He pointed to a very naughty Little girl standing at the counter. Lennon. I’d told her not to come. She looked distressed and pale. Her body shook in small tremors as she argued with someone behind the bar. Probably Dakota. He laughed at her and shook his head, holding her ID above her head. The scene made my blood boil. Even from across the large room, I could see her unshed tears. She reached across the bar and tried to grab the license, but the man grabbed her arm harshly and she had to raise her toes to keep him from snatching her arm out of its socket.
“Absolutely fucking not,” I said, rushing over to her. Loud thunderous footfalls sounded behind me and I knew the men were as angry as I was.
“Let her go!” I shouted, reaching Lennon. Her sounds of pain only made me more irate.
Bash’s thick tattooed arm reached across the bar and grabbed Dakota’s thin one. “Let. Her. Go.”
If Dakota was a smart man he would have listened to Bash’s growl, but he wasn’t and he didn’t. A popping sound, sickening and loud, filled the area and Dakota let out a cry of pain, releasing Lennon. She fell back to her feet and cradled her wrist. I wrapped my arms around her and guided her away from the bar, not wanting her to see the violence I knew was about to happen. “Do you guys need me?” I asked, not letting Lennon look back.
“No, get her outside and meet us at the front door with the truck, " Blade directed, tossing me his keys.
“Are they going to be okay?” Lennon asked.
“They’ll be fine, baby. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Baby, do I need to warn you about what happens to naughty Little girls who lie to me?” I asked, guiding her out into the parking lot and into the back of Blade’s truck before climbing in the driver's seat and starting the truck. I pulled around to the front of the building.
When she didn’t answer, I continued, “And since you already are owed a spanking for coming to this bar and facing that bastard alone, I don’t think you want to add to it by being dishonest with me, Lennon.” That would be the only out I gave her. She could tell me she didn’t want that from me, but we both knew she did.
I looked up at her from the review mirror and she flushed. “My arm hurts a tiny bit. I don’t think he broke anything, though. Maybe it’s just going to be bruised.”
“Thank you for telling me the truth, honey. Did you drive here tonight?”
“No, Ma’am.”
I was relieved I wouldn’t need one of the guys to retrieve her car since I had no intention of letting her out of my sight.
Bash, Smoke, and Blade walked out of the bar’s front entrance and spotted the truck. They didn’t look any worse for wear. Blade was shaking his hand out and Bash’s shirt was torn, but it didn’t seem that anyone was seriously injured. I wasn’t sure we could say the same thing about Dakota.
“Are you okay, Little one?” Smoke asked, after opening Lennon’s door and sliding her to the middle of the backseat. He climbed in, sitting on one side of her and Blade sat on the other. Bash climbed in the passenger seat beside me.
I gave Lennon a warning glance in the mirror. “Lying to my friends, your Uncles, is just as naughty as lying to me.”
“My wrist hurts a tiny bit but I don’t think it’s broken or anything. My shoulder is just a little tight.”
“Here’s your license, honey,” Bash said, holding out the little white card to her.
Lennon took it, flipping it over in her hands. “T-thank you,” she whispered, clutching the card to her chest. The action was so innocent that it broke my fucking heart.
“You’re one of us now, Lennon. You have been since you helped my Little girl a few weeks ago, and we take care of ours,” Smoke said.
Lennon only looked down and worked her lip between her teeth, but that was okay. She’d believe us eventually. She wasn’t the first one of us who had worried about how long being a partof the group would last. But she’d learn she was ours, and, most importantly, mine.
***
Lennon
I wasn’t sure that I really belonged to the family Kay kept talking about, but I did enjoy being part of them even if it was only temporary.
“Let me see your wrist,” Blade said. He opened a red first-aid kit he’d pulled from the back of the passenger seat and broke open a freezie stick. After letting it get cold, he took off his shirt, wrapped the freezie stick in it and wrapped them around my wrist.
“You just use any excuse to take your shirt off, don’t you?” Kay teased him.
He grinned, but didn’t comment. “Does that hurt?”
“No, sir.”
