Ruthie giggles, and I throw my head back, laughing at him throwing my words back at me.
Fuck, these kids are killing me. They are worming their way into my heart and they intend to stay there.
“Little shit, you got me there.” I grin.
I sort their food out, placing their plates in front of them, and watch as they dig in. While they eat, I think over what they have been through. They were settled without their cunt of a father being around all the time, then they had to come here, their lives uprooted again.
“I know it’s scary coming back here and leaving school and friends back where you was with your mum, but I also know you are both old enough to understand that you are here to be kept safe. The club is where you need to be right now until we can sort this shit out.”
“We know. We overheard Dutch and Kink talking and they said they are looking for our uncle because he hurt Mummy,” Ricky states.
“They need to be more careful when they speak about shit. Little ears do not need to hear that shit.”
“We hid,” Ruthie confesses, looking down at her lap.
“Hey, pretty girl, none of that hiding shit, okay? If you have something to say, you say it, baby girl. No fucker will ever tell you off for speaking your mind. If they do, well, you now have me and a club full of biker uncles, you get me?”
She nods, smiling, but I still see the uncertainty in her eyes.
They have come a long way. I know they still have some recovering to do, but I hope that being around me and the club, we will enforce some solid trust in them, so they know they have us.
“Oh look, Mum is awake,” they say with a hint of humour in their voices.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ELSIE
I wake to an empty bed, the sheets cold to the touch when I reach for Kane.
Frowning, I push to sit up, my body aching in places I never knew could ache, and I can’t stop myself from smiling. Slipping from the bed, I take care of my full bladder and wash up.
It has been so long since I have felt that I don’t need to panic when I don’t know where the kids are, and it’s because of Kane and the Royal Bastards MC.
Once I’m finished in the bathroom, I get dressed in my blue jeans and a T-shirt with a cute hedgehog on the front. Slipping my feet into my sandals, I go in search of my kids.
I pass Woody, who smirks at me, and my face heats up. Then he winks, and I know that he heard me and Kane earlier. I am going to die from embarrassment if anyone says anything in front of people.
Woody opens his mouth, and my face flames, but what he says surprises me.
“He’s in the kitchen with the kids.” With that, he walks away.
I speed-walk to the kitchen, wanting to see my kids but also see what Kane is doing with them. For all I know, he is feeding them a mass amount of sugar, so they will be bouncing off the walls later.
His voice stops me in my tracks by the door, so I listen.
“I know it’s scary coming back here and leaving school and friends back where you was with your mum, but I also know you are both old enough to understand that you are here to be kept safe. The club is where you need to be right now, until we can sort this shit out.”
“We know. We overheard Dutch and Kink talking and they said they are looking for our uncle because he hurt Mummy,” I hear my son say.
“They need to be more careful when they speak about shit. Little ears do not need to hear that shit,” Kane gruffs, but I hear no anger in his voice.
“We hid,” my beautiful daughter replies with a timid voice that breaks my heart.
With my hand on my chest and my heart in my throat, I listen to what he says next.
“Hey, pretty girl, none of that hiding shit, okay? If you have something to say, you say it, baby girl. No fucker will ever tell you off for speaking your mind. If they do, well, you now have me and a club full of biker uncles, you get me?”
Oh, my beating heart. That man comes across as a beast and makes people cross the street when they see him. They are losing out on getting to know him. I know that underneath it all, he has a heart of gold and he chose me to see it. Most men, especially a biker, would never want to take on kids that are not theirs by blood, but Kane Huskins is doing just that.