Page 61 of Raiden

Also, am I going to have to wear this polish for days just to make sure I don’t hurt Penny’s feelings? My club brothers will love that. They’ll tease me unmercifully, but they’ll all think it’s adorable—I’ve seen how my brothers with kids are around their family. I don’t think things would be the same in other clubs, but if anyone wanted to fight me over the pink polish, I’d be happy to kick their ass or take a beating.

Widow gets a pot of coffee going. She pours some for Lark without offering and sets it down beside her while she continues to work the waffle maker.

“Can I do your toes too after this?” Penny asks, picking up the brush again.

I smother a groan. “Why not?”

Widow brings me a coffee and thumps her mug down on the table next to mine. She grabs her lush hair and looks at Penny thoughtfully. “I’d love it if you’d work your magic on thistoo. That is, if you have time to pencil me in after the manicure and pedicure you’re working so hard at.”

“Yes!” Penny squeals. “I know how to do a braid.”

“A braid would be perfect.”

I could kiss Widow. I want to kiss Widow. She might never tame down, but I don’t want her to. I just want to see more of this side of her. The side that wakes up super early in the morning, kisses my cheek like we’re lovers, steals my waffles, and makes me coffee. The side of her where her eyes turn to emeralds and dance like there’s nothing in the world that could ever make her unhappy again.

This side of Widow makes me feel like we could have a life together. It makes me feel like I could be the kind of man who is more than just an ex-con, a son who was disowned by his parents, a man most of this town probably sees as a biker thug.

My stomach is so full of aching hope that it makes my throat hurt. It’s hard to swallow anything more, so I pass my waffles over to Widow. She makes quick work of them, sighing in pure delight.

I’m going to make her sigh in a different kind of delight later. I’ll tease her that it’s punishment for how she worked me up in here.

She watches on so innocently it makes my teeth hurt with wanting her. “What doyoudo here?”

“Work on my bike and my truck at the garage, but mostly, I get paid to do the club’s books.”

Her eyes crinkle in amusement as she smiles. “It would be hard to find an accountant for that kind of thing.”

I don’t want to wreck the levity, especially with my niece and sister right here listening, but I can’t stop myself. “If I didn’t have the club, it would be hard to find work outside of it.” I can see that she gets that. I elaborate anyway. “I’m putting my world back together. The club’s books might be the club’s books, but there’s a lot of work there and I’m good at it. It’s not a token job. Keep everything and everyone honest and accounted for takes up a lot of time.”

She sighs dramatically. “Nerdiness has never been so hot.” The way she leans in and whispers in my ear makes me filthy hot. “Talk numbers to me in bed next time.”

I feel myself blushing when I catch Lark frowning. I realize what we’re acting like here. A couple near smitten with each other.

Lark isn’t the kind to not say anything, so when she’s done with the waffles, leaving a huge stack on the counter to cool, she walks over and sits down at the table beside me. She does eye Widow cautiously.

“What are your plans?”

“Find work. Make friends. Try to learn to love this place. Same as anyone who relocates,” Widow says as she takes a mouthful of coffee.

Penny finishes with the pink polish at last and reaches for the bottle of gold sparkles I didn’t even see. She shakes it crazily, grinning madly. “You’re going to be the prettiest, uncle.”

“I have no doubt, sweetheart.”

“I second that,” Widow agrees. “Your uncle is the prettiest here.”

“What are your plans together?” Lark is all sweetness, but the undercurrent of protective curiosity is there in her words.

Widow and I look at each other at the same time. I think that’s a question we need to answer together. I’m half pissed Lark would even ask something like that. A soft pink blush heats her cheeks. She looks so pretty when she’s soft. When she’s not under threat and doesn’t feel like she’s constantly being tested and judged, I bet her smiles would dazzle. I bet she’d be the kind of woman who would do the small things because she knows how much they count. She’s the kind to live free, live hard, and probably love free and hard too. Falling for her wouldn’t be hard.

It has been absurdly easy so far.

“I’m not sure that we have an answer for that yet. We’re just trying to get to know each other and figure out what a future here would look like. Happiness is a tall order for anyone and being a couple? That’s something that you have to build over a lifetime. But… our lives are legally bound together. I think we’re both working on making the best of that to the best of our ability.”

Widow grins, her smile beyond dazzling. I guess I answered that the right way. Even Lark cracks a smile. She opens the glittery gold polish for Penny. “That’s going to look real pretty when we go to dinner at Grandpa’s.”

“When?” Penny asks hopefully.

“Soon. We’ll make it happen soon, honey.” She extends the invitation to Widow with a genuine kindness that makes me so fucking proud and grateful. “Raiden told me he asked you before, but the timing wasn’t right. I’m hoping that we can make it right within the next week. If you’re coming, we’d love to have you both there. Family dinners should includeallfamily.”

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