“We think a lab mix, but there isn’t really any way to tell for sure without a DNA test,” she says, smiling at Hope, who is barking at Chocolate, making him bark back. “Chocolate’s a boy, and Pancake’s a girl. They are both sweet.” She gives me a knowing look.

“Ellie is going to kill me,” I say, watching her grin.

“She won’t be able to kill you when she sees how cute they are,” she singsongs, running her hand over Pancake’s body.

“Two puppies,” I mutter to myself then look at Hope, who’s laying on her back, watching as Chocolate walks backward, dragging her red sparkly shoe around.

I’m so fucked.

“Where do I sign?” I sigh, and July’s face lights up.

Hearing the front door alarm beep, I look at Hope and place my finger to my mouth, telling her to be quiet as I make my way to the hall toward Ellie.

“Hey, baby. How was work?” I ask her as she shuts the door behind her and takes off her jacket.

“Good, not too busy, and nothing happened,” she says, looking at me with triumph.

“I know. I talked to Tallon, and I also spoke with Mellissa’s father, who told me that he was going to send Mellissa to stay with her aunt for a while,” I tell her, watching as a look of relief passes through her eyes.

“Oh,” she says, and then her eyes move over my shoulder when Hope yells, “No! Don’t eat that, Pancake!”

“What’s going on?” She frowns, when I move to stand in front of her.

“Before you get upset, just know this is better than the alternative,” I tell her then block her again when she tries to move past me.

“Jax,” she growls, but before I can say anything else, the sound of little paws hitting the hardwood floor followed by the sound of tiny feet echoes through the room. “You didn’t,” Ellie says, and Chocolate Chip runs to her feet and jumps up on his back legs, pawing at Ellie’s black boots.

“Don’t be mad,” I say, leaning down and picking up Chip. “How can you be mad at this face?” I hold the puppy close to my cheek.

“I can’t leave you alone with her, can I?” she asks, fighting a smile as Hope steps from behind me, holding Pancake. “Two? You got two puppies?” she asks, seeing Pancake.

“Surprise!” Hope sings, and Ellie’s eyes go to her then move back to me as she shakes her head. “Aren’t they cute, Mama?”

“Very cute, Angel,” Ellie replies as I feel something warm soak the front of my tee. Looking down, I groan while Ellie and Hope both laugh. Setting the puppy down on the floor, I rip my now soaked shirt over my head then smirk when Ellie’s gaze drops to my abs.

“I gotta go shower, and head out to meet my uncle and Wes,” I say, watching her face change. “Everything’s okay,” I assure her, reading her face, reaching out and running my fingers over hers. “When I get home, we’ll talk.”

Nodding, she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth before saying, “Okay, when you get home.”

“I’ll be back down in a second,” I rush out, jogging up the stairs and hopping into the shower quickly. When I make it back downstairs, I find both Hope and Ellie in the living room, sitting on the floor, playing with Chocolate Chip and Pancake, both of them with smiles on their faces.

“I’ll be back,” I say, walking into the room and crouching down, kissing Ellie then leaning over and pressing a kiss to the top of Hope’s head.

“What do you want to do for dinner?” Ellie asks, and fuck me if that simple-ass question doesn’t do something to me.

“Whatever you want, baby. If you don’t feel like cooking, I’ll cook when I get home, or we can go out to eat.”

“I’d like to eat something that tastes good, and no offense, but the only thing you make with flavor is pancakes,” she says, making me smile.

“You don’t like chicken breasts and steamed vegetables?”

“If you add butter and mashed potatoes with gravy to that then yes,” she retorts.

“So do you want to cook?”

“I’ll cook, and then unwrap you a bar or something,” she says with a grin patting my abs.

Shaking my head I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her toward me kissing her, saying, “I’ll eat whatever you cook, babe.” Then I stand, saying goodbye to Hope before leaving the house and heading out to my truck.

*

“So what do you got?” I ask, taking a seat next to Uncle Nico, Sage and Tallon in one of the metal folding chairs around a large table in the middle of the compound’s open court. Taking in the other men at the table, I notice Z, Mic, Everett, Harlen, and Wes all have the same look on their faces.

“You know we’ve been keeping our ears to the ground, and there’s always a lot of chatter, most of it never panning out. But last night, Everett made contact with a source online. This person told him they had a lead about our guy, and then they sent over a name. When we did a simple search online, we were able to pull up a picture of a Yury Letov,” Wes says, and Mic slides a piece of paper across the table with the mug shot of a guy on the front of it toward me.

“He was in Tennessee when July was kidnapped, but has since disappeared,” Mic adds as my uncle picks up his phone and starts to send someone a message.

“I haven’t showed July this picture yet. I know that’s going to be the quickest way to find out if this is the guy, but I hate pulling this shit back up when she’s finally starting to relax,” Wes says, and I know exactly what he’s saying. Ellie’s not jumpy anymore. I don’t see the constant worry in her gaze, but I know I don’t have a choice in this matter. I have to show her.