Page 43 of Triple the Secrets
“You’d seriously take us around all those hot bikers and expect us to fight you?” Win said with a slow, evil smile. “I’ve seen some of your friends and they are H-O-T.”
He narrowed his eyes. He knew they were baiting him, but he couldn’t stop himself from snapping, “Like hell. I’ll ship you off to a convent.”
“You know, you’re sounding awfully paternal,” Wren pointed out with a wicked grin. “Now that you and Scarlett are a thing, you should know that I refuse to call you Father, Daddy, or Dad.”
“Thank God,” he said drily. “Now I can sleep at night.” They chuckled, and he fought back a smile. They were relaxed, and the shadows in their eyes were gone. “Now, I’m going to tell you this once and then we’ll never mention it again, unless you want to.” They lost their smiles and nodded slowly. “You two are pains in my ass, but for some damn reason, I don’t want to let you or Scarlett go. Still might trade you in for some more polite-and-never-cause-trouble kind of kids when you piss me off, but I won’t be going anywhere. Hell, even if Scarlett and I don’t work out, I’m not just going to leave you to fend for yourselves. You see shit that makes you nervous or uncomfortable, you call me or any of my brothers. I’ll give you all their names and numbers, and you put them in your phones.
“I’m not the kind of guy who will hold your hand and pat your head to make it all better. I’m going to be the man to listen and then let you figure shit out on your own. That means you want to go and learn self defence, I’ll take you. That means you want to go to a shrink and talk that shit out, I’ll drive you. Or if that means you just want to sit and stew, I’ll walk the hell away and let you. But don’t you ever think that you’re broken or defenseless. You’re nothing of the damn sort, and hearing you talk down about yourselves like that is a surefire way to piss me off. Got it?”
Both girls nodded, and he swore he saw Win blink back tears. Wren swallowed hard, but she resolutely held his stare. “We were really worried we ruined everything between you and Scarlett,” Wren finally said.
“Scarlett and I can figure out our own shit, so don’t worry about it,” he said gruffly.
Both of them nodded. “Thanks, Rogue,” Wren said quietly. Win nodded her agreement.
To lighten the mood he added, “And you two can stop texting me all that stupid shit you were before. Who the hell needs to know ten different ways to pick up women anyway?”
Both of them chuckled. “Apparently not you, big guy,” Win winked. “But you shouldn’t completely rule that out. Scarlett could still dump your ass.”
“Maybe I’ll dump her,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
They both snorted. “Yeah, right,” Wren scoffed. “We all know that Scarlett is the cream of the crop and if you screw it up, you’re an idiot. Just saying.”
“Thanks for the confidence, girls,” Scarlett’s amused voice said behind them. Rogue stiffened and turned. He hadn’t even heard her. She was sitting on the bottom stair, hair tousled from sleep, wearing only a long t-shirt and a pair of skimpy shorts. Scarlett eyed him for a moment and then gave him a soft smile before she looked at the girls. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“We were, but then the camera buzzed to let us know someone was outside,” Wren answered honestly. “Figured it was him, and we both agreed we should talk to him. Make sure we were good.”
“I heard that part,” Scarlett said. “You’re both good?” She didn’t even look at him, and Rogue glanced back at the girls for confirmation.
They both nodded. “I’m still not calling him Daddy Rogue,” Wren quipped.
“Ooooh, we could call him Uncle Grouch,” Win suggested excitedly. “I mean, get him a huge garbage can to sleep in and he could totally pull it off.”
Scarlett snorted out a laugh as he glared at the girls. “Can still send you to that convent,” he warned them, but there was no heat in his words.
“You’d miss us,” Win said cheekily.
“Like a hole in the head,” he muttered.
“Heard that,” Wren snickered.
“Alright, well, I’m tired and it’s late,” Scarlett interrupted. “So you girls go to bed.”
“You staying the night?” Wren asked him.
“I’ll be watching outside,” he answered, not looking at Scarlett.
“I think the cat’s out of the bag that you two are a thing now. I think you could stay inside from now on,” Win said drily. “Just don’t walk around buck ass naked and we’ll be fine.”
“Go to bed,” he said with a sigh. “I’m seriously questioning my damn sanity with you two.”
“We make life interesting,” Wren said with a grin.
“Bed,” Scarlett ordered with a soft laugh. “You can pick on him in the morning.” Both girls grinned at him before they headed up to their room.
When they were gone, Rogue looked at Scarlett, who still sat on the stairs. “I’ll be outside,” he told her.
She shook her head. “Come to bed, Rogue. I’m not up for more tonight, but I like the idea of you protecting us from inside rather than outside.”
