Page 20 of Love Gamble

Chapter Nine

Damon

I rarely talk about my past, so it surprised me when I brought it up with Corey yesterday. The last thing I want is her thinking I’m just some poor little orphan boy with a dead mother and an unknown father, but I guess that’s the truth, isn’t it?

I know she has her own family problems and would never judge me, and maybe that’s why I opened up to her so easily. Most people know the fun, smart-ass, easygoing Damon, but that’s just what I show everyone. No one needs to know the story of my broken childhood. I’m a man now, and I’ve come so far since then. And when I finally have a child one day, I’ll make sure they have a wonderful childhood.

That’s all I can do. Stop the cycle.

“Good morning,” I say when Julianna walks into the new clubhouse’s kitchen, holding Julian.

“Morning,” she replies in a singsong voice, handing me the baby. “Can you hold him for a minute?”

“Of course I can. Hello there,” I say, smiling down at the next in line to this MC empire. He yawns, and I grin at just how damn cute he is. With his big brown eyes and mop of dark hair, he’s actually the most adorable baby I’ve ever seen.

“You look good with a baby,” Julianna says with raised brows. She tucks her hair back away from her face with the back of her palm, and then dries her hands on a tea towel. Once she has his bottle sorted, she takes him back.

“He makes anyone look good,” I reply, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. “You coming to the Devils clubhouse today?”

She nods. “Yes, I want to be there when we choose the new prospects, especially because they’ll be here. It will be a little weird having strangers around here, I have to admit. It’s been a while since we brought in anyone who wasn’t family...”

“Yes, it has. Twelve years in fact,” I say. I was the last person who was brought in.

Her eyes widen, realizing what she said. “Shit, Damon. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine,” I tell her, smiling so she knows I’m not upset. “It’s the truth. We haven’t had any new people in here since your dad brought me in when I was eighteen.”

But since we lost Victor and the men loyal to him when they betrayed us, we need some fresh meat. And making the club bigger and stronger will only benefit us in the end. We just need to make sure that we find good, loyal men, and I think that’s going to be the hard part.

Corey steps into the kitchen with a smile, her red hair pushed off her face with a black headband. She really is a natural beauty, her hazel eyes the color of a fucking amber crystal.

“Good morning,” she greets, her eyes going straight to the baby. “And look at you in your little onesie.”

Julianna hands him over and Corey sits down and feeds Julian his bottle, without a word passed between them. She’s good with kids, and Julian looks up at her like the sun shines from her eyes. I can’t blame him. And I try to push away the warm feelings I don’t fucking need right now, seeing her holding him.

“I’m heading off soon,” Julianna says, watching her son happily drink away. “Damon, you coming with?”

In my new role as sergeant at arms, these are the things that I need to take part in. It’s a bit of an adjustment, being included in these big club decisions. “Yup, let’s roll.”

“We are going to meet with the new prospects. If you need anything, give us a shout,” Julianna says.

“I’ll be fine,” Corey replies, smiling. “I’ll be painting all day, and Jag is going to drop in and bring me some lunch.”

“Surely Jag has other important things to do,” I say in a dry tone, the words escaping me before I can stop them.

Both women turn and look at me with varying expressions. Amusement from Julianna, and annoyance from Corey.

“Well, you take that up with your president,” she fires back, pursing those plump lips.

“Come on, Damon, we better get going,” Julianna says, lifting her denim jacket off the back of the chair and sliding it on. “Sorry to steal the baby back.”

Corey hands him over and stands up. “I wonder if there’ll be any new hotties prospecting.”

I grit my teeth but ignore her comment. She truly knows how to get way under my skin.

“Yes, I wonder,” Julianna replies, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of there. “Call us if you need anything!”

She loads Julian into the back of the car while I get into the driver’s seat, and then she gets into the passenger side. “I swear you can cut the tension in the room with a knife every time you two are around each other. Did you tell her you dumped Melinda?”

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