Chapter 14
fourteen
DANE
Darcy is still passed out when I break away, reaching for my phone to send for Flinch.
Dane
I need all of Darcy’s things from her office brought to my house on Robinhood Street. She has her purse. Drive the truck so we can leave from here.
Flinch
Do you want me to bring Darcy’s hoodie? I think she normally leaves it for when the air conditioner gets cool.
The prospect's knowledge of such an intimate detail causes a burning sensation to build in my chest. Precisely how close is he watching Darcy anyway? I watched Flinch grow up, and taught him everything from riding a bike to using a knife. He’s been an impeccable prospect, learned quickly, and living up to his ironic road name, not batting an eyelash when it comes time to deal with business.
Despite the bond we share, I still want to rip the prospect patch off his back just for knowing something about Darcy that I don’t.
A vein starts to pulse in my head as I try to recall Darcy wearing a hoodie. There wasn’t one around at all. But then my focus is always on her more than the surroundings. Either way Flinch and I are going to have a talk. Was he looking out for her or was he looking at her?
Gritting my teeth, I send a text telling Flinch to leave it in her office. If Darcy gets cold I’ll keep her warm.
Dressing quietly in the darkened bedroom, I slip out to give my Sugar a few more minutes to rest.
Opening the app for the camera system, I wait until Flinch parks in my driveway before meeting him outside to retrieve Darcy’s things. I don’t want anyone inside our little sanctuary.
“You driving the prospects?” I ask, taking the items from Flinch.
“Yeah, I’m about to head out. They’re meeting me at the garage.”
“Check their blindfolds,” I remind him. The extra precaution is more symbolic than anything. A large metal grate behind the driver’s seat obscures the view of any passengers from the windshield, and the rest of the windows are covered in black limo tint.
The location of our clubhouse is kept strictly to patched members and the old ladies given the privilege by the president. Flinch is the exception. A third generation biker, he memorized the path as a child riding in with his grandfather and father. It comes in handy in times like this, when someone has to bring in all of the prospects.
Rummaging through the diaper bag, I pull out the Winnie-the-Pooh blanket I recently saw covering Owen. Thrusting it at Flinch I instruct, “Bring this to Gris-Gris.”
After a head tilt in acknowledgement he says, “Good luck tonight.” The cotton blanket clutched in his fist looking thoroughly out of place.
“Remember to stick close to my family at all times,” I order before turning and closing the door. If things turn sour when Merlin inevitably loses his bid for power, I won’t be able to reach Darcy and Owen fast enough.
As I pad across the house, my mind reels with everything I need to do now that I have a family of my own. I’m going to push all of that aside for now. Today is a day to celebrate.
Darcy’s still curled up on the bed when I reach our room. Her eyes drift open as I softly click the door closed behind me. She blinks, and rubs her face with her hand. “What time is it?” she says in a sleepy voice.
“Time to get moving,” I grumble, sitting on the bed next to her. I resist the urge to curve my body against hers. We can’t be late.
Brushing her hair out of her face, she sits up in bed, covering her naked body with the sheet. “We need to stop on our way to get the base to Owen’s seat out of my car,” she mentions, still groggy.
“Already moved it,” I inform her.
Her body tenses, eyes suddenly alert so I add, “I’d never put Owen at risk. I had some help getting it installed right.”
“Did you jimmy open the lock to get the carseat?” Darcy asks in an exasperated tone.
“You didn’t seem to mind it so much when Slim popped it open,” I quip, leaning down to kiss her forehead. It felt like the right move at the time. No way was I going back for the car keys I forgot, especially since I left Darcy upset minutes before..
“When Slim opened the lock, it was because my keys were inside the car. I didn’t ask him to either. He just showed up with one of those stick thingies.”
“It’s called a slim jim,” I answer.
Darcy slips out of the bed, her eyes not meeting mine as she goes toward the neat pile of clothing left on the dresser. “Is that how Slim got his name? Because he can unlock a car?”
“Name origin stories are only for the person who gave them and the person who holds them to tell.” There’s no way I’m telling her it’s because of the speed he can unlock it and drive off without keys. I wish I could bite back the words the minute they’re out of my mouth. The last thing I want is Darcy to ask me about how I became Odin. My grandfather, who gave me my name, is dead, and I can’t, won’t, tell her something like that.
Not for the first time, I wonder how much she knows about the club’s activities. Has she overheard things, or filled in the blanks here and there? She can’t believe we’re exactly law abiding, not after we showed up on her door like we did that first night.
“I gave Farm Boy his,” I offer, hoping she doesn’t ask about mine. “His government name is Westley. One day I walked into the bunkhouse really quiet and realized he was watching The Princess Bride. One of the other hands kinda laughed and said he’d caught him watching it too. The next day in the fields, we all started calling him Farm Boy.”
“Names happen that easily,” she says with a small laugh.
“Yep. One moment and poof, you’re named for life.”
My eyes track her as she dresses quickly in the jeans and top she wore to work, then throws her hair back in a plastic clip she pulled out of her purse. When she heads into the bathroom, I finally reach for my phone with a resigned sigh, answering the million texts I received in the last few hours.
Dad
Darcy’s almost packed up. She doesn’t have much. Do you want the bassinet?
Dane
It’s best to bring it since it’s what he’s used to.
Dad
Never been happier to help someone move. Gotta tell you I’m impressed. I thought it would have taken you at least another week to get her out of the house.
Before turning off my phone to be alone with Darcy, I called Dad to ask for help moving her and Owen out of Seth’s mom’s house. Equally resolved they would never return, he was at the house in under an hour with a trailer and helping hands. Most of their meager possessions are barely worth packing, but it's theirs. I don’t want to leave it all behind, and Darcy not have her favorite nightgown, or for Owen to have to adjust to a great deal all at once.
After answering a few more text messages, Darcy’s out of the bathroom, purse in hand looking suddenly nervous. “Is there anything in the attic that’s yours or Owen’s?”
“Why?” she asks in an ominous voice.
“The guys are at the house now getting your things out. You’re not staying under that roof another night.”
Her jaw drops, “But, we need to talk about things. I need to figure out how much rent and the utilities, and…wait how did you get in?”
I close the distance between us. “We are starting a new life together Darcy, and that includes putting old shit behind us. As far as money goes, don’t worry about it. I already told you that you and Owen are mine to take care of.”
“That doesn’t answer how you got in,” she points out with flattened lips.
I huff out a laugh. “That house was my second home while I was growing up. I can sneak out four different ways without getting caught. Getting in an empty house wasn’t that difficult.”
She pulls in a long, deep breath. “I agreed to move, but we haven’t settled the particulars yet.”
“You want to make sure you have an exit route,” I acknowledge. “Don’t bother, Sugar. I’m never letting you go.”
“I worry so much after everything,” she confesses. “I want Owen to have the best life possible.”
Pulling her into my arms, I assure her, “It’s my job now to take on all of that. Band-Aid is taking your stuff to the compound in a watertight trailer. You have some time to think, decide if you want to look at my other houses.”
She shakes her head negative. “I love this house. The flowers in the front garden are my favorites.” Instead of seeming convinced, she has this look in her eyes. It reminds me of a rabbit stilling its body, listening intently for unseen danger.
I know how that ends. The rabbit runs away from the ghost of a predator that never materializes. A cold chill runs down my spine at the mere thought.
The only way to fix this is for her to feel safe. Leaning down, I kiss the exposed skin of her neck, “None of the club is coming to work tomorrow, including you. Why don’t we enjoy the evening, then tomorrow figure out what works?”
“More time to figure things out would be nice,” she agrees.
“You’re not going back to Seth’s, no matter what, so if you’re thinking about that, forget it. Whether here or somewhere else, you’re moving.”
Darcy chews on her bottom lip. “Did they grab the extra breast milk out of the freezer?”
“And your tablet charger from the den. I had them leave your wedding band though. You won’t be needing it.”
She lets out a derisive snort as I open the front door. “Never really did I guess.”
No need for it yet, anyway. I want to tell her exactly that, but today’s been exhausting for her already.
“I don’t have any clothes or things for the baby,” she says worried, “And where am I going to sleep?”
“We,” I emphasize, “are sleeping at my house on the compound. I have a cabin away from the main building to myself. It won’t be any trouble to grab whatever we need from the trailer and bring it in for you.”
* * *
As I park in the driveway of the Marks’ brick home, Darcy moves to open the passenger side door, “I won’t be long,” she says.
“Nope,” I answer with a curt headshake. Not happening. The last two days, I’ve had to follow them into town from a distance, an outside observer on my own damn family, then watch as she brings Owen to daycare. I won’t miss out again. I’m tired of missing the little moments.
I allow her to walk ahead of me this one time, but rest my hand on her lower back after she knocks. She immediately tries to twist away, “Would you move your hand?”
“No. I like touching you.”
“Eleanor will guess what we’ve been up to!”
“Sugar, if you don’t want someone to know we just fucked, you should be a lot more worried about the marks from my beard on your neck, than my hand on your waist.”
Darcy’s shocked face falls into a polite mask as the door swings open.
Eleanor doesn’t blink at my presence as she shows us in. She must have already looked over the daycare paperwork. I went into the house at night and put it back in the diaper bag…after filling out all the dad portions Darcy left blank.
Before I can find Owen in the large room, Darcy has him in her arms, already wrangling him into the carrier. I still haven’t gotten to hold him and it’s killing me. I watch her routine of buckling up Owen, popping a pacifier in his mouth and covering him with a small blanket.
I take over from there, carrying him outside and clicking the carseat into the base.
As soon as I’m seated myself, I can tell why Dad put the seat directly behind me. Craning her neck, Darcy can check on Owen, which she does as soon as we’re both buckled in. “He’ll probably doze off in a minute. He finished his bottle five minutes ago.”
I nod, and crank the truck, trying to think of how best to broach the subject. I meant it when I said we aren’t going to say his name anymore, so I ask, “Is anything stored at your parents’ house?”
“Umm, no. I gave my old clothes to my sister, and all of the furniture was my parents’.”
“There’s nothing else you need to go back for?” I push. I don’t want Darcy looking backward, but in this case, it may be the only way forward.
She looks fidgety, but confesses, “I’m not allowed to contact them anymore.”
“Because you left like you did?”
“It’s not about that.” She takes a long breath. “Dad was in charge of the money. All of it, including what I earned. The bulk of my salary was going into a savings account for when I was married. To be turned over to my husband of course. I would see the statements come in the mail every month, so I knew he was really putting it aside. When I married and asked for the money, Dad told me there was nothing left. He insisted that after tithing to the church and other expenses, I was broke at the end of each month.”
Anger rolls off of my body. Bullshit. With Parran’s low cost of living, most of our employees support themselves comfortably. “Did you ask him to see the bank statements?”
She nods, “Yes, and I tried to find out what happened to the money in the account, but Dad used his email to set up the banking app, so I couldn’t look that way. I tried calling after I left, but one of the men from church works at the bank. He told me I’ve caused enough trouble already and hung up. An hour later, my father called me and told me to stop harassing his family and to never call again. His family,” she says with an ironic laugh. “What kills me is that Dad always told me I was living with him rent free and I should be grateful. Turns out he was taking money for rent the entire time.”
“How much is tithing?” I ask in a steady voice.
“Ten percent,” Darcy says, the sourness in her voice leaving no doubt about how she feels about tithing.
Yeah, Gerald Richards and I are going to have a short and sweet conversation about Darcy’s money. Tithing because you want to is one thing, being forced to is another. I steal a glance at Darcy to see her face downcast. She looks devastated.
Reaching for her hand, I interlace our fingers, and kiss her knuckles, wanting her to feel how much I adore her.
“Do you miss them?”
She swallows nervously, looking away from me. “I’d hoped that after some time apart, we could have some sort of relationship. I wish Delia and I could see one another. It’s weird, because I went from having a whole family to spending Christmas alone.”
She spent Christmas by herself? He really did that?
Stopping at the only red light in town, I put the truck in park, and turn to her. “Whether you like it or not, you’re an old lady now, which means the entire club is your family. Presh hosts Christmas. Don’t drink the eggnog unless you want to wake up on New Year's Day.” My words, an attempt at comfort, get me a half smile. They’ll never hurt you the way your blood did. They’ll die protecting you and Owen.
She’s wearing a full smile when she swears, “Eggnog tastes like dirty socks.”
“Sutton got into it last year. She didn’t make it to dessert before she puked on Folgers’ boots.”
“Who’s Sutton? Did someone get married?” She ends the last part with a shocked note.
“Nope, we’re all still single. For now anyway.” I give her a sideways glance with a knowing grin and Darcy rolls her eyes. “Sutton is like a little sister to us. She organizes our meals and cleans. Oh and she takes care of the animals at the compound.”
“Animals, as in pets or livestock?”
“We have…working dogs,” I say carefully. “Then someone gifted us a wolf dog a few years back.”
“A wolf dog? Like half dog, half wolf? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Chloe’s been with us since she was six weeks old. She’s kinda like a tchotchke—sits around and looks pretty but doesn’t do much. Are you scared of dogs?”
“I’ve never really been around them. Neither of my parents like animals.”
I pull back onto the road, eager to get to the clubhouse.
Darcy relaxes after I draw her deeper into conversation. The more we talk the more I realize her parents censored the hell out of everything in the house, even after they were adults.
The long trip passes with easy conversation, my little man sleeping the whole time. I need to buy one of those mirror things for the backseat so I can watch him in the rearview.
“How are you just now watching Breaking Bad? I thought everybody watched it when it aired,” I ask in amazement.
“We could only watch very select television shows. Anything else was considered a negative influence and against God’s wishes.”
“And you never once watched something you shouldn’t have while your parents weren’t home,” I ask in disbelief.
“My sister Renee was a tattletale, but after she married I was able to watch Friends on re-run with my younger sister, Delia.”
“Did you watch Sons of Anarchy?”
“A little bit, but it felt weird after working with the guys.”
“And what did you think?”
She looks down at the dashboard as if picking her words, before carefully saying, “I think that there are some…similarities.”
“Like what?”
“Well, you call your meetings church, and you have prospects. But I also see the difference between fiction on television and the real world.”
Way right answer.
It’s still light out when we near the mile marker that acts as a perimeter point. Nobody passes here unless they’re a member, blindfolded, or one of the old ladies the president chooses to give the privilege. I’ve hinted to Linc, repeatedly, that blindfolding Darcy was unnecessary, but he’s refused, saying it was too soon. Since the bastard is still, technically, the president for a few more hours, he’s left me no choice.
I’m given a confused expression as I pull into the empty rest stop. It’s nothing but a picnic table and an area for cars to pull off. We’re far outside of town, with no homes or businesses for miles.
She swallows nervously. “Is something wrong?”
“Darce, you know there are rules to our world, right?”
She nods. “Yes, of course.”
“Sugar, you can’t see the way to the clubhouse yet. It’s not allowed.”
Her shoulders drop. “What does that mean?”
“It means that you need to ride blindfolded the rest of the way. It’s a safety thing…”
Leaning over, I brush the curtain of jet black hair out of her face, going through everything that’s happening with her step by step. Her eyes are cautious but show no anger or fear.
Her eyes go to the backseat to Owen. He’s dropped his paci, in a deep sleep. “You could have simply invited me, ya know,” she pouts when she looks back at me. “Instead of telling me there was a mandatory meeting.”
Pressing my forehead to hers, I trace the edge of her lips with my thumb and whisper, “Inviting you has given me zero luck. If I tell you , I stand a fifty-fifty chance. I wanted to make sure you were here to celebrate with us.”
Her breath is warm against my face when she asks, “And what would you have done if I refused?”
My lips just shy of touching hers, I admit, “Brought you anyway and kept you locked up so you could never leave me.”
She laughs, her chest vibrating against mine. But would she laugh if she knew it's precisely what I would have done?