Chapter Three
Aspen
I slowly walked toward the backyard. Diesel stayed by my side, his ears perked up, watching, searching for any danger. I hadn’t been alone outside my room since I came to the clubhouse over a week ago.
Looking over my shoulder, my eyes sought out Haizley. She sat in a chair with a book in her lap, talking to King. When they looked my way, I waved, letting them know I was okay.
Only I wasn’t okay.
I walked a little further, always keeping Haizley in my sight. I had Diesel, but if someone came after me, I needed to know she’d see me. I needed to know where to run.
I wondered if I’d ever feel safe again.
I felt safe with him.
I would forever remember the way he stood up to my father that day.
2018 Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Banshee, get your ass in here!”
I sat quietly next to my father as Steele yelled out into the main room. I didn’t want to be here. If Zeus were here, would he help? Would he stop my father from doing this?
“BANSHEE!”
“I’m coming. Keep your drawers on, for fuck’s sake.”
The sound of his voice sent goosebumps up my arms. It was deep and rough.
I’d been in love with him since the first day I saw him.
The Silver Shadows were our allies. My father didn’t tell me much about how things worked in the club, but my brother did.
He wanted me to know there were clubs that would help if I ever needed it.
When my older sister disappeared, my family was never the same. My father pulled the reins tighter, while my brother seemed to loosen them whenever he could. With information. He taught me everything I needed to know about motorcycle clubs. How they worked, and who to watch out for.
“What’s up?” he asked. I didn’t dare look up and draw his attention. I could feel the blush heating my face.
“Kronos has a proposition for you,” Steele said.
It wasn’t a proposition. It was a demand. My father didn’t expect to leave here today with me. He made me pack my things and pile them into the truck. He was giving me away. Without a word from me.
Or my mother.
She didn’t know what he was doing. He’d told me not to tell her or Zeus. As far as they were concerned, we were just taking a little father/daughter trip. A weekend away to spend time together.
It wasn’t uncommon. I took trips with my dad all the time. After Diana disappeared, he made sure to always make time for me. I loved my father; I really did. I just hated what he was doing.
I’d recently graduated from community college. I wasn’t allowed to go away to university. Not after Diana. My father forbade it, and after losing her oldest daughter, my mother agreed. She allowed him to tighten his control.
She said it was for my safety. She said she couldn’t lose another daughter. And I understood, kind of.
I was eight when Diana went off to college.
It was the last time I ever saw her. I didn’t understand why she hadn’t come home.
As a child, I thought I had done something.
Zeus and Diana were ten years old when I was born.
When they were teenagers, they always left me behind, and of course that meant when they were around, I was always looking for their attention.
After Diana disappeared, Zeus always made time for me.
“What kind of proposition?” Banshee asked, pulling me back to the present.
“Banshee, the Gods of Mayhem has built a solid reputation with the Silver Shadows. I’ve been watching you for a while now, and I think you’d be a good fit for my baby.”
The room was silent. I wondered what his reaction was, but I kept my head down, my eyes focused on my hands.
“What the fuck does a good fit mean?”
“It means I am trusting you with my youngest daughter.”
“Kronos, you’re gonna have to spell this shit out to me, ’cause it sounds an awful lot like you trying to sell off your fucking daughter.”
That was exactly what it was.
“Banshee,” Steele warned.
“No, Prez. I wanna hear this shit from him. Am I misunderstanding you, Kronos?”
My father stood up, and I glanced at Banshee. His eyes were locked on me until my father stepped between us.
“I came here to give you the chance to secure a bond between the Silver Shadows and the Gods of Mayhem.”
“By what? Fucking your daughter?”
I gasped at his crass words. My hand covered my mouth as my father punched Banshee in the face. Blood dripped from his nose, and I wondered if it was broken.
“Banshee, Kronos has generously agreed to let you marry his daughter,” Steele pressed. I couldn’t help but wonder why he was so persistent. What was he getting out of this deal?
I didn’t like Steele. He made me uncomfortable with the way he looked at me. The way he was focused on me now.
“His daughter is barely out of high school. Baby girl, how old are you?”
“Twenty-three,” I whispered, looking at Banshee.
“Twenty-three.” He shook his head and glared at my father. “I’m almost fucking forty.”
“Banshee—”
“I am old enough to be her fucking father,” he shouted.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kronos scoffed.
“How old was Rhea when she had Zeus?”
He had a point. My mother was only sixteen when she had my brother and sister. She’d met my father and, the way they told it, it was love at first sight.
“You keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” my father snarled as he bumped Banshee with his chest.
“The answer is no,” he said. I knew he wouldn’t want me. No one had. The only reason I was even alive was that my mother didn’t believe in abortion. She had a rough time with my siblings. As twins, they were born five weeks early, and my father wasn’t even there. My uncle Issac was.
My father was out on a run, not expecting my mother to go into labor so early. The doctor told her she shouldn’t have any more. And my father agreed. He didn’t want to risk losing her. I’d heard Zeus and Diana talking one day about how my father had begged her to have an abortion.
She’d refused.
Everything was fine. I came when I was supposed to, and my birth was uneventful. That was how my father described it. Uneventful. At least he’d been there when I was born.
“Banshee—”
“He said no, Steele.” Steele looked across the table at Chasm.
I liked Chasm; he and King were close to Zeus’ age.
But Chasm noticed me. He watched out for me when I came to the clubhouse with my father.
“The deal was that it was his choice. We agreed not to force a brother to take a woman. Not even to secure an ally.”
“You won’t even consider it?” Steele asked.
“Fuck no.”
I tried not to react. But his curse hurt. He was so adamant about not wanting me, I couldn’t help but feel rejected.
“It’s nothing against you, baby girl; you’re fucking gorgeous. But you deserve someone who loves you. You don’t deserve to be used as a pawn in fucking politics.”
Except I was a pawn. A child my father never really wanted. One he was eager to be free of.
I sat down against a tree, making sure I could see Haizley. Diesel crawled over and rested his head in my lap. My hand swept over his head absently, as I thought about my life.
I didn’t have a terrible childhood. I didn’t feel unloved. My father never did anything to make me feel like he didn’t want me or didn’t love me.
Well, until he tried to sell me off to Banshee.
And then sold me off to Pepper.
Pepper’s club was nothing like the Silver Shadows. Pepper didn’t get any more say in the situation than I did. His president told him he was marrying me, and he did as he was told.
I was never his old lady, though.
Not that I cared. I didn’t want to be his old lady. He never even slept with me. Nor did he have sex with me. We lived like roommates. No, that wasn’t accurate. I was his maid. I cooked him meals, and I cleaned his house.
I had no money. I had the bare minimum when it came to clothes and toiletries. And the money for those items only came from my learning to scrimp and budget on groceries.
The only time I ever left the house was to buy groceries. I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere else. Thankfully, Pepper was only home for breakfast and dinner. And even that was only a few times a week. Mostly he stayed at the clubhouse. At least I assumed he did.
It wasn’t until the last day that I realized what went wrong. I swore to him I wouldn’t tell. And I wouldn’t. So far, he hadn’t found me. I was afraid that if I said anything, somehow he would know and show up here.
Would King make me go back? Something told me he wouldn’t. Not if he knew the truth. I was surprised that none of the men from the original chapter had recognized me.
Yes, my hair was darker. But it was the reconstructive surgery I had to have that changed the way I looked. People who really knew me wouldn’t notice much of a difference, but Banshee noticed.
He saw me.
Chasm would have seen me, too.
King didn’t see me. I knew him the most aside from Chasm and Banshee. He was an officer. He came to our clubhouse almost as much as we’d gone to theirs. But he either didn’t recognize me, or he was a damn good actor.
I sat outside for over an hour, just enjoying the sunshine. It was cold, but not as bad as it sometimes was. Nebraska turned out to be a great place to live. I’d made a home here, despite keeping mostly to myself.
I knew a few people in town. Stopping in regularly to see Trudy on my way into the shop each morning.
I didn’t know what to do with the shop. I hated running a flower shop. Kytten had given me a great idea when she suggested hiring someone young to come in.
Jasmine was a whiz with flowers. Haizley told me she was still working at the shop, but the hours were limited to weekends and after school.
I was fine with that. Not many people came in during the day, anyway.
Jasmine could continue running things, and eventually, when I was ready, I would go back to work.
Maybe keep the hours the way they were, and I could just run the business while she was the face.
“Well, Diesel, I guess it’s time we went back inside. I don’t want you freezing out here.”
Diesel sat up and watched me, waiting for me to stand. I questioned why Banshee had done this for me. But honestly, he struck me as the type of person who looked out for others. He was a protector. A guardian.
I stepped inside the clubhouse and took off my coat. Haizley went up to her room and I moved over to the empty couches. Sitting down, I kicked off my shoes and tucked my feet under me.
Diesel laid his head on the cushion and stared at me. I wasn’t sure how King would feel about the dog on the furniture, but figured if he didn’t like it, he would tell me.
Tapping my hand next to me, Diesel jumped up and snuggled into my side. I sat there for hours, watching the day pass by as brothers came and went. I studied the interactions of the people who lived here. People who had opened their doors to me when I had no one but Haizley.
This was a family.
With a heavy sigh, I realized just how much I missed my own family.