Chapter 22

Gwen

Ibit my lips to keep from laughing as I watched Grace stumble to a stop. Her little neck craned as she followed the line of the man”s body up to his face, which towered above her. Little lips made an ”o” of surprise. The man was big. Really big. Though not quite Hellfire-sized. Which was sort of how we gauged how big the men were. It was something we picked up from the guys.

”Hi,” she squeaked, blinking at the man.

He looked down at her like he wasn”t sure what he was supposed to do. ”Hey.”

She cuddled her stuffed rabbit close to her chest and asked, ”What”s your name?”

The man scowled and looked over at me for help.

”That”s Scythe,” a second man said with a grin. He walked over and squatted down to my daughter”s level. ”Don”t worry about him, he”s just a grumpy motherfucker.”

My gasp was echoed by the women surrounding me and the man looked up and grimaced. ”Ah, I mean-”

”What”s a grumpy mother...fucker?” she parroted.

I glared at him.

His mouth was opening and closing like a beached fish as he tried to figure out how to get out of the mess he”d just created for himself.

Taylor helped save the day. She stepped forward and eyed the newcomers. ”Are you any good at cards?”

They both blinked at her. ”Cards?” Scythe asked, finally speaking.

”Yeah,” she demanded, ”like poker?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Priest”s little girls weren”t for the weak hearted. Not after Butcher and Toxic had taken them under their wings. You wouldn”t be playing ”go fish” with these girls.

”We should play,” Gabby added, a sly look in her eyes. They”d found a new target. Everyone here knew what little cheats they were by now, but they were like sharks, scenting blood in the water. They saw new victims and were planning to capitalize on it.

Grace came over to me. I knelt next to her. ”Please don”t repeat what you just said again, okay?”

She nodded. ”Okay, Mommy.”

”Who do we have here?” The rest of the men walked up. There were five we didn”t know—counting Scythe—and Cynic, who made the sixth.

The women approached to give Cynic a hug.

One of the other men snorted in disbelief. ”If I”d known we”d get to hug gorgeous women, I”d have made sure you sent me down here to help earlier, Cypher.”

”Shut up, Warrant,” Cynic said. ”Everyone. This is Cypher, our president, Scythe, VP, Pyre, Demolition—Demo for short, and Warrant, Sgt. At Arms.” Cynic went on to introduce all of us and our children to the Berserkers. Our men had already left to enact the plan they”d come up with.

I gave Pyre a piercing look, one that told him not to cuss in front of my daughter again. She was going to end up with a colorful vocabulary living here, but I was doing my best to keep it under control. And Pyre had just taught her a doozy of a new word.

”It”s nice to meet you all,” Seek said with a smile. She was holding Sawyer, meanwhile Auron placed himself between her and the newest arrivals. Jecht was lying by her side. Both dogs were watching the guys with mistrustful gazes. They would learn who they were soon enough. It sounded like the men would be here for a bit.

”Why is your name Warrant?” Taylor asked.

””Cause he has a fu-” Demo cleared his throat when we all glared at him. ”He has a lot of them.”

”What”s a warrant?” Caitlyn asked. Her voice was so quiet from where she was hiding behind Jenny”s legs, that we almost didn”t hear her.

Pyre”s eyes softened as he looked over at the soft-spoken little girl. He seemed to recognize an injured soul when he saw one.

She was doing so much better here with Priest, Jenny, and their girls, but she had a long road ahead of her. We all did. I understood the little girl in a way I wasn”t sure many could.

”It means he”s gotten in trouble with the police...a lot,” Cypher answered, scowling over at Warrant.

The man just grinned and shrugged. He had dark hair and a gorgeous smile. His blue eyes were deep and full of mischief. ”A bike can be parked anywhere,” he said as though that was a defense.

”Not on top of Owen”s car,” Cypher growled.

”He needed a reminder of who the town belongs to,” Warrant claimed.

”He may have been your friend since you were shitting your diapers,” Cypher said—no one corrected him for his language, a bonus of being an MC President—”but that doesn”t mean you park your motorcycle on top of his damn cruiser. That cost a pretty penny to replace.”

”Eh,” Warrant replied, as if that was all that needed to be said on the matter.

”What other kind of trouble did you get into?” Sean asked, fascinated by them.

I groaned to myself. He already worshiped Static and the others; at least our men had some manners taught to them by their women. These new men were wild cards. More like Butcher and Toxic than anyone else. That was the last thing we needed, them influencing the kids. But, they seemed nice enough, and were answering our children”s questions. And they were here to help the guys, and us. So, that was a huge mark in their favor in my book.

”Mostly parking tickets,” Warrant replied.

”And that indecent exposure,” Pyre reminded him.

Warrant shook his head when our eyes widened. ”I just needed to take a piss. Since when can”t you piss in a back alley?”

”By back alley you mean Owen”s gas tank,” Cynic muttered.

”Pretty sure you never could,” Jenny said, giving him a weak smile and wrapping an arm around Taylor to back her up a bit. The little girl was inching closer and closer to Scythe with every word spoken.

Taylor wormed her way out of Jenny”s hold and planted herself in front of Scythe again. She gave him a beaming smile and I wasn”t sure if she just wanted to talk him into a game of poker...or if she had a crush. God help us all if her first crush was a man like…

I studied Scythe and cringed. He had that dangerous look about him. The one that said he”d snap your neck and leave your body lying on the sidewalk as easily as he would shake your hand. There was a permanent glower attached to his face. It was a gorgeous face. I was more interested in a certain blond, smooth-talking lawyer, but I could see where women probably threw themselves at Scythe. Add in that strong silent personality? I couldn”t figure out if he was giving more serial killer, or overbearing protector vibes. All I knew was that I certainly didn”t want to find out.

”Are you in the military, too?” Gabby asked. ”Like Dad was?”

”We were,” Cynic answered her. ”But not anymore.”

”None of you?” Sean asked, sounding disappointed.

”We were all Special Forces for one branch or another,” Cypher told him with a patient smile. ”Now they all work for me.”

”Cool,” Taylor said, her eyes glued to Scythe. ”What do you do?”

”I run a...security firm.”

”Security?” Sean asked.

”Like mall cops,” Cynic cracked.

The men all glared at him.

”You don”t look like mall cops,” Taylor announced. ”They”re usually kinda big here.” She held her hands out in front of her stomach. Scythe snorted out a laugh at that and she beamed at him.

”We”re not mall cops,” Demo muttered.

”We”re like your fathers,” Cypher said. ”We help people. We just do it here in the States the majority of the time, instead of with the military overseas.”

”Pays better,” Pyre added.

”Way more pus-” Warrant broke off with a cough. ”Ugh. Better benefits, too.”

”That”s pretty cool,” Kit said. ”No one told us that”s what you guys do. We all thought you were still in the military.”

”Easier to tell people that at first,” Cynic told her.

”We don”t advertise it much,” Cypher said with a shrug. ”Makes it easier if we have to go undercover.”

”Makes sense,” Jordan replied. ”Do you work everywhere in the US?”

”Yeah, and honestly, I”ll take some jobs overseas still,” he answered. ”Just depends on what the mission is.” He grinned. ”Plus, sometimes these guys need to blow off steam and it”s easier to send them somewhere that I”m not going to get phone calls from pissed off mayors and senators. Collateral damage is a bigger line item in my budget than payroll.” He winked at me.

I gave him a small smile, but didn”t say anything. I never used to be a timid woman, and really, I was still pretty good with most men despite what happened with Trent. But these men were intimidating. Fascinating. But still intimidating. They moved like barely contained wild animals. I knew I”d ease up once they were here for a few days and I had a chance to get to know them.

I knew Cypher had a big club. Ricochet had told me, so this was just the cherry on top of the Berserker”s Rage sundae. Maybe one day, when I met the rest of them, I”d be more outspoken like the other women.

For now, I was just looking forward to having Static walk back through that door. I didn”t know what the exact plan for today was, but I knew they were up to something. And Static had asked, before he left, if something went wrong if I could have my phone on standby and be ready to contact David if need be. He wasn”t thrilled to be asking me that, but I agreed. I was more than happy to help the club with whatever they needed.

”So, what do you say?” Taylor asked. ”Want to play a game of poker?”

”Maybe later,” Scythe told her.

”Uh oh,” Dani said with a grin. ”She”s going to hold you to that now.”

”Go play,” Jenny told her girls. They skipped off, taking my kids, and Dex, Susie”s son, with them. No doubt they”d be going to practice stacking the deck and dealing from the bottom.

Scythe narrowed his eyes on Dani. ”What do you mean?”

”Those girls love to play poker,” Jenny told him. ”She”s going to hound you until you play.”

The man shrugged his massive shoulders. ”I won”t take it easy just because she”s a kid.”

I bit the insides of my lips again to hold my laughter in.

”You shouldn”t,” Seek replied, keeping her grin in check. ”How else will they learn?”

”Yeah,” Kit added. ”They”ll all benefit from playing with new people.”

”Well, we better go get busy,” Cypher told us with a knowing smile. I had a feeling Lock may have warned him about Priest”s girls. ”We need to meet your men soon.”

”We”ll see you later,” Seek called out with a wave as the men walked away.

I started laughing and everyone looked over at me with feral smiles. ”Those girls are going to wipe the floor with them in cards,” I gasped out.

”Yup,” Seek replied.

”Someone make sure to let me know when the game is happening,” Kit commented. ”I want to watch.”

”Me too,” Jordan added.

”That”s your job, Jenny,” Eva said.

”Send a group text,” Susie requested.

Daisha and Tori joined me in laughter. Butcher and Toxic had been teaching those girls for a few years now and not only were they proficient at poker, but they were also highly skilled little cheaters.

”Should someone warn them?” Daisha asked when the laughter died down.

”No way!” Seek exclaimed. ”That”ll ruin all the fun.”

Jenny just shook her head. ”Let”s go find the kids and see what trouble they”ve gotten into.”

I couldn”t believe how lucky I was to live here with these women and their families. I loved them so much; I sort of never wanted to leave. The resolution with Fremont was drawing near, and though I”d be grateful to have him out of our lives, I didn”t want to go back to where we were before we came here.