She couldn’t remember anything about her mother prior to being put in the system, and over the last couple of days, she knew why. Her mother had left her alone at every single turn. There was no other explanation for her to have had five years with a woman, and only vaguely recall a handful of kindnesses. Probably when she was doped up.
The woman she’d met earlier wasn’t the woman she’d hoped to find. She had seen some of the mothers come to the foster homes, all changed, all happy, ready to take their kids. Fighting for them.
She’d been one of the few who had a parent and got nothing back.
Pushing all of those thoughts and memories aside, she looked at the men, wondering what their deal was.
“You want to cook and clean for us? What about your home?”
She gritted her teeth. She’d told Junior she just wanted to go home, and she did. Only, there was no home to go back to. Another mistake she’d made. “I’ve got nowhere else to go. I need protection for whatever my mother is cooking up. I’m not bullshitting you here. I’m being honest.” She picked up the other sandwich. “I just want to survive. Isn’t that what we all want?”
“I don’t survive, girl, I fucking thrive.”
“I don’t see myself wasting away.” Out of all of the men, Edge was the scariest of the ones she’d seen.
One of the men was missing from their little get-together.
Eating her sandwich, she stared at Edge. Her time in the system had told her not to back down.
Fighting was all she’d ever known, and it was exhausting. When she thought about her future, she had hoped to have love and happiness.
For her, it seemed to be moving further away from her.
Was it so wrong to just want to be loved?
If anyone had ever discovered her yearning for love, compassion, care, touch, even a simple hug, they would have all annihilated her. She never had any women friends or any kind of friends in her life.
Her life had been incredibly lonely. These men, they didn’t look lonely. They had a bond. Anyone who looked at them could see it, and it wasn’t just the leather cuts they wore, it was the way they were with each other.
A family.
“Why not?” Trick asked. “We can’t cook for shit. I’m tired of cleaning, and we don’t trust anyone from town to clean our stuff. Come on, Edge, what do we have to lose?”
Edge stared at her, and she waited for him to pass judgment. He was the big man in charge, and she had to learn to be careful around him.
She wasn’t going to try anything. She knew trying to run from these men would hurt her. She wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t dream of doing anything like that. If they gave her a chance, she’d be loyal.
Chapter Two
Trick leaned back in his chair as all the boys gathered around the church’s table. Everything they did had to be done after a fucking discussion, rather than just dealing with it like men.
He glanced over at the monitor, which Edge had kept on in case the girl had decided to make a run for it. So far, Trick didn’t see a single reason for her to run. She could have gone before now. It would have been stupid for her to do, as they would have caught her. She still sat there, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world.
He found it utterly fascinating, and he was a little pissed off that her mother was more than willing to sell her daughter. Now that messed with his head. It made him want to go and crush the whore. He’d never slept with Leah’s mother. That woman was too much of a washed-up old whore, even for him. He wouldn’t even accept a blowjob off her.
She was the lowest of the low.
Yet her daughter, Trick looked again, and sure enough, she was something. So much brown hair. He wanted to run his fingers through the length and see that pretty face looking up at him.
There was something about Leah, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“You’re drooling,” Dig said.
“Fuck off.” He wasn’t drooling, but he had to wonder what her sweet cunt would taste like. He could imagine it being the nicest honey he’d ever tasted.
He didn’t make a habit of going down on women. Again, he had a thing about other men going there. His boys were different though. They were his brothers from another mother, and all that good stuff.
Running fingers through his hair, he knew he was one of the prettiest. He had the boy-next-door looks, and most of the chicks were all over him for a piece of his dick.
Working out kept him in top form, and a girl liked to have a guy with a whole load of ink. His body was a piece of art all in itself. He wondered what Leah liked. If she’d like to mark a part of him, or to pick a design that he’d wear proudly.