Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige Page 0,37

needed a little help, so I asked him. He just told me to get lost.”

“I’ll take care of it, Natty Kat. Why don’t you go get your homework, and maybe Miss Grace will help you with it?” He looks over his shoulder, and I nod.

She smiles up at me. “Really?”

“Of course I will.”

Pushing away from Eugene, she runs back into the living room, and I hear her taunting her brother about how much trouble he’s in.

Running back in with her book, she takes me by the hand and drags me to the kitchen table. Eugene watches us for a few minutes before heading into what I assume is a hard conversation with Kevin about his behavior. Turning my attention back to Natalie, she reads a few pages and stops, repeating a sentence over and over again.

“See!” she exclaims. “How can the word there mean three different things? It’s so confusing.”

I chuckle. There are grown adults who don’t know the difference between their, there, and they’re. “Their means belongs to them. They’re means they are. And there means the opposite of here. Like, over there.”

She wrinkles her nose. “That’s still confusing.”

She’s right. It is confusing. “Um... Let’s try them in sentences and see if you can figure out the right version of each word.”

I watch as she writes out the sentences in scribbled handwriting, and for the first time, I realize that for a child her age, she’s extremely far behind in reading, and God knows what else. She’s going to struggle unnecessarily thanks to her upbringing.

A noise draws my attention to the doorway where Eugene waves me over.

“Keep going. I’ll be right back,” I tell her, pointing at the page.

Slipping from the chair, I walk over to him. His face is nearly unreadable.

“I have to go take care of something.”

“Oh, I can go if you need me to leave.”

“That’s not what I’m asking, Grace. I know I have no right to ask, but can you stay here with the kids?”

“You’re putting that much trust in me?” It wasn’t too long ago that I was here to remove the kids. Now he wants to leave them alone with me?

“You’re already here, and my niece Lindsey is at her night class. It would save me a lot of time if you could.”

I really shouldn’t be considering it, but his eyes are begging me to accept. It would be nice to be alone with the kids again. Without his influence around, I might connect with Kevin.

I give in. “Sure.”

“It shouldn’t be long. I normally send the kids to bed around nine, but Kevin’s already in his room. If he gives you any trouble, remind him of our little talk.” He gives me a wink. “Nat, I have to leave for a bit. You be good for Miss Grace.”

“You mean you’re staying the night?” she asks, her eyes wide. “Can we have a sleepover? I’ve always wanted to have one.”

“I can’t stay the night—”

“Of course she will,” Eugene answers for me without looking in my direction. He’s smarter than he looks. “I’ll just leave you two ladies to have your fun. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Grabbing his keys and cut from the counter, and heads out the back door. The second it shuts, Natalie gives me a mischievous look.

“Do you like scary movies?”

What did I just agree to?

Judge

Grace, with a tight bun and serious expression, is a beautiful woman. Watching her sleep on my couch with her hair all over the place is breathtaking. She’s stretched out on her back, with one foot resting on the floor. Her mouth is open just a little, but she’s taken her hair down, the loose curls flowing around her sleeping face.

It’s almost two o’clock in the morning though, and there’s no way she’s spending the night on this lumpy ass couch. “Grace,” I whisper, nudging her shoulder.

Nothing.

“Grace.” This time, I say it a little louder, shaking her shoulder.

Still, nothing.

“Darlin’, either you wake up, or I’ll carry your ass up to bed. Your choice.”

Her forehead wrinkles with a frown before her eyelids flutter open. She blinks up at me and her frown deepens. “I’m not getting in your bed.”

She sits up, turning to right herself on the couch, which puts her on the opposite end from where I stand. “Did you just get home?”

I nod. “Alarm went off at a garage we just bought. Nobody there, but a window was broken, so we stuck around to board it up.”

“Who would do that?”

I chuckle. “The Black