22. Momentary Peace
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Momentary Peace
“I don’t understand how you got that shirt so fast…”
Walking backward on the sidewalk, facing his family, his long blond hair tied up into a bun on his head and dark shades covering his eyes, Keith pinched the pink fitted muscle t-shirt he wore, exposing his bulging tattooed biceps with ‘Deja Cru’ printed on it and a graphic of a bloody knife.
“Amazon Prime, baby!” he smirked.
With his hands in his pockets, walking alongside Ian, Caleb raised a brow. “They’re selling merch on Amazon Prime?” Caleb asked.
“You look ridiculous…” Ian muttered, adjusting his shades.
“Don’t be a whiny little bitch, baby boy. I got you all one, too, so we could match. Like a bunch of groupies,” Keith grinned.
“Something is seriously wrong with you,” Deja laughed as she held Jax’s hand while he carried their daughter in his other arm.
“Well… groupies do fuck the band, right?” Caleb grinned.
Keith pointed. “Farmer boy gets it.”
“Don’t encourage him,” Ian sighed.
“Come on, baby girl. Don’t tell me you don’t absolutely love this,” Keith grinned. “Jax likes it.”
Deja snorted as she looked up at Jax. “Do you?”
Jax tilted his head curiously. “...does it come in black?”
“Good grief,” Ian groaned as Caleb cackled.
“Gotchu!” Keith said, pulling out his phone.
Tightening her grip on Jax’s hand, Deja took in the beauty of Seoul. It was breathtaking in the daytime. She wished she knew Korean, but was grateful that Ian and Jax spoke it fluently while serving as tour guides.
To cheer her up and get her acquainted with her temporary new home, they took her to several parks. To distract her from her viral persona, Deja’s Reapers doted on her, doing anything they thought might ease her stress.
Sitting on the grass beneath rows of pink cherry blossom trees, Deja chuckled as Keith made Chloe laugh while Caleb changed her diaper.
“Who’s my little serial killer? Who’s my little Reaper?
You are,” Keith said, peppering her forehead with kisses.
Caleb grinned as he sprinkled Chloe with baby powder.
Chloe screamed with laughter as she grabbed Keith’s shades. “I need those to protect my baby blues, baby boo,” Keith grinned, prying them from her tiny fingers. “Damn, this baby got grip. I predict her weapon of choice will be a machete. Like her cool-ass uncle.”
Caleb snorted. “She’s not a barbarian. I see her going old school. A knife.”
“Classic,” Keith snickered. “I’m gonna buy her a little knife.”
“Please don’t,” Caleb said.
“A toy that squeaks. What kind of uncle do you take me for?” Keith said, feigning offense.
“Um… a psycho uncle,” Caleb smirked. Deja smiled as she listened to Caleb and Keith’s banter, igniting Chloe’s high-pitched laughter. They were such an unconventional family. But she loved them. She loved these men. Her Reapers.
They made her deliriously happy, and they made her feel unapologetically loved. Though her circumstances felt bigger than her, she felt in her heart everything would be okay… as long as she had them. All of them.
Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted Jax and Ian talking amongst themselves as they stood protectively by the fence. She tilted her head with concern until they both looked at her with reassuring smiles. She waved, and they waved back.
Deja frowned. Something felt…off.
“Perhaps distancing ourselves to speak wasn’t ideal…” Ian said, catching Deja’s concerned gaze. “She’s got eyes like a hawk lately.”
“She’s just on edge… which…she should be. Just because she’s safer in Korea doesn’t mean she’s safe altogether,” Jax said, watching two men across the street who locked eyes with him.
“3 more Reapers on your left…” Ian said quietly. “That’s 23 we’ve counted since we left this morning… Is that normal?”
“Probably not…” Jax muttered. “But they won’t make a move on a Donovan. They know better.”
Ian grinned. “Especially you.”
Jax rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Has the ring arrived yet?”
“Last night,” Ian smiled. “I think she’ll love it.”
“I know she will,” Jax said, watching Deja. “Though she’s not a fan of public proposals. It has to be somewhere discreet. More intimate.”
“It would have been nice to involve her family,” Ian mused.
“It would have… We’ll have to settle for the next best thing,” Jax said.
“She’d stab you for referring to choosing her as ‘settling’,” Ian grinned.
Jax snorted. “I’m sure she’d stab me regardless.
Still… Deja will be happy to see her,” he said, watching Deja approach.
Their eyes appreciated her body, dressed in a pale-yellow summer halter dress that fell to her ankles and hugged her body in all the right places, emphasizing her hips and teasing her cleavage.
“What are you two whispering about?” Deja asked, stepping between them.
“Talking about you, obviously…” Ian grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Should I be concerned?” she asked flirtatiously.
“Wearing this tempting dress? Absolutely. You should be very concerned,” Ian smirked, pressing his lips against hers.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, his hands slid over her ass and gave it a light squeeze.
“You’re a temptress, Deja. You must have been a siren in your past life,” Ian hummed against her lips.
“Ian!” she laughed, slapping his shoulder.
“Or a goddess,” Jax said, locking eyes with another Reaper. He felt Deja’s hand against his chest and looked down at her.
“Hi,” she said with a worried smile. “Where are you?”
Jax put on a smile and, holding her hand, kissed her fingers. “Right here. Sorry.”
She tried to smile. “Keith wants to show me this arcade at some famous mall.”
“Our brother is a 12-year-old stuck in the body of a 28-year-old psychopath,” Ian muttered.
Deja laughed. “Stop. He’s cute.”
“Eh…” Jax and Ian groaned simultaneously as Deja cackled.
Deja was in awe the moment they stepped into a mall so large they couldn’t see the ceiling. “This is incredible!” she said in disbelief.
“Over here, baby girl,” Keith said, grabbing her hand, leading her to a busy arcade room. With his hands in his pockets, Jax smirked as Keith led them to a shooting game. The strange group received several expected confused stares as they gathered around Deja and Keith, who held toy rifles.
“How do I shoot- Oh!” Deja blurted as the machine made a shooting noise. “Did I get a point?”
“You shot me!” Keith blurted. “I’m on your team!”
“What?! I don’t know how to play!” Deja whined.
“Okay, wait. Hold on- Baby girl, stop shooting me!” Keith laughed.
“No, my points are going up!” Deja cackled.
Caleb glanced around the room until he spotted a few people staring at him apprehensively. His face fell. It bothered him that he couldn’t tell if people were staring at him because they thought he was Jamie…
“Ha! I won!” Deja said excitedly.
“I mean, we were supposed to be on teams, but okay,” Keith rolled his eyes.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” she teased.
“Guns… So barbaric,” Ian said, kissing the top of Chloe’s head as he held her to his chest.
“This game is fun. Great stress reliever,” Deja said. “Ian, you should play with me.”
Ian sensually bit his lip. “Darling, I would happily play with you…” he hummed. Deja smiled and handed him the toy. “Oh, you meant the game. Absolutely not,” Ian snorted as Jax laughed.
“Round two?” Deja asked Keith.
“Are we talking about the game?” Keith asked. “'Cause I can find us a closet-”
“The game, Keith! Let’s go so I can kick your ass again,” she teased.
“Both of them. Children,” Ian said.
“I see a ball pit,” Caleb pointed.
“Caleb, I think you’re too big for that,” Jax teased.
“Shut up. Chloe will love it,” Caleb said, nudging Ian and Jax toward the ball pit. The children in the ball pit felt a shadow loom over them before they noticed the three tall white strangers holding a tiny brown-skinned baby girl in their arms.
“We’re scaring the children. Let’s go over there,” Ian muttered. Walking to the other side, Ian put Chloe down on her hands and knees, and she immediately took off into the ball pit.
“Holy shit, she’s fast! Chloe!” Caleb said, running after her.
He picked her up before she could tumble into the ball pit, and she started crying.
“Alright! Alright! Relax, little spitfire. Damn. As impatient as your mother…” Stepping into the ball pit, Caleb sat her on his lap.
He watched her grab a ball and start chewing on it.
Ian cringed. “Goodness Chloe… Why? The bacteria…”
“She’s got a developing immune system. She’ll be okay,” Jax grinned.
“No. No, I can’t,” Ian said, taking the ball from her. “It doesn’t go in your mouth, Chloe. You toss it. Like this.” He tossed the ball at her, and it hit her in the face. “Oh dear,” Ian groaned.
“Nice one, Ian,” Caleb smirked as Jax crawled into the ball pit with them.
Chloe struggled to maneuver between the balls as she crawled towards her father and into his lap. Taking her small body in his hands, Jax lifted her until she was hovering above his face. “Mo bhana-phrionnsa…” he hummed, as she kissed his nose.
“We’re thinking of places to propose,” Ian said to Caleb while watching Jax with Chloe.
Caleb raised a brow. “Hmm… Well, it has to be somewhere discreet. She doesn’t like being around a lot of people,” Caleb said. Jax grinned. They all knew her so well. “I have an idea,” Caleb said when Keith and Deja approached them.
“Heyyyy!” Deja smiled, holding her dress as she crawled into the ball pit with them. Chloe giggled with excitement, eager to be held by her mother.
“Baby girl’s hungry,” Keith said, motioning to the street market outside.
The street market outside the mall was so busy, it concerned Ian to have Deja in such a large crowd. But the way she playfully hung on his arm, dragging him to several food stands, made him forget himself.
“Let’s try this one!” she said excitedly, skipping to a dessert stand. Ian’s eyes lingered on her backside that strained against the thin yellow summer dress, teasing him with a shadow of her panties before she stood up to pay the vendor.