Chapter 12 #2
The trip across town was spent trying to keep my rage in check. It would do me no good to show up at Dale and Claudia’s place pissed off.
Cass’s car was in front of the garage and I parked behind it, then got out and hustled to the front porch.
I didn’t even get the chance to knock or ring the bell when the door flung open and a furious Dale came at me with his fist raised.
“Whoa.” I held up my hands and backed up. I wasn’t in the mood to take another punch from Cass’s father, though I deserved it. “I just want to see Cass.”
“Get the fuck off my property.”
“Dale.” I sucked in a breath. “You’re misunderstanding this.”
“Am I?” He dropped his arm by his side. “Because the way I understand it is that you’re too busy screwing around to treat my daughter with the respect she deserves.”
“I haven’t been screwing around.”
“And you’re a liar.”
My fists balled at my sides. “Let me just talk to Cass and explain this. Five minutes.” That was all the time I needed to apologize and tell her that I’d been fucking drugged last night.
“No.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
“Please.” I didn’t beg. Ever. But for Cass, I’d swallow my pride. “I care about your daughter.”
“You have a funny way of showing it, leaving her each night for The Betsy.”
It hadn’t been each night, but I wasn’t going to argue details. “Dale, please.”
He didn’t budge. Seconds ticked by and all he did was breathe. Then he uncrossed his arms. His shoulders slumped. And the anger on his face faded, leaving only worry. Worry for his daughter because she was tied up with me.
“You’re not good enough for my daughter.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“My granddaughter deserves better than you.”
On second thought, I wish he had punched me. The truth hit harder and deeper than any physical blow. That baby girl deserved a fuck of a lot better than me as her father.
“I can’t walk away.” I’d tried. I knew I should let them go, but I couldn’t walk away.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you. She gave you a second chance that you hadn’t earned, but my Cassie has a big heart. You blew it.”
“I know that too.”
“This is her decision. If she wants to talk, she knows where to find you. Don’t come back here until she invites you. Or I’ll kill you myself.”
I’d been threatened with death before. I recognized the difference between the men who idly tossed those words around and the men who had the spine to see it through. Dale meant it.
“Will you tell her that I’m sorry?”
Dale’s expression hardened to stone.
“I am sorry.” I never should have left home last night.
He stepped back and slammed the door in my face.
I waited, giving myself a minute to hope that Cass would show, but the door stayed closed. The winter chill was ice against my skin, leaving me no choice but to get in my truck and drive away.
Dale was right. About all of it. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t gotten spooked by the idea of a nursery. Cass would still be where she belonged, at home, if I had manned the fuck up and dealt with this.
Grow up, Leo.
Presley’s voice sounded a lot like my own in the back of my head.
Yeah, it was time to grow up. No more living life one day at a time, working when I wanted the money or was bored. No more cutting out of town on a long ride when I needed freedom. No more partying to fill in the blanks.
There was too much blank.
The Tin King Motorcycle Club had been my purpose for so many years, now that they were gone, now that Draven was gone, there was too much blank.
Until Cass.
The past two weeks with her, the hole in my life where the club had once been hadn’t felt so vast. She’d filled it with that pretty smile. With her eyes. Her laugh. Her body. Her heart.
My body ached as I drove across town. The Betsy was calling and it would be so easy to hit the bar and get piss drunk today. But vengeance was top of mind. I’d take it first, then get wasted.
Growing up would have to wait until tomorrow.
The drive toward the brunette’s house took ten minutes.
It was a damn miracle I’d been paying enough attention this morning to remember which neighborhood and house was hers.
If not for the snowbank where I’d puked, I might have gotten the wrong place since every home on the street was sided in nearly the same shade of tan.
I pounded on her door and rang the doorbell. Twice.
Her footsteps sounded and when she opened it, she kept the safety chain locked. “Uh . . . hey, Leo. What are you doing here?”
“Can’t find my wallet,” I lied.
“Oh.” She closed the door and the chain slid free before she waved me inside. “Come on in.”
I shook my head. “What did you put in my drink?”
Her face paled and she tried to shut the door again, but I shoved my boot in the way. “I’ll call the cops.”
“You do that. We can all sit down and have a nice chat about how I ended up blacked out in your bed.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, then the resolve on her face crumpled. “It was only supposed to loosen you up.”
Damn. I fucking knew it. “You did it so I’d have sex with you?”
“No. I was talking to this guy at the bar. He had a vial of G and said he’d pay me five hundred bucks to slip it in your drink.”
Motherfucker. Rage, as hot as molten lava, spread through my veins.
“It was only supposed to relax you.” The brunette had the decency to look sorry. “I followed you outside when you left. You got in your truck and it looked like you were going to drive home, but I talked you into letting me drive instead. And I brought us here.”
Where she’d stripped me naked. Was that the goal? To get me into bed with another woman so Cass would run out on me? That made no sense. No one knew about Cass and me. We’d kept that quiet. And the only person I knew who hated me enough to try and shove me into another woman’s arms was Dale.
As much as he hated me, I couldn’t see Cass’s dad hiring this woman to drug me at The Betsy.
“Why? Why would he pay you to do this?”
“You’ll have to ask him.” She shrugged. “All I know is that I can make my rent this month.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know. Some guy.”
I clenched my jaw. “Then what did he look like?”
“Not as tall as you. Not as big. Brown hair.”
“That’s it?”
She lifted a shoulder. “It was dark, and I was more interested in his money than the color of his eyes, okay? Are we done now?”
“Not yet.” I pulled my phone from my back pocket and before she could turn away, I snapped a picture of her face. “Now we’re done.”
“Asshole.” The moment I moved my foot, she slammed the door, but I was already gone.
I strode to my truck, then headed for The Betsy. My plan to get drunk was on hold until I had some answers. Who would want me drugged? The Warriors?
If they wanted me dead, there were a lot better ways to do it than roofie a drink. This didn’t seem direct enough for them. It was too . . . slick. If Tucker Talbot was seeking revenge, he’d want us to know it was him.
This was too subtle.
“Hey,” Paul greeted me when I walked through the door at the bar. “Good timing. I just opened and was about to turn on a game. Beer?”
“No, thanks, man. I actually need some help.” I dug out my phone and pulled up the photo I’d taken of the brunette. “Recognize her?”
He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. “I think she was here last night. Her and a blond friend.”
That was the great thing about Paul. He worked here nearly every weekend and his memory was as sharp as cut glass. He might play the easygoing bartender, but he was actually buying the owner out. Not many people knew that Paul was a savvy businessman too.
And he paid attention to what went on in his bar.
“About last night . . .” I slid onto a stool and recanted what the brunette had told me.
Paul’s jaw ticked. “I don’t want that shit in my bar.”
“Any chance you saw her talking to a guy last night? She doesn’t know who it was who paid her. She said he had brown hair and wasn’t quite as tall or big as me.”
He shook his head. “It was busy last night. I did my best to keep an eye on what was happening, but you know how it goes.”
“Any chance you had the cameras on?” I pointed to the camera in the corner of the room above the jukebox.
“No. They haven’t been working lately so we just left them off. The ones in the parking lot are working. They might have caught something.”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Not at all. Give me some time to pull footage.”
“Appreciate it.” I knocked on the bar, then left, the desire to get drunk gone completely. Instead, I drove home, hating that it would be empty. Hating that I’d driven Cass away.
As much as I wanted to go to her house and beg her to come back to mine, I stayed the course. If someone had drugged me, for whatever reason, then it might not be safe for her with me at the moment.
I’d leave her alone, not only to respect her wishes, but also because until we dug through the security footage and found the bastard who’d messed with me last night, Cass was better off with her parents.
The moment I was parked in the driveway, I pulled out my phone and sent Cass a text.
I’m sorry.
Maybe Dale would deliver my message. Maybe not. I wasn’t taking the chance.
Holding my breath, I stared at the screen, praying those little moving dots would appear. That she’d text me back. I waited five minutes and finally gave up.
There were two huge boxes stacked beside the door when I walked to the house. According to the labels on the cardboard, a changing table and a crib.
The gifts from Cass’s aunts.
Since I didn’t have anything else to do today, I hauled them inside.
And assembled them in the nursery.