Page 5 of Triple the Secrets
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.
CHAPTERTWO
SCARLETT
She loved it when the library was quiet with hardly any people around. It was the perfect time for her to catch up on things, and it also meant few interruptions. She checked her watch and saw she had a bit until the twins showed up and they all headed home, when the library closed at five. Perfect amount of time to make sure she got ahead on her tasks.
She loved her job. Before everything happened, her first job had been working in a bookstore, and she had fallen in love with books. When she and the twins finally moved here, she was able to go back to school and take some night classes to get her degree to become a librarian.
Books were her escape, and she had finally landed this job a year ago. The hours were perfect, and it meant the girls had a safe place to come after school to work on their homework.
The past three years had been an adjustment, especially for the girls, but they were resilient. To the point that she had sent them to therapy because they were doing almosttoowell. She had figured they would struggle to readapt to a normal life, and deal with nightmares and so many other things, but even those were few and far between. The therapist said that it looked as if the girls were talking to each other, and by doing that, they were working it out themselves.
Scarlett didn’t push for them to share their feelings with her, but always made it clear that she would listen and help in any way she could. On some occasions, they would talk to her, and she would help them out, but for the most part, they seemed to act like normal teenagers. She kept a careful eye on them, but otherwise respected their privacy.
She was the one who had struggled the most in the past three years. She still suffered from nightmares at times, and she never felt truly safe. She always looked over her shoulder, and this was the longest they’d stayed in one place. Not that Lewis or Marc, the other man who helped them escape, believed that anyone was still looking for them. The two men checked up on them often, and would let her know if anyone was sniffing around or asking questions about them, but the traffickers seemed to have given up.
She wouldn’t allow herself to fully believe that, but it did ease something inside her to know that right now, they were safe.
She pushed those thoughts away and went back out into the main area of the library, glanced around, and paused on the little boy near the front window. A smile touched her lips. She recognized Ronin Savage immediately, and that meant that Gabe Ramirez was here with him. She didn’t see him when she looked around, but figured that was because he was already off pulling books from the shelves. Besides the girls, she had never met another child that was so curious about everything.
She went to move behind the desk to unload her armful of books, but before she could, she realized there was a man leaning against it, watching her. How the hell she missed him in the first place was beyond her. This man was impossible to ignore.
She put him at six-four, with a goatee around an unsmiling mouth, hard blue eyes with a glitter of something wild and reckless shadowing them, dark hair cut shorter on the sides, and a body that looked like it could crush and move mountains. He had thick biceps, big hands, and a broad chest and shoulders. His arms were covered in ink, and it only added to the rough and tough vibe he was projecting. She couldn’t see the lower half of him, but she would bet money he was just as broad there too. Hanging off his shoulders was a leather cut that declared him VP, of the Dragons MC, and his road name was Rogue.
Somehow, she knew that suited him, and that he was not a man you fucked with. He was dangerous, and she would do well to remember it.
“Hello,” she said politely. “How can I help you?” She purposefully kept her voice soft so she didn’t disturb the sweet little boy by the window.
He arched a dark brow at her. “You always this quiet and mousy?” he asked her bluntly. “Or are you just scared of bikers?”
Scarlett blinked at him. Irritation had her straightening to her full five-seven height—five-eight in her current kitten heels—and she pinned him with a cool stare. The one that librarians have cultivated for a very long time. Something in his eyes flashed as he held her gaze, but he didn’t move. In a normal voice, she clipped out, “Since you’ve obviously never stepped foot in a library before, it’s clear you’re unfamiliar with the proper etiquette for being in this kind of setting. Mainly that people don’t speak loudly, because people are here for peace and quiet. I’m sure you know how to use an inside voice? Or have your ears been so damaged from partying at your clubhouse that that particular skill is long forgotten?”
“Someone has claws,” he drawled. “Guess I can safely say you’re not the mousy sort.”
She gritted her teeth together. “Why thank you,” she drawled sarcastically back. “I can rest easy tonight, without having to wonder about your opinion of me.” His eyes flashed with amusement, even as his mouth pulled down in a slightly deeper frown. “Now, what can I help you with, Mr. Rogue?”
“Just Rogue, you can drop the Mr,” he replied. “Seeing as I’m the babysitter for the day, I need to find something to keep me occupied. You got some bike or car related books around this place?”
She bit back her retort that this was a library, and instead figured she should be the bigger person here. “We do,” she answered calmly. “I’ll show you if you like.”
“Sure,” he said with a casual shrug.
Well isn’t he just a ray of sunshine,she thought drily to herself. She moved around the desk and led him towards shelves near to where Ronin was quietly reading.
“Ronin, you stay put,” he said to the little boy, stopping close to him. Ronin gave him an absent nod, clearly not concerned with the order.
“I’ll watch him,” Gabe said as he emerged from the stacks with a short pile of books in his hands. He moved to the bean bag opposite Ronin and collapsed into it, perfectly content.
