Have you been waiting to read about Rogue & Scarlett? Well, now you can get a sneak peek of their story before it's out on September 13th. A reminder that this story is dark, and to please check the trigger warnings before reading all the way through. You can check them out HERE.
**This chapter is copyrighted by Emily Rose LeFloch and cannot be used in any way, including copying, downloading, or uploading to another site.**
ROGUE
He scowled at both men as they regarded him expectantly. “Let me get this straight,” he said slowly. “You want me to take your kids to the damn library for a couple of hours, all so you both can bang your women without the kids around to hear? I got that right?”
Fury nodded. At six-four, he and Rogue stood eye to eye, but while Rogue had thicker muscle, Fury was lean. Fury had thick black hair, a goatee, and a glint in his eyes that could turn into a storm in a heartbeat if you pissed him off. Add in the ink that covered his arms, and most would turn and run the other way when they saw him. “Brother, I just bought some new stuff to try, and I want her to scream as loud as she wants, and I need that to happen before I go insane, because she has refused to use them with Gabe in the house.”
Unmoved, Rogue regarded Savage. “What’s your excuse? You and your woman go at it like rabbits anyway and normally don’t give a shit if anyone hears.”
Savage smirked, clearly pleased about that. Savage was a huge man; standing at six feet five inches of pure muscle, he was the tallest out of all of them, though not by much. “She’s pregnant, man, and right now, she’s horny as hell, and since Fury wants you to take Gabe to the library, Ronin will be upset if he isn’t invited along.”
Rogue sighed heavily. “You both realize I have a shit load of work to do, right?” he grunted. “You know, running the business that we own.” He glared at Fury. “And you taking away my office manager for some afternoon fun ain’t exactly best business practice.”
Fury shrugged. “I heard she already threatened to shoot Razor once today for pissing her off, so think of it as a favor. I’m making sure no one ends up with a bullet in their ass for you.”
“I can do that all on my own,” Rogue reminded him drily. “Fine, fine, I’ll do it. You both owe me, though,” he added with a pointed look. “And I will be collecting.”
“Anything, man,” Fury promised. His dark eyes glittered with anticipation. “Gabe and Ronin are playing with Neron behind the clubhouse. A prospect’s watching them.” Then, without another glance, he turned on his heel and stalked towards the office area of the garage. Rogue and Savage watched as he rounded the desk, took his Old Lady, Esme’s, hand and hauled her to her feet. She started to struggle, but stopped when he put his mouth near her ear. When she glanced through the doorway at Rogue, Rogue rolled his eyes at her and nodded. She grinned, and then they were out the door.
Savage clapped Rogue on the shoulder and said, “Don’t let the boys talk you into too much, brother. They’re sneaky when they put their minds to it.”
“They’ll make damn good brothers when they grow up,” Rogue told him. Then, just to needle him, he added, “Hopefully you did your job right and this newest one will, as well. Cause we’re all fucked if it’s a girl, brother. None of us know how to deal with little girls around here.”
Savage scowled at him. “Don’t even say those words. As far as I’m concerned the only kids that will be running around here are boys, and they’ll be hell on wheels by the time they’re teenagers.”
Rogue arched a brow at him. “How many boys are you planning on having?”
“As many as my woman will let me,” Savage grinned. “Especially since I love the part where we get to practice making them.” Then he walked off, whistling.
“Sickening listening to those two,” Razor commented from the next bay.
“You could be that way too, if you took your woman in hand,” Rogue pointed out as he turned his head to look at him.
Razor scowled. Esme’s best friend, Karissa, was giving his brother the run around. Karissa was wild and, personally, Rogue couldn’t understand what had Razor so tied in knots about her. The woman was headstrong, and she had no problem going toe to toe with any of them. Hell, Rogue respected her because she was damn fierce, and she had helped them rescue Gabe when his sack of shit grandfather had kidnapped him. With a concussion, to boot.
Now, though, she was back to working in town at her job, and it pissed Razor off that she purposely avoided him as much as possible.
“Not so sure I want to anymore,” Razor grumbled, tossing his wrench angrily on the bench. Razor was an easy going guy, and for him to show this much emotion, told Rogue he was talking out his ass. He wanted the firecracker, and he didn’t like it.
Rogue rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to get the kids. Make sure this place doesn’t burn to the ground.”
“No promises with Jax around,” Razor said loudly, making Jax, another brother and mechanic, lift his hand from underneath the hood of the car he was working on, and flip them off.
Rogue put away his tools and then headed to where Fury said he could find the kids. Rounding the corner of the building, he saw the boys sitting in the grass, Fury’s German Shepherd beside them, and no prospect in sight. He narrowed his eyes and hollered, “Come on, boys. We’re going to the library.”
“Yay!” Ronin cried excitedly, jumping up and running towards him. At four, he was the spitting image of Royal, right down to the red hair and green eyes, and he was full of questions. “I love the library,” he said excitedly as he flung himself at Rogue and hugged his leg, grinning up at him.
Rogue didn’t like many people, but he had a soft spot for kids. Especially Ronin. He’d been around since Ronin came into the picture, and he knew this kid had a lot of spunk.
Behind him came Gabe. At eight, he was very smart, and while he was trying to act cool, Rogue could see that he was excited to be going too. If he wasn’t playing with Ronin and the dog, he was reading. Rogue had a feeling that he was going to be running circles around them before too long. He was a bit lanky, with dark black hair and dark eyes, and while he wasn’t Fury’s biological kid, the kid reminded him plenty of Fury. Right down to the way he walked.
“Thought Mama was going to take us,” he said when he reached them.
Rogue shrugged. “She and your Papa are busy, so it’s my turn,” he said mildly, reaching down and swinging Ronin up and onto his shoulders. Ronin cheered and gripped him by the hair to keep steady. “Watch it, little man, or you’ll be pulling out all my hair,” he warned the little boy.
Ronin loosened his grip. “Sorry, Uncle Rogue.”
“All good, kid.”
“Mama and Papa are always busy,” Gabe grumbled. “I swear I better be getting a little brother out of this deal, or I’m gonna have to have a talk with Papa.”
Rogue snickered, unable to stop himself. Guess he didn’t have to figure out a way to explain just what the kid’s parents were doing; seemed he had figured that out all on his own. “You do that and let me know how it goes,” he told him. “For now, though, we’re heading to the library, and that means we need to go and grab a cage.” He glanced around again. “Where’s the prospect that was supposed to be with you?”
Gabe pinched his mouth down into a scowl. “He ran off to be with some girl,” he sneered. “Told us to stay put and not bother him.”
“And how long ago was that?” Rogue asked him as calmly as he could, though inside he was seething. That punk assed kid was going to be out on his ass before the end of the day.
Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know cause I forgot my watch at home, but I’d say at least an hour.”
Fucker, Rogue snarled in his head. He nodded at Gabe and they continued to walk in silence to where the SUVs the club kept around for such a time were parked in a smaller garage not far from the clubhouse. There were a lot of large and small buildings around their compound, and Rogue liked it that way. They weren’t close to the city, and most people, even the cops, left them alone.
Rogue checked to make sure there was a booster seat for Ronin, and then let them both climb in and buckle up before they headed for the gate. He slowed to a stop when he saw Ice climbing off his bike near the clubhouse, and rolled down his window. Ice tipped his chin to him and waited expectantly. “Prospect left the kids alone,” Rogue told him calmly. “Went off with a girl. Find him and kick his ass out. I’ll tell Savage and Fury later when I get back.”
Ice nodded. “Done,” he said calmly, turned, and headed in search of the soon-to-be-hurting prospect. Ice wasn’t known to be gentle. There was a reason they called him that, and it wasn’t for his manners.
Gabe snickered in the back. “Asshole is about to get an ass whooping.”
Rogue glanced at him in the rearview mirror before driving towards the gate. “Probably,” he agreed. What was the point in lying? “And best watch that mouth around your Mama, boy, or you’re going to be getting one, yourself.”
Gabe opened his mouth to argue, but then snapped it shut and sighed. “Yeah, I know. I thought for sure that she would loosen up once she and Papa got together, but I guess that was wishful thinking.”
Rogue nodded at the prospect at the gate when he let them out, and headed for town. “It’s one thing to curse in front of the guys, but it’s another to curse in front of your Mama,” Rogue pointed out. “So just make sure you don’t get into the habit of saying that stuff until you know you’re in the clear.” He glanced at Ronin in the rearview mirror. “You either, little man.”
Ronin gave him an impish grin. “Okay,” he promised.
Rogue nodded and let a small smile touch his lips as he continued down the road towards town. He wasn’t a smiler, but these kids were damn amusing. He’d grown up hard and got toughened up at a young age. That’s what happened when you were raised by a single mother in the worst part of a town where drugs and crime were rampant. Hell, he had fought off his first predator at age six. Bastard probably still had a scar from where he had stabbed him in the leg.
His mother died when he was eighteen, but she had done her best. At least he didn’t have the fate that Fury did with his druggie whore of a mother. Still, they had both survived, and he didn’t dwell on the past. He had his club and the brotherhood that kept him sane—mostly—and a job he enjoyed. He didn’t need anything else.
When he reached the library, the parking lot was empty except for one car near the back of the lot. Rogue glanced around as he parked. This place had better not be closed, he thought darkly. He wasn’t sure what the hell he would do with the kids if it was. He glanced at the display on the dashboard and saw it was only one o’clock, so it should be open. “Always this quiet around here?” he asked the boys as he turned off the SUV and then climbed out, moving around to help Ronin.
“We normally don’t come this early,” Gabe said.
Rogue let the boys walk ahead of him a little, but he kept a close watch just in case. After the shit they’d all been through in the past couple months, he couldn’t be too careful.
When they walked inside, Rogue looked around and took in the stacks and stacks of books, the tables and chairs that filled the large space, and then the desk that took up a good chunk of the middle of the room. He couldn’t remember the last time he had stepped foot into a library, and he had no idea where to take the boys. He looked down at Gabe. “You know where you’re going?” he asked him.
Gabe nodded. “Ronin always goes to the kids section there,” he said, pointing towards the front right corner near the window. Rogue saw the play mat on the floor, along with bean bags, and smaller sized chairs. It was bright and playful, and Ronin made a beeline for it. “I’m going over there,” Gabe told Rogue, pointing to another area.
Rogue glanced at the stacks just past the kids area and saw it was clear enough that he could keep an eye on him. “Don’t go far,” he warned. “And no naked books.”
Gabe curled his lip in disgust. “Why would I want to look at naked people? Gross.”
Rogue chuckled as Gabe stalked off. Rogue looked back at Ronin, who was already grabbing a book with a large moose on the front and was settling on a bean bag, ready to dive in.
Rogue turned and looked around the room, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do for the next few hours. He wasn’t a reader, so this wasn’t his idea of fun. He was going to be bored out of his mind if he didn’t find something to keep him entertained.
A sound pulled his attention, and he saw a woman making her way out from a door at the other end of the room and heading for the desk in the center of the room. He’d have to see if they had any car or bike books in this place or he was going to be taking the kids back early. Screw his friends. He didn’t sign up to be bored.
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