Page 12 of Bond

Bond points to a big brown building just on the outskirts of the town with a fenced-in yard. “Just over there, Josie needed a bit more room for runs for the animals that she has to keep longer than usual and also more parking than the town offers.”

“This is us,” Bond says, taking keys from his pocket. He unlocks the doors and pushes them open for me to enter while he follows with Daisy. I’m pleased but not surprised to see that we walk into a neat and clean shop with a counter at the far end and neat rows of parts along the back wall.

“Blaze and Cairo unloaded for me last night; all the parts should be in the warehouse.”

“Well, then,” I say, slowly turning around in a circle to have a proper look before stopping to see Bond looking at me withamusement. “Show me to the warehouse, and let’s get started. The quicker we get that done, the quicker you can show me more of this beautiful town.”

That’s what we did. The warehouse, while not as big as what I was used to, was more than adequate for the size of the shop that Bond was running. It didn’t take long to unpack and stock the shelves, even with stopping to feed Daisy.

I missed my dad and hoped he’d be as okay as he could be, but for me and Daisy, for the first time in a long while, I felt like I was home. I just hoped that whatever trouble followed me—because I knew it would—that Bond and his brothers would be able to keep us as safe as they seemed to think they could, because I wanted to stay here where I had a feeling we could be happy.

CHAPTER 5

BOND

Having Rochelle working side by side with me was like a dream come true. I still couldn’t believe that she was here with me. I knew she had doubts and was sceptical about us keeping her safe, even if she didn’t voice them. She’d been under the gang’s thumb for a long time, and I knew it would be hard for her to see that they weren’t omnipotent and had weaknesses much like everybody else. Theirs would be greed and arrogance. It would be their downfall. It wasn’t the first time we’d been up against men such as them, and I very much doubted it would be the last time.

It didn’t take long for us to finish up. Writing out a message along with my number on it should a customer happen to come by, I stuck it to the glass on the front of the door before we left for a quick tour so that Rochelle could get her bearings, and then we’d be back at the hotel for lunch and Church.

Josie was at the door of her clinic when we walked up, talking to a client. She waved as soon as she saw us, motioning for us to come on. Her client smiled and waved goodbye as we approached.

“You made it,” Josie beams. “Come in and have a look. Although we can’t take long because Skinny has just messaged me to say lunch is ready in twenty minutes, but I wanted you to know where I was if you ever needed anything.”

She wraps her arm around Rochelle’s and tugs her to the back; I could hear them talking a mile a minute. Looking down into the pushchair, I see that Daisy is awake and looking up at me with wide eyes.

“Hey, princess, how about we get you out of there so you can have a proper look around?” I ask her as I unbuckled her, smiling as she kicks and waves her arms as if in agreement.

Picking her up, I tuck her firmly in my arms and follow the sound of voices and laughter. I’m glad that Josie and Roch seem to get on; it would be good for Roch to have friends she can rely on, as I have a feeling she hasn’t had that in her life.

I found them exactly where I thought I would, in the back with the litter of puppies that someone had abandoned outside.

“Wow, they’ve certainly got big,” I tell Josie. “What are you going to do with them?”

“Oh, I’ve already got homes for them all. I think Skinny breathed a sigh of relief when I told him,” Josie chuckles, taking the puppy, that Roch was holding and putting it back with its siblings. “Let’s wash up and I’ll walk back with you.”

Roch beams a smile at me, her face relaxed and happy. It was more than I expected, considering her world had fallen apart yesterday, but I was quickly coming to realise that my woman was made of strong stuff and rolled with the punches. She’d had to with the life she’d lived; I hoped that now that she was mine, I’d be able to give her happy and easy.

It didn’t take the two of them long before they were back, and we were out the door. Josie and Roch were walking ahead of me, pushing the now empty pushchair. I’d found I was reluctant to let go of my little princess, and she seemed quite content in my arms. Roch had found her little hat and plonked that on her headbefore we’d left. Daisy wasn’t too keen on it but looked cute as fuck under its floppy brim.

Ahead of me, Josie was explaining who everyone was and assuring Roch that she’d like Noni and Julia. For me, I was more than content following along behind, my eyes trained on the sway of Roch’s arse with every step she took. I don’t think she realised quite how sexy I found her, but, fuck me, did I ever.

Cairo and Blaze joined us as we walked past them. Cairo chuckles softly, “Fuck, Bond, are you even watching where you’re going, or are you hypnotised?”

Smirking, I slant my eyes towards him, “Hypnotised, brother, all damn day.”

Blaze barked out a laugh; I guess they hadn’t thought I’d be honest about watching Rochelle with what I’m sure was a hungry look on my face.

Roch tensed and looked over her shoulder at us at Blaze’s laugh, but whatever she saw in my face had her turning around and back to her conversation with Josie.

“Are you going to let one of us hold your baby?” Blaze demands, his eyes on Daisy’s face. I’d never known a man that had baby fever as bad as he did. I think if he had his way, he’d have a half dozen kids.

Looking down at Daisy, I ask her, “What do you think, Dais? Should we let Uncle Blaze carry you for a bit?”

Daisy burbled; I took that to mean she agreed and transferred her over to Blaze, shaking my head slightly as he crooned something to her. My eyes caught Rochelle’s as she again looked over her shoulder. Winking at her to let her know all was good, she smiled and turned back around.

We walked over to the table that was always reserved for us. Bull, Noni, Rogue, Julia, and their kids were already sitting at the table, along with Grace, who was Noni’s babysitter and who would be teaching the children along with Julia once she completed her teaching degree. For now, she was earning money babysitting before she went back to school.

Noni and Bull both stood as we walked up, Bull rolling his eyes when he caught sight of Blaze and Daisy.

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