Chapter 17 – Daphne
17
DAPHNE
D espite everything else going on, I was happier than I’d been in a long time. I couldn’t explain it, but being with Dice just felt right in a way it never did with Sean. I finally understood what people meant when they referred to their partner as their other half. It felt like he was the piece that had been missing.
“Are you ready to go?” Dice asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Yes,” I replied and hurried to grab my purse and my phone. We were meeting Ink at Irene’s diner for lunch.
Ink was already seated at a table when we arrived. As soon as we sat down, he grinned broadly. “It’s about damn time.”
“What?” I asked in confusion.
He gestured between the two of us with a pointed finger. “You two. It took you long enough.”
“That’s because I have manners and some semblance of restraint,” Dice said lightheartedly.
“Hey, guys. What can I get for you?” Evie asked, blessedly interrupting the line of conversation.
After we placed our orders, I braced for more questions about our new relationship, but they started talking about a car someone had brought into the garage.
Evie had just delivered our food when a scraggly-looking man entered the diner. He looked around the room until his eyes landed on Dice. Before I could fully register what was happening, he produced a gun and pointed it straight at Dice as he rapidly approached our table.
“I can’t find Tawny, and she owes me money. I don’t know what you did with her, but I want my fucking money!” he demanded.
Dice gently squeezed my thigh before raising both hands in the air and slowly getting to his feet. “How much does she owe you?” he asked calmly.
I had no idea how he wasn’t freaking out. The guy’s hands were shaking, and his eye seemed to have a twitch. He was clearly high on something.
“Five hundred dollars!” he yelled.
I almost screamed when Ink gently nudged my foot under the table. My eyes shot to his. He subtly looked down at his hands resting on the table, one fist on top of the other. The bottom hand had one finger pointing away from the table. When I looked up to meet his eyes again, he mouthed, “Go. Now.”
I didn’t know if I should get up nonchalantly or jump up and dive for cover, but there was no way I could ask. When I glanced to the side, Evie was standing behind the counter with her eyes fixed on me. She motioned for me to come to her. There was something about the way she gestured to me that made me think I should move slowly and draw as little attention to myself as possible. I hesitated for a brief moment but found the courage to move when the guy started screaming at Dice again.
As soon as I made it behind the counter, several men stood up, each one holding a gun.
“Take a look around, buddy. You’re vastly outnumbered,” Dice said.
The second the guy’s eyes flicked to the side, Dice moved. It happened in the blink of an eye. One second, the guy was holding him at gunpoint. The next second, Dice had the gun, and Ink had the guy pinned to the ground.
“Get off me!” the guy screamed and tried to wiggle out of Ink’s hold.
“Believe me, I want to. You fucking stink, dude,” Ink said and made a disgusted noise. “You better not give me lice or scabies.”
An older gentleman walked over to them. “This will hold him until the cops get here,” he said and held out a roll of duct tape.
“Appreciate it,” Dice said. They secured his hands behind his back but left him on his stomach on the ground.
Dice stayed where he was but turned his head to find me. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I lied. Physically, I was okay, but emotionally, I was a wreck. I’d never been in a situation like that, with a gun pointed directly at me or my loved one, and it was terrifying.
“Come sit down,” Evie said gently.
I dazedly followed her to an office in the back and sat where she indicated.
Irene burst through the door and nearly knocked Evie off her feet when she engulfed her in a hug. “Oh, thank goodness! You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay,” she chanted.
“I’m fine,” Evie said. “But I think Daphne’s pretty shaken up.”
“Daphne?” she asked and whirled around to find me sitting behind her with tears streaming down my face. “Oh, honey,” Irene said and moved to hug me, without letting go of Evie.
Awkwardly, the three of us huddled together while I tried to regain some composure.
“It’s the adrenaline,” Evie said softly. “There’s nothing you can do but let it run its course. It’ll pass soon.”
“What was that all about anyway?” Irene asked.
“That guy came in and demanded money from Dice. He said someone named Tawny owed him money, and he wanted Dice to pay him since he couldn’t find her,” Evie explained.
“Who’s Tawny?” Irene asked.
“I have no idea,” Evie said. “Daphne, do you know?”
I shook my head and wiped my eyes. “Never heard of her.”
“Well, I’m glad they got the situation under control without anyone getting hurt,” Irene said. “What can I get for you, honey? How about something to drink?”
I nodded. “Yes, please.” My mouth felt dry and gross from crying.
Irene returned moments later with a glass of sweet tea. Unfortunately, I was still extremely shaky and proceeded to spill most of the contents all down the front of me.
“That’s my fault,” Irene said. “I should have put it in a to-go cup. I’ll be right back with a towel and a new drink.”
I don’t know how much time passed, but when Dice finally came back to the office, my clothes were almost dry.
“Daphne,” he breathed and wrapped his arms around me. “I got back here as soon as I could. The cops just left.”
“Can we leave now?” I asked. I was more than ready to go home. I wanted to take a shower to wash the sticky tea off me, and I was suddenly extremely tired.
“Yes, we can. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” I answered quickly, then turned to Irene and Evie. “Thank you for helping me.”
“Any time,” Irene said.
“Do you want me to box up some food for you to take with you since you didn’t get to eat lunch?” Evie asked.
“Thanks, but no. I don’t think I could eat anything right now.”
“That’s understandable. Let me know if you change your mind later. I can bring you something when I get off work.”
“Thank you,” I said and hugged them both before I turned to leave.
“Hey, Dice,” Irene called as we were walking out the door. “Who’s Tawny?”
Dice’s body tensed for a second before he answered. “Badger and Macy’s daughter.”
We drove home in silence. I had plenty of questions I wanted to ask, but couldn’t bring myself to ask any of them, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it anyway.
“I’m going to take a shower and start a load of laundry,” I told him and gestured to my tea-stained clothes once we arrived at his house.
“How did that happen?”
“My hands were shaking, and I spilled a glass of tea.”
His face softened. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up. Evie said it was the adrenaline.”
Ink pulled into his driveway right as we were walking inside. “Daphne,” he called and jogged over to us, immediately pulling me in for a hug. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. You doing okay?”
“A little shaken up, but I’m fine,” I repeated.
“You did a great job handling that situation. You did exactly what I wanted you to do,” he said proudly.
“Thanks, but it wasn’t hard to follow a pointing finger.”
“Still, you didn’t freak out or get in the way. You got yourself to safety without drawing attention to yourself. Not everyone can do that.”
“I’m just glad no one got hurt,” I said. I was in a weird headspace and just wanted a little time alone to process my thoughts and feelings. Something about the situation wasn’t sitting right with me. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get these sticky clothes off and get a shower.”
I quickly rinsed off in the shower and put on my favorite hoodie and a pair of leggings. As I was gathering my clothes for the laundry, I heard Dice and Ink talking in the living room.
“Do you think he’s the father?” Ink asked.
“I’m the father,” Dice said vehemently.
My heart froze in my chest. Did he just say he was the father?
“You know what I mean,” Ink said.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m the father.”
“I think you should ask Tawny about him.”
“No. I don’t care who he is. He’s not going to be involved in our lives, so it doesn’t matter,” Dice insisted.
“But what if—,” Ink began and stopped abruptly at the sound of a phone ringing. “Hey, Prez,” he answered. “Yeah. Sure. Okay. I’m at Dice’s, so I’ll let him know. Prez wants us at the clubhouse to go over what happened at the diner.”
“Fuck,” Dice swore. “Daphne’s exhausted. I don’t want to drag her to the clubhouse. Is Edge home?”
“I think so.”
“Call him and see if he’ll keep an eye out for Daphne while we run to the clubhouse. I’ll let her know what’s going on.”
I jolted and jumped away from the door like I’d been caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing—like eavesdropping. My heart was racing from everything I’d overheard.
When Dice knocked on the door, I pretended to be gathering my laundry. “Yes,” I called.
“Ink and I need to run to the clubhouse,” he said through the door. “Are you okay staying here by yourself? Edge is at home if you need anything.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to start a load of clothes and probably take a nap.”
“Okay. We’ll be back soon,” he said.
“Okay.”
As I waited for them to leave, my mind was whirling as I tried to piece it all together.
Tawny was Badger and Macy’s daughter.
Tawny was pregnant.
Tawny owed money to the man who came after Dice.
And he knew to go to Dice because Dice is the father of Tawny’s baby.
Being with a man who got another woman pregnant was a story I was well versed in, and one I had no interest in repeating.
There was only one thing I could do, and I did it without hesitation. I called my dad.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he answered.
“Dad,” I said shakily, “I need you to come get me.”
“Where are you?”
“At Dice’s house.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, not physically.”
“I’m on my way,” he said.
With that, I started packing.