth. “It’s for research purposes!” Mad Dog barks before Pops can even say anything.

“Yeah, what he said,” Sasha agrees, waving in Mad Dog’s direction.

“Thick, black, hard to locate the peen.”

“Holy shit,” one of the other women whisper. I’m not too sure which one, my eyes are on Sasha as he looks green around the gills.

“ Blyat , hard pass you asshole.”

Ana bursts into laughter, leaning over Dima to slap Sasha wherever she can reach. “Yeah OK, asshole,” she replies.

“Oh, oh, I have one for Mad Dog!” Pops smirks in Mad Dog’s direction. Mad Dog’s eyes narrow and he nods at Pops, doing the “bring it on” motion with his hands. “Beautiful, stacked with all natural breasts, long legs, gorgeous figure. Super interested in you.”

“But?” Mad Dog raises a brow.

“But she makes you wear a bell so you can’t sneak up on people and she puts you on a diet for your diabetes.”

“I don’t have fucking diabetes!” Mad Dog roars, lunging for Pops who is up and darting away a lot damn quicker than a man of his age should.

“Is it always like this?” Dima asks me.

“I have no idea, I’m new,” I shrug.

He holds my gaze for a beat too long, his brows furrowing briefly and his eyes narrowing. I swear they change color too, but that would be weird, right?

“You’re safe while you’re with people you trust,” he murmurs, giving me a small smile.

“Uh, thanks,” I return his smile, but the way he worded that sounded odd.

I roll his sentence over in my mind a little, and then decide to let it go. He has a thick accent and maybe he just got his words mixed up.

“Who wants to blow something up?” Chewy says abruptly.

We all look at each other in silence, before hands start shooting up all over the room.

“Now that’s the kind of getting to know you we like!” Pops claps his hands, rubbing them together.

“Choice of weapon can tell you a lot about a person,” Sasha agrees.

“Anyone got a rocket launcher?” I joke, to get the ball rolling.

“Ooohhh, a woman with taste! I like it!” Chewy says, grinning at me, her gaze flicking to mine briefly before dancing away.

“What does that tell you about me, Mad Dog?” I grin cheekily.

“It’s dramatic as fuck. You’re about as subtle as a sledgehammer and aren’t taking shit from no one. You’re a super protective momma bear and given you picked a weapon that powerful with the ability to take down anyone in its path makes you a total wild card. You’ll fit in well here, sweetheart.”

Wiping moisture from my cheeks I feel a weight lift off me for the first time since my dad died. I finally feel like I fit and that’s one hell of a feeling.