Shadow: Cerberus MC Book 3 (17 page)

He holds up his hand and her jaw snaps shut. I take another step back because I seriously don’t know which direction this is going to go. This isn’t the Kincaid I’ve seen in the months I’ve been living here. It’s apparent that his protectiveness over Emmalyn makes him different, because the Kincaid I’ve grown familiar with would never call anyone a whore; he’s too controlled for that in most situations.

“Em, Misty, Khloe,” he says straightening up to his full height, “and Griffin come first in this house. Every one of the brothers feel the same way. They are precious to each and every one of us. You two,” he says pointing between Snapper and Gypsy, “are one hundred percent expendable; replaceable. If I so much as hear one more disgruntled word from any of the club girls, one questionable look in any of their direction, you’re gone. My guys can go down to Jake’s and catch pussy.” He leans in closer to get his point across. “If you don’t like the way I run things, you can pack your shit and get the fuck out of my house.” He looks between them again. “Do you understand me?”

Snapper nods her head so fast she looks like a bobblehead doll.

I watch a tear roll down Gypsy’s cheek, and I feel sorry for her for a split second. “Kincaid, I didn’t…”

His hand snaps up again, and she closes her mouth quickly and nods her head in agreement to his words.

I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. Looking over I see Em standing beside me with a small smile on her face.

Snapper and Gypsy scurry out of the kitchen, and I hear Gypsy tell the red-headed spawn of Satan to go fuck herself. I can’t help but smile, but when I look over at Kincaid and see that he is still seething, I frown.

“I didn’t mean to cause any problems,” I say quietly.

Kincaid leans against the counter and rolls his head on his shoulders, attempting to relieve the stress from the altercation.

“You’re not the one causing problems, Misty. That was a long time coming.” He gives me a quick smile. I appreciate the effort when he’s clearly pissed off and wound up tight.

“Well, thank you for defending me.”

“Shadow would’ve done the same thing for Em.” He squeezes my shoulder gently before walking over to Em and kissing her on the cheek. “I need you,” I hear him whisper in her ear.

“I know,” she whispers back to him.

I blush and go back to making my sandwich if only to keep my hands busy. Lord knows I’m still too upset to eat right now.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” she says softly. “Get naked.”

He chuckles, and I hear what I presume is a slap on her ass before his heavy boots carry him out of the kitchen.

She sighs loudly and leans against the counter.

“Why would he say something like that?” I ask absently.

“He’s not going to let those women talk trash about us, Misty.”

I shake my head. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Why would he imply that Shadow and I have anything like you and he have? That couldn’t be further from the truth.” I slap sliced turkey on my bread and begin putting the food back into the fridge.

Em remains silent until I turn back around to her. She has a disappointed look on her face.

“What?” I ask grabbing a paper towel to wipe my hands on.

“Shadow would defend your honor just like Diego did. He’s just as honorable,” she says.

I huff a small laugh. He’s an honorable man, except where I’m concerned. Him fucking me and then walking out without so much as a thank you isn’t what I’d consider honorable.

“Anyways,” Em says pulling me out of my own head. “Dominic is coming home in a few weeks. I want to have a little party for him. I was hoping you’d help me get the things together for it.”

“Of course,” I agree quickly.

“Perfect,” she says turning to the door. “We’ll sit down later and discuss the details.”

I grab my plate and head back to my room, unwilling to chance another run in with Snapper and Gypsy. A party sounds like just the thing to take the edge off.

“You, little man are supposed to be asleep,” I tell Griffin, nuzzling his nose with my own.

He looks up at me and smiles as if he knows he’s running the show. I’m sitting on my bed with Griffin sprawled out on his back. He’s an incredibly happy baby, kicking his legs and waving his arms around with not a care in the world.

I’ve been back from Guatemala for a few weeks, and Misty has been more standoffish than usual. I need to apologize, but at the same time, I feel like that ship has sailed. It’s not that we don’t talk because we do, but it’s only about Griffin and his needs. She’s never brought up the night I used her so, I’ve ignored the subject as well.

“Let’s try out this tummy time stuff that momma has been so adamant about.” I scoop him up in my arms, noting how much he’s grown in the months since he was born and climb off the bed.

I settle with him on the floor and turn him over face down. Although now on his stomach, he continues to kick his legs and flail his arms about wildly. I can’t help but laugh. It’s clear he thinks he’s going somewhere with all of his actions.

“He’s so freaking cute,” I hear from my open doorway.

I look up and see Bri walking into my room. She plops down on the floor in front of Griffin and holds her hands out to him like he’s just suddenly going to learn to crawl and make his way over to her. He squeals excitedly.

“He looks just like you did at this age. Well, except for the dark hair,” she says.

“You were four,” I say incredulously.

She smiles up at me. “I have a really good memory.”

“You can barely remember shoes half the time, Bri.” I laugh at her insistence that she has memories from such a young age.

“That happens as a result of old age.”

“Don’t give me that old age shit. If you’re old, then that means I’m right behind you.”

It’s her turn to laugh now.

“Did you ever imagine this?” she asks indicating Griffin.

I look around the room, taking in the crib and toys spread all over the place, the Diaper Genie in the corner near the changing table.

“Not in a million years,” I answer honestly. “I wouldn’t change it for the world, though.”

I made my peace with how I felt when he and Misty first showed up, and I’d wished he wasn’t mine. I forced myself to stop feeling guilty for that aspect and made a vow that Griffin would never feel unwanted. He’d know every single day how much I loved him, how much I needed him in my life.

“Where’s Misty?” she asks.

I cock an eyebrow at her. She knows that Misty’s at work, but I also know her. I know she’s using that question as a segue into a deeper conversation she knows I don’t want to have.

“Work,” I answer flatly.

“When are you two going to stop dancing around each other?” She keeps her head down playing with the baby, and I’m grateful for the reprieve from the scrutiny of her eyes.

“Let me worry about Misty,” I say.

“What are you doing?” She raises her gaze to mine and stares into my eyes as if she can see my answer without me speaking.

“I’m providing,” I say pointing at my son.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. What are you going to do about Misty?”

I scrub a frustrated hand down my face. “There’s nothing to do.”

“That’s so far from the truth, and you know it,” she says with slight anger in her voice.

“You’re as bad as mom,” I say quietly. My door is open, and the last thing I need is my damn business floating out in the hallway for just anyone to hear.

I’ve spoken with my mother several times since Misty arrived. I’ve sent her more pictures and videos of the baby than I can count. My dad’s down with just having back surgery, or I know they’d be here already. She’s also been making noise about moving here from Tennessee. I love my parents, but the last thing I need is my meddling mother in the same town permanently.

“Mom’s a very smart woman,” Bri says looking back down at Griffin. She knows she’s not going to get anything out of me until I want to talk about it, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon, if ever.

My mom has asked the same questions relentlessly. She can’t understand why if both Misty and I are here, why we aren’t together. She’s gone so far as to ask about wedding plans and what the engagement ring looks like. I shut that shit down real fast. She’s disappointed, but she’s brought it on herself. My situation with Misty is nothing like hers and dad’s.

“She’s got her head in the clouds,” I say.

“She wants to see you happy.”

“I am happy,” I say a little too quickly for it to be the truth.

“Right,” she says standing from the floor. “Tell me more about Dominic.” I watch as she lies down on my bed on her stomach, knees bent with her feet in the air. It screams ‘girl time chat,’ and that is not going to fucking happen.

“Stay away from Dom,” I warn her.

Dom has finally discharged from the Marines. He did his twenty, and now he’s home permanently. I know there’s a party planned for him soon, and I can’t wait to catch up with him. We’ve been through a lot of shit together, but he’s been through even more. He’s the only one of us who made a career in the military. Kincaid was still a kid when he joined, and I know Kincaid followed in his footsteps because he has some sort of hero worship for the man. Honestly, most of us do here. He’s a force to be reckoned with.

“Is he a bad guy?” my sister says, never able to just heed a warning and leave shit alone.

“No, fuck,” I say growing even more frustrated. I look down at the baby who’s oblivious to my foul mouth but feel the shame nonetheless. “He’s one of the best men I know. He doesn’t do the relationship thing, Bri. You’ll only end up getting hurt.”

She crinkles her nose up. “I’m not looking for love. Hell, I can’t get rid of the damn asshole in my condo back home.”

She gets back up off the bed and walks to the door. “Plus, you don’t need to worry about my heart; you need to worry about hers,” she says pointing to the wall I share with Misty.

***

I pull the baby monitor out of my pocket and place it on the table before grabbing a beer out of the fridge. Ace and Snatch are at Jake’s keeping an eye on things, but every other member of the club is here in the garage, drinking beer and shooting the shit.

Dom hasn’t been home in over a year, so everybody is here to get a piece of him. He’s got kind of a celebrity status with some of the guys in the club. He looks tired and worn from years upon years of battle, but the smile on his face is genuine.

“Should I call you daddy?” he says looking at the baby monitor and then back to me.

I smile. “Only if you pull my hair and slap my ass first.”

“Come sit on my lap, and we can see what we can work out,” he says slapping his hand on his knee.

Itchy looks at me, then Dom, and back to me again. Then without a word he stands up grabs his beer and walks out, grumbling something about us being insensitive assholes.

“What’s crawled up his ass?” Dom asks before tilting his beer to his lips.

“Probably Snatch,” Snake says absently and then snaps his mouth shut.

“Itchy’s always been weird as hell,” Kincaid says from the other side of the table.

We spend hours in the garage, drinking beer and getting caught up. We decided it would be a great idea to have the Renegade MC over for the celebration. Some of the other guys are beyond excited about that because they always have a trail of new club girls following closely behind them. Fresh pussy and beer seem to be all it takes to keep these guys happy.

I don’t realize how late it’s gotten until the baby monitor crackles, and I hear Misty’s voice through the speaker.

“Shhh,” she coos softly. I hear the bedding rustle, and I can picture in my mind her reaching and getting the baby out of the crib. “Did Daddy keep you up late?”

Her voice trails off, and I hear my door close softly behind her as she leaves my room. I hate that I’m out here and wasn’t in there to see her when she came home. I may not speak with her very often, but man do I love to look at her.

I know she’s going to go nurse him and put him back in the crib I finally convinced her to get for her room. The idea makes my cock thicken. Not at the image of her nursing my son, because that’s just fucked up, but the thought of her gorgeous tits leaves me unable to control my own fucking body.

I realize the entire room has gone silent, and I look up to find every club member’s eyes on me.

“What?” I ask.

Everyone begins to laugh raucously. “Man,” Dom says slapping me on my back. “You are so fucked.”