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CHAPTER TWELVE

ELSIE

I wake to an empty bed, the sheets cold to the touch when I reach for Kane.

Frowning, I push to sit up, my body aching in places I never knew could ache, and I can’t stop myself from smiling. Slipping from the bed, I take care of my full bladder and wash up.

It has been so long since I have felt that I don’t need to panic when I don’t know where the kids are, and it’s because of Kane and the Royal Bastards MC.

Once I’m finished in the bathroom, I get dressed in my blue jeans and a T-shirt with a cute hedgehog on the front. Slipping my feet into my sandals, I go in search of my kids.

I pass Woody, who smirks at me, and my face heats up. Then he winks, and I know that he heard me and Kane earlier. I am going to die from embarrassment if anyone says anything in front of people.

Woody opens his mouth, and my face flames, but what he says surprises me.

“He’s in the kitchen with the kids.” With that, he walks away.

I speed-walk to the kitchen, wanting to see my kids but also see what Kane is doing with them. For all I know, he is feeding them a mass amount of sugar, so they will be bouncing off the walls later.

His voice stops me in my tracks by the door, so I listen.

“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,” I hear my son say.

“They need to be more careful when they speak about shit. Little ears do not need to hear that shit,” Kane gruffs, but I hear no anger in his voice.

“We hid,” my beautiful daughter replies with a timid voice that breaks my heart.

With my hand on my chest and my heart in my throat, I listen to what he says next.

“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?”

Oh, my beating heart. That man comes across as a beast and makes people cross the street when they see him. They are losing out on getting to know him. I know that underneath it all, he has a heart of gold and he chose me to see it. Most men, especially a biker, would never want to take on kids that are not theirs by blood, but Kane Huskins is doing just that.

My hands twitch to touch him, and my lips tingle to kiss him, as I step into the room.

“Oh look, Mum is awake.” I hear humour in my son’s voice, and then all three of them break out into loud fits of laughter.

“Am I missing something here?” I ask, stepping closer and kissing each of my twins on the head.

When I get close to Kane, he pulls me to him, my body fitting between his thighs. He kisses me, not afraid that there are kids in the room, but thankfully he keeps it pretty PG.

“Eww,” I hear from behind me, and I smile against Kane’s lush mouth.

My body leans into his, the heat passing between us. My underwear is now damp from his kiss. It may not have been erotic, but this man makes me feel things that every woman should feel when they have a man who genuinely wants them.

I turn around to face my kids. Seeing their smiling faces makes my heart happy. It feels even lighter knowing it was Kane looking after them, making sure they are fed and smiley.

“Solo made me noodles just like you make them, Mum,” Ruthie boasts.

Kane’s arms tighten around my waist, holding me to him, and for the first time in a very long time I feel safe and secure. My kids look content, giggling with each other while they eat their food.

“I can see that.” I look over my shoulder at him. “You didn’t have to do that. You could have woken me up.”

I feel his body shrug. “They were hungry so I fed them. No big deal, babe. Besides, we were having a little chat. Right, kids?”

They nod with mouthfuls of food.

“Chew and swallow before you speak, please.” I warn them with a light tone.

They do as I ask and Ricky speaks up first.

“We asked Kane if he was your boyfriend. You did sleep in his room earlier,” he states, before shovelling more food into his mouth.

“Oh, you did, did you? And what did Kane say?”

He has told me to call him Kane, and said one day the kids will too. By the sounds of things, it was decided that now is the right time for them to do just that.

Ruthie giggles. “He said that he’s not a boy; he is a man.” She makes her voice go deep, imitating Kane.

We all burst out laughing. I have said it before and I will say it time and time again, hearing my babies laugh makes my heart happy.

“Damn straight I am all man, but what else did I say?” Kane chimes in before kissing my neck.

Ruthie looks between us before she speaks, and my heart beats faster in my chest as I wait for her answer.

“That you are her man and she is yours. If we want to say boyfriend, we can, but you are her ol’ man and she is your ol’ lady,” she explains perfectly.

“Good girl. You are bang on, sweetheart. Now, when I say that your mum is mine, that extends to the both of you also. You are mine to care for and protect and no fucker will hurt you again. Do you hear what I am saying?” To my surprise, my kids smile and nod to him in understanding.

Shit, my heart just swooned again and my underwear has become damp from hearing his declaration about me and my kids being his. I press my bum against his crotch, and he growls low in his throat and grinds his hips forward, showing me that I’m affecting him also.

“Later, baby, you will pay for that.”

I grin at his sexual threat. I know Kane would never hurt me. In the short time I have known him and the club, I’ve learned they would hurt themselves before they hurt a woman.

Seeing how the men are with the women of the club, I can trust in them to keep us safe. Even the club girls, who I hate, are treated right, unless they disrespect the club. Then they are just gone; they are banned from the club and never allowed back in.

Kane makes me some coffee and we sit around the table like a real family, one that my kids should have had from the start, but I got trapped and couldn’t find a way out. While I was living my life after everything that happened, I looked into online classes that would get me qualified to be a councillor for women and men who come from abusive relationships. It’s something I need to dive into more, as it means so much to me.

There is always the stigma that people in an abusive relationship or marriage are weak and just don’t want to leave, so they deserve everything they get. Well, they are wrong and uneducated.

We get cut off from friends and family. The bad person makes you think you are the problem and are always in the wrong. They slowly chip away at your mind and soul, bringing you down one inch at a time. It can take weeks, months, and even years for someone to realise what has happened.

They even threaten to take the kids that you share. They put the fear of God into you until you believe that if you leave, you will never see the kids again. This is what Nigel did to me. He used my kids to keep me with him. I was beaten down physically and emotionally.

So people need to look deeper before passing judgement on someone who has had their soul crushed. Not everything is as it seems on the outside.