Page 8 of Devil's Valentine

I can’t wait until I get the chance to bring my woman to the clubhouse and she’s brought fully into the fold. Knowing that the women have already accepted her and adore her makes my heart happy. That’ll make this transition easier on Scarlett.

I see Lucifer sitting at the bar when I walk into the clubhouse and head right toward him. I nod at the prospect behind the bar, knowing full well I’ll have a beer in front of me in just a moment. It’s only once I’ve taken a drink that I turn toward my President finding him already looking at me.

The silence stretches between us until he lets out a low whistle and he grins. “Well, shit,” he practically fucking hoots.

Cherise comes into the main room from the kitchen, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion and concern as she heads toward us. “What’s wrong?” The concern in her voice makes me smile. I have zero doubt that it has nothing to do with me. “Weren’t you supposed to go to Crescent Sugar today?”

I nod, but before I can say anything, Lucifer wraps an arm around his woman’s neck and tugs her into his body. “He went to the bakery,” there’s a teasing lilt to his voice.

“And?” Cherise prods.

“Look at him,” he tells her.

Cherise’s gaze becomes sharp as she takes me in. Being under her assessing gaze makes me want to squirm. I’m sure she can see the same thing that Lucifer did.

“Oh,” she breathes out, “ohhhhh.”

“Yeah, he’s one of us now,” Lucifer intones.

“I’m your brother.” I tap my finger to the patch on my cut, “I wear the patch. I’m already one of you.”

“That’s not the club I’m talking about.” The look Lucifer gives me is weighted. “I’m talking about the brothers with Old Ladies club.”

Even though it’s what I’ve been thinking about since the moment I saw Scarlett, hearing it out loud and from another person, my Prez no less, makes it all the realer. There’s a moment, a long, stretched second, when I wait for panic to set it.

The only good relationships I’ve seen have been the ones my brothers have with their women. I sure as fuck never saw my parents have a good relationship. There was too much alcohol and rage for them to be good together and then they weren’ttogether at all. They were better apart than they were together, but they weren’t good parents to me either way.

When I walked away from my parents, the only silver lining I could find was that I didn’t have any siblings. There’s no way I could have walked away if I had to leave behind someone in that toxic bullshit.

No, being an only child was a blessing because once I turned 18, I hit the road and never looked back. Finding the Devil’s Saints MC was a lifeline, and it gave me a family, a fucking real one, for the first time in my life.

The thought of growing that family, of bringing a woman of my own into my life and into the lives of the only people who have ever had my back, makes my heart pound in my chest.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I try and deflect Lucifer’s words and the truth of what happened today.

He scoffs and shakes his head. “Don’t get in your own way,” Lucifer advises. “You’ll probably fuck up all on your own at some point, no reason to start it off by trying to pretend like you don’t know the shit that went down the moment you saw your woman.”

“Scarlett is a gorgeous woman,” Cherise muses, her eyes sharp as she looks at me. She takes a step toward me and there’s a fire in her eyes, one that has me considering if I should take a step back from her. “If you hurt her, I’ll kick your ass, Frenzy.” Her voice turns soft as she reaches up and pats my cheek, “Don’t make me do that to you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I drawl. My eyes slide over to Lucifer and I agree, “I’ll probably fuck up, you’re right. I just met the woman today. I felt something I’ve never felt before when I saw Scarlett for the first time. It’s terrifying to put into words and it’s noteasy to wrap my head around it,” I admit without even worrying about whether it makes me sound like a pussy or not.

If I can’t bring my fears to the feet of my family, then who can I bring them to?

I’m not going to run away from this thing with Scarlett, I never was. It’s clear that Lucifer and Cherise aren’t going to let me try and pretend like it isn’t happening. Fuck, if Lucifer was able to see it written on my face in a matter of seconds, then I need to nut up and own up to this shit.

Lucifer’s eyes bore into mine, “You want point on whatever is going on at the bakery?”

I stand up from the stool and straighten my spine, not wanting to challenge my Prez, but needing him to know I’m serious as fuck. “I’m taking point. I’m going to get to the bottom of who has been fucking with my woman and then go from there.”

Lucifer smirks, pride shining back to me in his eyes. That does something to me. I was barely old enough to wipe my own ass at barely 18, certainly not the man I am now, when I came across the DSMC and started to prospect. That was 12 years ago, and Lucifer is more than my President or my brother.

He’s a whole lot better to have in my life as a father figure than the one I had growing up. That guy was fucking useless and not who I wanted to use as a model for the man I wanted to become. Lucifer is the exact fucking opposite.

He loves fiercely. He protects what is his. He gives his all.

There’s not a single moment you’d ever question the man’s loyalty. He bleeds for the club and would burn the world down ten times over for his family.

I’ve never once questioned if Lucifer would stray from Cherise. Women and children are sacred to him. That’s something he’s ingrained deeply within the club. We breathe that kind of belief and loyalty is the marrow of the club.

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