Page 58 of Defiant (American Street Kings 2)

“Yeah, I bet. Guess it’ll be a stupid question if I asked if they were okay.”

“She kept asking questions. Questions I couldn’t answer.” I took a sip of my strong, black coffee. “She wanted to know if it was the Pythons. If it was club related.”

Ink leaned closer, glancing at Alyx. “What did you tell her?”

“That it was an attempted hijacking gone wrong.”

“Son of bitch,” Ink cursed. “Sucks that we can’t put the blame on the real fuckers. Tell his wife what really happened.”

“Yeah.”

Ink tapped his finger on the table in front of us. “They’re gonna need protection.”

“Already done. Dutch has a crew staying put in the area. Although I doubt they’ll go after Junkyard’s family. They don’t got nothing to do with this.”

“With the Pythons, you never know. God,” he sighed, “I feel so fucking torn, you know? I wanna get back out there, fuck up more of these assholes.” He shook his head. “But I can’t leave her. Not for long, anyway.”

I sat back, watching Alyx again. “You love her, don’t you?”

“I dunno, man. I just feel like I have to make this right for her.”

“Yeah.” I patted him on the shoulder. “We all feel that way.”

Dutch and Manic came strolling into the kitchen, and Manic paused when he saw Alyx at the stove. He pointed at her but looked at me. “What she doing?”

I grinned. “Pancakes.”

“Hell, yeah. About time we eat something other than fucking pizza.”

Dutch took a seat across from me, and Manic slipped in next to him.

Manic shot me a cocky smirk. “Your woman is making pancakes for us.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’d say that’s one step closer to her becoming your old lady, huh?”

“Manic,” I glared at him, “shut up.”

Dutch folded his palms together and placed his hands on the table. “Where’s Onyx?”

I took a deep breath. “I dunno. I’m not exactly his favorite person at the moment.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever been his favorite person,” Manic chimed in, and Dutch knocked him with his shoulder.

“What? Just saying it as it is, brother.”

I shook my head, and Alyx came sauntering over with plates. “Just a fair warning, I was, like, ten when I last made pancakes. You might be getting rubber on a plate.”

The guys laughed, and Manic rubbed his palms together. “Girl, it can’t taste worse than Dutch’s cooking.”

“Fuck you.”

Alyx let out a laugh, and at that moment, it was the most beautiful sound in the world. Her face lit up, her smile reaching those amazing sapphire blue eyes. Everything about her was so light, airy, like she didn’t have a care in the world. It was the first time I saw her like that. Even before I took her, she always seemed like she carried the world on her shoulders. Hardly ever smiling. And since she came here, I saw her cry more than I saw her smile. If I had a brick for every goddamn tear this woman cried the last few weeks, my path to hell would be perfectly paved by now.

Alyx placed the plate with pancakes in front of us. The sweet scent of sugar and cinnamon was tantalizing, and I was pretty sure Manic started to drool.

Alyx tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. “I hope it tastes okay.” The shy tinge of pink on her cheeks was exquisite, and when her eyes met mine, time stood still. It was there, in her eyes, the confirmation that she was mine. Completely. Wholly.

Manic was about to grab a pancake when I slapped at his hand and grabbed the plate. With my attention fully focused on her beautiful face, I held the plate out to her. “Ladies first.”

What was a pink shade on her cheeks had now turned a bright red. She glanced from me to the plate, then back to me like she was searching for courage, or permission in my eyes.

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