Page 33 of Rooster's Redemption

She keeps her eyes down on the shirt in her hand and tries not to cry. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Elsa shakes her head her tears falling faster down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” Elsa whispers.

“Sorry for what?”

“Crying. Only bad girl’s cry.” Her voice hitches on the last part.

Oh fuck no. Anger pours through my body and rage bubbles under the surface of my skin but I tamp it down to soothe my little girl in front of me. “Is it ok if I hug you?” I ask.

Elsa nods her head and I gather her into my arms. She comes willingly, burying her face in my neck. I smooth her hair and gently rub her back. “It’s ok, baby. You can cry all you want. I won’t ever make you feel like a bad girl. You’re my angel.” My voice chokes on the last part and I swallow the lump in my throat. “I will protect you and keep you safe for the rest of your life. You will never have to worry about anything bad happening to you ever again.”

Elsa’s grip tightens around my neck as she continues to cry and I let her soak my shirt, holding back my own tears. Alyssa quietly comes out of the bathroom and sits next to us. “Elsa, baby.” She soothes. “Do you remember what I’ve always promised you?”

Elsa picks her head up from my neck and nods it, tears falling down her cheeks. “Then you know Lucas will never harm us, right?” Elsa nods her head again and wipes away her tears and Alyssa continues. “I know it’s hard to wrap your head around, baby, but we’re safe here. Lucas will lay down his life for you. He will do everything in his power to keep you safe. Do you believe him?”

“Yes, mommy.” Elsa wipes away her tears and sniffs. “I’m happy we’re finally here. I do feel safe, I just don’t know how to act.”

“Act like yourself. We love you no matter what. Just be you and everyone else will love you just as much.” Alyssa says with a trembling smile.

“OK, thank you mommy.” Elsa kisses Alyssa on the cheek before they go into the bathroom to change Elsa’s shirt.

With my hands on my knees and my head bowed, I heave a deep breath, trying to get my emotions under control. Once the anger and rage pass, I’m filled with sadness for my daughter. I tamp that down too and vow to always protect her. Even if I drive her nuts when she gets older, I will do everything in my power to keep her safe, happy and secure. No one will ever break her heart or try to break her spirit ever again.

Chapter

Twenty

ROOSTER

Elsa and Alyssa are sitting at the kitchen table with Poison, Siren and Holly. They’re all laughing, eating and enjoying each other’s company. Worry creeps into my mind about leaving my girls here while we take care of Steam and Kingston but I shove it away. I have this place secure and monitored and no one will be able to get to them without one of us knowing about it.

I’m trusting Tatt to watch our backs while we ride out. Normally, I’d stay here, but this job is personal and I refuse to sit on the sidelines for it. Speaking of Tatt, he is sitting at the island and I motion for him to join me in my communications room. He sets his coffee cup down and follows me out. I unlock and open the door, allowing him to enter first.

Taking a seat at the monitors, I fire them up and get them running. All ten screens come to life and I put the feeds for the Clubhouse on five of them. One for the pole barn off to the side of the house, the driveway leading to the Clubhouse, the Clubhouse itself and the backdoor leading to the garage behind the Clubhouse. The last one is a continuous loop for the other four feeds. Then I pull up the bar feeds, making sure the hack system is in place.

I point to a screen on the desk. “Tatt, once their hacker logs in to take our feeds, our security monitor will notify us they’re in. Then I wrote a program that overrides their security to gain control back, but the catch is, they won’t know we hacked their hack. All you have to do is make sure the feeds are current.”

“How will I know that if they hacked in?” Tatt asks, looking at everything set up.

“That’s the beauty of my program. On their end, it’ll show the little blip on the top right of the screen that I showed you all the other night when I discovered it. On our end, it won’t be there. If you do see it, call me ASAP.” I respond. I pull up the rest of the bar security feeds on the remaining monitors and let them run. “I’m trusting you to have our backs out there and to watch our girls. If they get the drop on us because you fucked up, then there will be hell to pay. Are we clear?”

“Got it, Rooster. I won’t let anything happen to any of you on my watch.” Tatt promises.

“Good. If this works out, I might have some jobs for you in the future.” I slap him on the back and exit my communications room, feeling better about leaving Tatt at the helm of the operation.

I make my way back to the kitchen and lean against the doorframe, watching my girls. Elsa is making funny faces at Poison and Poison is giving them right back to her. Alyssa is smiling, which makes me grin. Laughter and giggles filter around while I watch and a sense of peace washes over me. Alyssa looks up from watching Elsa and our eyes connect. She offers me a sexy smile and I wink at her in return.

Suddenly the lightness on Alyssa’s face disappears when a warm, slender hand wraps around my waist. My body stiffens from the touch and Alyssa is out of her chair in an instant. Her emerald gaze, which normally has a calming effect on me, is hardened and murderous.

“Rooster, baby, where have you been?” Trixie’s nasally voice whispers from behind me and her hand inches lower to my flaccid dick. She cannot see Alyssa on the hunt because Trixie is pressed against my back. I don’t respond to Trixie as Alyssa approaches us. “Come on, I’ve missed you, Rooster. Don’t you want to have some fun?” She says the last part right when Alyssa steps up to us.

“I would remove your hand from my body, Trixie.” I raise an eyebrow, waiting to see what Alyssa does. She has to show these Patch Bunnies not to mess with her man, I can’t do it for her or they will continue to walk all over my Ol’ Lady.

Alyssa has a scowl on her beautiful face and I hold my hands up, telling her, I’m not instigating this and do your worst. Alyssa nods her head once and leans in real close. I lean forward in anticipation of what she’ll do. Call me a masochist, but this woman turns me on no matter what she says or does. She reaches between us and grabs Trixie’s fingers, bending them back and making her move into the next room, away from little eyes. I step out of the way, ready to intervene if necessary.

“Ouch, what the fuck!” Trixie whines.

“Do you like your fingers, bitch?” Alyssa snarls through clenched teeth. She pulls them back harder, making Trixie drop to her knees. Siren stays with Elsa, keeping her distracted at the table while Poison approaches us with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at Trixie. Ready to back her sister up if she needs it.

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