Marked By The Devil (Devil's Riders 5)

“Couple of days. How could this be happening to me?”

Jack slapped my back. It was supposed to be brotherly, but since the man was built like a redwood, it felt more like a two by four landing on my shoulder.

“Happened to me in less than five seconds.”

“Five? Seriously?”

“I knew that first night.”

“No, you didn’t.” Dev was grinning ear to ear. He loved teasing Jack. He and Donnie were the only ones who could get away with it. “You fought it tooth and nail.”

“Yeah, I did. But I knew. I knew it was a lost cause. That’s what pissed me off.”

“Alright, I’ll bite. Is she hot? When can we get a look at her?”

“Lucky, if you even look at her, I will sew your fucking eyeballs shut.”

He thought that was hilarious. To soothe my pride, I took another swig of tequila. Then I pulled out my phone. I had taken a couple of pictures of Molly. I showed the guys.

“Is she sleeping? I thought you said you didn’t hook up?”

“That’s creepy, man.” Lucky snickered. “She is hot though, stalker.”

I shrugged, staring at my phone. Molly looked so pretty curled up on her bed. I hadn’t been able to resist. I found another shot of her I’d taken through the glass when I was outside the garden center.

“Here she is at work.”

“You followed her to work?”

“Hell, no. I was waiting to pick her up.” I sat up straight. “But that’s a good idea. I know where she works. I could go there now and—”

“No. No, no, no.”

A chorus of nos rang out as heavy hands pushed me back into my seat.

“How about tomorrow? Go and see her tomorrow, okay, champ?”

“Yeah, go tomorrow, stalker.” Lucky was snickering again. “Man, how the mighty have fallen. I heard you were the king of dicks around here.”

He looked around, waving Mac over.

“This guy has been swimming in it since day one.”

Mac grinned. “Yeah, I noticed.”

“Callaway, what happened, man? I thought you had your pick of any female in a twenty-mile radius.”

Donnie snickered. “More like fifty.”

“Yeah, man, just move on.”

“No! Who cares about other women? Nothing matters without her.”

I leaned my head against the bar again.

“Man, I hope I never sound that pathetic over a chick.”

“Shut up, Lucky.” Lucky ducked, sensing another slap. Instead, Whiskey rubbed his hands together. “Callaway needs our help. Who’s in?”

Everyone except Lucky said yes. I glared at him, bleary-eyed, until he said he was in. I felt marginally better, though I didn’t understand how they were going to help me. Even Mac was in, and he was the coldest bastard I’d ever met.

“You said she didn’t have time for you, man?”

“Yeah, she works two jobs to help pay for her little brother. He’s in the same home as Bonnie.”

“A kid?”

I nodded at Dev, who looked concerned. He got like that about kids. All the guys did.

Jack’s deep voice boomed out.

“What’s wrong with him?”

I shook my head.

“You know what? I don’t even fucking know.”

Chapter Six

Whiskey

I whistled softly to myself as I pulled into the driveway and looked at the house. It hadn’t been much to look at at first, but I’d worked it over to my lady’s specifications. It now had white trim and blue shutters, with a black front door. It did look sharp, I had to admit. My Becks had excellent taste.

I smiled.

She had damn good taste in baby daddies to start with. She’d picked me, and I was doing my damn best to make everything perfect for her and our baby, and the baby-to-be, of course.

Starting with the house.

My house.

Our house.

Coming home had a whole new meaning since Becks. Since the baby. This was our place, and we were a family. I was a lucky sonofabitch and I knew it.

I opened the door slowly, careful not to make a peep. Not only was our daughter, Eliza, mostly likely asleep, but my pregnant wife most likely was too. She’d been taking lots of naps lately, which I found adorable. She’d be reading a book and doze off where she was, usually curled up in a chair. Sometimes, she made it to the bed. One time, I’d found her dozing with her head rested on her hands, right there at the kitchen table.

So I was expecting some cute little snoring sounds when I walked in. Maybe a dirty diaper to deal with. But that was it.

I hardly expected the shoe to come flying past me, less than an inch from my head.

I turned to see my beautiful, caring wife holding a shoe in the air, an angry look on her pretty face.

“What in the world?”

“Pig!”

“Becks?” Another shoe came flying toward me and I ducked. “You okay, honey?”

“I’m stuck here, starving, and you didn’t even bring me anything!”

I stared at her, blinked, and then started laughing. Our house was full of food. She was talking about something else.