Page 41 of Mitchell
"Don't ask a lot of questions. You don't want to know the details. All I'm saying is I'll run on that stupid treadmill till my feet fall off, if it means getting rewarded by Daddy." Jude wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled when Mitchell exaggerated his fake disgust. "I said you didn't want to know the details."
"You warned me." Mitchell pulled Jude into another hug. "Not that I meant for you to fall for the Skulls leader, but I'm glad he's treating you well. And that other one, Raylee? Tell me about him."
"He's not like us." Jude meant Raylee led a sheltered life. Right up to the point he met Daruss and Jude, he'd been innocent. "Daruss and I make sure none of the bad shit touches him."
"How's that going?"
"We had a mishap with Terrell." Jude averted his gaze to the ground. "I had to kill to keep Raylee safe. But then Daruss andthe Skulls rescued us. Daddy…I mean, Daruss keeps us both sheltered now."
"Are you sure it was a one and done, Jude?" Mitchell hadn't ever wanted Jude to do something like killing. He'd done an okay job of keeping Jude from having to experience some things. Even though Mitchell couldn't keep the streets from getting to Jude, he'd been successful sometimes. Making a deal with a devil like Terrell was the biggest mistake he'd ever made.
"He's sure." Daruss didn't have to raise his voice much to be heard. The distance should have given them privacy, but it didn't. "Get out of the road now. A car is coming."
They were in a rural setting with Daruss's house sitting off the road and the neighbors at a distance. To say the traffic was minimal was putting it mildly.
"Yes, Daddy." Jude smiled when he said it and then grabbed Mitchell's hand, pulling him along.
Mitchell untangled their fingers. "I'm going to move the car, little brother."
Jude nodded and went to Daruss and Raylee. Daruss wrapped his arm around Jude and whispered to him. Whatever he said, Jude nodded and smiled up at Daruss. His expression was one of pure adoration. Raylee seemed to wiggle his way in there, too. Jude pulled him close. It was then that Mitchell understood the dynamics of the relationship.
Mitchell got behind the wheel and took Seryn's hand again, smiling at him. "Thanks for giving me some privacy."
"Of course." Seryn's smile was genuine.
Todd scooted forward. "That's your brother? I pictured someone…tall with muscles everywhere. Like you."
"He takes after our mother." Mitchell pulled the car onto the road and then into the driveway. "Jude doesn't remember her because he was two years old when she died. But I do. She was blonde and blue eyed just like him. And he has her face." Everytime he looked at Jude, he saw her. That alone would have kept her memory alive, but when Jude was a kid, he loved to hear stories about her and Dad. At some points in his life, when he'd been at his lowest, those stories held him up.
"Would you tell me about your parents sometime?" Seryn met his gaze over the hood of the car after he exited.
"I'd love that, sweetheart." Mitchell rounded the hood and pulled Seryn into him, wanting him close.
"It seemed like you and your brother are really close," Todd said as he followed them across the driveway.
"After our dad died, it was just him and I. He's six years younger than me, so he's more like my kid than my brother."
"Old man," Jude said as they closed the distance. Jude smirked.
"Little shit." Mitchell winked at Jude.
Jude's gaze landed on Seryn and didn't leave. He said nothing, but Mitchell could tell he wanted to.
It was Daruss who spoke, and he directed the conversation to Mitchell. "Are you feeling better?"
"Good as new." Which wasn't entirely true, but Mitchell didn't know Daruss well. While he trusted Daruss with Jude, Mitchell didn't know where he stood with Daruss or the Dragon Skulls. He had a feeling he was about to find out.
"Let's go inside. We'll talk there." Daruss let Jude and Raylee go ahead of him. They held hands as they went inside.
Mitchell leaned into Seryn. "Is this going to go well?"
"For Daruss's sake, it better go in your favor." Seryn spoke in the same smooth voice he always had, but he meant it as a promise. He'd kill the leader of the Dragon Skulls if necessary. The only problem was Daruss was also Jude's mate.
For everyone's sake, Mitchell had to do some smooth talking, especially regarding those guns he stole for Terrell because if he didn't, it would be a problem for everyone.
Chapter Fifteen
They sat around the kitchen table. Everyone except for Daruss, who served drinks to Jude and Raylee before getting everyone something. Daruss took his time doing all of it, as if he were gearing up for the conversation.
