Free Climbing Out by Lila Rose

she'd clocked up using his drugs now fell on me.
    That was when all hell broke loose. The fight was bound to happen; it was just sooner than we thought. Talon stood by my side as I beat the shit outta Ryan and told him he'd never see his money. The other brothers each fought their own battle against Ryan’s men.
    Once things calmed down, we left the house with a promise it'd be worse if we found out he was still around and dealing.
    We all went back to the compound to clean up and have a sit down. It was decided to keep a close eye on the fucker; we needed to know what his next move would be, if he was game enough to even make one. But I was sure he'd be shittin' himself right now and packing himself up to leave town. If he didn't, the fucker was just asking for a bullet.
    After the meeting ended, I rode my Harley to Wildcat's place, where I'd left my vehicle and daughter that morning. Talon had ridden next to me, keen to get home to his wife and kids, but once we arrived, she was nowhere in sight. Instead, Mattie had the tribe of kids in the living room playing and watching TV. I could see Swan had taken a liking to Maya, as they were playing with some weird looking dolls.
    “Where is she?” Talon asked Mattie.
    “Zara and Julian are with Deanna having a pow-wow.”
    Talon laughed. “Shit, brother, you're fucked,” he said to me.
    I rolled my eyes and shrugged. I didn't care what Deanna told the other two, as long as she was happy when I saw her next.
    The front door swung open, and Zara stood there with a frown upon her face. My heart picked up, and worry took over my body.
    I took a step toward her and barked, “What's wrong?”
    She looked at me quickly, and then back at Talon. “Did I just hear you swear in front of the kids?” she scolded.
    Worry slipped from my body and I chuckled.
    Fuck. I had been so wound up, my chest hurt. I rubbed at it.
    “Dad's gonna get it,” Cody chimed in behind us from the couch.
    “Shut it, Cody,” Talon said.
    “Talon Marcus, don't you tell Cody to shut it; tell me instead—did you just swear in front of the kids?”
    He rolled his eyes and sighed, looking like he was praying for patience. “Kitten,” he growled with a tone of warning.
    “Don't Kitten me, and don't do it again, Talon, or you will get a tongue lashing in front of the kids, again .” She moved forward and Julian stepped in behind her; he closed the door and turned, and then looked at me blushing.
    What. The. Fuck?
    “It won’t be me gettin' the tongue lashing tonight,” Talon said with a lift of his eyebrow.
    “Jesus, Dad! I'm here, ya know, and I know what you mean. Gross!”
    Talon hit Cody in the back of the head and stalked to Zara. He pulled her into his arms, whispered something in her ear and she melted into him.
    “Just don't swear again,” she said. “Also, you can’t talk like that in front of them.” She bit her bottom lip worriedly.
    “How can I help it when my woman is so fu—freakin' hot?”
    “Don't think you can charm your way out of this.” She turned in his arms and her eyes fell on Cody. “Cody Marcus.”
    “Uh-oh,” Cody uttered.
    “If I hear you use that J-word once again, I will wash your mouth out with soap. You hear me, boy?”
    “You sound like Grandma when you say that.”
    Shit.
    Zara hated being referenced with her mum. Though she loved her mother, even Zara thought she was bat-shit crazy at times.
    Zara gasped. “Cody Anthony Marcus! You take that back.”
    “Now you're gonna get it,” Talon sang, and then laughed when Zara elbowed him in the stomach.
    Cody stood up with wide eyes. Damn, he was a tall kid for a thirteen-year-old. “Sorry! I didn't mean it. Sorry, Mum.”
    Zara's hand went to her mouth, her eyes welled with tears and she sobbed.
    Hell, that kid knew how to work it. It was the first time he'd called her mum, and he'd just saved his arse from gettin' into deeper shit by doing it. I was sure Zara knew it, and I could see Talon knew it from the