Page 47 of Laila Manning (Shadeport Crew #3)

A s soon as I laid eyes on her, I’d settle the monster in my chest, trying to claw its way out through my flesh and bones.

That was what I kept telling myself as I raced back to Laila after her panicked call earlier. Of course, I was hours away on a deal, leaving me feeling like part of my body was being cut off with every minute back to her.

I had gotten status reports from the crew about what happened at The Senator’s house; I knew about Kade and the horrors they found there. But I had to see them both with my own eyes before I’d settle.

“Drop me at the Lupold’s.” Jed said as we finally pulled into the East Valley. “Go to Laila and Kade and I’ll finish the cleanup there.”

“You sure?” I asked, understanding just how much that cost him to stay away when he wanted to check on her as much as I did. But she wasn’t alone. And Kade didn’t need more spectators right now.

“Yeah.” He nodded firmly, “Just don’t touch that slimy bastard before I get there. ”

The Senator.

Ryker ordered the hit on him the moment I called him with Laila’s suspicion, before we even had confirmation that Kade was there.

And now the sitting Senator was hanging from chains in The Shop.

Alongside his wife.

Though she was still unconscious from the injuries that Laila had given her. Pride didn’t even fucking cover the emotions that hit me when I heard what Laila had done, facing the wife of her biggest monster.

She did it for Kade. She did it for herself.

And I would finish it for her.

“You have my word.”

When we got to the Lupold Mansion, police had the property marked off with caution tape, keeping reporters and media at bay. As the police officer waved us through the barricade, Jed jumped out, gave me a pointed look, and approached the Police Chief, who nodded to me as I drove away.

The story broke an hour after Laila left with Kade safely in her arms.

And the headlines all said the same thing, thanks to Ryker’s influence.

Tragedy Strikes at California Senator Charles Lupold’s Home:

Murder-Suicide or A Bitter Betrayal Between a Jaded Wife and Wandering Husband?

T he world thought they were already dead. Which meant they wouldn’t care what we did to them at The Shop. The world would never even know .

Which was a kinder fate than they deserved, to be sure. Their victims deserved to know how much they suffered, but there were limits even to Ryker’s powers. But Laila and Kade would know.

Ryker’s estate was crawling with Crew—armed guards covering every inch of the place while we held the Lupold couple in The Shop. Last I heard, there had already been 3 offers sent to Ryker looking to exchange cash for the privilege of killing them. But they’d never leave the property.

They’d live there for as long as we could keep them alive while torturing them, and then they’d be cremated and disposed of from there. Until there was nothing left of them.

When I parked at the building Laila and I shared, Ryker and Elora stood outside talking with Carly, who had just walked out.

Carly handed me a to-go cup of tea that I recognized as Laila’s favorite. “She wouldn’t drink it, but she needs it.”

“Is she with Kade?” I asked, taking the cup.

“He’s asleep in her bed, the doctor sedated him.” Ryker replied. “He didn’t want to go to the hospital, so I brought one here.”

“And Laila?” I asked, but he looked away at Carly.

“She showered at your place, and I sat with Kade. That was the only way she’d leave him. She was terrified he’d wake up alone in an unfamiliar place. She was covered in blood, Zeke.” Carly warned, “But she didn’t seem shaken by it.”

“She did it for him.” I gave her a small shrug, “Maybe that’s why. Either way, thank you.” I said, and they all cleared to let me pass. I silently walked down the hall, finding both of our doors open, though I knew where Laila would be.

Her apartment was dark, only the light from the hall lit up the floor inside the doorway, and that’s where I found her. Sitting on the floor next to her couch, staring at the tiny unmoving ball curled up asleep in the center of her bed.

I didn’t say anything, but she must have sensed me because she looked over her shoulder as I walked in.

Instead of trying to convince her to do something that would be impossible for her, I lowered myself onto the cold floor behind her, bracketing her with my legs and pulling her back against my chest. “Lean on me, Dove.”

She pulled my arms around her body, engulfing her in them as she snuggled into me. I hated that I wasn’t there for her today, but I was with her finally, and I’d be whatever she needed me to be.

“They hurt him, Zeke.” she whispered, staring at the curled-up boy. “She abused him.”

“I know.” I groaned softly, kissing her temple. “And you’ll never know how sorry I am for not seeing him for what he is—a kid. I should have protected him like you asked me to, but I let my own jaded experience keep me from seeing it your way.”

“It’s not your fault.” She sighed, “It’s not even my fault.

We can’t burden the faults of abusers on our shoulders; that’s their weight to carry.

But now we need to figure out how to help him heal from this.

” Laila turned and looked up at me with her big wide eyes, “I can’t let him go, so please don’t ask me to. ”

“What are you saying, Laila? You want to keep him? He’s not a puppy.”

“He’s a kid,” She shrugged, “He needs someone to take care of him, the way he deserves to be taken care of.” Looking back over at Kade, “The way you and I both deserved.”

My shoulders deflated, and I rested my chin on her head. “Whatever you want to do, I support you.”

“Really?” Laila asked, almost surprised .

“Yes.” I tightened my hold on her, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him abuse you the way he has. If he’s here, if he’s going to stay, then he’s going to learn respect and gentleness. For you.”

“For me.” She replied wistfully. “I’ve never had respect or gentleness. Not until I met you.”

“That’s the only thing you’ll ever know again.

” I looked over at Kade as he rolled over in his sleep, facing us.

When he was clean and peaceful in slumber, he looked like a fragile little kid, not the snarky, sarcastic pain in the ass he had been when he was around the crew.

“I’ll teach him how to be a man. A good man. ”

Laila sniffled, looking up at me with those warm brown eyes swimming with unshed tears, “You’re a good man, Zeke Evans.”

“Only for you.” I kissed her gently, “And now for him, too.”

Hours later, I stood in the doorway to Laila’s place, coffee in hand, watching the boy as he started rousing from his sedation. Laila was asleep across the hall in my bed, both of our doors were open when she finally agreed to crash a few hours ago, just in case he woke up.

Kade tossed again and then his eyelids cracked open, squinting into the bright morning sunrise shining in through Laila’s blinds. And then he sat up like a bolt of lightning, touched his toes and his eyes found mine across the room.

Fear burned in them.

That was understandable.

I hadn’t always treated him fairly .

“Good morning.” I said gently, walking in to lean against the kitchen counter as I took another sip of coffee. “You’re safe.”

Kade looked around the empty apartment, probably looking for Laila, before he pushed his floppy hair off his forehead. “Is she here?”

“Laila.” I corrected him. “And yes, she’s asleep at my place across the hall. She didn’t want to leave you, but she was exhausted.”

“You want me out.” He said, not asking, instead assuming. “I get it.” He swung his legs off the edge of the bed, and the basketball shorts he was wearing slid above his knees, revealing cuts and scrapes covering every inch of his bare legs below.

“Stop.” I said, and he paused, feet hanging above the floor. “That’s not what I want. Not at all.”

“I don’t understand.” He looked up at me, confused. The thing about Kade was he always said what was on his mind, sometimes to a fault. He was crass and sarcastic, but he was mostly honest. And young. Fuck, he was so damn young.

“Laila wants you to stay with us from now on.” I took another sip of my coffee and stared at him straight on. “And I do too.”

“Why though?” He squinted, laying his hands in his lap and leaning on his elbows. “A few weeks ago, you yelled at her because of me. Fired me, even.”

“That’s something I regret on both of your behalves. I’d like to say it’ll never happen again, but that’s not something I can promise. So, I won’t lie. But what I will do is tell you the truth. Does that work?”

He straightened his spine and nodded his head once. “I can respect that.”

“I don’t know what it is about you personally that caught Laila’s attention, but you got it. And she’s not willing to let it go. She has the biggest heart and a suitcase full of baggage to work through, and she thinks that helping you is what she’s meant to do. Which leaves you with two options.”

“Okay.” He murmured hesitantly.

“You can choose to walk away from her and have the backing of the crew in whatever you want to do. You can go on being a street kid, or go back into foster care, or whatever. You’ll be protected and taken care of by Ryker and myself, all of our members will be your big brothers.

But you won’t find any love there, just camaraderie. ”

“And the second option?”

“You can stay.” I replied firmly. “You can let go of everything that’s happened to you since you were forced into this life not meant for you, with mine and Laila’s help, and you can be a kid.

A real fucking kid . Not a smart ass with a chip on his shoulder and a foul mouth who aims it at anyone who sticks around long enough to catch it.

You can get therapy, and go to school, and do normal kid stuff like play video games and ride a bike and be innocent of everything else you’ve already witnessed, for a few more years, until you’re ready to face it all on.

” He swallowed, and his chest rose and fell under his shirt.

“You can let Laila love you because she will. God, she’ll fucking love you, and you’ll never think you deserve it, and you’ll mess it up, and you’ll fight it, and you’ll make her cry.

But she’ll love you, nonetheless. And eventually, you’ll be better at it.

And eventually you’ll start to believe that you’re worthy of it.

That will be when you realize how fucking lucky you were to run into her on the street one day, and from that moment on, you’ll work hard every day to prove to her that you aren’t a mistake, that you deserve what she’s giving you.

And that’s a damn good life, Kade, compared to the other. ”

He took a shuttering breath and looked at the window, watching the trees behind the barracks blow in the breeze as he mulled it over.

Finally, he looked back over at me, with those eyes that seemed so much wiser than his years, and spoke.

“That’s what happened to you, isn’t it?” He asked and went on, “She loved you, and you messed it up, and you fought it, and you made her cry. But she loved you anyway.”

“Yes.” I nodded, “And I work hard every fucking day to prove to her I’m worthy of her gift, because that’s what it is. A priceless gift that I’ll never find anywhere else, not like this. And neither will you.”

He dropped his gaze and looked at his lap. Tears silently hit the covers lying over his legs. “I don’t want to leave. But I don’t know how to stay. I don’t remember how to be a kid.”

“I’m not asking you to know how just yet.

” I said, setting my coffee down and walking over to the bed to sit on the edge next to him.

I didn’t want to crowd him out, or scare him, he had already been through so much, but I wanted him to know I was near at the same time.

“I’m just asking you to let yourself learn.

To accept help from the most selfless and loving human being either of us street kids are ever going to meet. ”

“And you?” He looked over at me, showing me his fear and his vulnerability. I couldn’t remember another time he had ever acted his actual age around me, so openly before. “Are you a package deal, because I don’t want to mess up what you two have going.”

“You won’t.” I shook my head, “Because I’d move heaven and hell for that woman. I’m not going anywhere.”

He mulled that over, and I let him, sitting silently beside him as he thought. Eventually he nodded his head again, staring down at the blankets in his lap. “I think I’d like to have a home again.” Kade’s voice was so small and exposed as he spoke to his lap. “I think I’m ready to just be a kid.”

“Then welcome home.” I put my hand on his back, gently lending my strength to him, and he threw himself at me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he started crying, letting it all go. “You’re home, Kade. You’re safe here.”

I heard something and looked up to find Laila standing at the door, hand covering her mouth, with tears on her cheeks as she watched us.

Last year I was a bachelor, who only ever cared about my work and my crew. I was alone and content with it, as everyone around me found their own versions of happiness in partners and families.

And then I found Laila, my brunette angel with scars as deep as mine and enough love to cover them all. And now Kade, a little boy with demons I’d chase away as long as I was on this earth, to keep him and Laila safe and happy.

Nothing else mattered outside of that.