Page 26 of Sniper

Yeah, she’s going to kick my ass when she realizes I’ve spoken to the daycare director about my paying three-quarters of the fee. Wonder if she’ll murder me if I replace her car….

It's just another thing to add to the list of things she’s going to skin me alive for.

“And there you go again, fucking grinning,” my dad rasps in shock.

I smile at him and admit, “Her name is Aurora, and she has a two-year-old girl, Autumn, who you can count as your granddaughter. They are my everything.” My dad’s eyes widen, and I just chuckle and pat his shoulder. "If Momma asks, I got called on a breakdown. I’ve got my girls to go pick it up. Her car broke down again, and she’s headstrong.”

With that said, I turn on my heel and go outside, lifting my hand toward Tats, who raises a brow at me, knowing exactly where I’m off to. He’s the only other brother to know about my girl.

I’m not keeping her from the club, I just, fuck, I need her to know who I am first—ease her into the club life without her killing me.

I get to my bike and climb on, quickly turning it on, then revving it, before spinning out of my spot.

I make it about a mile from the club before I pull over and remove my cut, placing it under my seat. I sigh, hating that I have to do this.

“Soon, fucking soon, I’ll tell her, and have her and our girl under my roof,” I mutter as I climb back on my bike, and speed down the road toward my girls and the shit-box I really need to convince her to get rid of.

Fucking soon….

8

Aurora – Two Weeks Later

I laugh as Theo throws Autumn over his shoulder and states, “Alright, my little princess, it’s time for bed.”

Autumn giggles, not one bit bothered being upside down, and my heart leaps at the sound.

He’s amazing with her, absolutely amazing, and she adores him. Most nights, he’s here to help with the bedtime routine, and if I have to work in the evenings at the motel, he’ll demand to watch her. If I’m doing coursework for my classes, he’s there to entertain her and help me. On the nights when he can’t be here because of work, I have to call him so that she can hear his voice.

Last night, he was on a callout, and because it went so late, he had to stay at his place, a place I have yet to see. Autumn woke up crying for him.

It scared me because she shouted for her “daddy.”

I’ve never told her to call him that, and neither has he. I’ve always called him Theo or, as she called him, Thee-Thee, but last night it was out of nowhere, and it scared the crap outta me.

It still scares me, even as I hear Autumn giggling in the bedroom.

What if he gets disgusted with how she was conceived?

What if he leaves when he finds out the truth?

It’ll break me, and it’ll hurt her….

I take a shuddering breath, trying to get out of my head. “You need any help?” I call out from my position on the couch.

“Nope, you keep your butt on the couch. You cooked and cleaned up, so I’ll do bedtime duty with our little Princess,” he calls back, and I smile softly, my heart pounding.

I may be scared, but God, when he claims her like that, he digs deeper inside me.

The first time he put her to bed, I was a wreck. I sat outside the bedroom door, listened to him give her a bath, and then read her a story. When he was quiet for more than twenty minutes, I opened the door to see he’d fallen asleep next to her on the princess carriage bed that he had bought for her, melting my heart.

Before that, she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

He didn’t make me feel bad; he just told me he wanted to spoil her and me. He told me I wasn’t alone anymore, and that I had him to lean on.

Didn’t stop my thoughts from going haywire, though, did it, hearing his voice as always.

Ignoring the memories that are hitting hard, I kick my sneakers off and place my feet under my ass and relax, doing as he says.

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