Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
“Thanks. If you need me, I’ll be in here with Sebastian and Gunnar. Don’t hesitate to call out if she gets distressed. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Only reason I’m askin’ is because I know she won’t let me, and she shouldn’t. She doesn’t know me, and I’m in a club with a man she sees as a threat.”
Theodore looked me up and down, then nodded. “You might not be as bad as I first thought.” Then he walked into the room, leaving the door open. I watched as he went to Calliope, sat on the bed beside her and put an arm around her. Soon he’d coaxed her to lie down with him. She pulled the boy into her arms, and they settled down. While I stood there, watching her drift off, Theo looked at me and nodded once before sighing and shutting his eyes. The sight broke my heart the same as it warmed it. These boys loved Calliope same as she loved them. I decided right then and there, if Chase Dutton wanted to fight for custody of these kids, I’d kill the fuckin’ prick before I’d let him draw another breath.
* * *
Calliope
I woke up confused and disoriented. It was full dark. Silvery moonlight streamed in through a window on the far side of the room. Turning my head, I saw a door cracked open with a muted golden light spilling from it. Bathroom? The second that thought hit my mind I needed to pee. I was also stiff. Probably because I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in…
Except Theodore wasn’t with me.
I sat bolt upright. “Theo!” I yelled for my son as I tried to scramble from the bed. A big hand gripped my shoulder and tried to push me back onto the bed.
“Easy, girl. Easy.”
“Where’s my son!”
“Asleep in his own room with his brother. I’ll take you to check on him if you like.” That was Carnage. His voice was sleep roughened. Husky. For some reason that hit me hard with a sexy punch. He could easily have been waking up beside me. He let me up, backing off but not leaving me completely.
In the dark, I heard the chair rustle against his clothes as he stood. His silhouette was big and imposing. The whole scene struck me as surreal. It was like I was in a dream world where monsters were near and had my family. “It’s OK,” he said again. “I’ll take you to them. Here. Take my hand.”
I could just barely make out where he held his hand out to me. Hesitantly, I took it, not really wanting to touch him, but needing to see my boys. The second I touched him I knew I was in trouble. It wasn’t a bad thing. Quite the opposite. His rough hand closed over mine gently. Warmly. He felt familiar. Like a safe place in the cold dark, ironic as it sounded.
When I stood, he let go of my hand only to put his arm around my shoulders. The heat radiating from him was comforting when I didn’t want it to be. He was potentially the enemy. If Chase decided to challenge me for custody of the boys, I had no doubt Carnage would deliver carnage to our lives. The fallout might kill me. Because I knew Theodore would fight, no matter how badly the odds were stacked against him. The boy was as fierce as they came, and he could get physically hurt. Would this man be the one to hurt him?
Try as I might, I couldn’t convince myself of all that. I knew better than to put much stock in his promises, but Carnage wasn’t a bad man. It was only by an unhappy coincidence I’d landed with him in the first place. If Chase had belonged to any club other than this one, I had no doubt everything Carnage promised about keeping us together and safe would be real. But Chase was a member. So I had no expectation his club could or would stop him from trying to take my boys.
Carnage helped me out of one bedroom and to the other side of the suite to the room where the boys were sleeping. Sebastian was sitting up in the bed, the blanket covering his bent knees as he played a handheld video game. Theodore was on his side, but raised up when he heard us approach.
“Mom?” Theo’s voice alerted Sebastian they weren’t alone, and he looked up from his game. “Everything OK?”
“Yeah,” I said, sagging against Carnage in relief. “I just woke up confused…”
“I’m sorry,” Theodore shoved the covers back and sat up on the bed. “I didn’t want to bother you after supper, so I didn’t come back to bed.”
“No!” I said, putting my hands out in front of me, a gesture for him to stay in bed. “Don’t get up. It’s fine. I just… I forgot where I was.”