Gunner’s texts hit my phone the next morning as I was pouring cereal for Riley. My brows knit at his insistence. Then realization hit; maybe he’d found my mark. He’d been helping me search, virtually at least. That’d be a damn good thing. I was tired of hunting for the bastard.
Yeah. Dropping Ri at school first.
Right.
“Eat up, baby.” I slid Riley’s bowl of cereal in front of her as she swung her legs with an early morning enthusiasm I wished I could tap into. The kid was always moving. She had two speeds: off and on.
“When is the pool coming?” she asked for the tenth time since we’d shared the news.
I chuckled. “Summertime. Remember?”
Her nose scrunched adorably. “And how long is that again?”
“It’s a little ways away, baby.” I reached over to tweak her nose. Her concept of time was still developing. I’d learned that the hard way. Generalizations were far more successful.
“Mama’s still sleeping?” she wanted to know.
I nodded. I’d kept Layla up late, celebrating. Wore her sweet ass right out. “I’ll take you to school.”
“Okay,” she agreed easily.
It was moments like this, when she accepted me as part of her life so naturally, that felt like the big wins.
“Go brush your teeth and we’ll head out,” I instructed a few minutes later when she’d finished breakfast.
“Okay, Daddy,” she chirped, sliding off the table and handing me her bowl.
I swallowed hard, trying not to visibly react as she skipped out of the room, oblivious to the fact that she’d just completely rocked my world.
“Morning, honey.” Layla yawned, wandering into the kitchen, hair mussed, still half asleep. “I can’t believe I almost slept through Riley leaving for school. I—” She stopped abruptly when she got a look at my shocked expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Riley, she called me Daddy,” I told her thickly. I was still wrapping my head around it.
Her whole face went soft as she stepped into me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “How do you feel about that?” she asked, looking up at me.
“That aside from having you say you love me, I just had one of the best moments of my life,” I replied honestly.
Her green eyes shone with unshed tears as she smiled.
I pulled her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m gonna give her what I never had. I’m gonna be the man in her life that never lets her down, that loves her unconditionally. I didn’t have that. For a long time I wasn’t sure I had it in me to give. But then I met you and Riley and I didn’t even have to think about it.”
She squeezed me tight, her small body anchoring mine. “We love you, baby.”
I kissed the top of her head as Riley came bouncing back into the room. I hauled her up into my arms. “Are you sad?” she asked curiously, studying my expression. Nothing got past her.
“No, baby. Really happy,” I assured her. “Let’s get you to school.”
And with that, I kissed my woman, took Riley by the hand, and started our day not knowing my entire world was about to be rocked yet again—in another way entirely.
“Gun.” I greeted him with a chin lift when I walked into the club a short while later. I’d found his big body hunched over a laptop on one of the couches, the club otherwise quiet at this early hour.
He looked up, a mixture of concern and apprehension in his eyes that immediately put me on edge. “Hey, man, take a seat.” He gestured to the couch adjacent to him.
Whatever he had to tell me, I knew instinctively I’d rather stand for it.
“You know how I’ve been digging around on the ADA,” he began, setting aside his laptop. “Cole also had me looking into the Riders, to make sure they’re true to their word. But also to get out ahead of any other blackmail potential.”
I nodded, my arms braced.