Chapter Twenty-Four
Melissa
February 22, 2025, Diamond Creek, Nebraska.
Sitting in my car, I stared at the brick building in front of me. He was in there. My brother, who I hadn’t seen in ten years. He didn’t know I was coming. Had no idea that everything he did to keep me out of this life was all for nothing. Somehow, through some fucked-up twist of fate, I had been thrown into his world, anyway.
What really made me angry was that I had lost ten years with my brother. For goddamn nothing!
My hands tightened on the steering wheel to the point of pain. I had to get my emotions in check. I was a professional. I was here to see a woman. Not my brother.
Except that I needed his help. I waited as long as I could for Dante to contact me. He said forty-eight hours; I gave him two weeks. I had decided to take Danika and disappear. Make a new life for the both of us. Until the notes started to appear.
I didn’t know who they were from. I didn’t know why they were so angry. But whoever it was had followed me to Arkansas. Dante had told me Danika’s mother died after she was born.
Maybe he was wrong.
I couldn’t risk Dani’s life because of my stupid pride.
I also wouldn’t risk her life by handing her over to someone I didn’t know. Dante might trust this woman, but at this point I had been the one person who was consistent in Dani’s life.
She was mine.
Mine to protect.
So, I would ask him for help. I would ask him to protect me one more time. There was no doubt in my mind he would. He loved me, of that I was sure.
I sat frozen as the young man walked over to my car. He couldn’t be more than a teenager, and I felt my anger rise again. They were still pulling children into this life.
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
“I’m here to see Gunner.”
“They’re in church, ma’am.”
“How long have you been a prospect?” I asked.
“A few months.”
“Is there another prospect I can speak to? Maybe one close to being patched in?”
He furrowed his eyebrows and looked toward the building. His indecision was costing me precious time. Dani would wake soon and she didn’t love being in the car so much.
“Pull up to the front. I’ll go inside to get someone.”
He walked back to the little shack he had been sitting in. Reaching through the door, he must have hit a button because the gate began to slide to the right. When it was open enough to drive in, I parked my car by the door where he had disappeared through.
I didn’t wait. As soon as the engine turned off, I opened my door and preceded to unbuckle Dani from her seat. I was going inside whether they allowed me to or not.
Just as I made it to the door, the prospect opened it and allowed me to walk in.
“Missy? What are you doing here?”
I turned when I heard the familiar voice call my name. I gawked at my best friend, trying to understand how I was seeing her in the clubhouse.
“Haizley?”
Dani lifted her head at the voices and looked around.
A pregnant woman behind Haizley gasped and called out, “Danika!”
She rushed over; her arms stretched out as though she thought she would take Dani from me. I pulled her in tight, turning away, shielding the little girl from whoever this woman was. I had an idea, but unless I had confirmation, no one was touching her.
The woman scowled at me and asked, “Who the fuck are you and what are you doing with my niece?”
“What’s your name?”
“I asked you first,” she retorted.
“Ellie, calm down. Let’s hear what’s going on before we cut the bitch,” another woman who was heavily pregnant, threatened.
I knew this would be a mistake. I considered turning around and leaving. The only reason I didn’t was the voice of reason who spoke next.
“Oh my God, both of you, calm down.” Turning back to me, Haizley asked, “Missy, what’s going on?”
“I was asked to find Ellery Thomas. I was told she was connected to my brother’s MC.” I turned to the first woman who spoke to me. “Is that you?”
“Yes. Why do you have her? Where are Dante and Danny?” Her voice changed quickly from angry to concerned when I explained why I was there.
“I don’t know. They brought Dani to me in December. A few weeks later, Dante asked me to take care of her. He said no one could know who or where she was. He said if I didn’t hear from him for forty-eight hours to take her to my brother’s MC to find you. I would have been here sooner, but I didn’t know he had moved from Arkansas.”
“Can I hold her, please?”
I hesitated, but when Dani reached out to Ellie and she snuggled into the woman’s neck, I was confident she was who she said she was.
“Missy, your brother is in this MC?”
“Yea,” I answered absently, my eyes still on Dani, searching for any sign of distress so I could take her back. I fully understood Dante’s feelings of jealousy toward the woman he told me about.
“The prospect said you were looking for Gunner?” She touched my arm, getting my attention.
“Yea. Haizley, what are you doing here? And what happened to your face?”
“Um... well.” She bit her lip, then smiled shyly at me. “I’m your brother’s old lady.”
“Seriously?” My mouth dropped open. “Gunner is the guy you told me about? You didn’t say anything about him being in an MC.”
“I knew how you felt about them, and I guess now I know why.”
“We need to tell the guys,” a third pregnant woman interrupted. “I’ll text Jack.”
A moment later, the church doors opened, and the members poured out. The man I hadn’t seen in ten years stalked toward us, his eyes locked on my best friend. My eyes began to water as they feasted on my brother. God, I’d missed him so much.
“Mellie?”
“Lyssa?”
Any emotion I had been feeling toward Gunner transformed into fear as I heard the rough, raspy voice I recognized. When I looked past my brother, I didn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Travis?” I whispered.
“Your magic pussy is my fucking sister?” Gunner yelled.
Oh fuck.
I closed my eyes in mortification. Not only was the man I ran away from standing in front of me, but he was a member of my brother’s club and had obviously discussed the night we had together, with him and God knows who else.
“Gunner, calm down.”
Haizley put her hands on my brother’s chest and walked backwards as she tried to stop him.
“How did you know where to find me? And why the fuck did you skip out?” Travis barked.
Travis sounded angry. I knew Gunner was angry. He picked up Haizley and set her to the side in the arms of another biker, and stomped over to Travis. When I saw his arm pull back, I screamed.
“MICHAEL, NO!”
Someone grabbed me around my waist as I tried to stop my brother. Memories of what he did to the man he found in my room when I was a child, and the man who assaulted me at the clubhouse, came flooding back.
Gunner and Travis were fighting, Ellie had disappeared with Dani, and some asshole held me tight.
Suddenly, a shot rang out and everybody froze.
I looked around the room to see who had been hit.
“The next person who takes a step is getting the next fucking bullet.”
My eyes bugged out when I saw my best friend standing on the bar with a gun in her hand. My strict, by-the-book friend held a gun on a room full of bikers.
“Little lamb, get off that fucking bar,” my brother snarled.
“She ain’t no fucking lamb now,” a man beside me snickered.
“Gunner, stay right where you are. I will not fucking hesitate to shoot you.”
“Baby, I am gonna whoop your ass.”
“Doc, where did you get the gun?” I recognized King when he spoke. He was only a few years older than Gunner and one of the officers when they were in Arkansas.
“That is not important,” my friend answered with a smile.
“Do you even know how to use that thing?” another man asked.
“You ready to find out, Shotgun?” Haizley asked as she pointed it toward the man. He lifted his hands in the air and backed away.
“Doc, gonna need you to hand it over and get off the fucking bar,” King growled.
“Not happening,” she said.
“Haizley Walker, get off that fucking bar and give me that gun.”
An older woman stomped past me and held her hand up to Haizley. With a sigh, she handed the gun to her and climbed down.
“You’re no fun, Maureen.”
“Don’t fucking wake me up with a goddamn gunshot.”
Gunner growled as he walked toward Haizley, and she put her hand up.
“You stay the fuck away from me right now. You are all acting like children, and you’re scaring Missy, not to mention the little girl. What is wrong with you?”
“He fucked my sister,” Gunner said in a voice so low I think it was meant for only her.
“I don’t care. You haven’t seen your sister in ten fucking years, and you barely spared her a glance and instead tried to beat the shit out of your brother?”
“Haizley—”
“Don’t you Haizley me.” She pushed past him and walked over to me. Pulling me into her arms, she whispered, “I am so sorry. I’m so happy you’re here, but we have a lot to talk about.”
She pulled away and turned back to the room. “For those of you who don’t know, this is my best friend, Missy. We went to college together. She is also a doctor, and apparently Gunner’s baby sister.”
“Mellie?”
“Hi, King.” I waved shyly and then looked around the room. “Where’s Dani?”
“Mama?”
I turned around, and Ellie was behind me with Dani. Rushing over, I took her from the woman’s arms and held her tight.
“Are you ok, baby?” I asked, looking down at Dani. She nodded and laid her head on my shoulder.
“Why is she calling you mama?” Ellie asked, the anger in her voice back again.
“Because as far as the outside world is concerned, I am her mom. Danny and Dante set it up that way.”
“Why would they do that?” she asked.
“Mellie, how do you know them?” King questioned.
“I sent them to her.”
I spun around, recognizing that voice. “Zach?”
“Hey, Melissa, it’s nice to finally meet you in person,” Zach said with a smirk.
“I need to sit down.”
Looking around, I held Dani tight and moved to the first chair I saw. It wasn’t the most comfortable. Folding chairs rarely were, but I was about to collapse from everything I had just learned.
“Officers in church, now!” King shouted. “Mellie, could you join us?”
“No.” I shook my head. I didn’t want to be a part of this. I wanted to take Dani and run. But I couldn’t. Someone was following me, and I had no idea if the threat was about Dani or myself.
“Mellie.” Gunner kneeled down in front of me. “We need to talk, sissy.”
“I don’t want to talk to you. I knew I shouldn’t have come here. I should have just taken Dani and disappeared.”
“Why did you come here?” Travis asked behind Gunner. His eye was already turning black and blue. My brother packed quite a punch.
Closing my eyes, I panted. “I can’t do this right now. My priority is Dani. This is too much for her.”
“She’s right. Leave the poor girl alone,” the woman Haizley called Maureen demanded. “Gunner, get the fuck away from her before I sic Tucker on you.”
“She’s my baby sister, Maureen.”
“I don’t care. Move your ass, now!” She smacked Gunner on the back of the head, and a dog I hadn’t noticed before snarled, causing my brother to finally give in. He moved away, and the dog walked over and sat in front of me.
I looked across the room at Travis, his eyes pinned to mine. He was angry. I figured he would be, but I also never expected to see him again. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, and I remembered how it felt to be held against him.
Closing my eyes, I shook my head.
Now was not the time. I needed to calm down. Dani was trembling in my arms and I was sure she was remembering the day she was rescued.
Dante had shared a little of what they had to do to get to her. The gunshot combined with the shouting voices and what she was feeling from my own emotions was more than she could process.
It was too much for me as well.
“Amber, can you take Mellie and Dani up to the room Danny and Dante used? The crib is still in there I think.”
“Sure, King.”