Page 12

Rebel

“W ait, you want me to do what?” I stared at Livvy’s smiling face, so damn adorable—and manipulative—and wondered what in the hell I’d gotten myself into.

“Hold your hand like this.” She spread her fingers wide on a paper towel on the coffee table.

“I got that part. Why?”

Her laughter was sneaky and contagious. “So I can paint your nails.” Her tone indicated I should’ve already guessed that.

It was decision time. It wasn’t that I was worried that nail polish would put my masculinity at risk but rather the dexterity of her little hands. “Have you done this before?”

She nodded. “Sometimes Mommy or Auntie Mia will let me practice.”

Little liar. “Fine but don’t get it all over my fingers, okay?”

“Yay!” She jumped up and down and then pulled a giant plastic bin of nail polish bottles from under the table. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Black.” It was the honest answer, but her pout said it was the wrong answer.

“Okay,” she drew the word out to about seven syllables before she finally fished out a black bottle. And a yellow bottle.

I slid from the sofa to the floor to save my back and watched as she set everything out, her expression so serious I could barely contain my laughter. “I can still have tea with this hand, right?”

She nodded without looking up and set my fingertips in some contraption that only women knew about. “Yes. More tea?”

“I’m good.” That’s right, the power of her adorableness had already gotten her a tea party complete with real tea—ice cold and sweet—and cookies. It was odd, how much I enjoyed being around this little girl. She made me feel light and free, and protective as hell, which was strange. I liked all the kids in the MC, probably even loved them in a familial kind of way, but it wasn’t like this.

“You have a girlfriend?”

My brows dipped at her out of the blue question, but I didn’t show any discomfort. “I don’t. Do you?”

“No, Mommy says I’m too young to date.” She nibbled on her bottom lip as she swiped yellow nail polish across my entire knuckle. “Wife?”

“Nope again.”

She nodded, her lips tugged into a small smile. “My friend Marlo Brown has two dads.” I wasn’t sure where she was going with that until her next question. “Do you have a husband?”

“No.” I choked on the answer, surprised at how much she knew. “I’m single, Livvy.”

She looked up then, brows dipped in confusion. “How come?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I haven’t found the right woman yet.” If there was even such a thing as the right woman. My brothers in the MC certainly seemed to think so, but I wasn’t so sure. Affection? Sure. Attraction? Absolutely. But was that all it took to create a life together? “You’re very smart for your age.”

“Thank you. I’m five but I’ll be six really soon.” She looked up from my nails again, leaving a long black streak down my finger. “You can come to my birthday party. You’ll come?”

How in the hell could I say anything but the words that tumbled out of my mouth instinctively? “Absolutely. Of course.”

Her satisfied smile made the answer worth it. “Yesss!” She fist pumped the air adorably and then finished my nails, or my knuckles more accurately. “I’ll fix ‘em!”

I watched with a smirk as she carefully used a cotton swab to remove all the excess polish that decorated my fingers. “Thanks. It looks much better now.” I wiggled my fingers in front of her face, which earned me another giggle.

“Very pretty, Rebel!” She clapped her hands excitedly. “Now what?”

I laughed and glanced at my phone on the table. “Now we need to figure out dinner. What do you like that isn’t sugary?”

Livvy tapped her chin thoughtfully, something I was sure she’d seen Nikki do more than a few times. “I like burgers. Mommy likes steak,” she offered that last bit of information with a frown that indicated she did not like steak.

“I know just the place.” I picked up my phone and placed an order for dinner to be delivered before we left to pick up Nikki. I wasn’t sure what the nanny usually did around the house, but I knew she would appreciate not having to worry about dinner for at least one night.

“Can I have extra ketchup?” She pushed her bottom lip out. “I love extra ketchup!”

“I prefer barbecue sauce,” I offered with a shrug. “Fries?”

“The big fat ones?”

I nodded. “They’re called steak fries, and they are, of course, the best fries.”

The smile she sent my way was another of those things that left me feeling a little unsettled. Kids needed to be protected, all kids, not just the ones that were important to you or to the people who were important to you, but the way I felt about this little girl was nonsensical. “The fries are made out of steaks?”

I blinked and then laughed. “Not exactly. Let’s just say that steak fries are the ones usually served with steak.”

“That’s silly,” she giggled.

I was clearing up the nail polish when a knock sounded on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Livvy called out.

Before she made it two steps, I reached out and hooked an arm around her waist.

“I’ll get it. What if it’s a stranger?” I set her on the sofa and aimed a finger at her. “Stay here until I get back. Got it?”

She pouted but she nodded. “Got it.”

Thankfully, it was a pimple-faced delivery kid and not one of the Blood Fangs. I tipped him, took the bag, and shoved it into the oven on the warming setting. “Okay kiddo, ready to go pick up your mom?”

“Yes!”

Where she got that energy from, I’d love to know, because after hours together, it seemed that Livvy hadn’t run out of questions to ask.

“Where’s your mommy and daddy?”

“My mom died about ten years ago and I never knew my dad.” I didn’t tell the kid that he’d never been around.

“I don’t know my daddy either.” Her voice was soft and sweet, almost wistful.

That made sense why Nikki didn’t mention him at all. “Well he’s missing out because I think you’re kind of great.”

“I think you are too!”

Damn this kid was sweet. And what kind of asshole would knock a woman up and then walk away? If I ever found the bastard, I would make him pay. Nikki and Livvy deserved more than what they had, more than the life they created out of necessity. They deserved fun and laughter and support, and everything that came with the good life.

***

My heart dropped when I pulled into the KTDH parking lot and saw chaos. Trouble. The front door was busted all to hell with glass lying everywhere, there were three private security vehicles in the parking lot and about half a dozen guards.

“What’s goin’ on, Rebel?” The worry in her voice was apparent.

“I’m not sure yet.” But I pulled out my phone and dialed Nikki immediately because I had no fucking doubt that this was the Blood Fangs. “Dammit,” I whispered when her call went directly to voicemail. My hands gripped the steering wheel, and I dialed her again.

“What’s going on?” Livvy asked.

“Not sure,” I groaned. I was about to ask Livvy to stay in the car, but if this was the Blood Fangs doing, then I didn’t want to leave her unattended. But I didn’t want to take her with me either and expose her to possible danger.

Rock and a hard place.

Finally deciding on action, I stepped out of the car and scooped her up, holding her on my left side, just in case I needed to reach for my gun.

“I can walk.”

“But your legs are tiny, and you walk slow.”

She giggled and held on tight to me.

“What’s going on?” I said as I approached a group of three security guards, all of them eyeing me like I was a piece of trash.

“And who the hell are you?”

A tough guy. There was at least one among the rent-a-cops. “I’m here to pick up Nikki. What the hell is going on?” I slid a gaze in Livvy’s direction, hoping the assholes would get the hint.

“Someone trying to send a message, I’d guess.”

Basically they didn’t know shit.

“You can’t go in yet.”

“Look, this little girl’s mom is in there, you saying I can’t take her in?” I asked, stepping forward.

The tough guy blocked my way, “No can do.”

I guess one of his colleagues took pity, either that or he wanted to diffuse the situation, he smiled and said, “Miss Nikki is okay, the police are in there now.”

I let out a sigh of relief I didn’t know I’d been holding, “Thanks. We’ll be by the car.”

So Livvy and I waited by the car. She asked more questions, which I answered as best I could while my gaze never left what remained of the front door. After what felt like thousands of minutes later, Nikki finally came out with Mia.

Even from this distance I could see her eyes were red-rimmed and her face was pink. She’d been crying.

“Mommy!” Livvy waved one arm wildly in the air, as they approached the car, completely oblivious to the turmoil around her.

Lucky girl .

Nikki looked up and tried to quickly wipe away her tears. “Hey baby.” She held her arms out and Livvy went her, sensing her mom needed comfort.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Mia said, and wrapped her arms around them both.

“No,” I shouted with more aggression than necessary. “We’ll walk you to your car. Just to be safe.”

Instead of arguing, Mia nodded and flashed the tiniest smile of gratitude, which meant she understood what this meant.

Trouble, and lots of it.

“How was your day?” Nikki smartly asked the question, and the sound of Livvy’s chatter was just the distraction we all needed from our thoughts.

“After the tea party we played salon and I did Rebel’s nails, aren’t they pretty?”

Mia snickered before she slid into her car but not before she flashed me a knowing smile. “Good night girls. And biker.”

I gave Nikki and Livvy a moment alone while she secured the little girl into her car seat, sensing she needed a little bit of girl bonding time. I waited behind the steering wheel until everyone was settled in the car.

“Thank you. For today.” She was tired and afraid.

“No thanks necessary. I’m happy to help.” I wiggled my fingers the same way I did for Livvy, and got the same laugh in response. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not yet.” Her jaw clenched and she squeezed her eyes shut.

I gave her the peace she needed, offering her only a supportive hand on her thigh. “Okay. Not yet.” While she was lost in thought, I daydreamed about beating the ever-loving fuck out of every Blood Fangs member I came across for the next decade.