Page 15

“D o we really have to go to bed? We haven’t gotten to spend much time with Dad all week,” Selena pouts.

“I know, sweetie. I’ll have him wake you up when he gets home. You still have school tomorrow, though, so get some rest while you can,” I tell her.

“I thought living with Dad would be better, but it’s pretty much the same.” Sienna has tears running down her face.

“Don’t say that. Dad is way better,” Selena spits out.

I take a seat on the edge of Sienna’s bed. My heart hurts for what these two have been through.

“I’m so sorry you went through what you did. I don’t know what happened at your Mom’s place, but your father loves you. He does what he does so he can provide for you. I know you want him here with you, but he had to work tonight. It sucks that he works during your awake hours, but he wants to be able to give you a good life.” I stroke Sienna’s hair as I stare down at her.

“At least we have Lainey,” Selena adds. “She is always here and takes good care of us.”

Sienna nods, sniffling. “I’m scared you will leave us too. Then we will be alone again.”

It’s not escaping my attention that she keeps hinting at the fact that their mother was absent a lot. It’s not my place to push, but I’m starting to wonder if Midnight should be.

“I’ll be here as long as you need me to be. Your father hired me to work at his shop initially, but he said you two are my priority.” I grab her nose, making her giggle. I’m happy to see her tears drying up.

“Will you tuck me in?” Sienna asks.

It’s the first time she’s asked this. Usually they are very independent. I guess she needs a little more tonight. So I tuck her into her bed before leaning down and kissing her forehead.

“Love you, Lainey,” Sienna whispers.

I feel tears prick my eyes as I whisper right back, “I love you too, Sienna.”

“Me next.” Selena moves until she is comfortable in her bed.

I wait until she is settled before I tuck her in, leaning down to kiss her forehead as well. “I love you, Selena,” I whisper to her.

She nods once, not saying it back, but that’s okay. I don’t need to hear it from her. I only need her to listen to me and believe that I do love her. I love them both. They’ve stolen my heart.

I close the door behind me, making my way down the hall. I consider going into Midnight’s room to go to bed, but the entire room smells like him, and it drives me insane.

Instead, I make myself a glass of lemonade, going out onto the patio to sit at our new table.

I have no clue how long I sat out there thinking about what the girls said, but it had to be hours. My legs are sore from sitting in the chair with my legs under me, and I go to stand, but they tingle, making me fall on my ass.

I hear the door open behind me. I expect to see one of the girls, but instead I find Midnight. He looks sexy as hell with his tight jeans, black T-shirt, and leather jacket.

“What are you doing up?” he asks.

I give him a small smile. “I couldn’t sleep.”

He moves to take the seat next to me. “I love sitting out here. It’s the best way to unwind after a long day. It’s quiet. Serene,” he admits.

“I should go inside then. I don’t want to interrupt your quiet time.” I go to stand, but he grabs my hand.

“Stay.”

That one demanded word has me falling back into my seat.

“Can I say something that might upset you?” I ask after a moment.

“You can say anything, Flower. I’ll never silence you.” He doesn’t look at me, choosing to look out into the dark.

“The girls miss you. They are upset that you aren’t home more. I know you have a lot going on, but I think they would benefit from more of a presence from you.”

His head rolls my way and he smiles. That only makes me want to punch him.

“This is serious.”

“Oh, I know it is. I hate that they feel that way, and I will rectify it. I’ll make sure to be home for dinner every night.” The smile stays, though.

“So why are you smiling right now?”

“It’s you. The way you are going to bat for them. I fucking love that. They need that in their life.”

That does nothing to cool my anger.

“You’re right about that. I think their mother left them alone a lot. They are eleven years old. They should not be on their own.”

His smile finally fades. “They were never truly alone. They had a phone with direct contact with me. I also have my brother watching over them.”

“Why didn’t you fight harder for them?” I ask.

He sighs. “When Miranda left me, I tried to give her what she wanted. I begged her to stay, but she said it was too late.”

“Too late for what?” My heart hurts for the pain I see in his face.

“She wanted to be my old lady. Always asked for it. Not long after the girls turned three, she finally decided she was tired of waiting. I told her I would take her as my old lady even though I didn’t want to, but she said it was too late. She has been punishing me ever since.”

I shake my head. “Take her to court then.”

“You think I don’t want to? It scares me to death that she will come back and take them again, but I can’t do a single thing about it.”

It’s hard to believe that anything scares this man, but I can see it in his eyes. His girls are his weakness. The one thing that can destroy him.

“It’s the club, isn’t it?” I ask after a moment.

He nods. “It doesn’t matter what I do. I offered to leave the club, but she said it wouldn’t make a difference. She has enough on me that it wouldn’t get me arrested, but would look bad to a judge. We’ve tried for years to find a judge we can buy, but they are all upstanding citizens in the family court. Guess I should be happy about that. There shouldn’t be corruption when children are involved.”

What a shitty woman.

“I hate that for you and for them. They deserve better.”

He reaches out, grabbing my hand. “We are giving them that better. You’re doing amazing with them. They love you so much already.”

“I love them too,” I admit.

He doesn’t say anything else, and neither do I. We sit there holding hands as if it’s completely normal. After a few minutes, I shift trying to get comfortable.

Then I shift again.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks, pulling his hand away.

“These chairs are uncomfortable after a while,” I answers as I mourn the feel of his skin against mine.

“You bought them.” He quirks his eyebrow at me.

“I know. I thought it would be good to get a table for the girls. It was versatile. They can do homework out here or we can eat out here. Now I’m regretting not getting the couch.” He chuckles, making me smile. I like the sound of it.

“You should probably go get some rest anyway. It’s late.”

“I will, but before I forget, the girls want to see you. They asked if you’d wake them up when you got home.”

He nods. “I’ll go kiss them good night. Do you need one too?”

My cheeks heat at his words. What would he do if I said yes?

He stands, holding his hand out for me before I can answer. He leads me inside, locking the door behind us. Then he leads me down the hallway. At the door to his room, he turns to face me. “Good night, Flower.” Then he presses a kiss to my forehead.

It’s just like I did with the girls, but why does this feel far more intimate?

“Good night,” I manage to say.

He waits until I open the door before he slides into the girls’ room, and I shut the door behind me and fan my face.

Why was that so erotic?

I am a fucking sap. That’s the only reason I can think of for the fact that I just left the furniture store after swiping my card for over a grand for a fucking patio couch.

Lainey was uncomfortable, though, and for some godforsaken reason, I care.

It’s probably the same reason I’m heading into the shop right now. I don’t have an appointment for a few hours, but I didn’t get to see her this morning.

After waking the girls late last night and telling them how much I loved them, Reaper called with a lead on the William bullshit. I told him I would run it, but I also asked if I could be excluded from anything during waking hours so I could spend more time with the girls.

I don’t care if I don’t get a wink of sleep. I’ll give them the attention they deserve. I hate that Lainey had to point out the neglect, though. I’m not used to having them at the house to worry about all the time. I guess I am taking Lainey for granted.

Walking through the front door, I frown when I see a man leaning over the desk talking to Lainey. She looks over at me, and the polite smile turns into a real one.

The man glances over at me before looking back at her. “You sure you don’t have time for a drink?” he asks.

I walk around the desk, leaning down to kiss her cheek, right near her mouth. “Hey, Flower.”

She blushes, looking up at me. “Hey.”

I nod to the guy. “What’s going on, man? You here for a tattoo? I have time in my schedule to fit you in.”

He straightens, looking back at Lainey, and he eyes the patch on my vest. “Nah, I’m good, man.”

I want to laugh at the dude. He’s such a pussy.

“He left a consultation with Jerico,” Lainey tells me.

“Ah, Jerico is great. You’ll love him. Did you need anything else? If not, I really need to see my girl in the office.”

“All done. See you later,” he says and leaves the shop.

“Your girl?” Lainey looks up at me.

“Did you want to go out with him?” I ask, leaning close to her.

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Right, now he won’t bother you when he comes back. You’re welcome.”

I shouldn’t have intervened, but I couldn’t help it. I don’t like that he was hitting on her.

“What’s my schedule look like today?” I ask.

She turns back to her computer, clicking a few times. “Your first appointment is at nine tonight. What are you doing here so early?” she asks, looking up at me.

God, she’s beautiful.

I can’t admit that I came because I wanted to see her.

“Figured I have a lot of paperwork piling up. Better get to it.”

She stands, stretching out her arms. My eyes fall to the sliver of skin showing between her shirt and jeans. I would love to leave beard burn all over that skin from worshipping her.

“Sorry, I’ve been sitting too long. Let me show you the new system.”

I follow her to the back, my eyes glued to her ass. I don’t even care if I get caught right now. It’s like she’s a drug, and I need my next hit.

When we get to my office, I see that she has cleaned it up for a bit. It doesn’t look like the chaos it normally does.

“Okay, so I put all incoming bills in this pile here. I really would like to get some organization shelves and label them for you if you are okay with it.” She turns to look at me.

“Whatever you need, Flower. I told you that.” My voice is husky from how turned on I am.

I love when she listens to me, but there’s something about her being confident and taking control of the shit in my life that causes me stress that speaks to my soul. It’s like she enjoys the shit I hate.

“I’ll run down to the store tomorrow and get some then. Anyway, here are your receipts from the money I’ve taken. I have them paperclipped by date so you can input them into your accounting system.”

“I don’t have an accounting system,” I admit.

She blinks at me a few times.

“Okay, well, we are getting you one. I’m not giving you a choice on that one. Aren’t you already testing fate being in that club? If the IRS knocked on the door, could you give them seven years worth of records?”

Fuck. No, I couldn’t.

“Don’t answer that. I’ll handle that tomorrow. You pay bills and put the receipts with each bill. I will file them after I sort this out.” She huffs, as if she’s annoyed.

I kind of love it, though. The Lainey who started working for me a month ago wouldn’t have said a word, but this one in front of me is comfortable enough to get annoyed.

I want all her annoyance.

Her phone starts ringing, and she pulls it from her pocket. I frown when I see it’s an older model with cracks in the screen. I add it to the list of things my flower needs.

Fuck, she’s not my flower, but she is starting to feel like mine.

“I need to go get the girls,” she tells me, turning off the sound of what must be an alarm.

I look at my watch. “It’s only one.”

“I know, but they have a half day today. Do what you need to, but I’m fixing this tomorrow.” She points at the desk.

I’m not ready to be away from her yet. Besides, I want to spend time with my girls.

“I’ll drive. Come on.”

Grabbing her hand, I pull her from the office.

“What about the car?” she asks.

“I’ll send someone for it. Let’s go, Flower. I want to see my girls.”

“Wait. I need to grab my stuff. What the hell?” she yells out, bringing Jerico and Elle out of their rooms. They both watch us, humor on their faces.

Stopping at her desk, I grab her small bag and her keys. I toss them toward Jerico, who catches them.

“Bring her car to my place?”

He nods. “Got it. Elle, you gonna give me a ride back here later?”

She rolls her eyes. “You wish. You can get a rideshare.”

Ignoring them, I put my arm on Lainey’s lower back as I lead her to my truck. I help her inside, going as far as leaning over her to buckle her in.

She glares at me. “I can do that myself.”

I nod. “I know, but I like doing it.”

I smirk at the look on her face when I shut the door.

Yeah, I can’t cross lines with my flower, but I’m going to love dancing along them.