Page 97 of What Lies Within

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Digger warns, nose inches from Deo’s as he assesses his rival. “You walk in here; you pay respect to the house you're in. You ain’t at home now, kid. And your daddy ain’t here to back you up. You're on Reaper property, meaning you afford my niece here the respect she's owed."

“Wanna back the fuck up, old man, so I canshowyou both the goddamn respect I paid her?”

Digger moves one boot backward, slowly shifting his weight to it. His brow remains furrowed, as does mine.What respect is Deo talking about?What the fuck has he been doing while I’ve mentally run the hard yards, pulling myself out of shock and shivering my way through the resulting panic attacks?

“What did you do?” I lift my hands to my arms and rub my biceps through the fluffy lining of my sweatshirt.

Deo's hungry gaze drifts down my body to my bare legs, stopping when he reaches my equally bare feet. "How about you find something warmer to wear, sweetheart, and then I'll show you."

38

RAE

I awake with a kiss for the second time in twenty-four hours.

"Need you awake, baby girl." Digger moves away, his warmth fleeting as he moves to the opposite side of the bed and shoves his brother on the shoulder. "Up and at 'em, Pres."

“The fuck…?” Tyke rolls to his back with a groan, the sheet pulling free of his exquisite torso.

I glance at the finely honed muscles of a well-used body and then shift my attention to tugging on the jeans left on the floor from earlier. "What's going on?"

“We got visitors.”

"At…" Tyke smacks the screen of his phone, which rests on my nightstand. "Two-thirty in the fuckin' morning?"

“Yep.” Digger nods. “Think you wanna see this.”

“Shit,” Tyke groans, moving himself to sit on the edge of the bed, heels of his hands pressed to his eyes. “Right when I was finally fuckin’ getting some proper rest.”

My chest warms at the memory of being tucked against his side, his large hand languidly traveling up and down my back until I drifted off to sleep. He could have demanded anything from me, and I wouldn’t have been in much position to argue,yet one look at how dog tired I am, how weighed down by the impending start of my cycle, and he opted to give me space.

He chose to care for me rather than meet his needs.

I never knew I could love a gesture so damn much.

“You okay?” Digger murmurs as I tug on my sheepskin-lined slipper boots.

“Yeah.” I take his offered arm to balance myself while I pull the second one on. “Better now.” His face falls, and I realize what he probably thinks: that I'm better now because I've been with Tyke. "Better now I have both of my men with me," I clarify.

The coy smile is reward enough and then some.

For once, I allow myself to act on impulse and lean up to press my lips against his. "Missed you."

“Yeah?” Digger doesn’t disappoint, placing his arm behind my back and pinning me against his hard front while he returns the kiss tenfold.

"Hate to break things up," Tyke says without any sarcasm, "but how about we go see what the fuss is about before you two get too involved there?"

“Of course.”

I get a cheeky smack to my ass from Digger as he steps away, then another from Tyke for good measure. “Ladies first,” he rumbles, ushering me after his brother.

I swallow twice, aware a hormonally charged meltdown into tears isn’t what anyone needs right now—even if it is fueled by the swell of appreciation I have for these men.

This club.

These people.

I note Minion stride across the common area as I reach the head of the stairs, one hand rubbing his shaven head while he moves for the door. Hammer glances at our trio as we descend and gives us all a tight nod.

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