Page 18

Riot

Someone was in the room. I knew it the second I woke, even with my eyes closed.

It took me a moment to remember where I was.

Then Violet curled sweetly against me, and I remembered I wasn’t in prison.

I was in the Kiss of Death compound with my brothers, so whoever was in the room with me and Violet right now wasn’t a threat.

I breathed a small sigh of relief before opening my eyes.

Standing over me, giving me a death stare, was Caleb. Instinctively, I tightened my arms around Violet fractionally. She sighed and snuggled deeper into my embrace, burying her face in my chest before she settled once more.

Caleb didn’t speak, but he stared at me for a long time. I could see a mixture of anger, surprise, and relief on the young man’s face. He nodded at me once, then took a step away from the bed.

“Caleb,” I murmured. “I swear I won’t hurt your mother. Not in any way.”

“You’ll be faithful to her?”

“Always.”

“You’ll stand between her and danger? Especially my dad?”

“I’ll protect both of you. No matter who or what the danger is.”

“I’m never letting anyone hurt my mom again, Riot. I will always be watching you.”

I lifted my chin in acknowledgment. “I consider myself warned, then.”

Caleb’s gaze shifted from me to his mother. Violet chose that moment to sigh, a soft smile tugging her lips for a brief moment. Like she was in the middle of a happy dream. “You keep that look on her face, and you and I won’t have any problems.”

“Caleb, nothing would make me happier than being able to keep that look on your mother’s face for the rest of her life. She deserves better than me, but she’s letting me claim her. I have no intention of making her ever want to leave me.”

“But if she does want to leave you,” Caleb pressed, “would you let her go?”

“No.” I didn’t hesitate with my answer.

“You’d keep her against her will?” Now his gaze was narrowed on me. If looks could kill, Caleb and I wouldn’t be having this conversation.

“I didn’t say that.” Violet mumbled something and lifted her face so that she nestled between my neck and shoulder before she settled once again. “If she ever wants to leave, I’ll find out what I fucked up and fix it. Understand me, Caleb, I would do anything to keep you and your mom in my life.”

“ Me ?” he asked incredulously. “You actually want me? Not just my mom?”

“I do. You’re going to be a great man, Caleb.

You’re going to be a man other men want to follow because you admit when you’re wrong.

You’re willing to do anything you have to for the people you care about.

I don’t know many men brave enough to go outside their comfort zone the way you did with me.

You made hard decisions based on information you trusted, and you did what was best for your mom.

I want to watch you grow into that man, and be your friend.

That way you know I’ll always have your back. ”

Again, Caleb studied me closely before nodding his head. “If all that’s bullshit, it’s really good bullshit.” He tilted his head. “But I don’t think it is. I think you mean every word you’re saying.”

“I do, Caleb. With everything I am.”

“Good.” He put his shoulders back. “She’s always looking out for everyone else and forgets to take care of herself.”

“You can count on me. I swear it.”

He gave me a curt nod and turned to go. “Caleb?” When I called, he stopped, turning his head in my direction. “First thing in the morning. Unless you want to talk now.”

“About your past? Why you went to prison?”

“Yeah. I had to tell your mom first.”

“So she could censor you?” The kid was a master at interrogation. At least, interrogating someone who cared about the information he was spilling and the people involved.

I winced. “Well, I wouldn’t put it quite like that…”

“But you wanted her to approve of how you worded what you told me.”

Again, I winced. Christ, this kid! “Look. I promised I wouldn’t lie to you, and I won’t. But I will always defer to your mom on shit like this. I hope you and I can be the best of friends, but mother trumps friend in this case.”

“I hear you. But don’t worry about it.” He actually smirked at me. “I heard you talking to Mom before you guys went to bed. I know all of it. And I do mean all of it.”

“Christ, Caleb.” I wanted to be horrified and part of me was. What came out was a clipped laugh.

Violet snorted awake, looking around her with confusion but not fear. “Caleb?” Violet’s voice was slurred with sleep. She tried to open her eyes but only managed to get one eye open for longer than a couple of seconds. Part way.

“Everything’s good, Mom,” Caleb leaned in and kissed Violet on top of her head. “Go back to sleep.”

“Love you, squirt.” Violet stretched and held her hand up to her son even as she laid her head back on my chest.

Caleb took her hand and squeezed lightly before letting go. “Love you too, Mom.”

We both waited a few minutes for Violet to settle. I doubted she’d remember this. I hoped she didn’t remember this…

Caleb stared at me as I lay there with his mother in my arms, cuddling her against me.

What the fuck else was I supposed to do?

The kid had this whole intimidation thing down pat.

In a fight, I could take the kid. Easy. The problem was, there was no way I’d fight Caleb.

If he thought I needed a beating, I’d take it like a man.

Finally, Caleb glanced down at his mother.

In the dim light from the clock on the nightstand, I saw his features soften before he looked back at me again.

Instantly his expression changed to one of menace.

Then he pointed at his eyes with two fingers, then pointed the fingers at me.

He did this a couple times, raising his eyebrows when he finished.

I nodded my acknowledgment. He was watching me.

Good to know. The young man finally nodded back at me before turning to leave.

Once Caleb had closed the door behind him, I let out a long breath. Christ, that kid was going to give me a heart attack before this was over.

I glanced down at Violet, her face peaceful in sleep against my chest. The weight of her trust crushed me in the best possible way.

I’d spent sixteen years in prison with nothing but my rage and regret for company.

Now I had this woman and her son in my life, and I’d kill anyone who tried to take them from me.

Just as I suspected, Violet didn’t move afterward.

Apparently, the woman was exhausted. And, honestly, I was surprised she hadn’t crashed already.

Probably because she didn’t have a safe place to let her guard down.

I’d be lying if the thought of her being comfortable enough with me, safe enough with me, to get the rest she needed didn’t make me feel ten feet tall.

I kissed the top of Violet’s head before closing my eyes again. She didn’t move.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, the room was flooded with sunlight from the open curtains.

Violet was still sound asleep in the same position.

Her hand rested lightly on my chest. There was a soft, contented look on her face.

My heart melted. Never in my life had I felt so proud and important.

This woman needed me. I knew better than anyone who’d never been to prison how rare a truly, peaceful sleep was when you didn’t feel safe.

I had no desire to move. I didn’t care how uncomfortable I was becoming, only that Violet didn’t seem interested in moving, and I wanted her to sleep as long as she could.

She needed it. Unfortunately, my phone buzzed.

Several times. I’d initially tried to ignore it, but after the fifth time someone tried to call, I knew I was going to have to answer.

Carefully, I extracted myself from Violet’s sleeping form. Once I’d gotten up from the bed and made sure Violet was still settled and asleep, I picked up my phone from the nightstand and stepped just outside the door to her bedroom.

Just as I shut the door, the fucking phone started buzzing again.

“This better be fuckin’ important,” I grumbled when I answered the fucking thing.

“Nice to hear your voice too, Riot.” Knight was deceptively cheerful.

Mainly because Knight was typically reserved.

Sure, he had a wicked sense of humor, but it wasn’t often that side of him came out to play.

Of all of us, Knight had been in prison the longest and had had the worst time of it.

How he’d managed to have a grip on the latest technology and could manipulate it to serve his needs, I had no idea.

But the man wasn’t just smart. He was fucking smart.

“Get your ass to my office if you want to know the latest on your girl.”

“Tell me now.” The second the words left my mouth, I knew I’d fucked up. I hastily added, “Please.”

“Uh-huh.” I could almost see the tic next to his eye indicating how pissed off he was. “I could do that.” There was a long silence while I waited for him to continue but he didn’t.

“Well?”

“I said I could. Not that I would. You want shit delivered to you in a manner convenient for you, my suggestion would be to answer your phone a little nicer.”

“Sor --” I stopped speaking when the phone beeped, indicating the call had been terminated. “Temperamental asshole,” I muttered before opening the door to Violet’s room again and glancing in. She hadn’t moved. Good. Because it looked like I was going to see Knight.

I went to my room and got dressed, throwing on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and my cut. When I opened the door, it was to a scowling Caleb.