Page 72 of Keep Her from Them

She smiled briefly at me then stalled, shock registering.

I grinned. “Els, meet Alex. Alex, meet Ella, ma of the house and Gordain’s wife.”

After a brief chat, where Ella confirmed Gordain was already out somewhere, we continued to the kitchen, finding Viola and Leo at the breakfast bar with their kids.

All fell silent and stared our way, even baby Torran.

Grinning, I again made the introductions and tried not to laugh as the family tried and failed to hide their shock. And to work out how to use Alex’s name without some added honorific.

“We’ve met, actually,” Alex told Leo.

The blond-haired rock star blinked and tilted his head. “We have? Oh, wait, I remember. A variety performance?”

“That’s the one. My cousin was there, too, so I get why you’d overlook me.”

How could anyone not see her, when in any room, she shone?

Leo grimaced. “Shit, sorry.”

At the end of the table, seven-year-old Finn picked up a triangle of peanut butter toast and waggled it like it was talking. “Shit, sorry.”

Viola growled and poked her husband in the arm. “Quit swearing in front of the kids.”

Leo eyed his son. “Like Valentine hasn’t taught him a ton of swear words anyway.”

“I know, but there’s a princess present. Besides, I don’t want Torran’s first words to be rude ones.”

Alex laughed. “My dad swears like a trooper and never moderated his language for me, and he’s a prince.”

I turned to the second youngest among us. “Finn, what’s Val been teaching ye now?”

Finn pursed his lips. He was the sweetest kid. A while back, we’d been supporting Leo on tour, and Valentine had been hurt in the line of duty. Apparently that was the first time Finn had picked up on an adult swearing and decided it was the thing he could do to be grown up.

“If someone does bad driving near us, he calls them a…” He searched for the word.

We all leaned in.

“Fuck nugget.”

Everyone cracked up, Viola included. I left Alex at the table to make us breakfast, loving how relaxed she appeared and how easily she got into conversation with the family, picking up a toy Torran threw and making the bairn grin and therefore his parents dote.

I struggled to hold my attention off the lass to cook up bacon for sandwiches.

When we were done, we headed out to my car, the sun high and warming the land.

“I like the people you live with.”

“I do, too. Gordain basically adopted Gabe, that’s my older brother, then me and Ariel, our sister, when we made the break to get here. His family accepted us just as easily.”

None of us had been little kids, but the impact of being around people who actually gave a damn had been a stark change from our violent user of a father.

My heart shrank as a fact made itself clear. I lived under Dad’s shadow still, at least partially. I acted in ways that were dictated by what he’d done, and what he still could do. The danger the man presented never left, even if the McRaes opposed that in every way.

Sunlight fell on Alex’s loose hair. “Do I get to meet your siblings while I’m here?”

“Maybe. Are ye staying the night again?”

Her flash of a shy smile drove away my gloomier thoughts. We’d reached my car.

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