Page 11 of Bond

“Whaaat?” he stutters slightly.

Throwing my head back, I laugh at the look on his face; it was a combination of slightly horrified and pure embarrassment with a dash of smugness.

When I collect myself, wiping away the tears of laughter, I realise that it had been a long time since I’d laughed that hard, and it felt good.

“You should laugh like that more often, baby. You’re always beautiful, but when you laugh… well, let’s just say you take my breath away.”

“I haven’t had a lot to laugh about,” I remind him, realising a little sadly how true that was. I am hopeful that that will be changing, though. “I’m hoping that’s going to change, though,” I tell him my thoughts as I fix my top and put Daisy to my shoulder.

“Oh, it definitely will be, Roch, that I can promise you,” Bond told me. “Come on, let’s get breakfast and I’ll go and show you around,” he said, taking Daisy from me. “We’ll grab a pushchair from stores. I know that Noni keeps a bunch of them around for guests.”

Ushering me out the door, I wait as he locks it, and then takes my hand and walks me down the passageway. I lookaround with interest. It’s gorgeous, with long parquet floors that shine in the early morning sun; big pots of ferns and delicious monster plants line the passageway, and through the floor-length windows, you look out onto the rolling green lawns and colourful flower beds.

We walk into a bustling dining room that has tables full of hotel guests. You can tell right away that they are tourists, not just from their clothes but also from the different languages that are being spoken. It made me realise that this was a world away from what I was used to.

Bond was leading us towards a table that was set up near the back of the dining room and could easily fit about twenty people by the look of it, but at the moment, only had three men sitting around it. I recognised Blaze and Cairo but not the other man. He was about the same height as Bond, with fair skin, green eyes, and dark red hair. The way he was studying me had me wanting to squirm slightly; I guess I’d have to get used to it, being a stranger among them.

Bond pulled out a chair for me, “Sit, baby.”

Cairo and Blaze both smiled and greeted me with a good morning. Turning towards the other man, I introduced myself before Bond could, holding out my hand to him, “Hi, I’m Rochelle.”

His lips twitched slightly as he gently grasped my hand and gave it a quick shake, “Rogue. I know who you are, Rochelle. I’m glad you found your way here.”

Surprise clear in my voice as I questioned sceptically, “You are?” because the expression on his face didn’t match his words.

“Yeah, I am. Hopefully, Bond will be happier too. You’ll learn that we only want what is best for our family, and you and Daisy are Bond’s, which makes you ours.” Not saying anything, I lookdown at the full plate that Bond places before me. I’d been so caught up in meeting Rogue that I hadn’t realised he’d walked away.

Looking from my plate back up at Bond, I say, “Um, thank you. But this is a lot of food.” I hated waste, but I wasn’t sure if I’d get through the plate he’d put before me.

Across the table, Cairo chuckles, “Eat what you want, doll; one of us will finish whatever you don’t want.”

My eyes widened in surprise, but I figured if they didn’t mind eating someone’s leftovers, then I wouldn’t mind them doing it.

“Give the baby to me,” Rogue demands of Bond, holding out his hands.

Bond looked reluctant, but it would be hard to eat holding Daisy, no matter how good she was. “Fine,” Bond huffs. “But I get her back afterwards. You can’t keep her.”

“What?” I squeak slightly.

“Rogue’s a baby hog,” Blaze tells me with a small smile as Bond transfers Daisy to Rogue, who looks more than comfortable holding a baby.

“How many kids do you all have?” I wonder.

“Rogue and Julia have two, Noni and Bull have four, so only six here for now—well, seven with Daisy joining the ranks,” Bond informed me.

‘That was still a fair number of children,’I thought as I started to eat.

“What are you up to today?” Rogue wants to know as we start to eat.

Bond fills him in on what we’ll be doing for the rest of the morning. We finish breakfast, and everyone disperses. Bondtakes me to find a pushchair for Daisy, and then we walk towards town. It doesn’t take long—just five minutes—before we hit the top of the main road. It’s something special, that’s for sure. It reminds me of the old-fashioned towns I’d seen in pictures; all the buildings are freshly painted, and there’re big tubs of plants along the covered verandas. There are a few craft shops and a small mini market that has a bakery attached.

In the distance, I can see a fuel station, making it the first and last stop, which is genius really. Next to it is a sign for the garage, the parts shop, and the towing company. Next to the parts shop is another storefront that is being renovated, and Cairo is speaking to a couple of the builders.

“What’s that going to be?” I ask curiously, taking it all in.

“Cairo’s opening a machine shop. His family owned one, and he apprenticed there before joining the army.”

“Where’s the vets?” I wonder, looking around but not seeing anything.

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