Page 78 of Vandal Unbound

Her body meets mine, and it’s not careful at all.

I groan into her mouth because, fuck, she’s here. Warm and trembling and tasting like sweet tea and fear and relief.

My hands slide from her face to her back. I pull her in until there isn’t room between us for all the things I almost lost and all the things I need to say.

She breaks the kiss first. Barely. Her lips stay against mine, her breath shaking. “Elsie.”

My forehead drops to hers, but I do ease my grip on her for the sake of propriety.

She shudders a little. But her hands don’t stop moving, climbing higher and higher on my chest like she needs to check the shape of me, like she’s forgotten what it felt like to have me close.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call. In hindsight, I should have,” I say.

“You did what you had to do, but I’m glad to see you,” she says.

A small sound comes from the sofa. A gasp. Then bare feet slap across the wood.

“Vandal!”

I release Daisy just in time for Elsie to launch herself at me. Her arms lock around my neck so tight, she nearly chokes me. Her face presses into the side of my throat, and her whole little body shakes.

“There was a mean man, and you were gone,” she says.

Jesus Christ. Talk about knocking a man out in one sentence. I close my eyes, one hand spread over the back of her head the other arm underneath her butt, holding her to me like she weighs nothing. It’s taken ten days away to realize I had no clue just how empty my arms could feel.

“I was,” I say.

“You didn’t say bye.”

“No, ma’am. But I won’t do that again.”

“Did the doctor fix you?” Elsie asks.

I have no idea what story Daisy told her is my reason for leaving, but the question seems to sum it up nicely. “Some.”

“Did you get shots? Because I hate shots.”

I shake my head. “Not where I went.”

She eyes me suspiciously. “Did they have snacks?”

That makes both me and Daisy chuckle. “The snacks sucked, and so did the coffee.”

She cups my cheek carefully. “Momma could make you some good coffee. She sighs when she drinks hers in the morning.”

“This is true,” Daisy says. “One day when I’m rich, I’m gonna buy myself one of those barista-style coffee stations for the kitchen.”

“And an ice cream maker,” Elsie adds.

I reach out my arm to tug Daisy back to me. We both wrap our arms around each other and Elsie, and suddenly my world feels more complete than I knew was possible. I stand andbreathe the two of them in as my throat closes. When I look down at Daisy, the look on her face punches through me harder than any fist ever has.

Footsteps thudding up the stairs remind me that we’re not alone in this room. Maren is busying herself over by the bed. And Havoc is leaning with his back against the kitchen counter. But it’s Knox who steps into the shadow of the doorway, his expression hard.

He’s been a lot of things to me in recent weeks. A friend. An MC brother. A father figure.

But right now, he’s standing there as my president.

“We need to talk,” he says.