Page 60 of Static

"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.

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