Page 32 of Room One Hundred and Four: Shock and Awe

That knowledge is what has me straightening my spine as I watch the man who fathered me take in the scene before him. His eyes flash with a knowing that would have rocked me to my core if they weren’t at my back. Hatred. Pure fucking hatred lives within the man in front of me.

And what a shame it is.

“You will take your hands off my daughter,” he demands without knowing that it will fall on deaf ears. His gaze shifts to me and he booms, “You will go and pack a bag right now. You have been sinning with this scum, these evil men. You need to be cleansed before I can even think of presenting you to your future husband. You will be free of their taint.”

“No,” Rites barks and takes a step around me to shield me.

Crucify matches his movements. Spark pulls me back against his chest, a deep rumble like a hellhound’s warning vibrates my back and causes me to melt into him. My men. My protectors.

“You will forget that you ever had a daughter,” Rites states like it is gospel. Dad opens his mouth, but my man is not done. “You will forget she ever existed because as far as she is concerned, you will no longer exist for her after today. She is ours and you will not threaten her. You will not coerce her.”

Crucify takes a menacing step forward, his own growl sounding out in warning, “You will not hide behind scripture and the talk of sin. It’s all bullshit and you know it. You have gotten off on the power of making women feel small when they are the mothers of this earth and the keepers of our humanity. You are the sinner; you are the scourge.”

Mom’s head snaps up and she looks at my men before her eyes come to meet mine. I hope she can see the way I’m pleading for her to take a step forward and away from the man who has spent far too long keeping her down. A small smile tugs at her lips, but I see the resolve in her eyes. She won’t leave him, but pride shines upon me from her gaze.

It will have to be enough. She’s an adult who can make her own choices. Maybe, one day, she’ll make a different one. I can only hope.

“You will not come here again. Navy is our woman. She’s a Devil’s Saints old lady. She has a family who will support, protect, and love her until our dying breath. You will not darken her doorway again. If it makes you feel better to consider her dead, so be it, but we will know the truth and so will you,” Spark’s edict is final and whips toward my father and forces him to take a step back.

He almost stumbles backward down the stairs, and I watch as Mom stifles a gasp as he pulls her with him. As he turns to storm away, muttering about only God knows what, she gives me one more look.

But she follows him. And my heart shatters.

I don’t even realize that tears are streaming down my face until the door slams shut while I’m burrowed in Spark’s arms and my other men surround me. Their warmth stems the heartbreak and starts to mend my broken parts back together.

“If he comes near you again, if he threatens you, and damn sure if he tries to take you, I will kill him,” Spark makes a vow so solemn that it dries my tears.

“I love you,” my voice croaks and I look up into the faces of the men who have electrified my very being.

Their eyes soften and smiles grace their lips, different and the same because they hold so much love that I feel it flowing through me and wrapping me up.

“I love you,” Crucify whispers.

“Siren, there is no other choice but to love you,” Spark’s tone is serious, but warm.

“And love you forever,” Rites adds as his hazel eyes sparkle.

I throw myself at my men knowing they will catch me, knowing they always will. I never expected them to come into my life, but they did. Now, I can’t imagine a life without them.

Spark lifts me easily and he grunts at his brothers when they try to take me from him. My laughter rings out as I pat his chest. He’s still working on sharing, and I don’t mind one bit.

Because he is working on it and I have faith in him that he’ll master the feeling. How could a man so strong, so bound by love and duty, do anything less?

Now that love and duty includes me.

My thighs clench together as they carry me through my house and up to my room. “This place doesn’t feel safe anymore,” I admit as I look at the walls as we pass them by. “I don’t want to be anywhere he can find me again.”

“You’ll move into the clubhouse and into my suite,” Spark’s voice is gruff, and his crystal blue eyes bore into mine.

I arch an eyebrow in challenge, “What about my other men?”

He sighs and his shoulders slump after he kicks the door to my bedroom open. He grumbles, “They can move in too.”

Rites claps his hands, amusement in his voice, “About fucking time.”

When he starts to strip, I know what is about to happen. And I am here for it. I want to seal our promises, our hearts, in the sin I have always been told to avoid. But it’s not a sin.

It is what binds us. It is what fuels us. Love. Always love.

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