Page 5 of Gunner

I’m not stalking her. I’m not some fucking asshole.

Tonight, I scared her, and that’s unforgivable. I need to stop.

Tyrant walks to the door in a way that says he’s going to give me the benefit of the doubt about this shit. I should let him go. I blurt out the dumbest thing instead. “Can your old lady cook?”

He crosses his arms and leans causally against the doorframe. If he’s surprised, he doesn’t show it. I’ve rarely asked for anything from anyone. “I suppose she can.”

“I’ll take guard duty or check in duty on the warehouses all next week if she can make a lasagna. I’d even… watch the prospects… or some shit.”

He raises a brow, but grins wide, proving his goodness once again. “I can ask her, but why not just order it in? There are a few good places here.”

Why indeed? I didn’t even think of that. More stupidity in less than an hour. I’d barely know where to find something like that. I eat because my body needs food, not because I care how it tastes. I’m like that with sleep too. I don’t do it unless I have to. I’m not haunted. I’m just always going to be a soldier and soldiers aren’t men. They’re weapons.

“Never mind,” he murmurs. “I’m sure Lark would be happy to. I don’t want you on guard duty, though. We’re homeschooling Penny right now so we can properly watch her with all that’s happened, but come fall, we want to send her to school. I’d like you to take her and pick her up.”

I gape at him. Why the fuck would this man trust me with a child,let alone hischild?

“We might not be in lockdown anymore, and things might be settled with the Berserkers, but I want someone with experience watching my daughter.”

Yeah, that’s not exactly an explanation. Or, maybe it is, when it comes to men like us.

My old boss wouldn’t have asked. He would have just delegated and expected his word to be law. Tyrant is giving me the option. Christ. His daughter is five and a half. A sweeter kid couldn’t exist. She’s so tiny. It makes my throat close up with unexpected fear and honor and I’m unexpectedly moved.

“I’ll guard her with my life.” Token words, but true to the heart of me.

He nods, his grin growing wider. “She can be a handful. I’d like you to get to know her ahead of time so that she’s okay with you around. Lark will be with her too, of course. It won’t just be you. I don’t want Penny to be afraid of any of my brothers.”

“Is this for Penny to trust me or Lark?”

He shrugs, a dead tell that he hasn’t even asked Lark about this yet. I expect him to meet heavy resistance, but in the end, she’ll cave because she trusts his judgment, even if she’s not happy about it.

“Your old lady and Ella are close now. Neither of them like me.” Ella is Tyrant’s sister, well, half-sister. Zale sent her to our club as part of the truce, while the truce was bullshit, the arranged marriage between her and our VP turned out to be a good match.

“That’s not true. You saved both their lives.”

“By slaughtering a bunch of Berserkers right in front of them. They aren’t going to wash that day from behind their eyeballs anytime soon, lifesaving or not.”

I get busy with my hands, gathering up the medical supplies and tucking them back into the box.

“Ella’s seen worse, and Lark’s starting to understand this life. They were both raised in very different ways, but they’re not judgmental and they sure as fuck won’t hold it against you that you saved them. You weren’t the only one that killed those men that day. Ella took a fair share of them out.”

He’s right. His half-sister had it mostly under control. She’s great with guns. Smoke came from her old club, and he’s bonded with Bullet over this past year, but nothing like Ella has.She came to us as Widow, a name her father’s club gave her. After everything settled, she told us she hated it. So it’s Ella now, or sometimes Professor. She’s a badass biker babe through and through—even if she’s finishing up her PhD and will probably be teaching college level English come fall. You can’t throw people in a box. I get that. But Tyrant’s old lady is a princess. She’s Raiden’s baby sister and she was raised the way he was. Ultra. Conservative. Things might be different now and she might be learning the ways of bikers and have a love for this club because of Tyrant and her brother, and she might not be judgmental or terrible, but she’s still tender. Sweet and innocent.

Like Diletta.

We shouldn’t rub up against each other.

I have a momentary heart attack thinking about Penny possibly attending the school Diletta teaches at. Even if she wouldn’t be her teacher, dropping Penny off and picking her up would be out of the question, but there are plenty of schools in Hart, most of them closer to the clubhouse, where Tyrant and Lark and Penny are living right now because their house was burned down by Zale and his Berserker cronies.

I’ll recommend against the one Diletta works at if Tyrant or Lark even consider it. Both sides of my life can stay separate.

“You can take time to think about it and let me know. The lasagna is on the house, either way.”

I snap the medical kit shut, clicking the latches into place, and give a single nod of affirmation.

Tyrant isn’t done with me yet. The fucker is far too sage. “Gunner?”

My head snaps up.

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