Page 72 of Ruckus

“It’s good to see you smilin’.” Vike takes a seat at the kitchen table while I kick off my heels and join him.

“It’s good to have her here, Saul would want that wouldn’t he?” I thought today would be impossible to get through, but right now I can’t stop smiling. I spent the entire afternoon cuddling a nephew I never thought I’d see again.

“He’d want it for sure.” Vike helps himself to a beer from the refrigerator.

“You think they’ll be okay at the club, I should have offered for them to stay here but I didn’t want to seem too pushy.”

I’m trying really hard to handle this situation as best I can. I don’t want Lettie to feel pressured into anything. She’s grieving the same as I am and everything seems overwhelming when you're dealing with that.

“They’ll be fine there, and it gives Lettie the space to do some thinking,” Vike assures me, rubbing the heel of his palm into his eye.

“You look tired,” I tell him, knowing that he killed the man who shot Saul today, even if it wasn’t him that told me.

“I’m fine, it’s just been a long day.” He smiles.

“You should have told me the club was planning on picking up Lettie, that could have gone horribly wrong,” I point out. I’velet being so happy about her being here cloud over the fact it was a terrible plan.

“It coulda been even worse if you’d have called her and warned her we were coming for the Reapers. Our whole plan could have gone to shit.”

“Well, thankfully it didn’t, and no one got hurt. You ready to get some sleep?” I stand back up, stretching my arms above my head, when I let out a long, lingering yawn

“Whoa, check it out.” Vike laughs at me.

“Check what out?” I wonder what the hell he’s noticed.

“You’re showin’,” he points the neck of his bottle toward my stomach.

“I’m not.” I shake my head, covering myself self-consciously.

“You fuckin’ are.” He laughs again, looking really sexy while he does it.

I look down and rub my hand across my middle. I must have been too wrapped up in hurt to notice, but there is a definite little ridge there. “Don’t look so scared about it, I think it’s cute.” He shrugs, and it instantly puts a flutter inside my stomach and makes me blush. “And it’s gonna get a hella lot bigger, you saw the size of Griller.” The thought instantly turns those butterflies into nerves. “Girl, you're gonna really struggle to get around toward the end.”

“Don’t say that.” I shake my head.

“I’m just kiddin’ ya, you're gonna be fine. And I’m gonna be there with ya every step of the way.” He stands up and makes my whole body go warm when he presses his rough callus palm against my lower stomach.

“You are?” I look up from his hand and wonder what it would be to kiss him. It’s not the first time and I know it won’t be the last.

“Course, I am. Saul took a bullet for me, and I never got to repay the favor. You and your kid need anything and it’s UncleVike you come to.” He pats my tummy proudly before heading toward the living room. “You wanna see if there’s something decent on? I’ll let ya use my bed.” He taps the couch he’s been sleeping on since the night Saul never came home and it makes me feel guilty.

“You know, you don’t have to stay here anymore. I’ve got to start getting used to it just being me, especially if Lettie isn’t going to stick around.”

“You want me to leave?” He frowns.

“No… No, I don’t want you to leave at all, I just don’t want you feeling obliged to anything.”

“Alicia, we may have put a band aid on the Reaper problem, but there's still a lunatic out there killing women. Until we find out who it is. I’ll be sleeping right here.” He rests back and makes himself comfortable.

“Okay, but I have a condition.” I stand in front of the TV and put my hands on my hips.

“You got a condition, alright.” He laughs, looking at my tummy again. “Okay, okay. Hit me with it.”

“No more sleeping on the couch, you can take Saul’s bed from now on.” I smile sadly, and he stuns me when he quickly stands up.

“I’m fine on the couch, Saul’s room is—Well, it’s Saul’s room.”

“And it’s just sitting there empty,” I remind him, not that I need to, Saul’s absence feels suffocating and I know he feels it too “If you're going to stay here a while, you should at least be comfortable.”

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