Chapter 42
“How was your and Dani’s appointments, baby doll?” Ricky asks as I enter the front door of our apartment, the lingering smell of coffee in the air.
“Okay.” I sigh heavily, anxiety churning in my stomach because I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing or not.
He leans in, his lips brushing against mine, and then he takes hold of my hands, his concern for me adorable. “Did you like her? I can find you someone else if she wasn’t a good fit. Did Dani like the lady I organized for her to see, did she think it will help her sleep better?”
I stare up at him, my head spinning with all of his questions. I know he’s just trying to help, and I love him for it. He’s done so much for both me and Dani the past couple of weeks. Booked appointments with doctors and psychologists, even got someone in to give us remedial massage to try and help relieve the stress and help us sleep at night.
Dani is a mess. She’s looking so thin, and I know she is having trouble just functioning throughout the day. I’m trying to keep her close by so we can all keep an eye on her. I know Geovani is especially worried. I went along to my own appointment today because I knew Ricky wanted me to. I wasn’t really ready to unpack any of the shit now permanently living in my head.
“She was nice enough.” I shrug. “I can’t get another appointment for four weeks. Did you know how much it was going to cost? Most girls who need this kind of help wouldn’t even be able to afford it. The doctor said it’s because they’re in such high demand.”
“That’s the medical system for you.” He sighs, and I know it weighs just as heavily on him as it does me. This morning at the clinic, it opened my eyes in a whole new way. A way I can’t forget so easily.
“It shouldn’t be. People who need medical help should be able to get it. While I was there in the waiting room, I saw this poor girl, she wouldn’t have been much older than me. She had one kid on her hip, and she was pregnant again. She had a black eye and bruises all up her arms. Ricky, they turned her away because she didn’t have any money. I still feel sick about it.”
He looks just as sick as I feel. “I agree. It’s not right.”
“There must be something we can do to help,” I say, hopeful.
His brow furrows in concern. “Did you want to go back down there and see if we can find her?”
I offer him a half smile. “I was hoping you would say that.” I pull out of his hold on me and open our front door. The young girl comes sheepishly into the apartment, her child still on her hip and Dani close behind them.
“Hey, Ricky.” Dani offers a wave that looks like it takes all of her energy to achieve.
He smiles at her and the young girl, but then turns his attention back to me as if to ask what the fuck, Harley? But I wasn’t leaving her there on her own.
I place a hand on her shoulder, trying to encourage her to come closer to him. “This is the doctor boyfriend I was telling you about. His name is Ricky, you can trust him,” I tell her softly. She’s so scared and timid, but the poor girl has been through a lot today. “Ricky, this is Frankie.”
Dani nods to her, showing she agrees. “He’s one of the good guys.”
“Hi, Frankie.” He takes a seat on our couch and motions for her to do the same.
Tentatively she sits, with her little girl still clinging to her. She’s got ringlet curls and a pretty floral dress. She starts to fuss and cry. Her mother, with gentle hands and a soft voice, tries to soothe her. To distract the little girl, I turn on a cartoon, the cheerful sounds filling the room and drawing her attention immediately.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Ricky asks, his voice soft and filled with concern for the poor girl.
She shakes her head. “He will kill me and my babies,” she whispers.
My heart aches for her, a prickly anger rising under my skin. Something inside of me wants to go down to her boyfriend’s house and deal with him myself for what he’s put her through. Piece of shit. “Please, Ricky, we have to help her.”
“We will.” He looks back over her, and I can see he’s assessing her injuries. “Let me get my bag,” he says before leaving the room.
“Will Millie come to me for a bit so Ricky can look over your injuries?” I ask her.
Her wide, frightened eyes meet mine, as she nervously chews on her lip.
“He’s a really good doctor. He helped me, and he can help you, I promise.”
She looks down to her daughter. “Millie, can you go to mommy’s friend, Harley, for a minute while the nice man has a look at your sister for me?”
I offer my hand to the little girl; her small fingers curl around mine hesitantly. I smile at her, and she smiles back. Then she reaches out her arms and lets me pick her up. “I think I have some strawberries in the kitchen, do you like them?”
“They’re her favorite,” her mother answers for her.
Dani stands with me, smiling at the little girl. It’s the first time I have seen her properly smiling in weeks, and I’m glad she has something new to think about this morning.
“We will just be in the kitchen if you need us,” I tell her as Ricky comes back into the room with his bag of doctor’s equipment.
She nods, but I can see she’s watching him, not so sure.
I take Millie into the kitchen and pull a container of strawberries out of the fridge, sitting her on my lap at the kitchen table as she greedily grabs a handful of them, smashing them into her mouth. I can’t help but giggle at her. She’s adorable.
Dani smiles as well, asking her if she can have one. When she’s done, I take her over to the sink to wash her hands, but I swear somehow more water gets on my clothes than on her hands.
“Here, let me do it,” Dani says, helping us.
“Did you like the psychologist you saw today?” I ask her. She didn’t say a word to me after her appointment, and I’m not sure how to broach all of this with her, but I’m worried.
“She was nice. I’ll go back and see her again. I’m glad Geovani made me go. She gave me a script for some sleeping pills, so hopefully I can finally sleep tonight.”
“You know you’re welcome to stay here. I don’t like you staying in that big place all alone.”
She quirks a brow. “This place is crowded enough, girl.”
“Never too crowded for you. You could always have my room, and I’ll sleep in with one of the boys. The offer is there if you need it.”
She tilts her head. “How does that work anyway? Like who do you sleep with at night? Is there a roster to keep it fair?”
Unable to contain myself at her confusion, I burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the kitchen as Millie looks up at me, completely bewildered. Then, she bursts into a fit of laughter herself. It’s the most adorable sound ever.
“What, I’m serious.” Dani sniggers a laugh. It’s so nice to see her relaxing a little bit.
I hear the quiet shuffle of feet from the living room, and then Ricky emerges, followed by Frankie, both joining us in the kitchen. He must be done with his check-up.
“Thank you, Harley,” she says, and I see the unshed tears welling in her eyes.
“It’s nothing. Ricky would have just been lazing about the place anyway.” I wink at him cheekily, knowing I owe him for this. “You gave him something to do this morning.”
“I have made a call to a friend who’s going to give Frankie and Millie a safe place to stay until we can work out something more permanent. And I will come and check up on you again next week, okay?” he tells her.
She looks to me and Dani. “Thank you so much. Both of you. I couldn’t take Millie back there after what he did this morning. I can’t tell you how much this means to us.”
“You don’t have to. We have both been in tough situations ourselves, we get it.”
“I will never be able to repay you,” she says sadly, and I feel the weight of her despair. I remember that awful feeling of having nothing when my papa died. It’s so scary, and I couldn’t imagine doing it with a toddler and a baby on the way as well.
I offer her a friendly smile. “Just stay safe. That’s all I want.”
A sharp rap echoes through the room, and Maddox and Geovani trail behind a familiar guard from the boys’ club as he enters our apartment. Millie clings to me tightly, her small, sticky hands clutching my arm, her grip surprisingly strong. She’s scared of men, that much is obvious, but I would be too if I was her size and three oversized dudes I didn’t know just approached me. “It’s okay, these are some friends of mine here to help you and Mommy,” I tell her.
Frankie takes her from me, and she hugs in tight with her mom, still watching the guys.
“This is Geovani, Maddox, and Tucker,” Ricky introduces them to the girls.
Geovani’s hand entangles with mine, and Maddox kisses me on the cheek. I haven’t seen either of them today, they were off training in Geovani’s gym when I woke up this morning. Maddox’s fight might have been postponed until next year but the two of them are still obsessed with training every day.
I’m sure Frankie is wondering what the hell is going on because I already told her my boyfriend is a doctor, and I know she also noticed my engagement ring in the car. But it’s not one of those situations you can explain to someone you just met. It probably wouldn’t make sense to her if I tried.
Tucker holds out a hand for Frankie to shake, and she does tentatively. I can see the way she scans him, looking to see if he is really safe.
“I can come with you to the safe house if you like, help you get set up,” Dani offers, seeing her obvious fear.
“Thank you,” she whispers, smiling softly at Dani.
I scribble my phone number down for her and hand her the piece of paper. “Anything you need, day or night, you call me, okay?”
“I will,” she agrees, and the four of them leave together.
As soon as the door is closed, Maddox turns to Ricky. “Name and address of the fucker who did this.” He’s close enough to me that I can feel the tension in his body.
“I texted it to you,” Ricky says, his guilty eyes flashing to me.
“Alex said you lot need to be careful; you can’t just go round to their place and take matters into your own hands, as much as we might all like to.”
Maddox kisses my lips quickly, taking off for the door like I haven’t just spoken.
Geovani gives me that devilish smirk only he can get away with before blowing me a kiss. He’s out the door behind Maddox. The two of them are pretty inseparable these days. It’s like they think it’s their personal mission to rid this town of any scumbags.
“Guys,” I warn them. But they’re gone.
“Fuck. Ricky, stop them.”
He pulls me into his hold. “They know what they’re doing, baby doll, don’t you worry about them.” But he has to know I do. I worry about all of them. Things are changing around here, and while it’s definitely for the better, we’re still trying to navigate this new world.
I collapse onto the couch, and Ricky does the same, pulling me onto his lap.
“Ricky, we have to do something, you and me. I hate when people say, I wish things could be different but then never do anything to actually change them. I have the money. You have the expertise. Together, we could really make a difference for so many women.”
He brushes his hand over the side of my face and into my hair then pulls me into his lips. “This is why I love you so much, baby doll,” is all he says before kissing me.
When I eventually pull back from him, I stare into his pretty blue eyes. “Is that a yes?” I grin back, knowing I’m pushing my luck.
A cheeky smile lights up his face. “You know I would do anything for you.”