Chapter Sixteen
T he following day, Anthony had to continue with the punishment Lash saw fit. Daisy made her way around the clubhouse, trying to be as useful as she could be, while everyone kept taking jobs from her. She was not to do any cleaning, cooking, or heavy lifting.
There were not a lot of people around, but whenever she tried to do anything, they were there to stop her. It was exhausting trying to find work to do covertly. She wasn’t even allowed to make herself a mug of coffee. Stink actually made her a cup of coffee, and she thanked him.
Lacey had offered to come and redo her hair, and even her makeup for the day, and she declined. She was happy to just be walking around the clubhouse, not cooped up in the hospital bed.
With coffee in hand, she decided to make her way toward Lash’s office. She had been toying with the idea of telling him the truth. She didn’t want Anthony to suffer.
She rarely spoke to Anthony’s father. The truth was, he kind of terrified her, always had. She knew where Anthony got his silent contemplation, but the other difference between them was, Lash didn’t mind talking. Again, she found that a little terrifying.
Knocking on his office door, she waited, and when he called for her to come in, she did so. Her stomach was in knots.
“Hey,” Daisy said.
“Hello.” Lash put the pen down on his desk and sat back.
Stink had not only made her a cup of coffee, she asked if he would be willing to make one for Lash as well, and he did.
“I, uh, I got Stink to make me a cup of coffee, and I thought you might like one as well, so I got him to make you one.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
She placed it on the desk, and her nerves were making her feel like she was close to throwing up.
“Can I talk to you?” she asked.
“Sure, but if it is to ask me to go easy on Anthony, that is not something I’m going to do,” he said.
“Oh, no, it’s not that.” She pointed to a chair and Lash nodded. This might be the longest she had ever spoken to him, and that, in itself, was terrifying. “I know what we did was wrong, and we need to be punished for it.”
“What would you like to talk to me about?”
She sat down and just stared at him. Glancing down at the mug of coffee in her hand, she suddenly felt jittery.
“It’s simple, I guess.” She took a deep breath. “It’s about something that happened a long time ago.”
Lash sat back in his chair. “I’m ready to listen.”
It was easy for him to just listen, but it was harder for her to just spill it out.
“It’s about my dad,” Daisy said.
“What about him?”
“He didn’t shoot himself in the head,” Daisy said. “I ... he ... I mean, he kept coming around, you know. He would beg me for money, and I had to find money to keep him quiet. He kept saying he had dirt on the Skulls, and he was going to use it, unless I got him the money he wanted. He was very convincing—” She stopped as he put his hand up.
“Your father had nothing on the club, Daisy.”
She pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and then just said it. “I killed him. Not a gun, not Anthony. I paid him and told him it was going to be the last time. He laughed and told me I was going to do exactly as I was told. He threatened the club. When I left, I saw the shovel.” She opened her eyes and looked directly at Lash. “He was so happy with the money I gave him, he didn’t see it. I whacked him around the back of the head, and I kept hitting. Anthony came and told me he would fix it.”
“Daisy,” Lash said.
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“Sweetheart—and I feel I can call you this seeing as you’re my daughter-in-law—I know this is not going to come as a shock to you, but I have killed a lot of people. I mean, a lot of people. More than my fair share, and I can tell you I know what it looks like when a man’s head gets bashed in, as opposed to blowing it out.”
“Oh,” she said.
“I knew. I knew it was either you or Anthony. I became aware of him pestering you, and we were about to take care of it as a club, but you moved in first.”
“You’re not mad?”
“What do I have to be mad about?”
“I killed someone.”
“Daisy, it was a long time ago, and that man was torturing you. He was pestering you for money. Now, I don’t think I need to tell you or advise you to not keep killing. You’re a rational human being, and you know you can’t keep doing that, right?”
She nodded.
“Good. Is there anything else?”
She shook her head.
“Then, enjoy your coffee and relax.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“Only if you wish to, but know there are people waiting to make sure you rest and relax. Here, you can sit, enjoy your coffee, and no one will bother you.”
Daisy took a deep breath. She liked the idea of no one pestering her. That would be nice. She loved the club, but right now they kept fussing over her, and it was a little overwhelming.
“Thank you.”
He nodded his head, and then got back to work.
There was a calculator, and several booklets open. She had no idea what he was doing, but if it was math, she was less inclined to care. Resting her head back, she took a deep breath, then another, until finally she felt calm. She took another sip of her coffee. Stink made a nice cup of coffee.
Stink had gotten his name as he had lost his sense of smell a long time ago. He could taste, so food was okay, but he couldn’t smell anything.
She started to feel sleepy.
“You need to move to the sofa,” Lash said.
She nodded her head and got to her feet. Finishing the last of her coffee, she sat on the sofa, resting her head in her hand. She tried to stay awake. She wanted to stay alert. Her body had a lot of other ideas ... like falling fast asleep.
She had no choice. Sleep consumed her.
****
L ash pressed a finger to his lips as his wife entered. Angel had brought him his lunch. She offered him a smile and looked toward the sofa, and her gaze softened.
Daisy had fallen asleep about an hour ago. The doctor said she would tire throughout the day, and to allow her to get as much rest as possible.
He kept working through the reports. It was not close to tax season, but he liked to keep an eye on everything and make sure he hadn’t missed anything.
“Are you okay?” Angel asked, coming in behind him. She put the plate down, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard.
“Yeah, I’m okay. She’s sleeping.”
“I can see that.”
“She struggles when it comes to relaxing.”
Angel nodded. “You’ve noticed that?”
“Yes, she loves helping out at the club. She loves being useful. She kind of reminds me of another woman I know. Stubborn, even when she is sick, will still try and do as much as humanly possible. A giant pain in my ass when she gets started.”
Angel laughed, and then tried to cover her mouth. “You’re not playing fair, and besides, I like taking care of people. I’m good at it. Stop teasing me.”
He pulled her onto his lap. “I love teasing you. Now, have you eaten anything?” he asked.
“I have my lunch in the kitchen.”
“That’s your stubborn way of saying no, you’re not eating anything, and it makes me want to spank your ass.” He picked up one of the pickles from his plate that he knew she loved. “Eat it.”
She took a bite and her eyes closed. “You’re a pain. I made that for you.”
“And if I don’t take care of you, who will?”
She didn’t argue with him. It was a good thing. Arguing with him got them nowhere. Daisy was still fast asleep, and he had known, even all those years ago, that her father hadn’t died from cleaning his gun. Anthony had been good at what he did, but not perfect.
Lash didn’t give enough of a shit to find out the truth. The story held up, and seeing the bastard was a drunk with a lot of enemies, it made sense for him to be cleaning a gun. It was a mess that took care of itself.
They buried him, no questions asked.
He hated that Daisy had gone through that. Her real father had been cruel. She would have been sixteen, or just turning that age.
She was the right choice for Anthony, just as Angel was the right choice for him, because she gave him hope, and she saw the good in everything. Daisy didn’t question the darkness in Anthony. She accepted it and still loved him. He had seen the two of them over the last few years getting closer, falling in love, and he admired them.
They never allowed their relationship to get in the way of the club. They never brought their problems to the club, or their successes. In that moment, he wasn’t happy. His son had married in secret, as had Daisy. They had moved in together without announcing it. Under the nose of the club, they had shared a life no one truly knew about, and that was because everything else had taken center stage. Anthony and Daisy didn’t need to be the center of attention. They were happy to just be together. It was how they were as kids, and right now he didn’t like that.
“You’re frowning, and you’ve got your angry face on,” Angel said.
“I think it is time you start organizing a wedding.”
****
R achel hadn’t been alone with Adam since his little lecture. She had thought he was the cool one, the one who would totally understand why they did what they did.
Yes, she got it, normal girls might be ... nervous or jittery at the fact they killed a guy. She didn’t care. It was part of being in the club, and she didn’t have rose-colored glasses on.
Her dad was an ex-addict who nearly got her mother killed. The club had killed people. They now worked for a much greater cause, and it was one she agreed with. Saving people, protecting them, and bringing down the scum that hurt them. There was no way she could be angry with that.
She loved the club, even though she wasn’t part of the immediate clique with Anthony, Daisy, Simon, Tabitha, and Miles, Sally as well, kind of Darcy too. Either way, it didn’t matter. They just connected, and well, she was kind of sidelined with Markus, which again was fine. More than fine.
She was still a Skull, and she was still part of the team. But she knew she was a little different. Yes, she loved makeup, dressing up and doing her hair, and all those things that made her a “girly-girl,” as her father would call her. However, she still didn’t have any problem handling a gun or killing people.
She did have a problem with Adam. His judgy attitude, and bringing their age gap into the conversation had annoyed her quite a bit. She didn’t give a shit what he did in the past. It didn’t matter to her that he was much older than her, old enough to be her dad, British, and just recently a grumpy old man. She liked him, for the longest time. Actually, she knew in her heart she was in love with him, and he with her. She also had a feeling he would never act on it—never, ever, ever, ever act on it—and that fucking sucked. It made her want to stamp her foot, scream, and throw a temper tantrum all in one, but that was childish. Instead, she glared at him.
He was playing pool with Alex. The two were laughing like they had not a care in the world. She sipped her juice. Along with all of her peers who had decided to take matters into her own hands, she was grounded. Yep, she was still getting grounded in her twenties, which was laughable. She took another swig of her juice, as she felt her blood boiling. She didn’t know why she was getting so angry.
Adam was there, enjoying his game of pool, laughing, and she was there stewing, getting angrier by the second. She had every intention of ignoring him.
There were a lot of men for her to pay attention to, only none of them were like Adam, and that pissed her off. She wanted to scream but instead she simply sat there and drank her juice. Festering.
And then it happened. Adam put down his pool stick and made his way to the bathroom. The same bathroom Anthony had been cleaning not too long ago.
Rachel tried to convince herself she should keep her ass on the chair. She shouldn’t move. She certainly shouldn’t be barging in on Adam’s bathroom break. That would be stupid.
She suddenly put her juice down, then stepped one foot in front of the other, until she found herself in the men’s bathroom. One glance around and she hoped someone would tell her to get her ass out. Of course, no one else was there. And that irritated her.
She tried to reason with herself, that she needed to get her shit together and just leave. Only, the toilet flushed, and any chance of escape was fast disappearing. There was no way she was going to panic. She was going to keep calm, keep her composure. Then Adam stepped right out of the stall.
“Rachel, you do know this is the men’s bathroom,” he said.
How dare he!
“Yes, of course I know, or are you about to give me a lecture about a time people never went in the wrong bathroom?” She had no idea what she was saying.
“A lecture?”
“Yeah, that is what you do now, right? You lecture. You tell us what it was like when you were young, and tell us how we’ve gotten it all wrong, and you’re disappointed.”
“Disappointed?”
“Stop repeating everything I say.” She stamped her foot. “For your information, we did what we thought was right, which is exactly what you would have done. If you so much as say it is not what you would have done, then you are wrong. Yes, we messed up. We hadn’t calculated the risks, and they happened to have known we were coming, but Daisy survived. She is alive, and there are girls who are safe now. I get that what we did was reckless and irresponsible, but I also thought you would appreciate why we did it. We were there, in the thick of it, in high school. We’ve seen what they are like. We saw how much Tabitha changed.”
“Are you finished?” Adam asked.
“No.” She stormed right up to him. “You are a horrible person, and I don’t even know why I have any feelings for you whatsoever. Do you want to know why you’re alone? Because you can’t see what is right under your nose, and that is why you are going to be alone.” She had every intention of hitting him, or better yet, just turning on her heel and leaving. That would have been a class act.
Only, she didn’t.
She was so close to him, and she looked at those lips, and this man she hated and wanted with an equal passion, and something just snapped. She grabbed the lapel of his jacket, and then pulled him down to kiss him. At first, Adam didn’t respond, not that she expected him to, but in a blink of an eye, he did. It was subtle, just the movement of his lips, as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her in close, and then gave her a real kiss she had spent most of her life dreaming about.
As quickly as it started, it ended.
Rachel didn’t linger to ask what it meant. The moment the kiss stopped, she turned and left. No questions.
Her lips tingled, and if anyone actually paid attention, they would see that they were also slightly swollen. She had just kissed Adam, and the most heady thing of all was that he had kissed her back.
****
“I t’s time for us to head back,” Tabitha said.
“Yeah, I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to hang out much. You know, me being in a coma and all.”
Tabitha laughed. “I loved hanging out with you. It was like when you were going through your bitchy phase. You wouldn’t talk a lot then either. The only difference is, this time you didn’t complain.”
She was trying to keep a brave face on it, Daisy saw it and read right through it.
“Come here, give me a hug,” Daisy said.
Tabitha wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly. “Don’t do anything stupid like that, you hear me?”
“I won’t. I don’t think we’re going to be able to breathe out of turn.”
Her friend laughed. She didn’t let her go, and Daisy didn’t push her friend away. She had a feeling Tabitha needed this.
Time ticked by.
Anthony and Simon were not talking to one another, as they shook hands. With those two, words didn’t need to be spoken. She got it. They were still on struggling friend terms.
“I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you,” Tabitha said.
“Hey, hey, hey, come on.” Now Daisy pulled out of her stronghold. “Remember, you and I promised each other we were not going to be like this. Not now, not ever.” She cupped her friend’s face. “I get that you were worried. I’m fine now. I’m on the road to recovery.”
“And I was the fucked-up friend.”
“Stop it.”
“No, look at me, and look at you.” She sighed. “I’m a mess. You would have come to me, Daisy. We both know that.”
“And I think if you didn’t have kids, you would have been right here. I don’t want you putting me first. I never have. You have children, and they matter, Tabitha. I’d have loved to have seen Nathan, and your other one, what’s her name again?”
“Jade.”
“Yes, Jade. I know you care about me. We’re best friends and that is never going to change. Not now, not ever. I love you, and if you do put me before your kids, then you are not the mother I thought you were.”
She saw the tears in Tabitha’s eyes.
“You’re the greatest friend, you know that? Even when I should be the one telling you everything is going to be okay, you’re consoling me.”
“It is what makes me one hell of a friend. Now, stop worrying. Go and be with your kids. I’m here, and Anthony is taking care of me.”
“No, Daisy, the whole club is taking care of you, and I can see it.” Tabitha hugged her again. “I’ll call you.”
Anthony came to stand by her side. She held her hand up. The rest of the Chaos Bleeds crew were saying their goodbyes as well.
“You were being too kind to her,” Anthony said.
“Shut up. She has kids, and they are more important.”
“Are you telling me that if you and I had kids, it would determine how you would go see her?”
Daisy looked at him. “Kids change everything, Anthony. You know that. I don’t want her to put me above them. I had parents who did that. Who never put me first. Who forgot about me. I would never want to be the cause of a child not being first.”
“Okay, now you’re making me feel bad,” he said.
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that because you’re feeling bad for being so mean to her?”
“Hell, no, she came in with her accusations, and it pissed me off. I didn’t need that kind of shit. She wanted me to have a reality check, well, I gave her one as well. Did I consider her kids? No, and I am sorry, but I am only sorry to you.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I know.” He pulled her in close.
They stood together, watching as the Chaos Bleeds crew left. She waved, seeing Tabitha wave back. She loved her friend but knew her place was no longer in Fort Wills.
Just as Chaos Bleeds left, it seemed the heavens decided to open up, and there was a loud thunderclap. Anthony moved her inside, straight out of the cold within seconds. She couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly he moved. They were still that way when Lash entered and he clapped his hands.
Daisy had a feeling this was coming.
“With Chaos Bleeds now gone, and Daisy out of the hospital, it’s time to deal with the problem at hand.”
The club was silent.
“We all know what Anthony and the rest of the newly joined members did. Regardless of the Monster Dogs being our enemies, there was already a plan in place. We were handling it, and my son saw fit to change that. As punishment, their patches will be revoked until further notice. Any special privileges they have earned are gone.”
Anthony stood up. “I take full responsibility.”
“No, man, you’re not taking the fall for this,” Miles said, and moved in close.
One by one, they banded together. United as one.
Daisy held onto Anthony’s hand. They were not going to allow him to take the fall for this. They would all face punishment.
Lash looked at them.
“Whatever punishment you want to mete out, I’m ready,” Anthony said. “This was my plan. I was the one who got the weapons. I was the one who trained us.”
“Yeah, and we all agreed,” Miles said.
“Absolutely,” Rachel said. “We were there every step of the way.”
“And we were all part of the plan,” Daisy said.
“All of us knew the risks,” Constance said. “None of us cared about them, as long as it was over.”
“They had been holding this shit over our heads for too long. We were done hiding,” Blaise said.
One by one, they united behind him, not letting Anthony take the fall. She knew he wanted to be the one to deal with the punishment.
“So, you’re all agreed that until further notice, you are no longer patched members?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“And you are willing to earn your patches back?” Lash asked. “It is not going to be easy. No one here is going to allow you any freedoms. You will be at our beck and call. You will not complain. Every job, regardless of whether you like it, will be done with efficiency. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” they answered together.
Lash nodded.
“Good. Then I suggest you get a good night’s sleep. You’re going to need it.”
And with that, he walked away.
Daisy held onto Anthony’s hand.
“This is going to get rough, you know that, don’t you?” Anthony asked.
“So long as we’re together, it’s going to be okay.” She offered him a smile but knew it was going to get hard.
Lash was going to push them harder than they had ever been pushed before.