Chapter Twenty-Five
Melissa
Dani and I followed Amber up a set of stairs. I had to admit, this clubhouse was much nicer than the one in Little Rock. It was twice the size and looked like this chapter had half the members.
“Right in here, honey.”
“Thank you.”
We entered the room, and I immediately saw the crib in the corner. It was a small portable one, like the one Dani had been sleeping in at my home. Since we started traveling, she slept in the bed with me.
“We have bags in the car.”
“King will have had one of the prospects get them by now. They will probably be here any minute to drop them off.”
I nodded to let her know I heard her, but I wasn’t paying attention. I sat on the end of the bed and held Dani. Everything was wrong. This was not the life I built for myself.
“So, you’re Gunner’s sister?”
“Yea.”
“I didn’t know he had a sister.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. He didn’t want me in his life. He didn’t even tell me he moved out of Arkansas.”
“Well, that was shitty of him,” Amber muttered.
I didn’t respond. There was nothing to say.
It was a shitty thing to do.
“Are you hungry?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I am. I don’t know why I’m here.”
Amber sat on the bed next to me. “Hey, Dani. Remember me?”
Dani looked up at her and smiled. She put her arms out to Amber and climbed into her lap.
“She seems to remember everyone here. Dante said they were only here for a day or two.”
“That’s true. I help take care of the kids, so I’m sure that’s why she remembers me.”
I watched as Dani snuggled against Amber and closed her eyes. She was such a loving little girl. All she wanted was to love the people around her. I prayed that when she grew up, she got to keep that sweet nature. That it wouldn’t be tainted by constant disappointment in the human race.
A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. I stood up to answer it while Amber held Dani, and when I opened the door, my shoulders sagged.
“I can’t deal with you right now.”
“Sissy, we need to talk.”
“Now you want to talk? What about all the times over the past ten years where I wanted to talk? Where were you then? Not in fucking Arkansas, apparently.” I turned my back on my brother and clipped, “Go away.”
Gunner stepped into the room, carrying our bags. He must have gotten them from the car and brought them up himself to ambush me.
“Amber, could you give us a minute?”
I looked at Amber. I didn’t want to be alone with my brother. I wasn’t here to reconcile with him. I needed help protecting Dani. That was the only reason I came here.
“No,” she said, standing up and walking to the head of the bed. She made herself comfortable against the headboard, settling Dani in her lap.
“Amber.” There was a warning in his voice, but she didn’t appear threatened by it.
“Not tonight, Gun. Your sister needs to rest. That was a lot down there. Let her decompress. You can talk to her tomorrow.”
“Amber—”
“Don’t make me call King.”
Gunner growled, and Amber gave him a satisfied grin.
He looked back at me, and there was something in his eyes. Guilt, shame maybe? I gave him a blank look, and he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
“What the hell was that?” I asked in awe.
The man I knew would never have backed down to a woman. I saw the way he spoke to our mom when she tried to force him to do something he didn’t want to. “I don’t mean to sound crass, but you aren’t a regular club girl, are you?”
Amber laughed out loud. “No, I’m not a regular club girl.”
She held Dani until she fell asleep. We didn’t talk. Just sat in silence, and I appreciated the support. I wondered if she stayed because she thought Gunner would come back. Maybe she thought I needed to be protected. Which to be honest, I was ok with. If Amber wanted to run interference between me and the club, I would welcome it. In fact, she could sleep right in this bed with me all night.
Once she was sure Dani was asleep, she laid her in the crib. Turning back to me, she caught me in a yawn, and I covered my mouth, embarrassed.
“You should get some sleep. No one will bother you tonight. King will make sure of it.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled and then walked to the door. Pausing with her hand on the knob, she turned to look at me.
“How do you know Ghost?”
“Who?”
“You called him Travis,” she answered.
“Oh. We met at a bar in Oklahoma. It was months ago.”
Amber chuckled and I swear I heard her mutter, “This is going to be fun,” before she opened the door.
“Absolutely not. You are not bothering her. Dani is asleep, and Melissa is going to bed as well. You can talk to her in the morning.”
“I just need a minute, Amber.”
Travis.
His voice had haunted my dreams for months. What were the freaking odds he would not only be in a club, but in my brother’s club? He wasn’t just friends with my brother, they were brothers . If I hadn’t already known we wouldn’t work, there was no question now.
Travis and I were not compatible.
Our lives were polar opposites. His was filled with drinking, fighting, and fucking. Mine was filled with children battling trauma that was often caused by drinking, fighting, and fucking.
“Amber, please.”
“No, Ghost. Get gone.”
“Back off, Ghost,” another deep voice said.
“Fuck off, Tank.”
“Brother, don’t make me do something that will have your right eye matching your left. King said to leave the woman alone.”
“Goddamn fucking cockblockers.”
I rolled my eyes at Travis’ voice. Did he really think he was going to come into my room and I would just drop my pants and fuck him with someone else’s child in here?
Even without Dani sharing a room with me, that wouldn’t have happened. Just another reason why we would never work. Travis was great for a hard and fast fuck in the bathroom of some seedy bar outside of town. He was the type of guy you experienced a wild night with.
He wasn’t the type of guy you built a life with.
I heard him stomp down the hall, and Amber poked her head back into the room.
“I’ll lock the door. Try to get some sleep. I’ll have King post a prospect outside your door so no one bothers you.”
“That isn’t necessary. The prospects do what they’re told. Gunner can just as easily tell him to take off.” I waved my hand at the door for emphasis.
“Not if King posts them. I promise you; you won’t be bothered tonight.”
“Thank you, Amber.”
She winked and closed the door when she left. I sat in the same spot for an hour. I couldn’t move. I just laid there thinking about how my life had become a clusterfuck.
For ten years, I lived my own life. I did what I wanted. Dated who I wanted. Had sex when I wanted. I chose the people I surrounded myself with. One phone call from someone I foolishly trusted changed it all.
Now I was locked up in a room in my brother’s clubhouse. I’d come face-to-face with the one man I never expected to see again, and I was running from some invisible danger that I couldn’t identify.
I would have to tell Gunner. I would have to tell all of them what I knew. Which wasn’t much. Maybe they had some answers. Clearly, Danny and Dante knew them. His friend was married to one of them.
How did my life become this?
I finally dozed off, but Dani slept fitfully. When she woke up, I brought her to bed with me. Amber had no way of knowing Dani slept with me, or why. Ever since Dante left, she had been having nightmares.
They lessened when she slept next to me. I knew I was crossing a line, but this wasn’t a normal patient-doctor relationship. For all intents and purposes, as far as anyone was aware, I was her mother.
And I had the documents to prove it.
I didn’t know what happened to Dante. For the first few weeks, he texted every evening to let me know he was alive and ask how Dani was doing.
Always from a different number.
The first day he missed, I tried not to worry. I tried to justify the vast number of scenarios that could have kept him from checking in. The next night was the same, and I continued that line of thought for eight additional nights until the first note arrived.
I pulled Dani in close when she started to whimper, and she settled against me and quieted down. We slept the rest of the night curled up together. I gave her comfort in her nightmares, and she gave me the strength to continue on.
If by some miracle, Danny and Dante were still alive and survived whatever battle they faced, their daughter would be here waiting for them when they returned. I would keep her safe.
The morning sun poured through the curtains I neglected to close last night. Dani was already awake when I opened my eyes. Her little smile said she had forgotten about last night’s adventure.
She signed the word for eat, letting me know she was hungry.
“Baby, use your words.”
“Hungy.”
“Hungry, huh?” I tickled her belly, and her little giggles lightened my mood. “Well, we better get up and see what we can find to fill your belly.”
Every time Dani said a word, I prayed that Danny and Dante made it home safe to her. Neither of them had heard her speak. She had only just started a few weeks after Dante left.
I hadn’t told him about her words when I texted to let him know she was safe. I didn’t want him distracted by everything he was missing. The reality was, I had no idea what the two of them were doing. They could be off screwing each other and enjoying their time unburdened by parenthood.
You don’t believe that.
No, I didn’t believe that. I knew they both adored their daughter. I couldn’t deny the fear in Dante’s words when he asked me to keep her. Even as angry as I was at Danny, I knew he was doing what he thought was right.
He just didn’t realize he was wrong.
I changed her diaper and got her dressed. Giving myself a whore’s bath, chuckling at the irony of where I was. I was pretty sure all the rooms had bathrooms, so the club girls were able to take actual baths, or at least showers.
Maybe later I would ask Amber or Ellie to watch Dani while I showered. For now, this would have to do.
As we made our way downstairs, and the closer we got to the main room, the more shouting we could hear.
“She’s my fucking sister!” Gunner’s voice was unmistakable.
“You need to calm down.” I smiled when I heard Haizley try to control my brother. She had her work cut out for her with his stubborn ass. Later, when we talked, I wanted to hear all about how she ended up with him.
“She’s fucking mine!”
I stopped in my tracks.
That voice was also unmistakable, and the words were equally as telling.
I held my head high and walked into the room. With Dani on my hip, I stopped in front of the two men who were arguing about my life. A life neither one had any say in.
“SHE does not belong to anyone.”