Chapter 1
STYXX
Six Months Later . . .
“You know, Styxx, you didn’t have to move,” Josephine says, setting a coffee in front of me.
“It had to happen sooner or later, Jose,” I tell her, lifting the mug to my lips, taking a sip before setting the mug back down. “I can’t depend on you guys all the time.”
Josephine and the other ol’ ladies, they’ve been there for my daughter and me from day one.
They’ve helped me without me having to ask.
But now, it’s time for me and Eabha to do this on our own.
My girl’s six months old and needs to know her dad could do this without going to someone to help every damn time she cries.
For the most part, she sleeps through the night now. That’s not to say she doesn’t have her times when she wakes up. At first, it’d been rough. Here I’d been thinking since my nephew was such an easy-going baby, Eabha would be good as well.
Nope.
My girl is true to being a princess and demanding my attention.
She didn’t like to be held but a certain way.
She hated when someone else tried to burp her.
Her favorite thing to do was to curl up against my bare chest and suck on her hand while she slept.
My little Eabha is definitely a daddy’s girl. A total princess.
“How’s she doing at night?” Josephine asks, taking the seat across from me, eyes on Eabha in her bouncy seat.
“She’s good,” I lie straight through my teeth.
This past week, since moving into the house after staying at the clubhouse for so long, hasn’t been a good transition for my baby girl.
She’s used to sleeping in my room with me.
Also, it doesn’t help that yesterday the doctor said she had colic.
Again, something I wasn’t going to share. I could handle this on my own.
“That’s good.” Josephine nods and looks over to her own son sleeping away in the Pack ’n Play that I had set up in the corner of the living room.
With the open floor plan of the house, we could see him from the kitchen table.
It’s one of the things that sold me on this place.
I like the openness of it. As my daughter grows and becomes active, I’ll be able to see her unless she’s in her room and I’m in mine.
The house is a five-bedroom. Way too big for the two of us, but I’d gotten it and the two houses on either side of mine for a steal.
They’d been in foreclosure, and I scooped them up, figuring I’d used the other two as an investment.
Both houses have been rented out. One of them had been done immediately, the other, the smaller of the three, Ivy said, was rented out yesterday.
I let Ivy handle the rental properties alongside the other shit she handles these days.
She didn’t mind and was able to get it taken care of.
I did, however, handle the background checks on those who were moving in.
One is an older couple who just moved to be closer to their daughter.
The other, two sisters, who will be moving in over the next couple of days.
“You know your brother is worried about you, right?”
“What for?”
Scythe and I are close. Have been all our lives.
Especially after our lives were turned upside down and we lost not just our parents but our little sister, Isabelle.
For years, it hurt. Losing our folks still does.
What helps these days is the knowledge that we have our sister back.
Fate had to have a hand in us finding our little sister again.
There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. How else would it explain Isabelle being friends with Ivy and the others.
Reaper meeting Ivy at a bar started it all.
At first, we didn’t know it, but soon learned the truth. She was our little sister, and now she’s married to our brother, Hellfire. That fucker adores her and would snap anyone’s neck if they dared hurt her in any shape or form.
“You know, Monica. . . She . . . Styxx, you don’t talk about what happened between you two and . . .”
“I’ve got nothing to say about Monica. She’s dead,” I snap, interrupting my sister-in-law. “That bitch kept the fact that she was carrying my kid. Then she went and got herself killed, nearly taking Eabha with her.”
“I know, and I don’t blame you for being angry, but it doesn’t mean we don’t worry about you.” Josephine reaches out and places a hand over mine. “You don’t hang with your brothers like you used to.”
“Got a kid. I’m a single parent. They know she comes first. She has too, and they all get it.”
“Yes, but when was the last time you did something for yourself and it not be about you doing your duty to the club?”
I grit my teeth, not wanting to lash out at Josephine. I love her like a sister, but I’m seeing now she was sent as the messenger. Scythe knew I’d check the anger with her.
“Not your business, Josephine.” I raise a hand, stopping her from saying anything further. “Drop it, Jose. I’m not discussing this with you. When I’m ready to get my dick wet, I’ll do it. But right now, it’s about Eabha and taking care of her.”
“Fine, but just to warn you, the guys are going to be dragging you out to the opening of Keeper’s Temptation.”
Fuck.
I forgot the new strip club was opening up over in Jacksonville tonight.
We decided to open up a new high-end strip club.
It has your typical dancing, but that’s only the first thing upon opening and the last hour of the night.
The rest of the evening, the girls who dance are pure class.
I ran the checks on all of them when they applied, and each one has a history in dancing of some kind.
“Eabha can stay with me while you go have fun,” Josephine states, like that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
“Babe, don’t just tell me what my daughter’s gonna do,” I tell her, though I know my daughter will likely end up there.
“Whatever.” I grit my teeth at Josephine’s eye roll and grin as she continues. “We’re all doing girls’ night at the clubhouse while you all go and be there for opening night. I’ll put her in the crib at the clubhouse. When you’re done, you can come there and crash.”
Jesus, fuck, the woman has it all figured out.
That right there alone pisses me off.
I want to tell her this shit wasn’t happening. That I wasn’t going on with my brothers. Only I knew my brothers, all of them would drag me out if I didn’t go willingly. A lot of them all have kids, and yet they’re going, the only difference is, they have someone to go home to, I don’t.
Instead of telling her to fuck off with this shit, I grit out, “Fine.”
“Great, just bring her to the clubhouse, and we’ll be there.” Josephine smiles in victory and gets to her feet. “I’m gonna grab little man and head out. I have to finish some errands before heading to the clubhouse.”
“Just leave him here. I’ll bring him later as well.” I don’t get much time with my nephew anymore, with my attention on Eabha, but I love the little guy.
“You sure?” she asks.
“Yeah.” I nod and take another sip of my coffee. “I got him.”
“Thanks, Styxx.” Josephine leans in, kisses my cheek, and heads for the door. “If you need anything, just call.”
I didn’t want to think about how Josephine quickly took me up on babysitting my nephew for the rest of the day. She might have some errands to run, but I know the woman was going straight to my brother, where the two of them would enjoy the chance not having a baby around for a while.
As hot as Josephine is, I wouldn’t want to think about her naked or fucking my twin brother. The very fact that he and I look alike doesn’t mean we share the same sexual exploits.
Well, that’s not exactly true. I just wouldn’t want to experience it with a woman who is like a sister and is, in fact, my sister-in-law.
Sighing, I shake my head, get up from the table, and move to the front door. I step out onto the porch in time to see a car pull into the driveway next door.
Great, looks like the tenants are moving in.