Page 30 of Redeem Me

They look at each other and then at me. Growling, they turn their little fingers into claws.

“Yeah, like that,” I say, unsure if they’re making fun of me.

I pull out my phone and look at what information Siobhan sent.

“You’re Hector,” I tell the boy who gasps as if shocked by how I know his name.

“And you’re,” I say and frown at the text. The little girl looks at my phone like she’s going to help me out, but I don’t think she can read it, either. I force my gaze to find Natasha who stares at me as if I’m weird. “Siobhan sent their names, but I don’t know how to say the girl’s.”

A little smile appears on Natasha’s face. Her cold blue eyes warm with amusement. She sounds out the name which isn’t as complicated as I expected.

“That’s me,” Jacinda says and takes my hand. “You color your arm.”

The kids are very curious about the ink on my skin. I nearly lift the sleeve of my black T-shirt to show off the rest before remembering how skulls might scare little kids.

“You’re both three,” I say, checking the text. “Wait, what?”

The kids trace the lines on my arm while I frown at Natasha.

She explains softly, “They were born months apart by different women.”

“They’re not yours?” I blurt out.

Natasha’s warming expression instantly goes Kovak chilly. I get the feeling she wants to grab the kids and ditch me.

I’m honestly relieved to know Natasha didn’t give birth to these children. I want her to carry only my babies. Having some loser enjoy something I didn’t get was eating at me. These new facts settle some of my edginess.

“They’re not mine, either,” I state before she can add another reason to hate me. “I’m still going to raise them like they’re mine. Blood doesn’t mean anything to a man like me.”

Blinking rapidly, I think Natasha hurts herself from changing moods so quickly.

“You’re sticking to your deal,” I say when she seems confused. “You don’t have to forgive me. You don’t even really need to like me. But this is what I want, and it’s what you need. So, it’s what’s happening.”

Natasha Kovak never got very good at being a mafia princess. She often forgot to throw her weight around. Siobhan, Carys, and Hunter enter rooms with the confidence that comes from being backed by powerful people. Petra also never struggled to wield her mafia princess cred.

However, Natasha tends to let people push her around. The only time I’ve ever seen her go queen bitch on anyone was to protect Ollie.

Right now, as I set my foot down and explain what happens next, she doesn’t know how to respond. With the kids fascinated by my tattoos, she can’t exactly storm off.

By the time they tell me about their dolls, Natasha looks as confused as she did the night when I ignored her.

That night, I fixed her worries with a long, deep fuck. Today’s going to take far more finesse.

NATASHA

Bear’s presence messes with my head. I’ve always known what kind of man he is. He didn’t get his road captain rank by standing back and letting others do the dirty work. He was a killer long before he ended my friend’s life.

Yet, when I see his bearded face and those dark blue eyes, I lose track of myself. I’m drawn to how the man can’t hide his feelings. If he doesn’t want to show his hand, Bear acts angry.

Is that what he’s doing now? He keeps bitching about deals as if he’s a stickler about following the rules.

I want to scream at him for killing Ollie. He should have been more careful. He just didn’t care because he was on the part of town where everyone’s considered a loser.

Even knowing Bear is a killer and hating him for what he did to Ollie, I still know marrying him is better than ending up with another killer. That’s why I keep my mouth shut. My family clearly wants to bind the Backcountry Kings to the Syndicate. I botched that plan for them. It would be so easy to behave now and make everyone happy.

Holding my tongue, I focus on what I like about Bear. He’s very handsome. I know other men in the club have more groupies. But none of those guys can hold a candle to Bear in my eyes. He’s simply gorgeous.

As the kids fixate on his tattooed arm, I remembered it wrapped around me in bed. His skills are very thorough. I can still remember the way my body hummed afterward.

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