Chapter Fourteen
D aisy hated hospitals . She hated them as a kid, and she still hated them now. Sitting in a hospital bed, waiting to be healed enough to leave. Each day, she kept getting stronger and stronger. She hoped the doctors would one day soon listen to her and actually let her go. That was all she wanted—to be let go. She could take care of herself better at home. Sure, her mother couldn’t cook as well as the hospital, and she’d probably order takeout, or ask Angel to cook for her. That was beside the point. She’d rather take on Lacey’s cooking than spend another day at the hospital. It was driving her crazy.
Anthony had no choice but to leave her. Each morning Lash would arrive to take him away. Lash would ask how she was doing, and she’d give him an update, then Anthony would kiss her and they would leave.
He’d finally told her what he’d been doing on the night she had woken up from her coma. She still couldn’t believe the bad shit the Monster Dogs MC had been into. It also explained why Lash did what he did, in keeping them allies. So much had been explained in such a short time.
She was always aware that some of the Dogs had escaped, and Luke was currently under the protection of the Skulls. His own father was top of the list of suspects that might want to kill him. Her own protection had been increased as well.
At a knock on the door, she looked up to see Luke, the man himself. He wasn’t wearing a patch, and he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Daisy said. “Wait, are you a vampire?”
Luke stopped and frowned.
“Forget it, it’s a lame joke and all that.” Daisy put her hands flat to the bed and looked at him. “How are you?”
“I should be asking you that, don’t you think?”
She laughed. “Nah, I’m good. Being stabbed a few times is a walk in the park.”
Luke’s brow went up as he took the seat beside her.
“Okay, so it wasn’t all that great. It stung like a bitch. Are you happy now that I sound so weak?”
He shook his head. “I’m not happy. I didn’t get to you in time. I should have. Daniella hated you after what happened at the quad all those years ago. She wanted my dad to ... make you suffer. She kept asking him to make a deal where you could be hurt, or meet an accident, or something. It always pissed her off that she could never get him to take revenge for her.”
“She was a coward and she had what was coming to her,” Daisy said. She didn’t feel any remorse for beating the shit out of her. Daniella, and a group of her posse bitches, along with Ryan—when he was alive—cornered Tabitha in the bathroom at high school. They beat Tabitha so bad she had to go to the hospital. There was no way the Skulls were going to let that slide. Daisy wouldn’t allow it, so at the quad she made sure Daniella suffered for what she did.
Everyone always thought Daisy was weak, that she didn’t know how to fight. They always called her the “fat one,” the “not skull,” and a lot of other names that made her feel like she was less than a Skull. The biggest problem she had when it came to fighting was that she didn’t stop. The moment she was in the zone, there was no pulling her out of it, and Tabitha had to pull her back.
“I know,” Luke said. He held his hands up. “Everyone was shocked by what went down at the quad. Daniella thought it was going to be an easy fight.”
“And what did you think?” Daisy asked.
“I had my doubts. You were a Skull, and none of you were easy. You were all fucking hard, and stubborn.” Luke placed his hands on his thighs. “That feels like a different time, doesn’t it? Kind of like we were playing this game of life.”
“You might have been playing. I wasn’t. I wanted us to get through high school as best we could.”
“It’s what I wanted,” Luke said.
“And yet, you tried to fall for Tabitha,” Daisy said. “What did you hope that would achieve?”
Luke laughed. “I loved her spirit, okay? She was different from the other girls. It wasn’t like I could look at you. I had already heard the rumor that you were off limits?”
This made her frown. She hadn’t expected to go down memory lane with Luke, but now that they were here, she was curious. “Rumors? I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“Anthony, you’ve got to talk to him. He is the one who warned guys away from you.”
“He did?”
Luke chuckled. “You didn’t know? Look, Daisy, I know some people said some bad shit about you and all that, but have you looked in the mirror lately?”
She tended to avoid looking in the mirror. She wasn’t going to admit to Luke that at times, she still saw that tiny girl with dirty hair, and the body that hadn’t been washed. Even her parents hadn’t shown her how to brush her teeth. It was embarrassing.
“You’re beautiful. You were beautiful throughout high school. Not everyone saw it, I get that, but you were. Some of the guys, I can’t remember their names now, but from science and English class, they wanted to ask you out, and apparently Anthony put a stop to it. Any guy that showed an interest in you got a visit from him, with a warning, or something got broken. Tabitha seemed like the easier girl to fall for. I didn’t want anything broken.”
“I had no idea.”
“Yeah, Anthony has pretty much belonged to you, for as long as I’ve known you. You’re off limits to everyone but him. Does that piss you off?” Luke asked.
Daisy stared at him and she shook her head. “No.”
“Wow, you two are fucking made for each other, aren’t you?”
“Why?”
“You don’t mind that he stopped you from dating other men?” Luke asked.
“Luke, I have been in love with Anthony since before I was five years old. I loved him then, I love him now, and that is never going to change. He loved me when I was dirty and my real parents didn’t take care of me. He loved me when Lacey and Whizz took me in and became my true parents. He loves me now, even when my hair hasn’t been washed, and I’ve got scars. When I cry, he’s there. When I am angry, he is there. When I make mistakes, he doesn’t judge me, he’s there for me. He is my rock. He is my Anthony,” Daisy said. “I know what we have might not be normal, people might not even trust it, but I trust him. I love him, and if he stopped some stupid guys from asking me out, risking breaking my heart, then all that does is make me love him even more.”
He stared at her. “I hope one day I get what you and Anthony have.”
“Don’t settle,” Daisy said.
“That is all you can do.”
Luke got to his feet. “And with that, I better go. I ... I’m trying to join the Skulls.”
“I heard,” Daisy said.
“You guys are the real deal. You’re what I thought club life was about, and now I see that my own club was everything I hated.”
“The Skulls is a family, Luke. They will have your back, as long as you have theirs and you don’t run from problems. You stand and fight.”
Luke nodded. “See you around.”
Daisy held her hand up in a wave, and then she was alone in a hospital room, bored. She hated the fucking hospital. There was nothing to do but sit around and wait. The nurses came in, read her chart, talked to her about how she was feeling. She would ask the same question—how much longer did she have to wait until she could get out of there. No one would answer.
Time passed, only it was doing so slowly, and it was driving her crazy.
****
A nthony didn’t argue as his father dumped the bucket of water and a mop in his hands, and then pointed to the bathrooms.
“Clean it.”
Lash didn’t linger. There were no other words spoken.
He had no doubt the guys had been ordered to take shits and pisses, and to leave them. This was part of his punishment. His father had to show strength and Anthony had to submit, and that was what he was going to do.
After seeing what the Monster Dogs MC were capable of, he knew he had fucked up big time. He had to understand there was always a reason his father did what he did. Taking the mop and bucket into his hands, he stepped into the bathroom, and sure enough, the smell was disgusting.
He didn’t even bother to check the damage. Grabbing some fresh tissue, he wrapped it around his hand and flushed the handle down. When it came to cleaning up crap and knowing the guys were going to be pissed at him, he didn’t want to risk getting shit on his hands.
Flushing each of the handles on all of the toilets, he couldn’t help but remember a time, several years ago, when he was still a prospect, and Daisy was hanging out with him. He had been ordered to clean the bathrooms, and Daisy had sat on the countertop near the sinks, watching him.
“You know, I could help,” Daisy said.
“You’re not going to help. This is my job and I’m going to get it done,” he said.
“You’re so stubborn, you know that, right?”
He glared at her from one of the bathroom stalls.
Daisy stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re good at cleaning, though. This place is really sparkling.”
“You should see the ladies’ room.”
She laughed. “He got you doing the ladies’ room as well?”
“I had to clean absolutely everything,” Anthony said. “This is my job.”
“I wonder what you did?”
“You don’t have to do anything, remember? This is all par for the course of becoming a Skull.”
He stepped out of the stall and the smile on her face was so ... heartwarming to him.
“I love the pink gloves,” Daisy said.
He peeled them off. “I was not going to get too filthy.”
“No?” she asked.
Anthony took a step toward her, then another, and another, until he had her trapped against the counter and his body.
“What if someone comes in?” she asked.
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?”
He looked into her brown eyes and chuckled. “Do you really think any of the guys are going to want to step into this and risk that stench?”
“But you’ve cleaned it. It smells floral.”
Anthony chuckled. “That means nothing, not until I leave this room. As far as they’re concerned, it stinks like shit. Now, are you going to kiss me? My hands are clean.”
She cupped his face. “Of course I will kiss you.”
Anthony pulled out of the memory, because he didn’t want to be standing in this piece of filth remembering how he and Daisy made love right under everyone’s nose and none of them even suspected. They figured she was helping him. There were a lot of times over the years he and Daisy had gotten away with a lot of stuff. That time was no exception.
Rather than think of the past, he focused on cleaning the toilets and getting as much done as possible, as quickly as possible.
Like the last time, no one came in. He missed Daisy, and he knew being in the hospital would be driving her crazy, and she’d try to find a chance to escape. He needed to get to her before she did something stupid, like ... releasing herself from the hospital. Anthony had given the staff strict instructions not to allow that to happen. If she tried to leave the hospital against doctor’s orders, they were to call him. He hoped she didn’t try to push him. It was the last thing he wanted.
“Hey, man,” Miles said, entering the bathroom.
Anthony looked toward him. “What are you doing?”
“Do you think I’m going to let you take all this punishment? I’m waiting for Lash to get started on me, but I can’t sit.”
“This is my job,” Anthony said. “You don’t have to do anything.” He also had a feeling he wasn’t going to punish anyone else.
Lash was going to test them all, push each of them to their limit.
“Yeah, and when he does, I know you’ve got my back.”
That was true. Anthony would have all their backs. Miles was not going to take no for an answer. He could force him out, but that would be beside the point.
Anyway, it meant he would be able to get to Daisy quickly.
Within a couple of hours, both bathrooms were completely clean, smelling like lemon and pine, and sparkled. There was not a speck of dust to be seen. Not many people knew this about him, but he actually hated mess. His bedroom had always been clean, even as a kid.
Once the bathrooms were clean, he stepped out, and no one was around. He made his way toward the office, and knocked. His dad didn’t allow him to enter, keeping him waiting, and he was more than happy with that. He could wait.
“Come in,” Lash said.
He entered his father’s office. For some reason, he expected to see his mom around, only there was no sign of Angel.
“The toilets are clean.”
“Good.”
“Can I head out to the hospital?” he asked.
Lash sat back. “I’ll go and inspect first.”
With that, Lash got to his feet, brushed past him, and Anthony had no choice but to follow. First, he went into the men’s bathroom, then the women’s. He was gone long enough for Anthony to know he was giving a full inspection.
He stood, waiting.
Finally, Lash came out.
“Good, that’s good. Now, I want you to stop by Millie’s. She needs some help. Once she is done with you, she will tell you where to go next.”
Anthony gritted his teeth. This was going to be hard. He wanted to get to Daisy.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Oh, and when you do get to Daisy, tell her hi from me.”
With that, Lash turned his back on him, and away he went. The first stop was Millie. She needed help with a current delivery of toys. Millie was Baker’s woman, and owned the local toy shop.
The town of Fort Wills did not rely on online businesses, and the Skulls had been able to provide businesses with the means to stay open and keep afloat. Each business also included an online element run mainly by Whizz. He oversaw everything technical within the Skulls’ business.
It had worked for the last ten years, and Anthony saw no reason why it wasn’t going to keep working, providing they kept evolving with the changing market. The Billionaires had also helped supply some good tips on the stock market as well.
This was why they no longer needed to work illegal jobs, running guns or drugs, or anything.
The Skulls were 100 percent clean, and Anthony was starting to appreciate that more than he thought possible. Especially after seeing the effects the Monster Dogs had on Luke.
The other man was struggling to accept all he had come to learn. Even though he was gathering evidence for some time, it would seem he hadn’t grasped the full problem. He found that incredibly sad.
It was hard to confront those facts, especially when Luke didn’t believe in what his original club was doing.
After dealing with Millie’s delivery problem, along with moving several large boxes, he had to go and see Alex at his home. There, it was a trash clearing problem, and that was all. This was the point. Running around from place to place. It wasn’t long before it was dark, and by then, it was time for him to get to the hospital.
Stepping into Daisy’s room, he was tired, hungry, but the sight of his wife staring up at him with that smile he knew she reserved for him alone, lightened his whole world. He took a step toward her, then another, and he reached down, cupping her cheek, and kissing her on the head.
“On the head, seriously?” Daisy asked.
He chuckled, then took possession of her lips. She let out a sigh, and he felt her sink against him.
“That was better,” she said.
“I never want to disappoint my woman.” He pulled away but didn’t take the seat. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he held her hand.
For several moments, they just stared at each other.
“I missed you,” he said, after a short time had passed.
“I missed you too.” She frowned.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, I’m just trying to remember where I went or what I must have been dreaming about when I was in a coma, you know?”
“Do you think you went somewhere?”
“Uh, I don’t know. It’s all a little foggy right now.”
“If it’s important, it will come to you.”
Daisy tilted her head to the side. “I feel I was ... talking with you, or thinking about you. I don’t know. It’s strange, it’s like I just wanted to get home to you.”
He moved in closer and pressed a kiss to her head once again. “You’re here with me now.”
“Please get me out of this hospital.”
“Babe, you know I’d love to.”
“It’s driving me crazy.”
“I can’t let you out.”
She growled but didn’t try to pull away from him. “Please?”
“No.”
“Pretty please.”
“No.”
“You’re being totally unreasonable.”
“I’m taking care of you, Daisy. The doctors and nurses are here to make sure they didn’t miss anything. Mistakes happen all the time, and I’m not having you alone where something could happen.”
“What could happen?” Daisy asked. “Look at me, I’m doing fine. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. I’m on the road to recovery.”
He smiled at her. “I know, and that is why you’re going to stay this way.” She looked like she was going to argue, and he pressed a finger to her lips. “Stop. You didn’t see it. You felt it, I get that, but ... I watched, Daisy. I watched as she sunk that knife in you. The blood, you going so freaking pale. I’m not going to risk your life, even though all I want to do is take you home and hold you. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize your health. This is me taking care of you, loving you, and doing what is necessary.”
Daisy stared at him for several seconds. “You know, it’s easier to pretend to hate you when you don’t say things like that.”
Anthony chuckled. “You’re not going to hate me. You can’t. You’ve tried and failed.”
She tutted. “You think I’ve tried.”
“I know it.”
“You’re wrong, Anthony, but that is okay. It is going to take you a while to get used to being wrong. I’ve never hated you.”
“Not even a little bit as kids?”
“No.”
This made him frown.
Daisy laughed. “You wanna know why?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Because no matter what, you saw me, you always have, and you always wanted me.”
And that was true.