We found Charlie in the kitchen a few minutes later, pulling eggs out of the fridge. Guilt flooded me as I watched her. She’d been awake when I’d arrived home last night, and we’d spoken briefly, but the fact I hadn’t stayed with her yesterday proved to me that I had a long fucking way to go while learning how to be a good father.
Her gaze met mine and she jerked her chin at me. “This shit ain’t gonna cook itself.”
Monroe laughed, and I grinned. Fuck, she had to be mine. She’d even started talking like me. “Monroe’s ready to get acquainted with our kitchen.”
Charlie paused and gave me a look that said I had to be kidding. “Our kitchen is a little dirty for Monroe to cook in today. Someone didn’t clean it up when he came home last night.”
My heart thumped in my chest. This was Charlie letting me know we were good. Hell, it was her letting me know we were better than good.
I jabbed my finger at Monroe and then pointed at a stool. “You sit your gorgeous ass there.” I then jabbed it at Charlie. “And you get me the bacon and some plates. You can also set the table.”
She frowned. “Hate to tell you, but there’s no bacon left. I ate it all for dinner last night.”
I ignored the guilt that reared its ugly head again. I’d lived with guilt over Charlie for a long time, but she’d signalled that it was time to move on, so I would.
“Scrambled eggs are good,” Monroe said, watching Charlie and me with a happy expression.
I rattled off a list of ingredients for Charlie to grab, and a minute later, I started preparing breakfast for my girls. After fourteen years of living on my own, I hadn’t thought I’d ever want to live with anyone again. I’d thought wrong. I wanted to move them both in today.
“What are you thinking there, tiger?” Monroe asked while I watched her, contemplating that thought.
Charlie burst out laughing. “Tiger?”
Monroe grinned at her. “Yeah, he’s very growly when he’s being bossy. Have you noticed that?”
“God, yes! I guess that name kinda suits him.”
Monroe looked back at me. “So? Your thoughts?”
I met her gaze as I stopped chopping onions. Placing the knife down, I said, “I’m moving you in, red.”
She stared at me, surprised. I couldn’t tell if she liked that idea or not, but whether she came willingly or kicking and screaming, I’d make damn sure it happened.
“Really? Just like that?” she finally asked, with the attitude my cock liked.
“Yeah,” I growled. “Just like that.”
She glanced around the kitchen before looking back at me. “Well, we’d need to get rid of some of these old appliances and stuff. And we’d need to move mine in. I hope you’re ready for some colour in this place. And candles. And bras hanging in the shower. And my toys.” She frowned a little. “Might have to rethink that last one with Charlie living here, too.”
“Geez, you people don’t move slowly, do you?” Charlie said.
“Life’s too short to move slowly, kiddo,” I said.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Monroe turned to her. “Your dad told me you’re moving to Sydney. Are you okay with me living here with you guys?”
Charlie thought about that. “Yeah, I’m cool.” Looking at me, she said, “But do me a favour, Aiden?”
If I’d thought my heart thumped before, it fucking ricocheted around in my chest at that. We hadn’t discussed getting a paternity test yet, but she seemed to accept that I was her father as much as I believed she was my daughter.
I held my cool. I’d figured out teens weren’t so much into parents being excited about shit. “Depends what this favour is.”
“Don’t call me kiddo again. If you must call me something every now and then, you can call me baby. But don’t make a habit out of it, okay?”
Fuck.
Did she have any idea that what she’d just said to me was everything?
I jerked my chin at her. “Noted. Now fill the sink with detergent. You’ve got shit to wash up before we eat.”
Chapter 36
Hyde
I arrived at the clubhouse around nine that morning. King exited his office as I walked towards it. “Wasn’t sure when you’d get in today,” he said.
After we’d taken care of Gibson’s body yesterday, I’d come back to the clubhouse and gone over some club business with him that couldn’t be put off, but he’d left me alone all night once I’d made it clear I didn’t want company.
“You let Monroe in last night?”
“Yeah, she called Nitro and asked him to organise it with me.”
I nodded. King and I rarely exchanged thanks, but we knew when the other offered it.
“Where are you at with your ex and your daughter?”
“I’ve organised a paternity test. We’ll have the results in five to ten days according to their website. Far as I know, Tenille’s gonna stick around in Sydney until they come back.”
“You think she’s yours?”
“I’m running with that thought, yeah.” The alternative had been too fucking painful, so I’d pushed it out of my mind.
Nitro joined us. Looking at King, he asked, “You heard from Kick? They had that baby yet?”
King grinned. “Yeah, had her this morning around five.”
“You got a name? Tatum’s gonna hound me until I give her one.”
“Jesus, Nitro, I never asked, he never said,” King muttered. “That woman has you fucking wound around her finger.”
Nitro shot him a filthy glare, but Devil interrupted us before he could respond.
“Spoke to Bronze this morning. He wanted me to let you know that he still doesn’t have anything on Ryland.”
“Why haven’t we heard even a whisper from the fucking feds?” I asked. As far as Bronze had led us to believe, that would have been a given after we dealt with the Italians.
“Yeah, that’s been on my mind, too,” King said.
“We need to keep moving,” I said. “Get Marx out there again to keep showing us all the places where he met with those assholes. It’s only a matter of time before Ryland shows his face again, so the more we can get done before then, the better.” Devil and Nitro had taken Marx out for a few hours yesterday, but hadn’t come up with much.
King nodded his agreement. Jerking his chin at me, he said, “You and Nitro take him out. I’ve gotta take Jen to her ultrasound this morning.”
It surprised me that he was so involved in her pregnancy. But that was King—doing shit you never expected from him.
I entered my home late that afternoon after a long fucking day of club work that yielded no results. Morale in the club was dropping with each passing day that we couldn’t figure out who the fuck was behind all the shit going on.
I dumped my keys and phone on the kitchen counter and went in search of Charlie. Finding her in the lounge room, I collapsed onto the couch next to her.
“You look like shit,” she said.
I glanced her way, doing a double take when I saw her hair. “You coloured your hair?”
She touched it. “Yeah. Do you like it?”
I knew I had to tread carefully with this. Females were fucking touchy about their hair. “It’s different.”