Emma shoved open the passenger door to Dawg’s truck, slammed it, and ran to the back door of Diesel’s warehouse. She bounced up and down on her toes as she waited for Dawg to put his Chevy in park and shut off the ignition.

“Hurry!” she yelled across the parking lot. Why was the man taking so long? And why was he spending precious moments to turn his cut right side out? She didn’t understand the whole wearing the vest inside out while in a vehicle, or “cage” as he called it, right side out when not.

While she was sad that last night was the last time for a long while she’d spend with him in his bed, she was super excited to finally see her daughter. To not only see and talk to her, but hold her, make sure she was really home. That she was real.

If he didn’t hurry up she was going in without him and would scream her head off in the immense building until she found Lily.

“Dawson!” she screamed, wringing her hands together, her heart beating a mile a minute.

He lumbered across the parking lot, a smile on his face. “I get you’re excited, baby girl. But here you need to call me Dawg.”

Right. Right. A conversation they’ve had a million times, she needed to remember to call him Dawg in front of his buddies. Or brothers. Or anyone, really.

“Got it! Dawg, hurry the hell up!”

He chuckled and when he got to her, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, turning her toward him. “Hang on. Got somethin’ to say first.”

Now? “What?”

“Happy as hell that you’re gettin’ your girl back. Anythin’ you need, I got you, got me?”

She stopped bouncing and stared up at him. “Got you.”

“Love you. Here for you, no matter what, got me?”

She nodded, biting her bottom lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. She sucked in a shaky breath.

He cupped her face and brushed a thumb over her cheek. “No cryin’. Gotta stay strong for Lily. Might be a little confusin’ for her. Lots of fuckin’ shit went down.”

“Cursing, please,” she reminded him.

“Right.” He shook his head, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Lots of fudgy stuff went down.”

She shot him a smile. “God, I love you, Dawson,” she whispered. And that was so true.

“Know it. Will always do my best for you. Promise. Got me?”

This man. “Yes. I got you.” In a flash, she grabbed his hair, yanked his head down and planted a kiss on his lips. Before he could deepen it, she pulled away in her excitement. “Now let’s get Lily!”

He chuckled and grabbed the door handle, yanking it open and escorting her through.

They moved down a long, dark corridor and made a right at the end into another hallway, heading toward what she assumed was Diesel’s office. Dawg kept a hand on her arm, preventing her from sprinting forward.

Not that she had any idea where she was going. She grabbed his arm and yanked hard. “Come on! Walk faster.”

He just shook his head and kept his steady pace, but when he stopped in front of an open door, she rushed past him and stopped dead.

Jewel was sitting on the floor, her legs spread open, Lily settled between them leaning back against the woman as Emma’s daughter did something on what looked like a tablet. From the noises coming from it, it sounded like a game.

Emma lost her breath at seeing her daughter for the first time in over a year and a half. She had grown, her hair was longer, and it had been dyed a dark brown. Her hair was no longer the light blonde she’d been born with.

Her knees wobbled as she reached out to grab the door jamb for support. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. She was frozen in place.

Besides her hair color and her being a bit bigger in size, she looked healthy and fascinated by whatever game Jewel had her distracted with.

Dawg bumped her from behind with his chest, making her let go of the door jamb and step inside the room.

Lily looked up, blinked, and blinked again. Then a look of recognition crossed her face. “Momma!” she yelled, jumping to her feet and running over.

Overwhelmed, Emma didn’t know what to do. She wanted to cry, scream with relief and hug her daughter all at once.

So that’s what she did. She dropped to her knees and scooped her daughter into her arms and squeezed her tight. Lily’s arms wrapped around her neck and she shoved her face into Emma’s hair. Emma laughed with joy, while hot tears streamed down her face, and all she could do was murmur Lily’s name over and over.

After a few moments, Emma felt a hand on top of her head, and she glanced up through a blur of tears to see Dawg standing over them, a crooked smile on his face, his nostrils flaring. He gave her a quick nod, then moved across the room to where she realized two other men stood. One being Diesel, the other she didn’t recognize.

She shoved her face back into Lily’s hair and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much, lady bug. I was so sad not to see your pretty face every day.”

“Me, too, Momma!”

“You’ve grown so much...”

“I know. I’m seven now!” she exclaimed, lifting her hands and showing Emma seven fingers.

“Yes, you are. I’m so sorry I missed your birthday. I hope you got lots of cake and presents!”

Lily nodded, a smile on her face, then her smile turned upside down. “Momma?”

Emma sniffled. “Yeah, lady bug?”

“Daddy said you were gone forever.”

Emma closed her eyes and waited for the sharp sting to pass and the bitterness that bubbled up to settle. “Did he? He must have been mistaken.”

“You’re not going to go away again, right?”

Emma’s heart skipped a beat at her daughter’s question. “I promise to never leave you.” And she hoped to never break that promise, but even with her husband dying in a car crash, she had no idea what his family was capable of.

She was sure they helped finance Todd and his girlfriend leaving the country with Lily. Why they would? She’d never know. And she didn’t care, she just knew she’d fight them to the ends of the earth. They were never getting Lily.

Never.

Her daughter was finally home with her and that’s where she was staying. With her.

And eventually with Dawson.

She needed to at least introduce them. Then they could take Lily back to their temporary home and get her settled in.

She had a feeling she wouldn’t get any sleep tonight. She might just camp out in Lily’s room and watch her sleep all night.

She held her hand out to the man who helped make this all happen. “Lily, I have someone important for you to meet.”

Dawg stared at Emma’s outstretched hand. He’d stepped away from the two of them because he was struggling not to break down like a fucking pussy in front of D, Mercy and Jewel.

But watching Emma and Lily had made his chest tight and his eyes sting. He had tightened his jaw and his fists to ward off any runaway emotions, which was working to a point, but he really needed to take a page from both Mercy and D’s book. They stood watching the reunion without even a slight change of expression.

Jewel, on the other hand, was bawling her eyes out, still sitting on the floor. Sobbing uncontrollably, like someone had run over her dog. But he didn’t blame her, if he could get away with it, he’d be down there joining her.

He steeled himself and moved closer to his woman and his future stepdaughter.

Emma pushed to her feet, holding Lily’s hand. She raised her other hand toward Dawg. “This is Dawson.”

Dawg grimaced at her use of his real name. His eyes flicked over to D, but like normal, his face was like granite. Not even a smirk. Though, Dawg was sure he’d hear about it later. Not everyone could have a cool name like Diesel from birth. Lucky fucker.

His gaze dropped back down to the little girl pinned to Emma’s side. Sky-blue eyes stared back up at him.

“Honey, you look just like your momma.” He brushed what was obviously dyed hair off her forehead, leaned over and placed a kiss on it. “Just like your momma,” he mumbled again.

If Lily had blonde hair, she’d look exactly like Emma. Which meant when she became a teen, he’d be threatening the hormone crazy teenage boys who were interested in her. She wouldn’t be allowed to date until she was at least twenty-one. Twenty-five. Hell, thirty.

“Did the guys treat you good?” he asked her.

Lily nodded shyly.

“Your momma’s so happy that you’re finally home. She missed you like crazy.”

“I love my momma.”

So do I.

“We’ve got a new place that we’re going to stay in for a little while. It has a pool. But after that little while, we’re going to get a place that has a big backyard. Is that okay?” Emma asked her.

“Can we get a dog?”

Emma’s eyes met Dawg’s.

He smiled. Lily had no idea she was already getting one. Spelled a little differently but still...

“We’ll see about that,” Emma answered her daughter.

“Can we go swimming now?” Lily asked, pulling on her mother’s hand.

“When we get back, yes. We’ll stop and get you a bathing suit and some clothes on the way home. Then after that, later tonight, we need to have a long talk, lady bug. Okay?”

“Yeah, Momma. Is Daddy and Gloria waiting at home?”

Dawg watched as Emma’s face twisted, but she quickly hid her thoughts and took a deep breath. “No, lady bug. It’s just going to be you and me at our new home.”

“Is Daddy going to visit?”

“We’ll talk about that later after your swim. Sound good?”

“Yes! Let’s go swimming!”

The resilience of kids amazed him.

Emma swiped a hand over her red eyes and glanced over at Dawg, who said, “Take her outside to the truck. Gotta talk to D. Can you find your way back out?”

Emma nodded. “Yes. I think so. Come on, lady bug, Dawson has to talk to the men who helped you.”

Dawg grimaced again at Em’s use of his real name. He just needed to give up and accept it.

Like saying fudge instead of fuck. Shoot instead of shit.

He sighed.

Fucking shit was going to change. That was for damn sure.

“Say goodbye to the guys, Lily,” Em encouraged her.

“Bye!” she yelled, waving at Mercy and D.

“Bye, Lily. You were a real trooper,” Mercy answered.

D grunted his goodbye, then looked at Jewel who was still a mess on the floor. “Woman, go with ‘em.”

“Why? I—”

“Got important shit to talk ‘bout.” He tilted his head toward the door and cocked an eyebrow.

“Men shit?” she asked with a frown.

“Yeah.”

“Fsst,” Jewel answered, swiping a hand in his direction, then headed out the door.

“Shut it,” D barked.

Jewel slammed the door shut, but not until thrusting her hand back into the room and giving D the middle finger.

Dawg chuckled. Jewel didn’t take any shit from anyone, especially her ol’ man.

“Fuckin’ woman drives me crazy,” D grumbled.

What the man wouldn’t admit to is how much he loved Jewel. And how she had him wrapped around her little finger. She had tamed the savage beast.

“Don’t know how she puts up with your ass,” Mercy told him, shaking his head, a smirk pulling up one side of his mouth.

“I give good dick,” D muttered, grabbing his crotch and jerking it.

Mercy snorted. He turned his grey eyes to Dawg. “So... Dawson, huh?”

“Keep tellin’ ‘er not to call me that, but she don’t listen,” Dawg answered with a shrug.

“Need to teach ‘er a lesson, then,” D answered, moving around to behind his desk and settling into his chair with a grunt.

“Yeah, all those ‘lessons’ you teach Jewelee knocked ‘er up.”

Diesel lifted his heavy shoulders and let them drop. “She’s mouthy.”

“You wouldn’t want ‘er any other way,” Dawg told him.

“That’s the truth,” Mercy mumbled.

Diesel scowled.

“Gotta thank you for gettin’ Lily home safe,” Dawg started. “Thanks for goin’ above an’ beyond, too.”

“Wasn’t nothin’,” Mercy answered with a shrug. “Easy mission.”

“Easy?” Dawg asked with a frown. Did D’s men think nothing about killing a man? No regrets?

“Yeah. Got the news from Hunter an’ Walker as soon as I landed in Brunei that her husband was takin’ care of.”

“They didn’t wait for you?” Dawg asked Mercy, surprised.

Mercy shook his head. “Didn’t have to. Man fuckin’ crashed his rental car. Fucker’s tire blew out, hit a guide rail, car flipped over that an’ down an embankment. No seatbelt, major head trauma. Problem solved. Couldn’t have been more convenient.”

Right. Pretty fucking convenient. Dawg glanced at D to see if he believed that story.

Of course, D had no expression at all, like normal.

“Wanted to make the fucker suffer like he made that poor woman, but never got the chance. Fuckin’ sucks.”

Dawg eyeballed the man with the scarred face. He certainly could be a scary fucker and he wondered if the man even had a conscience. Maybe with all that he’d seen during his stint with the Special Forces that had chipped away at his humanity.

“Had a little problem with the girlfriend, Gloria, though. Thought she had the right to keep Lily. We told her differently. Convinced her it was in Lily’s best interest, as well as hers, to let the girl go home to her mother. She might be a little loco, but finally got through to her and decided to hand over Lily without a fight.”

“Lily see anything that Emma needs to be worried ‘bout?” Dawg asked carefully.

“Nope. She was outside playin’ when we had our little discussion with Gloria. Lily didn’t hear or see shit. Gloria then went out, got her, introduced us as friends of her father, then off we went. No shit, all shine.”

“Good,” Dawg said, relieved. Lily had been through enough with the kidnapping, she didn’t need to witness any “coercive” discussions.

Mercy nodded his head, pushed off the wall he was leaning against and said, “Done here. Gettin’ outta here, boss.”

“Right,” D grunted. “Bonus in it for you guys. Got me?”

Mercy flipped a hand over his shoulder in acknowledgement and when he passed Dawg, he whacked him on the back. “The bonus was seein’ Emma an’ her daughter reunited. Worth more than money.”

“Got your six, dude. Anytime,” Dawg said. “Walker an’ Hunter, too.”

“Will tell ‘em. Never know when we might need extra hands. ‘Specially when it comes to those squirrelly Warriors.”

“Still workin’ on that?” Dawg asked, surprised. “Figured something was goin’ on behind the scenes since we haven’t heard a peep from those fuckers since they grabbed Slade.”

“The roaches are still scurryin’ but been doin’ some pest control,” Mercy began.

Mercy started to say something else, but D made a noise from behind his desk and have his man a pointed look. “Get gone, Mercy.”

Ah, Diesel was keeping whatever was going on with the Warriors under wraps. Dawg could understand that.

Mercy’s gaze landed on D then he gave his boss a nod. “Got you.” He headed out of the office.

Once the door closed behind the man, Dawg turned to D.

“Got your woman, got her daughter back. Now what?”

“Gettin’ Keeks to get my daughter back.”

D nodded. “Hear ya on that. Moose ready to take over Heaven’s Angels?”

“Workin’ on it. Just a little more shit I gotta go over with ‘im an’ he’ll be good.”

“Pierce didn’t resist the idea of you helpin’ ‘im out at the gun shop. The reasons didn’t make ‘im suspicious.”

Dawg nodded. “Good. Gonna look for a house to rent and move my shit out of the apartment above the club. In the meantime, I’ll crash at church.” He considered the big man behind the desk. “You’re gonna need a house, too. Can’t be livin’ over the pawn shop when your kid comes. It’s not big enough for a family.”

“Big enough. Just havin’ the one kid.”

Dawg grinned. “Sure ‘bout that?”

“Yep.”

“Sure you don’t want a place with a fenced yard an’ shit?”

D made a disgusted face. “Fuck no.”

Dawg bit back his laugh. “Okay.” He gave D a chin lift. “Gonna take Lily an’ Em home. Sure she’s anxious to get Lily settled.”

“Then fuckin’ get gone.”

Dawg smirked. “Thanks, brother. For everything.”

D grunted. “Get gone. Go take care of your woman.”

“Plan on it.”

That was for damn sure.