Page 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SOLO

I come to, and instantly, something soft and sweet-smelling tickles my nose. My eyes pop open, and I smile lazily when I see Elsie snuggled into my side like she belongs there.

Fuck, she does.

She looks so young and carefree when she sleeps. I hate that she is still carrying some weight from her past when she is awake. Brushing some of her hair off her face, I press my lips to her forehead, hoping to not wake her.

Slipping from the bed, I drag my tired arse to the attached bathroom and take a piss, and my body sags in relief. I take a quick shower and dress just as fast, when my stomach protests that it’s empty.

I don’t usually go this long without food. I consume a lot of calories to keep my body in this shape. My size is one thing I have going for me; it helps keep people in line.

Making my way down to the kitchen, I pass the games room that we have. Nadine set it up years ago when she got fed up with the guys screaming and shouting at the TV while playing on the Xbox or whatever console we had at the time.

We have a TV in the main room, where we watch sport and the news and shit.

In the games room, Una is propped up in a chair reading on her Kindle while Ruthie and Ricky are playing on one of the consoles.

“Solo,” I hear Una call.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” I ask, stepping into the room.

The kids clock me, offer me a smile, then go back to their game.

“I’m good. The doctor cleared me to fly, so Dutch is happy. Me too, to be honest. I could do with some hot weather; escape this dull summer we are having.” She laughs.

I chuckle. Una hates the cold and wet, so she is shit out of luck living in England.

“Hey, we’re due to get a heatwave next week. You will miss that.” I wink.

“Yeah, but I will have the Florida sun on me so I don’t care.” She gets up and kisses the kids’ heads.

“You be good for Solo, okay?” They nod to her and stop the game, turning at the exact same time to look at me.

“Yeah, that’s not creepy as shit,” I mutter, making them both smile the same creepy way.

“Okay, you can stop that shit now.” They chuckle darkly and my skin crawls. “Fucking kids.”

They both burst out laughing and get to their feet.

“We’re hungry,” Ricky states as they stop in front of me.

“Yeah?” They nod. “Okay. Come on, I will see what’s in the kitchen.”

They follow me out of the room and down to the kitchen. Thankfully, it’s empty.

“Sit.” I point to the table, and they listen.

“Where is Mum?” Ruthie asks me as she sits.

“She’s still sleeping,” I inform them, making them frown. “Hey, guys, your mum is getting up there in age. Taking a nap is needed for us oldies.” I wink, making them giggle.

The sound does some freaky shit to my heart.

So far, I have seen that they are good kids; still a little guarded, but what can you expect when they have seen what they have. No kid should see their father hitting on their mum, but if there’s anything I have learned in my lifetime, it’s that not everyone can escape. They get cut off and made to feel like they have nothing.

People think it’s easy to leave, but they know fuck all about what other people go through.

Pulling open the fridge, and then the freezer, I look through the mass of foods to see what they might want. Realising I know fuck all about what kids like to eat, I look to them.

“What do you want to eat? Anything you really like?”

“I like jacket potato with cheese and beans.” Ricky shrugs.

“I like noodles,” Ruthie informs me.

I watch them for a second before nodding.

“Okay, let me see what I can do.”

I rummage through the cupboard for the packets of noodles that I’m sure I saw before, because Kink loves that shit too. Once I’ve found some, I hold them up to the little girl and she nods with a smile. I grab a tin of beans while I’m there.

Once I’ve added them to a pot of water on the stove, I check out the freezer for some jacket potatoes, because yes, we are lazy arseholes who like convenient foods. I toss the frozen potatoes onto a plate and into the microwave.

The food is cooking, so I get them a drink each, knowing they like these small cartons that Nadine buys.

“Mum makes good jacket potatoes. She cooks them in the oven, but they take ages to cook.”

“Mums always cook food better.”

“Is Nadine your mum? You don’t call her mum,” Ruthie asks.

I stir her noodles, then lean against the counter to answer her question.

“Nadine isn’t my real mum. My real mother passed away years ago. Nadine is like a second mum to me, Dutch and Kink. We love her just the same as you do your mum,” I explain.

“I’m sorry you lost your mum, Solo. It would hurt to lose Mummy.” Ruthie tears up, making my hardened heart hurt.

Shuffling towards her, I see that Ricky is holding her hand under the table. I love seeing that he is protective of his sister.

“Nothing will happen to your mum or you two, okay? I will never let anything happen, and neither will the club.” I make a point to look them both in the eyes when I say this.

They need to know that I will die to protect them.

They look at each other and then back to me, nodding.

“Okay, Solo, we trust you,” Ricky states firmly.

I push to my feet and check on their food, making sure that I’m not burning shit, because I tend to do that shit. They chatter to each other about school and friends they will miss. It causes a knot in my gut to know that I am taking them from their friends.

“Solo?”

“You can call me Kane. That is my birth name,” I tell them.

“Okay, Kane. Are you our mum’s boyfriend?” Ruthie grins at me, so does Ricky.

“Do I look like a boy to you?” I joke and they giggle. “I get what you are asking, and yes, I am your mum’s boyfriend, if that is what you want to call me, but to me and the club, I am her man. Soon to be ol’ man. And she will be my ol’ lady,” I explain.

“Like Adele and Kink,” Ricky points out.

“Exactly, little man.”

“Do I look like a little man to you?” Ricky jokes.

Ruthie giggles, and I throw my head back, laughing at him throwing my words back at me.

Fuck, these kids are killing me. They are worming their way into my heart and they intend to stay there.

“Little shit, you got me there.” I grin.

I sort their food out, placing their plates in front of them, and watch as they dig in. While they eat, I think over what they have been through. They were settled without their cunt of a father being around all the time, then they had to come here, their lives uprooted again.

“I know it’s scary coming back here and leaving school and friends back where you was with your mum, but I also know you are both old enough to understand that you are here to be kept safe. The club is where you need to be right now until we can sort this shit out.”

“We know. We overheard Dutch and Kink talking and they said they are looking for our uncle because he hurt Mummy,” Ricky states.

“They need to be more careful when they speak about shit. Little ears do not need to hear that shit.”

“We hid,” Ruthie confesses, looking down at her lap.

“Hey, pretty girl, none of that hiding shit, okay? If you have something to say, you say it, baby girl. No fucker will ever tell you off for speaking your mind. If they do, well, you now have me and a club full of biker uncles, you get me?”

She nods, smiling, but I still see the uncertainty in her eyes.

They have come a long way. I know they still have some recovering to do, but I hope that being around me and the club, we will enforce some solid trust in them, so they know they have us.

“Oh look, Mum is awake,” they say with a hint of humour in their voices.