As I turned to walk to my car, I caught a glimpse of Kick’s sister. I hadn’t seen Lina in over a year and I’d missed her. My heart hurt to see how much her two kids had grown. She had two little girls – Becca, the oldest, was four, and Candace, the little one, was two. It looked like they were giving their mother a hard time so I wandered over to her to see if I could give her a hand.

“Oh my goodness, Evie!” she exclaimed when she saw me, pulling me in for a hug.

My smile beamed at her. We’d grown up together and knew so much about each other. In that moment, I wished I’d never cut contact with her. “How are you, Lina?”

She frowned. “I’m actually not feeling very well, hon. I feel like I might vomit,” she answered, clutching her stomach.

“Shit, are you okay to drive home or do you want me to drive you?” Looking closely at her, I could see how pale her face was. She really didn’t look well at all.

“Really? You wouldn’t mind driving us home?”

“Not at all,” I said and took charge.

I managed to get everyone in the car and back to her place without her vomiting. Once we were through her front door, I said, “You go to bed. I’ll look after the kids.”

She gave me a grateful look. “Thank you,” she whispered, and did as I’d said.

I turned to Becca. She was a gorgeous little red haired beauty and she gave me a smile that would melt anyone’s heart. Shit, I bet she had her Uncle Kick wrapped around her finger. “Are you hungry, sweetheart?” I asked as I lifted Candace up, resting her on my hip.

Becca nodded and said, “Yes. Mummy promised us cake if we were good at the shop.” She stared at me expectantly and I figured I needed to either find cake or make it.

I gave her a smile and held out my hand for her. “Okay then, let’s go find cake,” I said as I led her towards the kitchen. Candace babbled words I could hardly discern but I figured so long as she wasn’t crying we were good.

We had the batter made and ready to pour into the cake tin when loud banging came from the front of the house. I turned in that direction and my heart skipped a beat when I heard a thunderous, “Lina, open the fucking door!”

Shit, that sounded like Lina’s ex, and he seemed to be in a mood. I gave my attention to Becca and with forced calmness, said, “If you take Candace into her bedroom and play with her for a little while, I’ll let you have two pieces of cake when it’s ready.”

Her eyes widened with glee and she clapped her hands together. “Yes!” she exclaimed, and I felt relief as I watched her lead her sister out of the kitchen.

I pulled my phone out of my handbag and dialled Kick’s number, willing him to answer fast.

He took what felt like ages to answer, and in that time the banging on the front door got louder. “Evie. What’s up, baby?” he asked.

“Kick, can you come to Lina’s house now?” I practically begged him, my voice shaking with fear.

“Fuck, what’s wrong? And why are you at Lina’s house?”

“Long story, and I’ll fill you in later, but her ex is banging on the front door and he doesn’t sound happy.”

“Fuck,” he swore again, “hold tight, I’ll be there in about ten minutes. And whatever the fuck you do, don’t let the motherfucker in.”

“Okay,” I promised, relieved he was on his way, but unsure I’d be able to keep Dave out because at the rate he was going, he’d have the door smashed open soon.

I shouldn’t have worried, though. Kick arrived quicker than he said he would. Dave had continued to pound on the door but that was as far as he’d gotten. When I’d heard Kick’s bike pull up outside, I’d finally expelled the breath I’d been holding, and rushed to Candace’s room to make sure the girls were okay.

Relief surged through me at the sight of them playing quietly, unaware of what was happening out the front between their dad and their uncle. It killed me to know they’d grow up with a father like Dave. Unless he got his shit together, he was useless to them. Thank God they had their uncles.

I sat on the floor with them and asked, “Would you like me to read you a story?”

Becca gave me a huge smile and nodded emphatically. “Yes!”

I grabbed a book from the bookshelf behind me and after pulling Cadence onto my lap, began reading, trying hard to block out thoughts of what Kick was taking care of. We read for about fifteen minutes until Becca looked up towards the bedroom door and squealed with delight. “Uncle Kick!” she exclaimed, and ran to him.

He caught her and scooped her up into his arms. “Hey darlin’, are you being good for Evie?” he asked, his full attention on her as if she was the most important person in the world.

Oh my.

My tummy fluttered. I’d forgotten how good Kick was with kids. There was something extremely sexy to me about a man who had the time of day for the kids in his life.

I stood, taking Cadence with me, and my eyes met Kick’s a moment later. Surprisingly, he didn’t appear as if he’d just been in a fight, which I’d been expecting. I’d imagined blood smeared on his clothes or at least a much more dishevelled appearance, but he looked almost like he had when I’d left him that morning.

His concerned gaze assessed me. “You okay?” he asked softly.

I nodded. “Yes. Thank you so much for coming. Is everything sorted?”

“Yeah, he’s gone, and I don’t think he’ll show up here like that again, but the asshole doesn’t seem to learn his lessons very fast, so who knows?”