Chapter Two.
Savage
I finished my sandwich before the girls.
Isla looked at Harper and nudged her with an elbow, and they both instantly put their food down when I rose to my feet.
Puzzled, I stared at them. “What you doing?”
“Aren’t you going to clear the table?” Harper asked, ducking her head.
“No, you haven’t finished eating,” I replied.
“You have to stop doing that,” Harper whispered to Isla and picked Isla’s sandwich back up and gave it to her.
Isla sent me a wary look as she bit into it and chewed slowly. It hit me that Isla was ready to spit it out if she needed to.
Unsure how to handle any of this, I grabbed my plate, walked into the kitchen, and texted Phoe.
Phoe replied instantly, whereas Drake hadn’t and told me I was doing well, and she had Mac on the case to find out what he could. None of Rage was quick to head for child services after what a previous bitch had attempted with Autumn and Gunner’s kids. We preferred to deal with shit on our own first, and then child services were the last resort.
I grabbed a fruit bowl, a knife, and three smaller bowls and walked back outside. Fruit was good for kids, judging by the amount the old ladies shoved down their own offspring’s throats. And I loved fruit myself.
“Who likes fruit?” I asked, placing the items on the table. Both girls had finished everything on their plates and looked a lot more alert than earlier.
“Me!” Isla exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
I grabbed an apple, banana, kiwis, and some other fruit and began peeling and chopping, filling the smaller bowls. If my brothers could see me, they’d forever take the piss. But it felt nice, especially when the girls cleared the bowls and then sank back into their chairs.
As for me, all I wanted was my damn hammock, but I guess that was out of my reach now.
The question was, what to do with the girls? I couldn’t exactly keep them hostage, and then my eyes followed theirs, and I saw they were eyeing the pool.
“Want to go play?” I offered.
“We don’t have swimsuits,” Harper replied.
“Kid, it’s that hot you could swim in your clothes, and they’d dry soon enough, but see that little shed over there? It has swimming costumes in,” I said, pointing at the small building I’d put up for people to get changed in.
“Can we, Harper?” Isla asked.
Harper glanced at her sister and then at me for several long minutes. I could see her thinking shit over and didn’t blame her. Harper was old enough to be aware they were in a stranger’s home, eating his food, and were now about to play in his pool. This wasn’t a good situation, but I could also see how desperately Harper wished to swim.
“Harper, look up there,” I said, keeping a safe distance and pointing to the cameras dotted around my garden. “Those are security cameras for my safety and yours. They cover every inch of the backyard.”
Harper was clever enough to work shit out, and I could see her running crap through her head. She peered at the cameras and then at the one on my patio before nodding slowly.
Isla shot off like a bat out of hell with a screech and headed straight for the changing room. Harper followed, keeping a sharp eye on me.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down and saw a text from Phoe declaring aid would arrive soon. I had no sooner read it when I heard voices coming down the alley at the side of my house. Resigned, I swallowed a groan as I recognised them.
I sent Phoe a message challenging her idea of help and opened the garden door. Silvie wheeled her way in first. Okay, she was welcome, but four-year-old Halona and five-year-old Eagle and Kite were not. Where Apache was calm compared to his son Ace, Silvie’s and Apache’s kids were a fuckin’ handful.
I noted they were already in swimsuits, and the twins shot past me with a chin lift reminiscent of their father and bombed the pool. Halona yanked on my shorts until I crouched, and she gave me a kiss before chasing her brothers.
Silvie sighed as she moved her electric wheelchair around me. Silvie’s youngest son, two-year-old Kai, chased after his siblings.
My stomach dropped further as Vivie and Lex’s triplets waddled past me, Everleigh copying Halona’s actions. Vivie followed, collapsed in a chair, and released a soft moan.
“Little fuckers,” she said, and her swearing in a French accent made me smile—as much as I didn’t want to.
“Hey, brother,” Maverick, Fish, and Marsha’s five-year-old demon spawn son, stated, offering me a fist. When I gazed at him in horror, Maverick smirked and headed for the pool.
“Love you ladies, but no, not him!” I spat out.
“Little shit,” Vivie agreed.
“Fish claimed Maverick was sick this morning. Yeah, until I heard him telling Eagle and Kite how to fake throwing up. Fish is going to tan his ass when he gets home,” Silvie stated, looking weary.
“You’ve had him all day?” I asked in horror.
Everyone in Rage thought Maverick was a fuckin’ psychopath. Not even Dante fully controlled him, and Dante was a fucker himself. Drake and Phoe’s seven-year-old son was a little bastard, an image of Drake. Axel and Apache often commented that Dante had been cloned and not birthed. “We had Gauntlet, Tye, and Carmine all on him this morning and one by one, they fell by the wayside,” Vivie said and groaned as she rubbed her head.
“We three ain’t enough to handle that fucker!” I snapped.
“Reinforcements are here,” a girl called as she headed through the gate.
A sigh of relief hit me as Ace and Artemis’s nineteen-year-old daughter and her twin Falcon entered the yard. They were the two people who had control of Maverick outside of Fish and Marsha. Mainly because they were so badass, not even Mav wanted an ass-kicking from them.
“Thank fuck!” Silvie sighed and relaxed in her chair.
“You want a sun lounger?” I asked, knowing how much pain Silvie was often in. There were tight lines around her mouth, so I knew she was silently suffering.
“If it’s well cushioned, Savage, I wouldn’t say no,” Silvie murmured as she spotted Isla and Harper exit the changing room and see the other children. The two little girls froze, their eyes wide as the Hellions wrecked my pool.
“Hey, come over, and I’ll introduce you,” I called to them.
Isla ducked behind Harper as Halona twisted her head and caught sight of them. Halona was out of the water before anyone could blink and rabbiting away.
“I’m Halona, that’s Mommy and my Aunt Vivie. Aunt Vivie is having another baby. I’m not meant to know, but I listened to them talking. My brothers are Eagle and Kite.” She pointed. “And that’s my niece and nephew, Nova, and Falcon. These are my friends. I’m younger than Nova and Falcon, but my big brother is their dad, which makes me their aunt. It’s funny. What’s your name?”
Harper looked stunned, but Isla instantly responded. And before I knew it, all the kids were in the pool, splashing each other. Nova and Falcon were also in there, ensuring no little shit drowned another. I noticed Falcon watching to see if Harper and Isla could swim. I wasn’t worried about the Hellions and Princesses; they were thrown in the pool at Rage to the tune of sink or swim.
They soon learned to paddle. Although I’m freaking sure that everyone had prayed Maverick drown alongside Dante at times. Nah, I didn’t mean it, but if those kids came with an off switch, it would be great.
The noise rose in my backyard as Vivie and Silvie settled into a couple of plump sun loungers I’d bought. Knowing that Silvie might be a guest one day or I would host a pregnant old lady, I’d purchased six of them and they’d been extremely expensive. But seeing the relief on Silvie’s face as her slight body was cushioned softly made the cost worth it. Everyone in Rage hated Silvie’s condition, and we all prayed she’d recover. I’d heard mention of a possible operation that could possibly help her and had my fingers crossed she’d get better soon.
Apache was an asshole, but ever since Silvie had begun suffering from her SPD, Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, he’d been worse. He’d first smothered Silvie with attention and then insisted that she’d be waited on hand and foot by everybody. One wince, and he’d swoop and carry her home. Silvie had nearly bashed his brains in before he’d finally settled, but everyone could see how he hated her being in pain.
Two hours passed, and then an arm appeared over the gate and unbolted the lock, and Tye and Gauntlet let themselves in. They were carrying several bags of food and took them into the kitchen.
“Apache, Fish, Marsha, Ace, and Artemis are coming later. Phoe and Drake said they’d stop in on the way home. We brought steaks and barbeque shit for the kids. Also under orders to help watch Maverick,” Tye grunted, looking pissed.
Gauntlet grinned and settled down. “Abbi and Faelea are also joining us.”
“Which means I’m cooking with Harley,” Tye complained.
“Harley’s finishing up at the Smithy and will be here soon.” Gauntlet chuckled, and I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Nice, those boys can grill,” I said, meaning it. Drake had taught all his brood to grill properly, as they had what he called the English curse. The tendency to burn food on a grill was ingrained into the English, Drake swore. It was funny that he ignored the fact Tye and Harley were both American. Drake blamed Phoe and Mr Wilkes for the kids’ lack of cooking skills.
“Yeah. So, how’s the kids?” Gauntlet asked, causing me confusion.
“Huh?”
“Those two girls you seem to have adopted?”
“Fuck no. I felt sorry for them. If they need help, that’s what Phoe is for!” I stated, glaring at him as he chuckled.
“And that’s how it starts for everyone,” Gauntlet teased.
“Nah, brother, a family is not for me,” I denied, and Gauntlet’s face set in stone.
He was the only brother apart from Drake who knew my true history. In a weak moment, I’d told him exactly who I was, and he’d been beyond shocked. Luckily for me, Gauntlet had his own shitty past and hadn’t judged mine.
“You can’t let that stop you,” Gauntlet said, lowering his voice.
“I came from shit, I ain’t exposing anyone to that,” I argued, and Gauntlet shook his head.
“By your reckoning, I don’t deserve happiness either,” Gauntlet snapped.
“Bullshit.” I thumped his shoulder. “You were tricked, brother, but I was born in stinking shit. Fuckload of difference.”
“One day, Savage, you’re gonna release that what happened doesn’t define you. What you do today does, and reaching out to those two small girls makes you the man I’m proud to call brother,” Gauntlet stated.
I swallowed hard and squeezed his shoulder.
◆◆◆
A couple of hours ticked past, and despite the noise rising from my backyard, nobody, not even Angela, came to check where Harper and Isla were. To my surprise, it was seven when I first heard the commotion.
“What do you mean, they vanished?” a shriek cut through our merriment. The kids were inside the house now, watching a movie in the living room under Nova and Falcon’s supervision.
“Angela, my kids are your responsibility, and they disappeared six hours ago, and you didn’t call? You went home without looking for them?” The woman’s voice rose in a panic, and Phoe and Vivie got to their feet.
“Oh my God, what have you been doing to my babies? Where the fuck are they, Angela? They wouldn’t just run away! Oh, go to fucking hell!”
A woman suddenly emerged as a door slammed open. She ran her hand through her hair as she peered around the garden and shrieked Isla and Harper’s names.
“Hey!” Phoe called out, peering over the fence.
“My God. Sorry to disturb you, but have you seen two little girls? My daughters? They are aged six and seven; no, Harper just turned eight. My childminder said they went missing hours ago, and she hasn’t phoned the police!” The woman’s voice was hysterical as she shrieked their names again.
She held her phone up and began jabbing at the screen.
“Shit, I can’t unlock it, my hands are shaking too much.” She raised a tear-stained gaze to Phoe and begged, “Please help me find my girls.”
“They are here and safe. Angela was mistreating them, and I brought them here until you got home,” I said, finally stepping up.
“What? How? My babies are there? With you?” The woman clearly couldn’t gather her scattered thoughts.
“Here, grab that chair and climb up. One of us will lift you over. Your girls are here and safe. Savage called me because Angela was starving your little angels, and he didn’t know what to do, and then she kept threatening them. He felt they were in danger but didn’t want to call child services. Not without speaking to you first,” Phoe soothed as Gauntlet and Drake stepped up and lifted a chair over the fence.
The woman scrambled up and nearly jumped into their arms.
“Where are they?” she demanded, wiping tears from her face.
“Come with me. They’re with Nova and Falcon in the living room watching a movie,” Phoe explained.
“On their own?” the girl’s mom snapped, turning suspicious.
“Hell no, they’re with our kids and probably wrecking Savage’s house. But it’s okay, we’re all used to that. What’s your name?” Phoe chirped to my frown.
“Grace,” the woman replied as she followed Phoe into the house.
A stunned moment of silence passed, and then Drake nodded.
“That answers that. Clearly, she’s not the monster, and that cunt needs dealing with,” he said.
“ Qui, une bonne raclée fera des merveilles ,” Vivie seethed and, seeing our curious looks, explained, “A good beating will do wonders.”
Lex grinned at his hot-tempered wife and drew her in for a kiss. Vivie mumbled a few more threats in French before settling in his arms.
“Lindsey, Artemis, Autum, Marsha, and Carly need an address,” Silvie muttered to Apache, who nodded.
Marsha smirked at the mention of her name.
“Why not throw Casey in as well?” Amberlea, Gauntlet’s old lady, asked.
“Oh, Casey will just invite herself.” Silvie chuckled and then sobered. “I used to lead parties like that.”
Silvie seemed to collapse into herself, and Apache jumped to attention, lightly rubbing her back while he whispered in her ear.
“La mort est trop belle pour ?a bitch,” Vivie muttered.
“Death is too good for that bitch,” Lex explained.
“Bitch isn’t a French word,” Silvie said, and Vivie glared.
“I’m upset and mixing languages.”
“Okay.” Silvie grinned. “Note to everyone, when Vivie gets emotional, she mixes her language up. But when she’s really mad, like at Lex, we get full-on French.”
Lex chuckled as Vivie spat something else before she, too, laughed.
“This seems to be a mess,” Fish murmured as he nodded towards the house.
“Not mine, brother. I just rescued the kids. That’s where my involvement ends,” I replied.
“Famous last words,” Lex said and chuckled.
We looked up as Phoe led Grace out of my house, sat her down, and then bossed Drake to get Grace some food. It was clear that Phoe had found someone new to mother, and Gauntlet and I swapped a knowing glance.
Drake dropped a plate on the table and hurried over to us before Phoe could find him another job to do.
I hid the smirk as my president approached. Drake may openly be pussy whipped by Phoe, but anyone who commented on it soon got their ass kicked and hard. Drake may be forty-seven years old, but he wasn’t slowing down at all. Neither was Apache at fifty-three. I was thirty-nine and most likely felt a lot older than those two.
Hell, Gauntlet was thirty-five, Lex was thirty-eight, and Ace was thirty-nine, the same age as me, and they all probably felt younger than me. Of course, they blamed their kids, saying they kept them young.
The idea of me adopting a boy briefly crossed my thoughts, and then I shuddered. I couldn’t expose a kid to my roots and past. The poor thing deserved better than someone with my DNA.
My mind shied away from my history as I took in Grace, who was looking bemused as the old ladies surrounded her. There was something fragile about Grace that caught my attention, but I sensed an inner strength, too.
Grace was dressed in a waitresses uniform, and her blonde hair was pulled into a neat ponytail. She had little makeup on and looked tired. The emotion that had clearly been on display when she’d arrived searching for her children was now tightly back under control, and she appeared a blank slate. If not for her outburst when she’d spotted us, I would have doubted she felt anything deeply with the expression she was presently wearing.
As much as I said I wasn’t getting involved, I couldn’t help but listen. The old ladies were doing their best to offer support and find out information. Still, Grace politely ducked questions and avoided commenting on anything personal.
My trouble antenna twitched, and I swapped glances with Ace, who was typing on his phone. No doubt he was tapping Mac for a search on my neighbour.
“Interested?” Gauntlet murmured, and I sent him a dark look.
“Told you, brother, no woman would touch me with my past, and who’d blame them? Wanting something out of my reach isn’t a life I want to live,” I replied.
Lex and Apache both sent me a scowl, but I ignored them. They were lucky; they got their dreams and rightfully held on tightly to them.
Their life wouldn’t be mine, though. Even now, my background was out in the public eye. Documentaries and TV shows had been made about it; it was a joke comedians loved to use and something that would always haunt me. I’d lived half my life, and the fucked-upness followed me still.
I lifted my head as Grace rose to her feet, thanking everyone for their support as she gathered Isla and Harper to her. With a nod in my direction, Grace left, and as soon as she was through the gates, the old ladies congregated together in a huddle.
“That doesn’t bode well,” Drake noted, tilting his beer towards them.
“No shit. Looks like they’ve found a new project,” Apache agreed, his eyes on Silvie. He straightened and placed his empty bottle down. “She’s tired. We’re going to leave.”
Apache strode over, bent down, and whispered in Silvie’s ear. She shook her head, but there was no energy in it. Apache gave her a gentle kiss and then said goodbye to everyone as he took control of the chair and began moving Silvie out.
“He got his bike?” Gauntlet asked.
“No, as soon as he knew Silvie was here, he had Harley bring him. Vivie had called and let Apache know they had taken Silvie’s car, and Nova drove Vivie’s. Everybody is sorted, brother, no need to worry,” Ace stated.
“Be nice if Fish and Marsha would take that little shit home,” I said, scowling at Maverick sneaking out of the house.
Fish snagged the brat with one hand and caught him by his collar.
Maverick scowled at his dad but stood still when Marsha turned a beady eye on him.
“He’s up to something,” Lex stated with a shudder.
“Dante is bad enough. I’d have drowned Mav by now,” Drake agreed.
“Fish has the patience of a fuckin’ saint,” Apache murmured.
“The fuck he does. Ain’t you noticed? Mav won’t argue with Marsha. Fish dumps Mav on Marsha when the little fucker starts, and Marsha reins him in. Fish is as frightened of Mav as the rest of us,” Lex announced.
Surprised, I turned and studied Fish and how he held Mav. Yeah, Fish was holding him firmly, but Mav was fully in the line of his mother’s stern glare.
A smirk crossed my face as I saw Fish check with Marsha for reassurance that she was present. Lex was right. Fish didn’t wish to handle Mav on his own, and that was freaking hysterical. The kid would run rings around Fish, and we all knew it.
“If Fish flips, Mav behaves, but Fish doesn’t flip often; he’s got tight control over his temper. Doesn’t want to turn into his father. So, Fish lets Marsha be the bad guy,” Apache murmured.
“I get that,” I said, nodding.
“Dante is the one who’s gonna have to manage that little fuck when they’re older. We can sit back and watch Dante get his comeuppance,” Drake stated cheerfully.
I snorted in agreement. Dante was a handful, like Mav, but less dangerous and deadly.
“I’m putting a hundred on Mav being arrested first,” I said, and the others began betting.
“Put five hundred down for me,” Fish yelled, clearly having overheard us.
Marsha sent him a filthy look, while Mav grinned.
Yeah, that little fucker was heading straight for the joint. No two ways about it.