Page 46 of Sheltering Hollis

She put the dish rag in the sink, tilting those eyes up to me. “A car? Seriously, that thing had to be like fifty thousand,” she raged.

More like a hundred and seventy thousand and change, not counting the addition of the windows, but they were well worth it. Both of them were worth so much more. Making my way around the counter, I pulled her into my arms.

“I’m not with you for your money,” she complained, but she was already softening, bending in my arms like taffy.

“I know that.” I kissed her lightly. “I do know that. Malysh, my money is your money now.” She frowned.

“Then we should be a little more thrifty. Get me something used.”

“Hmmm …. Come here.” Pulling her with me, I walked over to my tablet and pulled up my accounts. “Look.” She watched as I scrolled through account after account. “I’ve added your name to these accounts.” I handed her a black card from my pocket that I’d had FedEx’ed yesterday. “We have more money than we could ever spend.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of money,” she said, dumbfounded. “Wait, what? You put me on the accounts?” The last words were said slowly as her fingers closed around the card in slow motion, not even seeing the card. “You did what?”

“I’ve set up a trust for Olive, too. My lawyer is working on it, and I have a separate account for you that isn’t attached to me. So you’ll feel secure in your finances.” I looked solemnly at her. I never wanted her to feel indebted or as if she had to stay with me. Of course, I wanted to tie her to me in as many ways as I could. A ring on that all-important finger, but I wanted these things to be her choice.

She flung her arms around me. “I love you, Dima, not because of this but because of everything. The way you protect me, protect us. The way you think of everything.”

“Fuck. I love you too, malysh.”

Her teeth clashed against mine as I plunged my tongue into her mouth. Hollis kissed with everything she had, always giving her entire soul. Leaning into the kiss, I cupped her ass her both hands and went about devouring her, tangling my tongue with hers, nibbling the corners. Giving her a final peck, I leaned away from her. Unfortunately, I had to go to work.

“Tiny will take you and Olive to the elementary school today while I’m at the club so you can check it out. You can also finish the paperwork for your Arizona driver’s license.”

“So he’s just going to hang out?” Hollis asked.

“Yep, I’ve got to go to work. I’ll be at the Open Road part of the time, and then we have a meeting with Pike. If you need anything, you can call.” Yesterday, we spent some time putting some numbers in her phone. Helena had said that she’d call Hollis today. I hoped they’d become friends and Helena would be the bridge I couldn’t be. Helena was quirky and fun, just about Hollis’ age. I thought they’d get along well. “I’m going to get the bike out.” I was positively gleeful about that. I’d been dying to get my Harley on the road. This was the longest I had gone in years without riding daily.

“Okay, be safe.” She gave me another lingering kiss, which made me wish we had more time to extend this makeout session. “Olive,” she shouted. “Come say goodbye to Dimitri.” I handed her the car key.

“The paperwork is in the glove box. You’ll need to register it, though,” I winked. Olive came thundering down the stairs, her blond hair in little buns on the top of her head like rabbit ears.

“I’m going to work, moya milaya. Have a good day with mommy.” He swung her up effortlessly like she was a toddler. She was still small for her age, but I had stopped picking her up a few years ago. Olive loved it being swung around, though. She giggled, and her eyes sparkled.

“You’ll come back?” Olive asked solemnly, pressing her small hands against his cheeks, squishing them together.

“Yes. I promise.” It broke my heart that she worried that people wouldn’t come back. I didn’t need to look at Hollis to know I would see a frown on her face.

“Ok.” She wriggled—the universal sign to be put down. “See you later.”

This was nice — having someone who cared that I’d make it home. I’d never had that. Not resisting the urge, I gave Hollis a final kiss before making my way to the porch to Tiny.

“Take care of them,” I cautioned. There was still a call to make to Luka, but I wasn’t sure it wasn’t overkill. Not to mention that there would be no hiding my life from Maxim anymore if I did that. “She has some errands she probably wants to run. The school, the DMV, shit like that.”

“Of course, brother. I’ll protect them with my life. You have my word.” Tiny smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He was here because I trusted him, but heading to the garage and wheeling the bike out was still hard.

Straddling the seat of my Harley and settling my hands onto the handlebars was one of the best feelings. The engine roared to life, throaty, loud, and guttural. That smell of gasoline and the wave of heat from the pavement made me wax nostalgic. God, it was good to be back. Kicking off the pavement, I revved the throttle and headed for the Open Road.

I took an extra spin around town, relishing the feel of the bike under me even more than I thought I would. The thrill of taking Hollis for a ride was almost tangible, although I needed to get her a helmet, but I’d love to have her on the bike of my bike.

As I headed towards the outskirts of town, I turned onto a backroad that led to the club’s buildings. I jokingly referred to it as a compound comprising the clubhouse, office, and living quarters. Since Maddox had taken over, he had significantly improved the clubhouse and named it the ‘Open Road.’ It now served as a bar and entertainment spot, with a full kitchen for preparing meals, a bar area, and a stage. The building also connected to another where living quarters were located, although not all the members lived on site.

“Hey, Whitney,” I said as I entered the familiar space. Whitney was an old-timer from Roscoe Marsh’s era of running the Brotherhood. He had been a club officer when Helena was a baby.

“Dimitri! Glad to see you,” he boomed. Whitney and I exchanged a firm handshake, his grip still strong despite advancing years. Whitney's presence always felt like a comforting constant in the ever-changing world of the Brotherhood.

"How's it been?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Can't complain," Whitney replied with a grin. "The Open Road is busier than ever. We’ve even got some locals coming in. How was Colombia?"

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