Chapter 14
Falcon
I finally knew her name. Daisy . And after her little jog, it was all but confirmed she was scared as hell and had gotten herself into trouble. She passed out in my arms as I carried her inside. I promised to keep her safe, so I took her to my room and put her in the bed.
Her ankle was red and warm, but not purple and didn’t look broken. It may be sprained, and she had plenty of cuts on the foot that lost a shoe. She also had a few scratches on her hands and face. She’d need a hot shower, a change of clothes, and some shoes, so I wanted to check with Mama Hen. Surely there were extras around from the bunnies, or maybe Penny would be willing to share some stuff.
I stood by the door and watched her for a while, but when I was convinced she was sleeping well, I headed back downstairs. I needed to touch base with Hawk and get with Eagle about her friend.
Looking around the bar, I caught Mama Hen’s attention as she carried me a bottle. “Here. How’s the girl?”
“Daisy. She’s out. She needs a shower and I need to patch her up. You got any extra clothes I can put her in ‘til we can get to a store?”
Mama Hen grinned. “You like her.”
I sipped the beer and looked around everywhere but her. “She’s had a rough day. I don’t want to barge into the bunny bunks. Can you help me?”
“Falcon, it’s okay to like her. But pinning her on the ground probably wasn’t the smartest move. I’ll find her a few things. We have a few beds free. I’ll grab some stuff for the other one, too.”
“She’s fine in my room.”
Mama Hen put her hand on my arm, so I finally looked her in the eye. “Falcon, she’s not a toy. If you really want to help her, you need to give her some space. I’ll find some things for her. And when she’s awake, maybe send her to me for a girl’s chat, ‘kay?”
I nodded, blowing out a deep breath. She was right. Not that I thought she was a toy, but I did want to keep her tucked away. Safe from the cruel world; from anything that could hurt her. But keeping her locked up wasn’t going to help anything. Maybe she didn’t want to be stuck in a man’s room. I patted Mama’s Hen hand and then watched as she walked out toward her house.
Hawk was sitting at a table with Eagle, so I walked over and sat, the long day starting to catch up with me. “Hey, how’s the blonde?”
Eagle shoved his fingers through his hair then tucked it behind his ears. “Lacy. She’s resting. How’s your girl?”
“She’s not my girl.” I took a long pull from my beer. Maybe if I kept telling other people that, I’d start believing it. “She’s asleep. Mama Hen’s grabbing some clothes for them. She wants to talk to them when they get up.”
Hawk leaned his elbows on the table. “I spoke to Petrov. He got a good laugh about the shit show. He said he already put the word out to get to the bottom of what’s going down at that place. He’ll keep me updated.”
“Good. Anything new from Keys?”
Hawk shook his head. “Not really. I’m gonna reach out to a few buddies in other chapters, a couple of nomads. See if there’s a buzz anywhere.”
“I’ll ask around, too,” I said.
“Same. We get a lot of different folks at the shop. Maybe someone knows something.” Eagle worked with me at the tattoo shop, and sometimes folks were more talkative on the table than at a bar. Something about letting a stranger jab you thousands of times with ink and a needle loosens their lips. “Maybe we can scout some surrounding bars, too,” he suggested.
I put my bottle on the table and leaned in closer. “Maybe we have some rivals that we don’t know about yet. But we’ve already hit up the usual suspects. ”
Hawk rubbed his beard slowly. “Pops was assassinated. No doubt about it. But I don’t think it’s anyone we know. Not yet.” His sharp gaze met mine. “But they’re gonna know us when we find them.”
“I promise, brother, we’ll find them and take them down.” This shit always comes out eventually. Some druggie would get scared and talk, or some low-level asshole would get drunk and tell a girl to impress her. “Maybe we should hit up some other strip clubs. We hit Blue because he’s the closest, but there’s joints all over. Pussy is powerful.”
Eagle shrugged. “Maybe send these new girls to our club. Fresh meat. Maybe someone would talk?”
“No,” I growled.
Hawk’s brow raised. “But she’s not your girl, right?”
I leaned back, annoyed. The feeling only got worse when a familiar female voice came from behind me.
“What, there’s not enough snatch around here so y’all had to bring more?”
I didn’t bother to turn around. “Not enough good snatch.”
“Dick.”
I rolled my eyes as I listened to Sugar stomp away over the music. I knocked back the rest of my beer.
“Do you have to rile her up? She’ll fucking sulk all night and we need to keep the morale up,” Eagle said as he rolled his neck.
“I’m not kissing her ass. And there’s plenty of bunnies walking around with their tits out and a smile. She can get over it or leave.”
Hawk’s chest rumbled. “I’m going to shower and sleep for a few hours. I suggest you two do the same. We’re having a party tonight for the guys. It’s been a fucked up couple of weeks and everyone’s been out looking for answers. They need a night to blow off some steam. And we’ll hammer out Pop’s final service later. I need to get it done, if not for all of us, then for Ma.”
Raven’s ashes were already in a decorative urn in the home he had shared with Mama Hen, but we still needed a celebration. It wasn’t exactly a funeral, and he wouldn’t want us all down and out. He’d want a party with his club and his friends there, getting wasted, having fun, but gaining some extra eyes and ears for us. Raven would rest better knowing we planned to find the assholes who rode up like little bitches when he was enjoying a ride with his old lady.
That was the fucked up part. Nobody was claiming it. Why make such a show and not move on it? I wasn’t going to figure this out now and Hawk was right, we all needed a bit of sleep. I’d be content to sleep for three days, but I had to show up later.
Eagle and Hawk stood so I did, too, then we all headed toward the rooms. I was about to walk inside when one of the bunnies came running after me, calling my name. I ran my hand down my face and looked over ready to tell her to get lost but then saw she was carrying a couple of bags.
“Falcon, sorry. Mama Hen asked me to give you this,” Jeannie said. She was a cute fake-blonde, but she was never annoying. She was one of the girls that only stayed here after wild parties. She worked at the strip club and had her own place.
I took the bag and looked inside. There were some clothes, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and some flip flops. My first thought was she couldn’t wear those on the bike. What the fuck? I’d been avoiding putting a woman on my bike as long as I’d ridden, but suddenly I have one fully clothed in my bed and I’m worried about how she’s gonna ride with me?
“Thanks, Jeannie. Is that one for Eagle?” I asked, pointing to the other bag.
“Yep. I hope your girl’s okay. Let me know if I can help.”
“She’s not my girl,” I deadpanned.
She smirked then patted my shoulder as she walked past. “Sure thing, boss.”
Maybe she was more annoying than I realized. Shaking my head, I opened the door to my room and quietly walked inside, making sure to turn the knob so the click of the door didn’t wake up Daisy.
Setting the bag gently next to the bed, I looked over her face. She was beautiful. Her dark hair was fanned out on my pillow. Her skin was still all shimmery. Most of her makeup was gone, but traces of the dark liner were smudged around her eyes. Even with the day old, cried off makeup, she was the most gorgeous woman I’d seen. As I pulled the blanket up over her, a strange feeling washed over me.
This is my girl.