Helpless (Steel Demons MC #5) - Crystal Ash Page 0,30
every dimension, but Jandro was a more skilled fighter. Not to mention, Gunner and I would let all hell break loose if he came within spitting distance of Mari.
I was just dumbfounded as to what his thought process was, if there was any processing going on in that big melon at all. What did he think snatching the baby would accomplish?
“I’ll let you see her whenever you want,” Tessa sniffed, pushing against Mari’s arm. “Just please, please give her back.” Big G doubled down, stepping away as he swung the car seat behind his back, making Tessa whimper. “Please stop doing that, she’s not strapped in.”
“I have rights to my own kids,” he insisted.
“Big G.” I stepped forward, Gunner and Shadow silently moving with me. “Give the baby back.”
“She’s mine!”
“That is an order from your president,” I continued. “If you do not comply, you’re out of the club.”
His eyes nearly bulged out of his head, they went so wide. “You’re not fucking serious!”
“Do I look like I’m joking? Look at you, swinging that thing around. You think that baby’s safe with you?”
“Look, we’ll find you guys a mediator,” Jandro said in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. “So you can work out visitation, custody schedules, whatever. But this is not the right way to do it, G.”
“Give the baby back to Tessa,” I ordered. “I will not repeat myself.”
Big G’s hand clenched around the arm of the car seat, and everyone stiffened. The last thing we wanted was for this to turn violent, but we’d given him plenty of warning.
In the time it took to blink, Shadow went from his position at my back, to squarely in Big G’s face. Now those two were much closer in size, with Shadow a few inches taller. He also had the benefit of being fucking intimidating, even to grown men.
“The president gave you an order,” he said, inches in front of Big G’s nose, hands resting on his belt where we all knew hidden knives sat at the ready.
With Big G distracted by Shadow sizing him up, Gunner snuck around and plucked the car seat from his hand.
“Hey!—”
“Don’t,” Shadow warned, his body eerily still, but ready to strike if needed.
Gunner went behind me to hand the baby back to Tessa, who let out a sob of relief.
“Escort them back.” I nodded to Jandro and Gunner, who began walking away with the women immediately. “Stay with me a moment, Shadow.”
“Yes, president.” He resumed his post at my back, leaving me to face a raging Big G.
“This is not the first time your impulsiveness has landed you in hot water,” I told him. “First you accuse Gunner of betraying us, now you’re kidnapping—”
“She’s my fucking kid too!”
“Yes, I heard you the first five times,” I snapped. “And after what you just did, I don’t see why Tessa should trust you with the kids.”
“I’m their fucking father! I have the right to see them!”
“And what if that baby fell out and hit her head while you were swinging her around?” I barked.
He stared me down, jaw clenching, without an answer to my question, which just pissed me off even more. Hades stepped forward and growled, showing off his teeth.
It wasn’t like me to get so involved with my men’s relationships, but Big G was getting under my skin in a major way. Maybe I was getting a soft spot for kids, not only due to thoughts of starting a family with Mari, but because the Steel Demons future was so up in the air now. Children were the only small hope for a possibly better world.
And if it had been Mari, sobbing and distraught because someone took our baby away—well, that someone wouldn’t be standing, nor in one piece. Big G was lucky. Maybe I’d allowed him to be too lucky.
My eyes slid to Hades, the answer immediate.
You will not reap. His life is not yours to take.
“This is your last warning, G,” I said, turning to walk away. “You step even one toe out of line, that cut on your back is going up in flames.”
Eleven
MARIPOSA
I didn't know what to expect once we crossed the border into Four Corners, but a long, noisy stretch of construction zone was not it.
The smell of fresh asphalt hit my nose as our vehicles gradually slowed. To my left and right, men in hard hats poured concrete foundations, sawed through fresh lumber, and assembled that lumber into frames for buildings.
Some structures looked brand new, while others appeared to have