Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige Page 0,57

my honor for you to meet Eugene and the kids.”

“Kids, huh? Getting a pre-made family to boot? Well, good for you. It’s about time someone made an honest woman out of you.” If he only knew just how dishonest Eugene had really made me.

“They’re going to need a grandpa figure in their life. Think you might want to be that for them?”

“Grandpa?” he considers it. “I like the sound of that. Bring the kids with you too.”

“When do you go?”

“I’m on my way there now.”

“Would you like a ride?”

“Nah,” he answers with a dismissive wave. “They’re supposed to send some van to collect me and my things. You let me get settled in for a couple of days and then come by.”

Walking over, I hug him. He’s stiff at first, but then he hugs me back. “Thank you for watching out for me.” Releasing me, he backs away, shaking off the faintest look of sadness.

“Now don’t go getting all emotional on me. I better get going before I miss the keepers from the VA coming to get me.” Picking up my box, he hands it to me. “Don’t forget your promise, or my burgers.”

“I won’t.”

I watch him walk away before I let the tears flow freely. Knowing that he’s going to be safe and looked after is the best last day of work gift I could have asked for. He’s a good man who’s had a hard life. It’s high time he got to enjoy his golden years.

Unlocking the car door, I slide the box into the passenger seat. The top goes askew, and the edge of a file that I had tucked away into my personal effects peeks out.

The file containing my last act of helping someone in the system had failed. A system that’s taken a year to even consider his right to access his birth records. Records that have been in our system since he was adopted from foster care at the age of two.

“Tyson Jackson, it’s your lucky day.”

I flip open the file, my phone at the ready to call him. While it rings, I finger out the copy I’d made of his birth certificate. My eyes scan the names as he picks up.

“Hello?”

All that escapes my lips is a gasp when I see the names listed.

Judge

“Make a left here,” Grace says, pointing at a side street that’s definitely not going to help us get to our destination.

“Put your finger down, woman,” I tease. “I know where we’re going.”

“I have a stop to make first.”

“A stop where?”

“Don’t you worry about it. Just make a left. You’ll see when we get there.”

Natalie’s head pokes up over the back of the seat. “Are we not going to see your friend? I thought that’s where we were going.”

“You and me both, kid,” I grumble, but I follow Grace’s directions, and once the coast is clear, I make a left.

She settles back in her seat, a smile plastered on her face, her hair blowing in the wind from the open window. She looks so different this way. No skinny skirts and tight buns. Instead, she wears ripped jeans, sandals, and a white shirt that shows off just the right amount of cleavage for my liking. And I like.

Her hair is loose, her lips are shiny with gloss, and if the kids weren’t sitting in the backseat of this truck, I’d be pulling over to the side of the road to show my appreciation.

“We are,” she assures us. “Greg’s looking forward to meeting all of you.”

“Is he like your grandpa or something?” Natalie asks.

Grace considers that. “Kinda,” she replies. “More like a pseudo-uncle.”

I look in the rearview mirror just in time to see Nat’s nose crinkle in confusion. “A what uncle?”

“A pseudo-uncle,” she repeats. “Like a pretend uncle. Or a stand-in uncle. He’s not my real uncle, but he takes the place of one. That’s why he wants to meet all of you. He said he wanted to meet my new family.”

That word bounces around the inside of the truck with the weight of a bowling ball.

“We’re your family?” Natalie questions, her eyes wide and filled with more hope than any thirteen-year-old girl should have to feel. And if I’m being honest, I’d like to hear the answer to that question too.

Smiling, she turns in her seat and reaches back, placing her hand on Natalie’s knee. “Mr. Judge and I are in a new relationship,” she tells her. “And I honestly can’t make any promises on what will happen with that.”

I