Page 211 of Savage Devotion
His green eyes widened, excitement touching them.
Fuck, finally, some kind of communication.
“She’s there with her daughter. Ellis. They were going to make cookies, and then Dom and the twins are coming over to play with you. Maybe you can introduce Ellis to them. Can you do that?”
The light in his eyes died, and he looked at his feet. The elevator ended at our floor, and we got out, but I stopped him and crouched to speak to him.
“Hey, Laz, man, talk to me. Please, bud. I miss you. What can I do?”
He said nothing, continuing to look at the floor.
“Are you worried about making a new friend?”
He chanced a look at me, his cheeks turning red.
Fuck, he was scared. Kids at school were dicks to him, so he thought all new kids were dicks.
“Ellis is just like her mommy. She’s really sweet. You’ll love her, I promise. Can you go in there and be a good boy? Make her smile?”
He shrugged a little shoulder, but he looked past me to the door, moving back and forth from foot to foot in anticipation. I knew Laz’s excited tells. He was likely excited about seeing Rosalie. She’d made quite an impression on him.
It wasn’t like he was around a lot of women. Mostly it was just Ann, and he viewed her more as the grandmotherly sort, or even a sweet aunt, definitely not a mom.
Fuck. Rosalie as his mom would be a dream come true.
I shoved the thought completely out of my head. I wouldn’t do that to her. That would be the ultimate torture: waking upto see Laz and me every day and knowing how he came into existence.
I wouldn’t put her through that.
“Come on. You’re going to make a new friend today. It’ll be fun.” I stood and took his hand. Memphis was on watch and shot me a reassuring smile since the saints were well aware of what was happening with Laz.
I opened the door to our place and stepped inside. Ellis was sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, Cole next to her, while Rosalie laid everything out for their cookies.
They looked like the perfect family.
It was killing me that I wasn’t a part of that.
Luckily, Enzo wasn’t anywhere around, but I knew he was likely just in his office.
Cole noticed us first. A big smile spread across his face as he got up. Ellis followed his gaze, her blue eyes brightening as Cole moved past her to come to us.
“Hey, dude. I’ve missed you,” Cole said, reaching out for a hug from Laz. He hugged him back, but I noticed he’d looked at Rosalie before all his attention went to Ellis, who stood nervously behind Cole in her pretty pink dress. Rosalie joined us, and my nerves began to take over.
“How was school?” Cole continued. Laz didn’t answer, his gaze still on Ellis. He seemed mesmerized by her. Cole looked back at Ellis and held his hand out for her. She took it and joined him.
“Riot, this is Ellis. She’s my daughter,” he said. “Ellis, this is Lazarus.”
“Hello, Lizard,” Ellis said solemnly. “It’s nice to meet you.” She stepped up to hug him.
Laz froze as she put her arms around him. I didn’t think he’d hug her back, but I was stunned when he did.
“Oh, Lizard. You’re my best friend now,” Ellis said, giggling as she pulled away. “Do you like ballet?”
Laz kept his gaze trained on her as he shook his head. Cole shot me a grin at Laz’s communication.
“It’s OK if you don’t like ballet. I can teach you! Then you can dance with me!”
His little cheeks turned a light shade of pink before he offered her his Ninja Turtle. She took it, a smile on her face.
