“Hi,” she squealed, beaming up at him.
“Hey, sweetie pie, I’m Carter.”
“Cah-tah,” she nodded, slapping him on the chest.
Looking slightly pale, Naomi continued, “I turned around to put the diapers in the cart, and my dad was there with a gun pointed at me while my mother lifted her out of it. If it hadn’t been for two off duty police officers, they would’ve gotten her. They got away, but after they did some digging, they found out that my parents were in deep with a dealer in Florida, so they’d arranged for a couple who couldn’t have kids to buy Shanti to pay him off.”
There was silence as we all stared at her, only a few of the men not looking surprised by the story.
“That there is some daytime car crash television show shit,” Reid whispered as he sat down heavily next to me. “What in the fuck?”
Clearing his throat, Carter rubbed Shanti’s back as she lay happy as anything with her head on his shoulder. “I know Naomi’s family because we’re from the same place, but I didn’t know any of this.”
Judging by the way her jaw tensed, there was also some bad history between them. Glancing at Reid, I saw that he’d noticed it too when he raised his eyebrows at me and looked back at them all.
“The point in us telling you all of this,” DB spoke up, “is that we need to be vigilant for a multitude of reasons. We’re not fortunate enough to know everyone’s purpose for moving here. Some of them may be doing what Zuri and Naomi are, and others might be the people they’re trying to run away from. We’ve got a facility now to help the residents of Piersville stay safe and live comfortably, but we have to be part of it.
“Now, we’ve seen some of Gjorka’s guys near here, so we’ve got to be vigilant now. Just to add to that, we’ve got a duty to the other residents to keep them safe too, and you never know what’s going to happen or who’s going to be targeted by someone next. This used to be a peaceful place, but the world changes, and now we’re as vulnerable as any major city.”
“Except,” Alex interrupted with a small smile on his face, “we’ve got a smaller population, so it’s easier for us to notice a face that doesn’t fit or one that we’re not familiar with.”
Nodding in agreement, DB looked between Naomi and me. “Now, ladies. Knowing all of that, how safe are you feeling?”
I didn’t even need to think about it. “Safe. I’m worried about y’all’s safety, but I feel better than I did ten minutes ago.”
Winking at me, he turned to look at Naomi, who just shrugged at him. “I didn’t not feel safe before now, but I do feel better hearing that.”
All of the men looked amongst each other, but it was Hurst who finally spoke up for them. “Welp, it seems some of you were shitting your pants for nothing. The women have the information, the men have it all too, and no one lost their mind. Now, if you don’t mind, Lindee was making pot roast tonight, and I’m already in deep crap with her,” he muttered as he walked toward where Carter was.
Once he got to him, he stopped and grinned at Shanti, who gripped Carter’s hair tightly in her little hand, like she was claiming him. “Miss Shanti, my name’s Hurst, and I’ve got a lot of little girls and boys who’d just loved to meet you. My wife Lindee will think you’re the sun, the moon, and the stars.” When she giggled, he continued, “My grandkids have pretty much everything you can imagine to play with at their houses. They’ve got animals, too, even a turkey—”
“And a bunch of jackasses,” Raoul mumbled, shooting Hurst a grin when he glared at him.
“When your aunt’s ready, you guys will have to come out and meet them and play with the animals.”
“Can I bring Cah-tah?” she whispered. Her immediate attachment to him struck me as weird, but I couldn’t even cope with a kid’s ass, so what did I know about them?
“You can bring Carter, absolutely.”
“He knew daddy.”
Okay, ever watch a television show where something happens, and that dramatic music follows it? Well, after she dropped that bombshell on us, the chorus of Flash suddenly blasted, making us all jump.
“Sorry, that’s mine,” Canon said sheepishly, pulling his phone out and pressing the side of it.
“Is it just me, or does this whole thing just keep getting weirder?” Raoul asked me quietly, his eyes not leaving what was going on in the middle of the room.
Naomi was nodding and smiling at DB while trying to get Shanti back from Carter. Not wanting to let go of her new toy—girl, I do not blame you one bit. I loved Garrett, but if I had the chance to wrap myself around Carter, I’d be all for it—Shanti was holding on for dear life.