Chapter 39
Daisy
Questions swirled in my mind, but I knew better than to ask some of them. Like why Falcon went to some random house then came back out less than ten minutes later with blood splattered on him. In reality, it wasn’t a lot, but any blood randomly showing up was odd. I wondered if that stop and the one we were about to make were why he decided to make this trip. Was I on a run with him?
I didn’t really know what they did on runs, but considering what little I knew about the club, it was reasonable to assume they would have random occurrences to handle. I just didn’t know they made runs to Ohio. But if they made runs from Georgia to Jersey, I supposed a place like Ohio wouldn’t be out of the question. I did wonder why it was okay for me to be on this trip, but not the others. He made it sound like it wasn’t safe for me to be with him on runs and it was all super-secret. I already knew I wasn’t going with him on the next one that took them up near Jersey again. So why now?
I was jerked hard from my racing thoughts about the reason for the trip when we turned down a familiar street. My body tensed and I sucked in a breath, holding it.
“Breathe, Daisy,” Falcon purred as he rubbed my thigh.
Looking around at the neighborhood I once called home, I finally forced out the air in my lungs. “What are we doing here?”
This neighborhood wasn’t much different from the last, except this one was familiar and held so many memories. I often dug deep for a good one and came up empty. My body tensed even more as he pulled into the driveway that I hadn’t set foot on since I was eighteen. It had been almost six years, but I could still see the inside of the tiny white house that appeared. I could almost smell the Marlboro Red 100s that Mom chain-smoked, staining the walls tan.
He put the truck in park and turned the engine off. “I won’t force you to go inside. But we’re here now, and I didn’t want it to eat at you later if you didn’t get the chance to do this.”
I glanced at the tiny house and noticed the blinds being held open, but not wide enough to see who was peeking through them. “We haven’t spoken in so long.” I turned to him, looking for something—maybe guidance? “It was my fault, I think. I’d be so mad if I was her.”
He shook his head. “You didn’t attack her. And if she blames you, fuck her. But you’ll never know if you don’t go check in. I want you to go home with a clear conscience, Daisy.”
“Will you come with me?” I did want to be sure she was okay. It never occurred to me that something could happen to her; I only considered what would happen to me if I had stayed. But remembering some of our last conversations and the vitriol she had for me, I wanted to be sure I had my safe space. He’s my safe space. She never was. She made sure I had food and clothes when I was younger, but as soon as she saw me as some kind of competition, whatever sliver of connection we had died. The only reason she tried to keep her boyfriends away from me was because she was jealous. Of a teenage girl. She wasn’t protecting me; she was fighting me.
Falcon grabbed my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles. “Always, darlin’. Let’s go.” He climbed from the truck and stuck his hand out for me to come through the driver’s side.
My boots hit the gravel and I squeezed his hand and squinted at the porch. Now the sun wanted to peek out of the clouds . The blinds had someone peeking through again before they fell back into place. As we walked closer, the door opened and I drew in another breath, but Falcon’s gentle squeeze on my hand reminded me to blow it out.
She was dressed in leggings and an oversized t-shirt. Her dark hair was pulled into a short ponytail, and she didn’t seem to have any makeup on. Her arms crossed over her chest. “What are you doing here?” she asked, more curious than accusatory.
We closed the gap to the small porch, but I stopped short at the steps. I shielded my eyes from the sun and looked up at her. Her features were so much like mine, but years of hard living aged her. She was still petite but had grown thinner and frailer. She wasn’t old, having birthed me at the young age of sixteen, but she looked older than I thought she should. Maybe I just remembered her differently.
“I was in town and heard about what happened. I guess I wanted to see for myself that you’re alright.” I worried my lip. Falcon brought me here, but I probably would have regretted it if we hadn’t come.
She gave a slight nod then waved us up. “Well, c’mon. I don’t need the whole fucking neighborhood in my business.”
I glanced around, not seeing anyone around. Still, gossip always ran rampant here. Everyone was in each other’s business, but never bothered to help out.
Walking inside, it wasn’t much different than I remembered, although it seemed tidier than I recalled. She sat in the worn brown chair that we’d dragged home after a neighbor had been evicted and all their things were put on the lawn. I led Falcon to the red sofa that was probably on its last leg. His weight sent him sinking low when he sat, and her brows shot up as she checked him out.
“So, who’s this?” she asked.
“Falcon. He’s my boyf–well…man,” I said as I shrugged at him. I wasn’t sure calling him my biker would make sense to her, but ‘boyfriend’ didn’t suit him.
He grinned. “For now.”
“So, you just gonna toss her away then? Is that it?”
“Mom! ”
“He just said it. Hell, I know they don’t stay, but they usually at least try to make me feel special ‘til they decide to leave. They don’t advertise it in advance,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest again and scowled at Falcon.
“Don’t act protective now,” I shot back at her.
Falcon gripped my thigh, so I ran my hand over his. He cleared his throat and said, “I meant just her man for now. I hope to upgrade that really soon, ma’am.”
Mom’s mouth quirked and she raised a brow. “We’ll see.” It was silent for a few beats before she spoke again. “What brings you to town?”
Sighing, I said, “I lost all my IDs so I had to come back to get replacements. We’re heading back after this, I think.” My eyes shot over to Falcon. I didn’t know we had any stops at all. Certainly not this one.
“How’d that happen?”
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to share. But she was nosy like me, so I figured I could give her some bits and pieces to satisfy her curiosity. “After I left town, I found a little trouble, but Falcon helped me out. I’m staying with him now but want to be able to do normal stuff like get a job and open a bank account.”
She scoffed. “Why? So the government can take all your money?”
“Better than depending on them and whatever asshole who comes around.”
Her blue eyes whipped at me. “If you came here to show me how much better your life is than mine, you can leave the way you came.”
I stood up and pulled at Falcon’s hand. “Let’s go. This was a mistake.”
“Dropping in to say hey after I got my shit rocked isn’t gonna change our relationship, Daisy. I haven’t seen you in years and you waltz in here with your big tough man and your snotty attitude–”
“I came to be sure you’re alright and see if you needed anything. I’m not being snotty, but I’m done.”
She stood up and walked behind us as we headed to the door. “Why? Feeling guilty? Did you know those fuckers?”
Falcon stopped and turned. “Who hurt you?”
Her scowl fell into a frown. “I don’t know. Never seem ‘em before. They asked about her, though. I tried telling ‘em I hadn’t seen or heard from her in years, but they called me a liar. Don’t remember much after that.” Her hand went to her head, gently pressing like it suddenly hurt her.
“Did you see their faces? Can you describe them?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. They had on masks. And it was late. They were all in black.”
“Did they have an accent? Or say anything that stood out?”
Shrugging, she answered, “Sounded like they may be New Yorkers or something. Definitely not midwestern. But besides asking about her, they didn’t say much. ”
My breath caught. I tried to keep my expression blank. I didn’t want to let on that this may have been my fault. “Did they take anything?”
She ran her fingers over her slicked back hair. “Not that I could tell. Not much to take. The cash I had was gone, but who knows? Could’ve been some asshole who knew I was carted off in an ambulance. I was able to call 911 once I came to, but I passed out again not long after that. When I woke up again, I was at the hospital.”
Falcon took his wallet from his pocket and pulled out some cash.
“I don’t need your money.”
I grabbed the cash and threw it at her. “Goddammit, here. C’mon Falcon.”
Yanking Falcon’s arm didn’t do much to move him, but I tried like hell, anyway. He followed me at his own pace. I stormed off the porch and, when I got to the truck and tugged at the handle, it was locked. I balled my fists, but I didn’t turn. I soon felt his heat behind me as he reached up and opened the door.
“Keep her out of trouble!” my mother shouted from the porch.
I climbed in and buckled my seatbelt. Falcon walked back to the porch. They were talking, but I couldn’t hear anything and I couldn’t see her around his large frame.
After a minute or two, he came back and hopped in the truck. I wasn’t in the middle. Instead, I had buckled in on the passenger side and scooted as close as I could to the door. I was staring at the gravel because she was still standing on the porch and I didn’t want to look at Falcon.
But once he shut the door, he reached over, unbuckled my belt, then grabbed the waist of my jeans and jerked me to the middle.
“Hey!” I squeaked as I slapped at his hand.
He wasn’t bothered at all. Instead, he reached around me and grabbed the buckle for the middle seat, clicking it into place even as I squirmed and batted at him.
“Falcon, stop.”
He gripped my chin hard and turned my face toward him. “You’re not mad at me. You’re just mad. And that’s okay, but you’ll sit here next to me where you belong.” Before I could argue or fight, his lips smashed onto mine. My body betrayed me and went lax in his hold, my mouth seeking out even more of the kiss.
When he finally pulled away, his hazel eyes stared down at me, searching my face for signs of anger or compliance. “It’s not really fair for you to fight dirty,” I said breathlessly.
He grinned then pressed a soft, quick peck to my lips. “That wasn’t dirty. What I’ll do to you later is dirty.”
It really was annoying how easy it was for him to bring my temper down. “Can we go then? Or do you want me to throw a tantrum?”
He started the truck then gripped my thigh with a low growl. “Mmm, a tantrum sounds promising.”