Saved by the Devil (Devils Arms Book 3)

knew better than to take her at her word.
Thankfully between getting her hair untangled and explaining why she was too old for the park she’d completely forgotten that she’d been trying to cut her hair. He rubbed his hand down his face as he followed his princess out the door like any good servant would. Peanut pulled the keys from his pocket after locking the door behind them. He found himself trying to remember a time when he wasn’t at the little hellion’s beck and call. He couldn’t help the happy grin that curled his lips when he realized it was so long that he wasn’t able to recall it.
“Ok, but I still want bangs,” Jasmine said as she climbed into the front seat. Her eyes were narrowed and she wore a determined look on her cute little face.
“We can discuss it the next time we get your hair cut. No doing it yourself,” Peanut said firmly as he gripped the door. Jasmine looked unhappy but she nodded and reached for the seatbelt to buckle up.
“Watch all your bits,” Peanut teased, watching her roll her eyes at his joke. After shutting the door, he rounded the cage slowly. He knew that in a few years she’d be a teenager and she wouldn’t need him as much. He rubbed his chest because that thought made his heart ache. She was growing up and he knew he couldn’t stop it. She’d be in high school in a few years. She’d start dating and then she’d go off to college.
Fuck.
He didn’t even want to think about the dating. He wasn’t kidding about wanting her to wait till she was forty. He knew how young boys could be. He knew how they thought and no way in hell did he want them anywhere near his sweet little princess. Over the past two years he’d watched Diablo going through it with Kelly and he knew that he sure as hell wasn’t prepared for that. The last boyfriend Kelly had brought home had been a seventeen-year-old prep school reject that Diablo had scared shitless. His sister was still mad at him and it had been four months since that debacle. Diablo didn’t really give a shit about scaring the kid off as he’d found ecstasy in the bag the kid had left when he’d run out. Kelly however wasn’t amused.
He reached his side of the car and opened his door. He climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled up.
“Dad, can we go by Steak N’ Shake on the way home for dinner?” Jasmine asked as he pulled out of the drive. Peanut couldn’t help the grin that curled his lips. Jazzy was in love with the Oreo milkshakes they served, and she asked to eat there at least twice a week. Not that he took her that often, but she still asked.
“We’ll see,” he replied as he headed towards the park where they were meeting Cody and Rage. Normally Rooster and his two hellions would be meeting them there too, but Star—his old lady—had wanted to take them to visit her mother in Bocca today. Hammer’s kid was still too young since he’d just started walking. Most of the other kids in the club were the same, too old or too young to be a part of the bi-weekly play dates for the kids. Most people would find it funny to think of a group of bikers setting up play dates but that’s what they did.  Peanut knew they’d be shocked to find that bikers were actually one of the most family-oriented cultures out there. Just because they were tough didn’t mean that they weren’t human.
Peanut smiled at Jazzy as she practically wiggled in excitement as they pulled into the parking lot and she saw Cody waving to her from the top of the monkey bars. He held in the comment on her excitement even though he found it funny that she’d just been professing herself too old for playing at the park but was really stoked to be here. It took about two seconds for her to hop from the car and run over to Cody. Peanut followed behind her, taking a seat next to Rage on the bench with a selfish little grin.

Chapter Three
Phoebe tilted her head slightly and stared at the yellow green bruises that still hadn’t completely faded. She hated them. The cut above her eye could be explained away easily, but the dark bruises on her neck couldn’t. Nobody who saw them was going to be thinking her injuries were from something like a car accident or fall. The facial bruising and the cut wouldn’t raise any eyebrows like those damned finger bruises did. She’d be happy when the last of them faded. Phoebe sighed and rubbed at them, wishing it would make them fade faster. She knew that she had at least another week or two before that happened. Hopefully by the time she found the place she wanted to settle they’d be long gone, and she could start over.
She hated that everyone who saw her knew someone had abused her. It made her feel like a useless human being. She still couldn’t believe that she’d allowed the abuse to go on as long as she had. She could almost hear the voice of her therapist telling her that she was being too hard on herself. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She looked into the mirror, glaring at the ugly evidence that refused to be hidden by the makeup she’d piled on.
Pushing away the negative feelings, she gripped the counter in the bus stop bathroom. Her eyes took in her pale cheeks and the shadowed look in her eyes. Phoebe knew that the fear that lingered inside her would likely never fade completely. It was something she’d have to learn to live with, but