Chapter 9 #2
“Okay, brother. Let me know if she needs anything.”
I tip my chin in thanks and walk up the stairs into the school office.
Syd and Mia are sitting in some old-ass-looking plastic chairs waiting for me.
Damn, those chairs look the same as the ones I spent a shitload of time in when I was in high school.
Usually I was waiting for the principal to dole out some punishment for something stupid I did.
“Hey, Syd. Heard some kids were being assholes to you,” I say, coming to sit next to my daughter.
“Yeah,” she replies, her head tilted down while she picks at the skin around her nails.
I inhale a deep breath through my nose and look at Mia. “Where’s the principal? Those little shits need to be held accountable.”
She gives me a soft smile and tilts her head. “Barrett—”
Syd whips her head toward me. “No. Please don’t make this worse than it is. They’re just some dumb girls.”
“Sweetheart, no one gets to make you feel bad about yourself without paying the consequences,” I say.
“Please,” Syd begs. “Believe me, it will only give them a reason to keep going. This is just part of being the new girl.”
What I want to do is get the names of these girls and have a chat with their fathers. Kids, I can’t do anything about, but the parents? Yeah, I could give someone’s old man a black eye and not feel the least bit bad for it.
“Seriously, Barrett, I just want to leave,” Syd says, her pleading gaze piercing through my chest and squeezing my heart.
“Okay. I have some business to take care of at the club. I left in the middle of some interviews. I’ll take you with me, then we can go to Betsy’s after, and I’ll get you one of those nasty coffee drinks you like.”
Syd huffs out a small laugh, and it eases the pain in my chest a tiny bit. I’m still pissed, and I still want to punch someone in the face, but that hint of laughter is better than her picking at her nails and not looking at me.
“Come on, kid,” I say, standing and holding out Lucy’s helmet. “How about a ride?”
Syd’s eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “Really?”
I’m a little surprised by her reaction. Then it hits me that I’ve never offered to take her on my bike. It never even crossed my mind. It should have, though. She’s half me, and I fucking love riding. Especially when the world is heavy and I need to clear my head.
“You need to sign her out before you take off,” Mia reminds me.
“Oh, right,” I say and walk up to the front counter. “My daughter is going home,” I tell the woman sitting behind the counter.
“I just need you to sign this.” She hands me a clipboard. “And you’re right. Some of these kids are little shits. I’m glad Syd has you. She’s a sweet girl.”
I smile at the familiar-looking woman. “Have we met?”
“My brother is a mechanic at your club’s shop. My daughter and I went to a barbecue at the clubhouse with him once.”
“That’s right,” I say as I sign the paper. “Sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“Savannah. My daughter is Ellie. She just started high school this year, too. They’ve been hanging out at lunch.”
“It’s good to know Syd’s been making friends,” I tell her. “Next time we have a party at the clubhouse, I’ll make sure Syd invites you and Ellie.”
“That would be great.” Savannah takes the clipboard and scans it. “You’re all set.” She smiles at me then my daughter. “Have a good rest of your day, Syd. I’ll let Ellie know you went home early.”
“Thanks,” Syd says, standing from the chair before turning to Mia. “Thanks for calling my dad.”
“No problem, sweetie. Sometimes we just need to blow the day off and go for a ride.” Mia squeezes her arm affectionately, then looks over at me. “Have fun.”
When Syd and I get to the bike, I go through a little rundown of what to do and where to put her feet as she puts on her helmet.
I check to make sure the strap is tight enough, and when I’m certain that she’s safe, I throw my leg over the seat and start the bike, revving it loudly a few times for good measure.
Syd gets on behind me and clasps her hands together at my middle.
We take off out of the parking lot and head back to Midnight Rose.
I hate the fact that she had a shit day, but there’s no denying how fucking happy it made me when she thanked Mia for calling her dad.
And the smile doesn’t leave my face the entire ride back to the club.
I’m finishing up at the club with the last of the interviews.
Instead of having them in Sylvie’s office, I’m sitting at a table in the main room of the club so Syd can hang out in there instead of the bar.
It’s still early, so we aren’t open for business, and the girls haven’t come in yet for their shift.
It’s been a good day. We hired five security guards, even though we only needed four, but they were all good guys with great references, and if we have an extra, that isn’t going to hurt anything.
As I’m about to head back to the office and grab Syd to take her to Betsy’s, the front door swings open and in walks Camryn.
Her gaze swings through the space before landing on me. “Are you fucking kidding me, Barrett? You brought my niece to a strip club?”
“She had a shit day at school, so I went and picked her up. I had a few things to finish here. We were about to leave,” I say calmly to the very pissed-off-looking woman.
“And you thought having a thirteen-year-old girl at a strip club was even a little bit okay? Were you dropped on your head as a baby or something?”
My hackles rise, my attempt at staying calm quickly evaporating as Camryn marches up to me, fury blazing on her face. The fucking gall of this woman.
“I brought my daughter to work with me. You were working, and I didn’t want to disrupt your day. She needed me, and I was there for her.”
“This is the last place she should be. You’ve got to be kidding me. I fucking knew I should have taken Syd and gone back to New York.”
“Excuse the fuck out of you, but you have no choice. Or did you forget that I’m her father?” My voice is rising right along with my temper. “The club isn’t open, and none of the dancers are here. She’s in Sylvie’s office doing her fucking homework.”
Camryn throws her hands in the air. “And who the hell is Sylvie?”
“That would be me,” Sylvie says, walking into the main room from the back. “We can hear you all the way in my office. Syd is packing up now.”
Camryn takes in several breaths in an attempt to chill the fuck out, but I’m still pissed as hell. Who does she think she is, storming into my club and causing a scene, demanding answers from me?
“Thank you,” Camryn says to our club manager. She gives her a tight smile. “I’m sorry. This is the last place I expected to find Syd, and after hearing about the kids at school, I’m a little on edge.”
Sylvie returns the smile, but hers is much softer than the one Camryn has on her face. “I completely understand.”
“Hi, Aunt Cam,” Syd says, walking toward us with her backpack on and Lucy’s helmet in hand.
“Hi, honey.” Camryn walks up to Syd and pulls her into a hug. “Heard you had a rough day.”
“It’s fine. Barrett came and got me. He was about to take me to Betsy’s.”
“How about I take you?” Camryn asks. “We can have a little girl time.”
Syd looks between me and Camryn, unsure of what she should do. I don’t like that look on her face, and I hate the position she probably feels like she’s in, having to choose between me and her aunt.
“Go with Camryn,” I say, tilting my head toward her aunt. “I have a few things to finish up. I’ll see you guys at home.”
Syd nods and smiles, relief flashing in her eyes that I made the decision for her.
“Okay.” She walks toward me and hands me Lucy’s helmet. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who tipped Cam off that me and Syd were here. I’ll have to return this helmet to that little snitch.
Syd wraps her arms around my middle. “Thanks for coming to get me today. You can take me to get my disgusting drink at Betsy’s another day.”
I huff out a laugh and return her embrace. “Any time, kid.”
She releases me and walks toward Camryn, who is still shooting fire at me with her eyes.
She turns her gaze back to Sylvie. “Thank you again for keeping an eye on her.”
“You’re welcome,” Sylvie responds, much kinder than anything I have to say right now.
Camryn wraps her arm around Syd’s shoulders and leads her out of the club, leaving me frustrated, confused, and fucking pissed.
“So that’s Sydney’s aunt?” Sylvie says as the door closes behind them.
I blow out a breath. “In all her unholy glory.”
“Must be hard for her.” I turn toward Sylvie with confusion written all over my face. “She’s been the only one on that girl’s side for how long? Syd said her mom wasn’t really around, and her aunt is the only one who gave a damn about her until she came to Shine.”
“You two get to know each other in your office?”
Sylvie shrugs. “We chatted. She’s a good kid who loves her aunt and is starting to come around to you. Though I doubt you screaming at Camryn is winning you any extra points,” Sylvie says.
“She started it,” I growl, pointing to the door. “She marched in here thinking she could boss me around like all Fullers think they can do.”
“I don’t think that scene had anything to do with her being a Fuller.” Sylvie walks behind the bar and opens a beer, sliding it to the edge.
“I could use a whiskey,” I say as I head over and pick the bottle up, tipping it to her in thanks before taking a long pull.
“Not when you’re on your bike. I don’t need Ozzy getting on my ass about serving you the hard stuff while you’re riding.
Especially considering it’s not even one in the afternoon.
” She splays her hands on the bar and pins me with her stare.
“You’re caught up on her last name, and every time she does something to piss you off, you think it’s her trying to throw around the weight that name doesn’t have here.
But what I saw and heard was a woman who was scared for her niece.
She has no real power in this situation and is having a hard time with someone else making decisions about the most important person in her life. ”
“Camryn is many things. Powerless isn’t one of them.”
“Oh,” Sylvie says with a chuckle. “I know that. And you know that, but do you think telling her she has no choice when it comes to Syd really showed her that? She’s the one who moved here to be with Syd, is living in a house that you pay for, is driving your truck, and is only allowed to stay with Syd because you deem it so.
There’s no custody agreement between you two.
Just you letting her be with your daughter, then throwing that in her face when she’s upset you didn’t do something the way she would have. ”
“It’s not like I threatened to keep her away from Syd.”
“You didn’t not do that, though. You may not have said the words, but the threat was clear. Look, Barrett.” Sylvie relaxes her arms and leans her hip on the bar. “You aren’t used to a woman who challenges you. Who doesn’t think that the sun sets on your ass.”
“What are you talking about? This is about Syd. Camryn and I have a history that isn’t exactly friendly.”
“Because Camryn doesn’t fall for your charms?”
“No.” Yes. But I’m not about to admit that. And by the look on Sylvie’s face, I don’t have to.
“She’s going to push you, challenge you, have different opinions about what’s best for Sydney. But it’s because she loves that girl and wants what’s best for her. That’s why she’s in Shine. That’s why she might be a little—”
“Bossy and condescending?”
Sylvie purses her lips, giving me a flat look. “Protective.”
I think about that for a moment. Camryn’s protectiveness over my daughter is one of the things we have in common.
One of the things I appreciate most about her.
I know she would go down swinging if anyone ever threatened Syd or put her in a situation that wasn’t safe.
Not that I did, but now that I’ve calmed down, I can see it from Camryn’s perspective. A little.
“You might have a point,” I say through a clenched jaw.
At that, Sylvie laughs as though I’ve just said the funniest thing.
“You boys and your egos. I don’t need you to tell me that I have a point.
I know I do.” She shakes her head and walks out from behind the bar.
“Throw that away when you’re finished.” She points at the bottle in my hand.
“The girls are going to be coming in to get ready for tonight. You staying? Chantel is working tonight.”
Chantel is one of the newer dancers who I’ve had with me in the VIP room a time—or ten. And in my bed about as many times.
“Nah,” I say, shaking my head. “I need to return Lucy’s helmet. Figured I’d help Linc with his bike for a while, then head home after the dust settles.”
Sylvie’s lips tip up at the corners. “Good answer.”