Page 81 of Make or Break

He shook his head. “We knew he was living with someone. Are you a home wrecker?”

I clenched my jaw, but had to pull Mickayla to me before she launched herself across the table. With my lips near her ear, I spoke in a low voice. “Wild child, what’d I tell you?”

She exhaled hard. “Nobody talks to me like that.”

I pulled my head away. “No shit, but he’s saying what at least three of my brothers are gonna accuse me of in church.”

“Three?” she asked, her tone outraged.

That number was conservative, but Nickel, Gamble, and probably Cynic were going to think that. I wasn’t going to speculate with her, though.

“That’s the way some of them think.”

“It’s wrong,” she said.

“Those are my brothers,” I said.

“Are they really the brothers you deserve then?”

“Doesn’t matter, sis. We let people be who they are,” Ricochet said.

She turned to him. “Oh? But they get to judge him for being with me? That’s hypocritical.”

Ricochet leaned forward. “You think the judgment stops with the brothers? He’s not that much younger than Dad. You wait until someone asks him if he and his daughter are ready to be seated. You’re gonna be judged by the outside world all the time.”

Fucking hell.

He was right. That was another thing we hadn’t discussed.

“Fuck ‘em,” Mickayla said.

That was my gut reaction, and I loved that she voiced it. I bit back my grin.

Ricochet shrugged. “I’m with you, Mick, but it won’t be easy.”

“Love never is,” she said.

His eyes widened. “Love?”

Mickayla tilted her head. “We’ve been getting close for months. It’s why I lost my mind at the other woman accusations.”

Ricochet stared at me. “Are you on the same page?”

“If I don’t get tossed out of the club, I’m having Abby order a cut for her.”

I felt Mickayla’s eyes on me. No matter how much I wanted to see the look on her face, I had to impress on her triplet how dedicated I was to her.

“Shit. You look happy even while losing your patch is possible. That’s devotion.” He paused. “She deserves that.”

“She deserves more than that, but I plan to make her the happiest woman in the world.”

Mickayla pointed at Ricochet. “Can you pass that on to Dad and Ry? That he’s devoted—”

“Don’t put him in the middle,” I said.

She looked up at me. “We need all the help we can get, honey.”

I arched my brows. “If I get stripped of my patch, and your family can’t see what that means - then, no amount of help will change their stance.”