Reign of Wrath (Dirty Broken Savages #3)(100)

Knox grins. “You’ve got good taste, kid.”

It’s surprising to watch them together like this. I wouldn’t have thought Knox would be the one who knows how to get along with kids. In some ways, the man who proudly wears the nickname “The Butcher of Seven Mile” is the last person I’d expect to get along so well with a four-year-old. But then again, Knox has a goofy personality sometimes, and besides his willingness to carve up a person if they deserve it, he’s actually a fun-loving, easy-going guy. Almost like a big kid himself.

The other Kings come in too, and I watch them all interact with Cody. Ash has that easy going personality that makes it easier for him, while Gage and Priest sort of hang back. They all introduce themselves and tell him he’s going to be staying with us.

Cody nods, glancing around at all of them warily.

He’s just a kid, and he’s had a lot going on in the last few weeks, so I can’t really blame him for being unsure about all of this. But the guys do their best, talking to him in calm voices and asking him about the cartoons and what things he likes to eat and do.

I like it, watching them with him.

It’s all so strange, and I have no idea what our plan is for Cody long-term. But it makes me happy to see him here, to know he’s not with Julian anymore, and that none of us will treat him like a pawn or try to drown him in a car like fucking Natalie did.

We spend most of the afternoon hanging out with the little boy, trying to get him used to us.

In the evening, Ash puts together some dinner, and we all eat in the kitchen. Then I take Cody upstairs to put him to bed. I make a mental note that we really need to get him some real pajamas or something, so he’s not just sleeping in these same borrowed clothes.

Priest comes to help me, and it’s maybe the most surprising how good he is with Cody.

“Do you need another pillow?” he asks the little boy, with a quiet sort of patience that I don’t think I’ve seen him use with anyone else before.

Cody nods, and Priest goes to get him one. He adds it to the bed, smiling a little when Cody grabs on to it and holds it close.

“I put a light by your bed,” he tells the boy. “If it’s too dark, just tap it, like this.”

He demonstrates, tapping the little plastic ball that he set on a stand on the nightstand next to the bed.

When he taps it, it lights up with a soft, white light. I don’t think its original purpose was to be a kid’s nightlight, but Cody doesn’t seem to mind that at all.

“It’s pretty,” he whispers, tapping it off and then on again.

“It’s yours,” Priest tells him. “It’ll keep the dark away.”

My heart tightens in my chest, an unexpected rush of emotion making a lump form in my throat.

I finish tucking Cody in, and we close the door gently once he falls asleep. Hopefully, the fact that he’s had such a crazy fucking day will make it easier for him to sleep through the night.

“How did you know to do all that?” I ask Priest curiously as we stand in the hallway.

He shrugs a shoulder, glancing toward Cody’s room and then back to me. “Before she died, I had a good relationship with my mom. She had a lot of different parenting tricks she’d use on me when I was a kid. I just remembered some of them.”

I step closer to him, resting my forehead against his chest as my arms wrap around him. His go around me too, and we stand there for a moment, just breathing each other in.

“I’m glad you had a good mom,” I murmur. “I’m sorry you lost her. I barely remember mine, but I think she was a good mother too. I think she cared about me and Hannah a lot.”

That seems to be a common theme that threads between me and the four Kings of Chaos. Even if we had people who loved us and wanted to take care of us, we lost them, leaving only the people who wanted to use us or hurt us behind.

That’s why the four of them ended up building their own family, creating a little unit more unbreakable than even the bonds of blood.

And although I was terrified of it at first, afraid to let my guard down, I’ve become a part of that family.

Now Cody has too.

“We should let him get some rest,” I murmur, leaning back at last and taking Priest’s hand.

He nods. “I’m sure he needs it.”

We head back downstairs to where the other Kings are, and something comes over me as I look at all of them. They really are a family, and now this tight-knit little family is expanding. They’ve taken Cody in for no other reason than because he matters to me, and thinking about that fact does strange things to my heart.

I care about them, more than I can say. More than I know how to say.

But I want to show them how I feel.

So when they all look up as Priest and I enter the living room, I don’t hesitate. I just crawl onto Ash’s lap, straddling his hips as my knees sink into the couch cushions on either side of him.

He raises his eyebrows, but before he can make a joke or a teasing comment the way he usually does, I kiss him, putting all my feeling into it.

Kissing him like I mean it.





42





River





I keep kissing Ash, and I can feel and hear the sounds in the room change as the other men take notice.

Knox is already sitting on the couch with Ash, and Priest comes to sit on Ash’s other side. While my mouth moves with Ash’s, Knox and Priest let their hands wander, tracing up my back, into my hair, down to my ass.