Addictive (Houston Defiance MC #2) - K.E. Osborn Page 0,23

He may have lost his rank, but he gained a family. I’ll tell you now, we look after our own. And for your info… I’d rather be a dog than a dirty pig.”

Texas bellows out an oinking sound making all my brothers chuckle as the cop stands from his seat aggressively pushing his chair back so hard it topples over, but the side door swings open, and Ethan steps out.

“Now, now, boys, let’s just calm down. Defiance, there are chairs over there. Go, sit, and wait for your attorney to come out. All of you, get back to work. There’s no need for a pissing contest. Last thing I need is for there to be piss all over everything.”

I dip my chin at Ethan as my brothers and I start heading over to the waiting area.

Kevlar hesitates, watching his brother bossing everyone around.

That was him once upon a time.

This shit must be so strange for him.

Having the men who had his back once, so visibly turn on him now.

He lost his entire life because he chose the club. Because he fell for the daughter of a club member.

Where did that get him? I can’t help but feel for the guy.

I take a seat watching Kevlar as he turns and walks over to us. Dipping my chin to him, he sits next to me. I slap his shoulder. “Don’t spend time worrying about what they think. You made the right choice, Kevlar. You have two beautiful kids to prove it.”

He slumps into his seat, his eyes focusing on his blood brother. “Yeah, I do, but they’re not with me, are they? They’re living with my law-abiding brother. So, do I really have them when it all boils down?”

I’m not really sure what to say to that because it’s the truth, he doesn’t have them. Sure, Kevlar sees his kids all the time, but it’s not the same as having them with him at the club. Having them grow up as a part of the brotherhood and being part of our family.

Their mother grew up in the club.

Their grandparents are in the club.

Their father left the force to join the club.

And now Kevlar’s brother is holding it against him. I get Ethan’s doing it out of love for Sadie and Lucas. He truly believes the kids will suffer at the hands of the club, but Ethan hasn’t taken the time to get to know us. If he did, he would know his fears of the kids being harmed are unwarranted.

Ethan has blinders on. The club stole his brother from him. He won’t let it take his niece and nephew. In being so fucking firm about that fact, Kevlar has limited time with his kids. It’s crap. He’s a fucking good dad. The best. Those kids love him more than anything. But when your cop brother threatens to call in child services on you if you take them to the clubhouse, you damn well listen. At least this way, Kevlar still gets to see his kids whenever the hell he wants. Every day even. He just tells Ethan when he’s coming over. The arrangement works, but it’s not the same as having your kids with you. So, I get why Kevlar always has that sad demeanor about him.

“One day, brother, the kids will be old enough to make up their own minds about where they want to spend their time. Remember that.”

Kevlar weakly smiles.

Finley saunters out and over to us. I widen my eyes in shock. That didn’t take anywhere near as long as I thought it would. I stand as she holds her hand up to halt my barrage of questions. “Before you start, he’s okay. But the Baron has some video evidence against Zero. That’s how he was able to have him arrested.”

I jerk my head back. “What kind of video evidence?”

“Pretty fucking shitty evidence if you ask me. It shows grainy footage of a woman who looks like Rayne at the Dallas Market Center, it’s date and time-stamped the day Zero brought her back to the clubhouse…” She shakes her head. “Anyway, she’s browsing… there’s a guy wearing a hoody, but you can clearly see his hands, they’re tattooed, but you can’t make them out clearly enough to define the lines. It may or may not be Zero, it’s not conclusive. So, the woman who kind of looks like Rayne heads down a side alley and the guy in the hoody grabs hold, putting her into the back of a