21. Naomi
NAOMI
A FEW DAYS LATER
The knocking on the door was sharp, and Karissa sighed before rolling her eyes. “I held her off this long, but that’s done.”
Before Naomi could ask who the hell she was talking about, the door opened and Esme strode in, baby in her arms, wearing an expression Naomi couldn’t quite name.
Behind her were all the other women and the twins.
Bringing up the rear was Taz, who looked downright gleeful. How, she didn’t know, considering the late night he’d had and that it was barely noon. Well, that and the fact that when he went to bed, Karissa and Glitch set up a trap, a heavy net meant to fall over him in his bed, pinning him there.
When she arrived for her turn at guard duty, Karissa took great delight in telling her he had been screaming his head off because some of it had gotten caught in his hair and taken a small chunk out. He was far more upset about that than the net.
Naomi was still getting used to these three pulling pranks on each other, or that they managed to one-up each other so much.
Now, however, she got the feeling Taz had helped set this entire thing up, judging by the look in his eyes.
Karissa pinned him with a sharp glare, but he ignored it.
Instead, he shouted, “Ladies, talk loudly so I can hear from up in my perch, alright? I need something to entertain me while I’m working.
And, of course, don’t forget to talk about how wonderful I am.
” With a beaming grin, he spread his arms wide.
“Scram,” Glitch admonished, waving him toward the door.
Naomi stared at everyone as they made themselves comfortable. The twins swooped in on Asher, who was watching everyone carefully from his place on the floor, surrounded by his toys. His expression brightened when he saw the girls.
Okay, maybe this would be all right.
“Here, you hold him,” Esme ordered, thrusting her son into Naomi’s arms, yanking her from her thoughts. She sank into the recliner with a groan. “Fuck, my bits are still killing me. And I’m itching from the stitches.”
“Ewww,” Wren said, face twisting.
Naomi turned Jett to cradle him in her arms, smiling down at the sleeping baby.
Even now, she could see he was going to look an awful lot like his father.
His face was the same shape, his hair dark, and he had that signature frown she’d come to associate him with.
Her heart melted a little. She missed when Asher was this small.
Maybe not the long nights spent trying to keep him quiet because Diego would get pissed off if he woke him up from down the hall, but how innocent and precious he was.
“He’s adorable,” she murmured, swaying slightly.
“He is,” Esme agreed, grinning. “And so far, he’s a good eater and good sleeper.
Fury gets up with him in the middle of the night for diaper changes, but the rest is me.
” Her expression turned apologetic. “I finally heard what happened, Naomi. And I’ve already read the riot act to every man who’s been over.
Including Ink. The idiots, they only think with their cocks. ”
“Cock!” Asher shouted, smiling at his mother for learning a new word.
“Ooops …” Esme snorted with a laugh. The others did too.
Naomi sighed. “I’ve been working with him on his words and reading, but he picks up on all the ones he shouldn’t repeat better than the ones he should.”
“They do that. For the longest time, Gabe’s favorite word was the f-word because I let it slip once in front of him when I slammed my toe into the table.
It hurt like a bit—a bugger. He’ll forget it soon enough.
He said it for about a week, then promptly forgot it until he went to school and heard it from the other kids. ”
“Ronin’s picking up words from school now too.” Royal sighed. “That and from Savage. I tell you, that man was raised with a potty mouth.”
“They’re bikers; proper language isn’t exactly their motto,” Win pointed out. “I once gave Rogue a dictionary and told him he should learn a few new words, and all he did was look up the f-word and give it back to me.”
“Did you really expect anything else?” Glitch asked, with a laugh.
“We’re off topic,” Esme butted in. “Naomi, seriously, I’m sorry all of this has been happening.
I also one hundred percent agree that you should have called Taz and the team in.
These guys need a kick in the butt once in a while to remind them to keep in shape.
They’ve gotten a bit lazy, and with most of them having Old Ladies, they don’t consider the others’ outcomes because it’s not on their radar anymore. ”
“I figured they were insulted that I called. No one other than Ink, Ice, and Rogue have been talking to me. And that’s only for business stuff.”
That was a bit of a lie. Ink tried to talk to her about anything and everything, but she was serious about wanting her space.
He left her little things every day. One day, it was flowers, a pretty bouquet of lilies, and another day, it was a teddy bear for Asher, who loved it and slept with it every night. Even last night, he slid an envelope under her door. Inside was a drawing of her sitting with Asher.
It was so ridiculously detailed and beautiful that she stood there, staring at it for a good five minutes, taking in every small detail.
He caught the slight tilt of her lips, the little gaps between Asher’s teeth.
She should have set it aside, refused to let him charm her, but she put it on the fridge, right in the middle, where she could look at it.
“They can be insulted all they like.” Harlow, Steel’s Old Lady, scoffed.
“Maybe it will wake them up. I know we’re supposed to back our men, and I always will in public or when the Predators are here, but in private like this, I can say it.
” She glanced at Karissa and Glitch. “And I’m including you in the Old Ladies bit, even if you are wearing your Predators cuts. ”
The two women nodded.
“I am glad you decided to stay,” Scarlett said.
“As stupid as they are, they are also very good men who will fix this. Their egos will be smarting for a bit, but they’ll get over it and realize this was for the best. I think they forgot just what it means to have someone in your position relying on them. ”
Esme snorted. “They saw a pretty face with a cute kid and figured you’d be fine. Especially since you’ve been pretty quiet and keeping to yourself, or they thought we would all take you under our wings and handle it. As long as you stayed on the grounds, then you’d be fine, right?”
“I’m surprised that you’re not angry at me,” Naomi admitted, looking at Royal. “I almost shot your man.”
Royal barked out a laugh. “I’ve shot at him before. Trust me, that was never going to piss me off. I wanted to come over and high-five you.”
“You really don’t care that I almost shot him?”
“Almost being the keyword there. Maybe I’d be pissed if you actually hit him and it was serious, but he was the one who let himself into your apartment without knocking. He deserved it.”
“I heard you bit Ink.” Saylor laughed. “Saw the bruise the next day. It was nice and purple on his hand. Good job.”
Naomi flushed, guilt bubbling. “I just reacted …”
“That’s exactly what you need to do. We’re going to add working on your self-defense training in the coming days,” Karissa added. “Glitch and I will take turns working with you. The other will watch Asher. If you’re okay with it, the twins offered, and we’ll have Taz here to keep watch.”
“Is that necessary? I’m not very big or strong.”
“You need to be able to handle yourself in case anything gets past all the barriers and the rest of us,” Glitch answered. Naomi swallowed hard, fighting panic. “It shouldn’t happen, but you want to be able to take on anyone who threatens you or Asher, right?”
She nodded quickly.
“Then you’re working on your skills. Self-defense, knife work, and target practice.”
Esme laughed. “Won’t Savage just love that?”
“Can we join?” Wren asked, smirking.
“No,” Scarlett stated. “Are you trying to give Rogue a heart attack? You two knowing how to use a gun is liable to send him into a tizzy. He let you keep working with your knife work and doing the combat training with them. Don’t push it.”
“Fine.” Win huffed. “But we really should learn. We are going off to college in a year.”
“If you think I should, then okay,” Naomi told Karissa and Glitch. “I’m probably going to be a quick learner in some areas, but I don’t know how I’m going to do in the combat part. My brain can remember the moves but executing them is going to be another matter entirely.”
“Don’t count yourself out before you’ve tried it. Taz can work with you too, when you’re comfortable. I heard from Simba that they can’t sub him out for another week, maybe two, so we’ll have him here for a bit.”
“Lucky us!” Karissa shouted, rolling her eyes. A sharp laugh came from outside.
“And I think we should plan on you getting out of his apartment more,” Esme added.
She held up her hand when Naomi looked at her.
“You may not trust the men, but you can trust us. And that means you need to come and spend time with us. God knows I need the company, because Fury and Gabe are driving me insane at home, always wanting to help. I need female company; all the testosterone in my house is suffocating.”
“And Ronin has been hoping to play with Asher again. He’s a bit bored playing with his sisters,” Royal agreed.
“I … I don’t know if I’m ready for that.” It was hard to admit that, but she felt safe in this apartment. She was guarded. Asher was guarded. Anyone after them wouldn’t be able to get in easily.
“Naomi,” Scarlett murmured, gaining her attention.
“I know what you’re thinking, and I have a good sense of how you’re feeling too.
After the girls and I escaped, I refused to leave the house or let them go out.
I was too scared the people who took them would be after all of us and find us if we dared to show our faces. But it also made me go stir-crazy.”
“She was a total bi—horror.” Wren corrected, glancing at Asher, who was studying her. Win nodded.
Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Fine, yes, I was. But the men we were staying with kept assuring me we were safe and that I needed to get out of the house. We all did. If we didn’t, we were letting them win. Staying and hiding meant letting the person we escaped from have control over our lives.”
The words were a heavy hit to the gut. Naomi stared at her, dumbfounded. She was right. She was completely right.
“But how do you get over that feeling? I … A part of me knows we’re safe here, but the what-ifs are a lot to get over, especially knowing what I do.
They can find anyone they want. And all it takes is one drone flying overhead, capturing a picture of Asher or me, and … ” The possibilities were too severe.
“The cartel is still searching for you,” Glitch muttered.
“But they think you headed for Canada, far from their influence. They have men stationed along the border. The Feds do have agreements with the Canadian government to hide out valuable people before trials, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. ”
“And you’re helping that along?” Esme asked.
Glitch smirked. “Of course, I am. A few potential sightings mentioned here and there in official channels have them racing around, chasing their tails. I’ve also asked a few contacts to plant little decoys in videos to really add credibility.”
Naomi stared at her, wide-eyed. “You can do that?”
“Babe, she’s the best hacker out there, so damn straight she can.” Karissa laughed. “You’re in good hands. Besides, if they tried to fly drones within a mile of here in any direction, we’d know about it and make sure there’s nothing for them to catch.”
Naomi didn’t realize how big an operation they were running. “Wow. And all that’s because of what happened with the club girl?”
“It was already happening before all that, but this is the first time we’re really mentioning it and monitoring it more closely.
I had Code put in some fail-safes so his system picks things up too, in case they get past mine.
We also installed new cameras, sensors, and trip wires all around the property.
Vulture and Warg helped me test them before they left. ”
“They were here for less than a day. How is that possible?”
“Mercenaries have to work fast and smart, so you pick up tricks and things along the way.”
“Good, then that’s settled. Naomi, you’ll be more protected than the president at this rate,” Esme declared, with a grin. “Which means, we can now get to the good stuff.”
“Good stuff?” An uneasy feeling settled over her.
They all smiled at her. “We want to know what the deal is between you and Ink.”
Shit. That was what she was afraid of.