Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
ARROW
H ow the fuck did he end up with a homeless woman sleeping in the bed on the other side of his wall? Arrow didn't mind her being there, as long as she wouldn’t try to slit his throat in the middle of the night.
Nah.
She wouldn't reach his bed without him knowing. He was a light sleeper, trained by the military to always be on alert. He wished he could fall asleep and knock out without every little sound having him reaching for a rifle that wasn’t there.
His gut told him there was more to Miss Emilee than met the eye, and his gut hadn't failed him yet. Not in two decades of combat, nor with women or friendships. His gut was the one thing he had that he could always rely on.
His gut told him that pain motivated her defiance. Pain mixed with a healthy dose of defensiveness. A deep-rooted pain that had taken years to get to this point. He'd noticed it the last couple of times he'd seen her at The Citadel. Her smile never quite made it to her eyes. He'd wanted to talk to her when he'd seen her playing by herself, but he didn't want to make things awkward for her. Had she been sleeping in her car for the last couple of months? Surely, someone in Grand Ridge would have noticed and said something. It wasn't safe and none of the men he knew would have allowed it, even if she wasn’t on the top of the friends list.
And he couldn't allow her to return to sleeping in her car, either. His house would be open to her as long as she needed, if she could follow his rules. He wouldn't charge rent, but he sure as hell wouldn't allow her to run amok or cause chaos, either.
Glancing down at his phone, he saw it was almost three a.m. now and knew Jay would be asleep. Dax, on the other hand, would be on shift for another five hours, so he called him.
“What do you know about Emilee?” Arrow asked as soon as he picked up.
“Why? What did she do? Did she sneak out? Not follow you?” Dax asked, clearly alarmed.
“No. Nothing like that. But, if she's going to stay in my house, I need to know if I should be worried about anything.”
“I don't think there's anything to be worried about. From what I can gather, she's been working hard to not only stay clean but make amends. She's trying to fix her reputation,” Dax said slowly.
“The only thing I know about her is that she used to do drugs with Catie. I'd appreciate any other information you can give me, Dax,” Arrow said, cutting to the chase.
“I know she's gone through a lot in her life. Catie said they were best friends. Emilee was there when the cartel kidnapped Catie but ran off instead of getting her help.”
“Ouch. That had to feel like a betrayal.”
“From what I could gather from their exchange at The Citadel, Emilee was high as a kite when it happened. But Catie isn't willing or maybe she's not ready, to forgive her.”
“Jay was okay with her becoming a member after that?”
“Yeah. She's been clean for two years. Part of our membership criteria is yearly drug testing. However, because of her past, Jay wrote a new contract up for her. The contract requires monthly hair follicle and urine testing. She's been clean since she joined last year. She is respectful and follows the rules. Jay made it very clear she wouldn't get a second chance. Screw up once and she was gone.”
“Good. Keeps her on the straight and narrow.”
“You know how particular Jay is about the safety of the club. It's not right to keep people out because they have an issue with another member, as long as they can both remain respectful and safe. Now, if either of them was to cause another scene or do something to jeopardize another member's safety...” Although he knew Dax couldn’t see it, Arrow nodded.
“Were you the one to run her background check?” Arrow asked. All members of The Citadel had background checks run on them as a screening before they could join.
“I was. Her official background check came back mostly clean with a couple of misdemeanor charges for petty theft, prostitution and drugs. During her interview, she was forthcoming with not only admitting to the crimes but also her repentance towards them. I was there for the interview, Arrow. She truly seems to have changed. I'm hopeful for her continued recovery. Sam hired her over at Renewed Hope recently as well. She called about her background check for the job.”
“What aren't you telling me?” There was something more, something deeper behind Dax's words.
“Look, when I tell you she had a hard life--”
“Spit it out, Dax.”
“Jay dug into her background deeper than a simple police check. Her family was murdered her freshman year in college.”
“Murdered?” That got his attention.
“A home invasion gone wrong. From what I can tell, her father woke up and confronted one of the perps. Emilee’s father was armed and aimed the handgun at the perp, not seeing the other one down the hall. The second perp shot and killed Emilee's father. The shots woke up Emilee's mother and teenage sister. They came running into the hallway and... the investigators presume the women lost their lives because they could identify the killers. In one night, Emilee lost her entire world. Both sets of grandparents were already deceased. She has a few uncles and aunts but not anyone she was super close to. Her great grandmother was already on the decline. Within a year of losing her son, her great grandmother also died. Her father was an Army Ranger, and Emilee grew up as an Army Brat. She’s lived all over the country, away from her bio family. She spiraled after her great grandmother died... dropped out of college, got in with the wrong crowd. Drugs were her way to escape the pain. From what we could tell from past social media posts, her parents adored her. She and her sister were only a year apart, and they were best friends.”
Fuck.
That poor girl.
“How long ago was that?”
“Coming up on a decade now,” Dax told him.
“Were the bastards ever caught?”
“No. They were good at what they did, there was no DNA evidence at the scene whatsoever.”
“She never got justice,” Arrow said.
“No. She's never gotten justice. From what I can tell, she's not had a lot of support or love in her life since.”
After asking a few more questions, Arrow hung up the phone. He wasn't one to judge anyone for their past, and it felt like Emilee made her past mistakes out of desperation. As a former Air Commando, he knew he'd done a thing or two in combat that would be considered crossing the line. Now, as an active officer of a motorcycle club, he'd been involved in a bunch of morally gray shit, but he'd do it all again. If his actions could protect the innocent...
Arrow thought about the information Dax had just given him. The sadness and pain behind her eyes now made sense. He'd seen Emilee at the last DDLG playdate at The Citadel. He'd taken Makenzie when Irish was out of town on business. While Makenzie hung out with her friends, Emilee played mostly by herself, although he'd noticed Makenzie tried to engage her. Emilee had been hesitant to accept.
Emilee was a good decade younger than him if not more, with dark, almost black hair and the deepest blue eyes he'd ever seen. He'd noticed the scars on her arms, the evidence of previous drug use, and recognized the obvious failed attempt at suicide with the jagged scar across her wrist. There was a depth of sadness in the girl's eyes and it had shaken him to the core. She was short and curvy. At six foot four, Arrow preferred taller women. The shortest woman he'd dated in recent years was five foot eight and that had seemed small to him. Emilee was pocket size. And, he had a thing for blondes, which she most definitely was not.
He wondered if she was playing with the DDLG lifestyle or if it was something she was interested in. There were plenty of Daddies in Grand Ridge to go around, including almost every member of The Watchmen. He himself was a Daddy, but unlike his closest friends, he was a strict Daddy. He thought both Lucky and Irish were incredibly too easy on their Littles. A fact he hadn't been silent about. Makenzie had balked at the idea of Arrow taking her to the playdate, preferring Savage, because she had Savage wrapped around her little finger. But, Savage was with Irish on the mission and it was Arrow or stay home. Makenzie begrudgingly accepted his supervision and confessed when he took her home that, “Uncle Arrow you ain't so bad after all,” before kissing his cheek.
Arrow scrolled through his phone for a few more minutes before putting it aside and finally, after a long day, fell asleep. It didn't last long. Arrow stirred from his sleep, his senses alert to the sound of Emilee's distressed cries echoing through the quiet of the night. His heart pounded in his chest as he sat up in bed, letting his eyes adjust to the dark.
Hearing her screams grow more desperate, he bounded out of bed and rushed next door to the guest room. He pushed open the door and rushed to her bedside. Fear contorted Emilee's features.
“Catie! Catie, no! Help! Somebody help!” She screamed out, thrashing her head violently from side to side.
“Emilee. It's just a dream.” He reached out and shook her gently, his touch light but firm.
“Emilee, wake up,” he commanded.
Emilee's eyes flew open. They were wide with terror, her breath came in ragged gasps. “They took Catie,” she whimpered, her voice trembling with fear. “Help! You've got to help me, please! Bad guys with guns, they took my friend!”
Arrow, who had his own experience with PTSD nightmares, saw she wasn't quite awake yet. He knew intimately what these types of nightmares did to a person. He needed to wake her up completely.
“Emilee. Wake up, baby girl.” He commanded again.
“What are you doing? Why won't you help me! Please! Someone, anyone! Call 9-1-1! I need help!” Her voice was broken, her wails filling the room around them.
Arrow's heart clenched at the desperation in her voice. He reached out and cupped her face in his hands. “Emilee, it's okay,” he told her. “Catie is fine. She's safe.”
Emilee blinked up at him, confusion clouding her eyes as she struggled to grasp the reality of her surroundings. “Where am I?” she murmured, her voice thick with sleep.
“You are at my house. I'm Arrow, remember me?”
Emilee nodded.
“You had a nightmare, sweetheart,” he reassured her, his voice gentle but firm. “You're safe here.”
Emilee's shoulders sagged with relief, her body trembling with the aftershocks of her nightmare. “I... I went to get help,” she whispered, her words slurred with exhaustion. “But I got hit by a car... ended up in the hospital...”
What was she talking about? She'd ran off from the scene, she hadn't gotten help. There wasn't a police report made about Catie's disappearance until her sister reported her missing after the kidnappers had contacted her. She must have been dreaming.
He reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her close as she trembled against him. “You're safe now,” he whispered. “I've got you.”
“Could you...” she blinked up at him, “Could you maybe stay until I fall back asleep?”
Arrow reached down and picked up the ragged teddy bear off the ground next to the bed and handed it to her. Without hesitation, he moved behind her and wrapped her up in his arms and held her tightly.
“I've got you,” he answered her.
As she snuggled back into him, still obviously half asleep, Arrow rubbed her back. She wasn't his type, but damn if she didn’t fit perfectly, her curves pressing into the hardness of his body.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
Arrow doubted that she’d remember saying those words in the morning. But, she said them. And, they cut right through his hardened facade. Just like that, with those three little words, she'd wormed her way into his heart. Just like that, he knew. She'd been brought to him for a reason. He didn't believe in coincidences. He didn’t know what that reason was, but he knew it would become clear in time.
He knew he would do whatever it took to protect her, to keep her safe from harm.
It might not last forever, but for now, the little girl in his arms belonged to him.