Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige Page 0,47

Eugene.”

I blow out a shaky breath. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

Her lips graze mine for a fraction of a second. “Thank you for telling me about Shane.”

Hearing his name said out loud is like a tiny stitch in the gaping wound left from his passing. That wound has never healed, and I’ve never spoken about it. Maybe that’s why it still hurts, like it just happened yesterday.

Leaning over, I press my lips against her forehead, thankful for her and the way things have worked out.

When I’d first met Grace, I thought she would be my biggest nightmare, but it’s starting to look like she may just be my salvation instead.

Grace

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

That’s all my phone has been doing since I called off work again. If it’s not Eric, it’s Aaron, one right after another. It’s like the two of them are in constant communication about my whereabouts now. Eric, I can understand, as I never call off work. Ever. I’ve worked with my head in a trash can after getting food poisoning before, so calling off multiple days in a row is out of the ordinary for me. I know I’ll have to come up with some plausible reason for being out so many days soon, or he’ll send out for a wellness check on me.

Aaron calls again, and I send him straight to voicemail. The fourteenth voicemail notification this morning pops up on the screen. I swipe it away to ignore it. Take the hint, buddy. I’m busy.

Setting my phone down on the table, I watch as Eugene works with Kevin on some math problems his school sent over at the kitchen table. How he convinced them that the kids were very ill and would likely be out for a few weeks, I’ll never know. But whatever he did, the teachers sent homework every day to their school email accounts.

Catching me watching them, he pats his big hand on top of the table and winks back at me. My face flushes instantly at his reminder of what we did on that very table just a few nights ago. Seeing this, his smile only gets bigger.

I roll my eyes at his distance flirting and return to helping Natalie with her reading. She sits calmly next to me, reading aloud from a chapter book she had brought home from school. She sounds out each word carefully, but stops every few sentences to ask me for help. She has a lot of catching up to do. Thanks to her uncle, she’s academically stunted, and it isn’t going to be easy to get her where she should be. Until things get settled, though, Eugene and I are doing what we can to help them both.

The crunch of a vehicle pulling up to the front of the house draws my attention. Pushing aside the sheer curtain behind me, I watch as a black sedan with dark windows park directly behind Eugene’s motorcycle.

“Eugene,” I call out. “Someone’s here.”

Pushing away from the table, he takes long strides into the living room. Not quite running, but definitely in a hurry. He peers through the curtain.

“Kevin,” he snaps. “Take your sister and do what I told you to do when we talked.”

My heart sinks to my feet. “What’s going on?”

“Police,” he bites out. “Kevin. Move, son.”

Running into the room, he grabs Natalie by the arm and tugs. “Come on. You need to come with me.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she cries, shoving Kevin away. “I want to stay with you.”

Eugene sighs. “Nat, go. Now. And stay with Kevin. I’ll come get you when it’s safe.” Setting her book down on the table, she follows her brother to the back of the house.

My heart thumps in my ears as I hear heavy footsteps trudging up the front sidewalk, and then a loud pounding rattles the door. Eugene’s hand slips to the back of his jeans, resting on a handgun tucked into the back of them. Shifting off of the couch, I stand behind him.

“Open up! I know she’s in there,” Aaron’s voice booms from the other side of the door.

Oh my God. If I could crawl into a gaping hole in the ground, I would. An angry heat sets me on fire from the inside out as I step around Eugene and put myself between him and the door. Between him, his gun, and Aaron.

My hand trembles as I reach for the knob. Eugene’s hand comes down hard on top of mine, stopping me.

“I can hear you on the