24. Daisy
TWENTY-FOUR
daisy
A wedding? I swallowed.
A wedding?
“Winnie can be the officiate. Xander and I were thinking about the roof garden. Rylee and I have been spending our time up there making it a little paradise. What do you think about that, Daisy?”
I nodded, but my eyes were growing heavy. I couldn’t be certain what time it was and it maybe didn’t matter. I yawned without meaning to.
“Sure. Whatever you want,” I said around the yawn. I leaned into Zeid, letting him pull me into his lap.
A wedding. I was getting married. The thought stayed on replay even as I tried to listen to everyone around me. It should all bug me. It had always bugged me before. But not now.
I felt the vibration of Zeid’s phone. He shifted me around to get to it. He answered, but I couldn’t hear much.
“Problem?” Zeid said as he answered.
I didn’t like the way his body stiffened under me, and suddenly I wasn’t so tired.
Zeid said a few more words before hanging up.
“We have a problem.”
He was looking at Cas and X, but his hold on me tightened.
“Daisy, your father had no idea who I was. Not that he let on anyway, did he?”
That woke me up, the adrenaline pumping fresh in my veins.
“I… no.” I sat straight, but he wasn’t letting me go.
“Some of us are having a bit of a run in with the police. Police that don’t seem to be turning a blind eye.”
Was he talking to me? I looked around the space. Cas, X, Rylee, Cali, all their eyes were on me, and then I looked up to see Zeiden’s were too.
“What? What am I missing?”
He stood up, holding me tight and letting my feet touch the ground, but he wasn’t letting go.
“My boys, they said the cops were holding them at gunpoint saying their car had illegal weapons and heroin and that if they wanted out of it they could call whoever was in charge to take the fall. Or that’s what was implied. Care to go for a ride?”
I looked at everyone, still confused, but nodding like a bobble head.
“Sure. Whatever you think will help.”
Zeid turned to where Cas and Rylee were already heading to the door we’d come through not that long ago.
“I think they’re on your father’s payroll and you might be of some assistance. And you’d be a helpful message to send.”
A message? What kind of help could I be? I still followed, my hand in his.
“My father’s payroll? What could my father possibly…”
I stopped talking because it occurred to me that my father being a giant asshole wasn’t an act and wasn’t just at home. I watched all those parties. I saw how they all looked at him. I saw the money that traded hands when he thought I was just a good little girl in the corner acting like some kind of object that needed a home.
My head kept trying to connect every little detail I could think of, barely noticing a jacket was being thrust at me.
“Daisy? Take this.”
I took it from Rylee but I looked to Zeid for some kind of permission or, well, no it was approval. When would I stop looking to the men in my life for something I didn’t need? Fuck it. If Rylee thought I needed it, then I would take it.
“Bulletproof.” Rylee knocked on a hard plate in the jacket.
“Why would I need it to be…” I stopped one more stupid question from leaving my lips. “Right.”
I was fine until I couldn’t seem to get the zipper to work.
“Here.” Zeid bent down and took the zipper. “Breathe, little dove. It’s just a drug deal gone sideways.”
Drugs? Blowing out a breath, I looked down at my shoes.
“Uh, will these shoes work for a, well, whatever this is?” Really the question I didn’t ask was what happened if I needed to run?
“Shit, yeah. I’ll be right back, Zeid.” I heard what I had to guess were Cali’s footfalls as she ran and then the click of what I’d guess was the other door.
“Caspian, I am not staying here.”
I looked around my mountain of a man to see that Cas was pulling a similar jacket to mine away from Rylee.
“You are not going to risk your life for something stupid,” said Cas. Rylee yanked at the jacket again.
“Caspian, you are such a hypocrite. You can’t take one of us and not take the rest. Where you stupid men go, we should be able to go.”
Zeid’s fingers tickled against my skin as he grabbed my face and pulled my gaze to him.
“Do not go getting ideas in your head. We don’t put our women in danger for no reason. My gut tells me you are going to be key to getting out of this and sending daddy a little message.”
I took the helmet I noticed he was holding out for me.
“Who am I to argue? I just got here.”
I put the helmet on right as Cali appeared in front of me.
“You’re close to my size. These will be way better for kicking a man in the balls.”
I took the combat boots and shrugged. Something told me this wasn’t exactly a fashion show even if I could hear my mother’s disapproval like it was a ghost on the air.
“Here are socks too. Now, X, where’s my shit? I’m with Rylee. You don’t get to take the new girl here and leave us behind. We take care of each other.” Cali was already grabbing her jacket, and X had his hands up and was backing away from her.
“Fuck me,” Cas said. But instead of continuing to fight, he let the jacket go.
Zeid got the helmet tightened, the shield still up, and his finger hooked under the chin strap, keeping me from getting to the boots.
“You don’t play the hero. You don’t fucking look at anyone without my permission. This isn’t a game. Not like the judge.”
I could hear my own breathing in this damn helmet.
“Yes, sir. Now let me put these boots on. Just in case. I know deep down you’re secretly excited to see if my daddy paid for any good self-defense lessons. The answer is no. YouTube though? Okay, let’s hope I don’t have to try it out.”
He hadn’t let go of the helmet yet. The way his eyes burned into mine said I might have poked the bear.
“Don’t you dare.”
That was all he said before letting go of the helmet, but I was fairly certain we were far from done. Then again, I had zero idea what we were really doing right now.
One minute we’re talking about a wedding and the next I’m getting bulletproof armor.
I knelt down and slipped off the stupid heels and slid on the socks and boots. Cali at least had good taste and she was pretty close to my size. I would welcome having my own stuff, but I’d never had anything like sisters. The warmth that spread through me right now at how they shared clothes with me and now shoes. They did it all without so much as a question.
I never was one to believe in signs, but I felt like Zeid and his little family, gang lords and all, seemed more like a flashing neon sign that this was it. This was what I’d always wanted. Hell, needed. My father sure tried to scare me away from it all, but from this side of things I wouldn’t place money on him being a good guy.
I stood up and Zeid did something with my helmet before sliding the visor down and then, like the controlling male he was, he picked me up and carried me to his bike.
“Can you hear me, dove?”
I nodded as his voice came through clearly.
“Yes. I didn’t know helmets had speakers.”
He set me down next to the bike.
“Bluetooth. And everyone has them. Safety first. But let me just say this before everyone is ready to ride. You dare try and play hero, I will make sure you are punished thoroughly. You’ll be so sore when I’m through with you that you won’t be sitting for months.”
He couldn’t see the way my cheeks heated or feel the way my freaking pussy tingled, but his words probably had the opposite effect to what he intended.
“And that’s supposed to make me not want to defy you, right?”
He grabbed the jacket and yanked me toward him, just glaring at me for far too long. Finally, he released me as he got on the bike. He pulled me to get on, so I swung my leg over and got close to him, waiting for his retort.
“Listen, and tonight I’ll make sure you don’t want to leave my bed.”
One by one, the others got onto the other bikes, and shortly after I could hear everyone’s conversations.
As the door rolled up to let us out, I waited for nerves to hit me. I waited for the desire to run to come. But all I felt was relief. They hid nothing from me. They wanted me here.
And despite all the stupid dresses and manicures and etiquette lessons in the world, this world was the one that fit me. Even if I didn’t quite understand what that meant.
What I did understand was that they took care of each other. Hiding bodies and all. That last bit made me smile. Who did I ever think would hide the body I lost my shit on? No one, that’s who. Not until now.
Everyone should have someone to hide the body for them, and Zeiden was my someone.