Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Poseidon
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I set the cabinet I was getting ready to install down.
My day job is working for Williamson Specialty Construction.
We do specialized construction work. Right now, we are redoing a kitchen with custom cabinets and lower countertops for a client who is wheelchair bound.
It’s jobs like this that help me forget the darkness I’ve seen or been a part of.
“Yeah,” I answer without looking at the screen.
“Hey, Poseidon, are you coming over tonight?” Aries’s voice comes across the line.
“Man, it’s Friday pizza night. Hell yeah, I’ll be there. Why are you calling to ask?” I chuckle into the phone.
“Wrenn wanted me to verify. She said to pick up a couple extra pizzas. It’s your turn to buy.”
“Anything special?”
“She said meat, and for sure one with mushrooms and meat.”
“Okay, an extra meat and mushroom.” I file away Wrenn’s concern about me coming over tonight. I brush it off, thinking she just wanted Aries to remind me it’s my turn to buy.
“See you at six.” He hangs up.
I chuckle as I think about where he was before in life and where he is now. Where I want to be. I want to have that, and I think I know who I want to have that with, but she gave me a run for my money the last time I had her.
Holding Sydney in my arms was the most at peace I’ve felt in a long time. I didn’t have any nightmares until after I woke and found she had taken off. Then the nightmares came. The memories. The pain. The explosions.
A few hours later I’m pulling my flat black Tacoma up to Aries and Wrenn’s house.
I spot a few of the guys’ bikes in the drive, including my brother, Kit, or Hades to everyone else.
I got the nickname Poseidon in SEAL training.
When my brothers joined the Unknowns and the Drago Defiance MC, they were given their road names.
Everyone said we had to be the big three. Their nicknames fit them.
I park along the street and walk around the hood. My eyes are immediately drawn to Sydney’s house.
I want to see her. I miss the way her body fits against mine. I miss her sassy mouth I would kill to kiss. I want to explore the feelings I have for her, but she ran from me.
Opening the door to the passenger side, I pull out all the pizzas and kick the door closed behind me before heading up the walk to the porch. I don’t knock. They’re expecting me. But the door opens before I can even grab the handle.
“You know where to put those.” Aries chuckles as I look around the living room.
Wrenn is sitting on the sofa holding a baby girl and playing with her. I don’t know who the kiddo belongs to, and I don’t focus on her as I make my way to the kitchen. I immediately stop when I step through.
Sydney is standing at the counter with her back to me in tight as fuck skinny jeans that show off her heart-shaped ass and long legs.
I set the pizzas down and watch her for a moment.
She struggles to get a cup down from the top shelf of the cupboard.
Her small frame is up on a single tippy toe as she strains to reach it.
I notice she isn’t using her other foot.
The ankle isn’t even flexed, as if it can’t do it.
“Here, let me help you.” I walk up behind her.
She spins so fast and cries out. Her hands come up in a defensive position, and I grit my teeth as I try not to read into what this shows. I’ll kill the man who hurt her.
“It’s okay, spitfire, it’s just me. Let me help you.”
I reach up and grab the cup she was reaching for.
My body dwarfs hers as I cage her in against the counter.
My cock lengthens behind my fly as she sighs and looks up at me through her thick, long lashes.
Her green eyes are rimmed with dark circles she’s trying to hide with makeup, but I can see them up this close.
I set the cup down and slowly raise my hand to her cheek.
My thumb rubs at the slight discoloration.
“We need to talk, baby.” My voice is gruff, and her body trembles, not in fear, though. Thank fuck. I pull her by the waist toward me.
“We can’t. Now isn’t a good time, and I have nothing to say except thank you.”
“We have a lot to discuss. Like what are you doing Sunday?”
“Syd, I think Mari is getting hungry.” Wrenn interrupts us.
Sydney jumps away from me and to the side. I drop my head. God damn it. I need to get her away from all these distractions so I can have her all to myself.
“Thanks, Wrenn,” I grumble, and she giggles.
I turn around and see the baby Wrenn is holding reaching for Sydney.
Her skin is a tawny hue. She has soft umber curly hair, and her eyes are a beautiful hazel.
Her nose and lips are her mother’s. She has a cherub-shaped face, and when she smiles at me, my heart skips a beat.
This is Sydney’s baby and the most precious thing I’ve seen.
“You can nurse her in my room if you want privacy.” Wrenn offers.
I get it now. Sydney thinks I won’t want her because of her child. I don’t know where the father is or what part he has in Sydney’s life, but I know she’s single, and it’s his loss.
Wrenn and Sydney make their way out of the kitchen, and like the lovesick puppy I am, I follow along. I can’t have her close and not be in her space. She’s a magnet that I’m drawn to, a planet my moon wants to orbit.
Sydney reaches for a diaper backpack and opens it. She pulls out a few things and settles in a chair. I watch as she adjusts the blanket over herself. Baby Mari pulls at the blanket and starts to fuss.
“Now that Mari is five months old, I think I’m going to have to stop nursing her soon.
But I’ll enjoy it while I can. With my work schedule, I can’t keep pumping and giving her what she needs.
I only nurse her when I’m off now, and she gets formula while at daycare,” Sydney responds to a question Wrenn asked her.
It must have been about nursing. I’m just staring at her, wondering what her nipples taste like.
“I know you said it’s just Mari and you, but what happened to Mari’s dad, if you don’t mind me asking?” Wrenn asks.
I focus on the question. Maybe I can get some information on the putz. Any man who would walk away from these beauties deserves to have his knees wacked.
“He…” She pauses for a moment, and I’m on alert. “He died before Mari was born.” Her voice is soft, and her eyes are focused on the blanket over her daughter’s head.
“I’m so sorry, Syd. I had no clue.” Wrenn moves over to where Sydney sits and rubs her shoulder.
I watch as Sydney composes herself. But it’s not tears I see in her eyes. Yes, there’s pain but also anger. Her teeth are gritted. Her jaw locked. Her body is tight. She visibly calms herself, and I watch as a fake smile comes over her features.
“We weren’t close.” She brushes it off and changes the subject.
A couple of hours later, after everyone has eaten and visited, I walk Sydney and Mari home. She tried to talk me out of it, but I still need to get her to agree to a date.
“You’ve had some time to come up with an excuse, so I’m not going to let you off the hook.
If you can’t find a babysitter, I’m sure Wrenn would help.
” I nod toward Mari, who is almost asleep on Sydney’s shoulder.
“I’ll pick you up at two on Sunday. Dress warm.
Can I have your number?” I reach out and brush my hand down the side of her face.
“I guess,” she says softly and reaches into the baby bag for her cell phone.
It takes her a moment of indecision before she unlocks it and hands it to me, and I call my cell from it. She’s overly cautious, and it gives me only a moment of pause. I’ll protect these two with everything in me.
“Now we have each other’s numbers. Don’t chicken out on me, spitfire.”
I turn and head to my truck as soon as she’s inside her house.
I pull up to the compound with the feel of her soft skin on my fingertips and the look in her eyes. I wanted to lean down and kiss her, but I knew she would use that to push me away, and I’m not giving her any chance to get away from me. Sunday she is all mine. No interruptions. Just her and me.