“It’s going a little rough. Morning sickness is the worst. Murphy’s amazing. He’s rubbing my back and being the perfect husband to me. I’ve got nothing to complain about.”
“What are you not telling me, honey?” Eva asked. She’d known Tate long enough to know when the other woman was lying.
Tate looked down at the floor. “It’s nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
She listened to the younger woman sigh. “Fine, I’m scared. Everyone is always tense when Gonzalez is mentioned. All of the other enemies the club has faced the guys, they’ve made jokes. I know there has been a certain amount of teasing, but this is different. It scares me.”
Drawing Tate against her side, Eva kissed her head as she often had while Tate was growing up. “Everything will work out in the end. You’ve got to stop fearing what’s going to happen.”
“You can’t deny this is different from all the other times before.”
Eva remained silent.
“Please, Eva, for once tell me the truth of what’s going on.”
“There’s nothing you need to know. Your father knows what he’s doing. You need to relax and learn to trust him.” Eva released Tate to hold onto Simon tighter as the young toddler started to wriggle.
“Fine, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll pick him up later.”
“I look forward to seeing you. Have fun,” Eva said. She closed the door behind her stepdaughter and started walking back upstairs.
Tabitha and Miles hadn’t stopped playing.
“Here you go, Simon, have some fun.”
Simon padded off toward the other two. Letting out a sigh, she took the time to simply watch them. She loved being around children. They were so adorable, charming, and made her love them all the more. Blowing out a breath she stepped toward the bedroom and started going through the washing she’d been doing all day.
Folding the washing also helped to calm her nerves. She didn’t know why as washing always seemed to be a curse for a lot of women.
Whistling to herself, she checked on the kids several times. Halfway through the washing the doorbell rang. After another quick check on the kids, she walked downstairs to the answer the door.
She didn’t have to be constantly there to watch the kids as she’d child-proofed the entire room. There was nothing there to cause them any harm or pain.
Looking through the key hole she saw Angel standing on her doorstep.
“Hey,” Eva said, opening the door.
“Hey. I heard you were the one on babysitting duty, and I wanted to come and offer my services to help you.” Angel’s blonde hair blew freely in the wind. Her son Anthony giggled as he tried to catch the length.
“You don’t have to if you want to do something else for today.”
She closed the door behind Angel, loving how natural the other woman was with her kids. Eva had seen many women lose their temper when kids pulled their hair. Angel didn’t respond. Being with Lash, she imagined Angel would be used to a little hair pulling.
Been around the men far too long. Too much information to know about one brother.
“I’ve got nothing to do. Lash is back at the club dealing with business. I’ve packed away from our vacation.”
“I thought Lash told you to make a decision of where you want to go next. You’re not going to be home forever.” Eva took the bag from Angel’s shoulder, and together they made their way up toward the other kids.
“Lash can pick where we go. I’ve looked at too many brochures. All the resorts and hotels are starting to look the same. I don’t care where we go, so long as Lash is happy. Anthony is always happy.” Angel bent down to place her son on the floor.
Eva laughed as he charged away. Out of all the kids Anthony was the quietest, taking after his father. Lash was quiet for the most part, but if someone threatened him then he was one of the deadliest men Eva had ever known. She heard about what happened with how Lash snapped Angel’s father’s neck without straining. From what she heard, the bastard deserved it as he’d tried to sell Angel to whoever would have her.
Angel stepped away. “He’s growing up so fast.”
She glanced at the other woman. She wore a long pastel pink skirt with a matching top.
“Lash still refusing to have another kid?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t like how bad the pregnancy was with Anthony. The moment I held him, all the pain dissipated. I want another kid, but I don’t want to upset Lash. He means the world to me.”
The biggest problem with Angel was that she was too trusting and too submissive for Lash. She was sweet, but she wouldn’t fight for anything.
“Maybe it’s time for you to speak up for what you want.”
“Nah, it’s okay. We’ll have another child when we’re ready. Right now isn’t the right time. Gash is back out of prison, poor man. Lash told me what happened. Could you imagine? Being put away for crimes you didn’t commit. I feel sorry for Gash,” Angel said.
Eva snorted. “Don’t. If I know Gash, then he’ll be seeking revenge before you know it.”
“He’s a nice man. I like him.” Angel moved around Eva to fill the kettle. Grabbing milk from the fridge, Eva took over making them a drink. She placed the baby monitor on the counter for them to watch their kids. Tiny had installed a small CCTV camera in the room, and with a little rewiring, Whizz made it even more baby proof. Eva could see the kids anywhere in the house.
“Be careful around Gash. You’ve not known him long, and he’s just gotten out of prison.”
“What do you mean? Gash wouldn’t do anything. I’m Lash’s woman.” Angel took a seat, her gaze on the camera of the babies.
“Before you turned up at The Skulls, Gash was a massive player. Prison changes everyone, and no one knows if it has affected him yet. Give him time, and don’t be around him until you know.”
Angel smiled. “You sound as protective as Lash does. He always worries about me. I don’t know how to convince him not to.”
Stirring the tea, she placed one in front of Angel.
“You’ve been hurt a lot because of the club. I know all the men feel awful over what happened to you.”
The shirt she wore revealed one of the scars near Angel’s chest from the bullets she had taken, which had been intended for Zero. Another was near her spine and another close to it. For several days it had been touch and go. The whole club had to wait for her to come out of coma to see what the extent of the damage was. The doctors at the time had warned Angel might not be able to walk or if the damage was too severe, she wouldn’t come out of a coma. Yeah, it had been one of the worst times for the club.