Chapter 19
Dante
Rachel tried her hardest to hide her nerves, but I saw the telltale signs—the tapping of her knee when she waited (somewhat) patiently for me to bring Shark into the back to watch Axel being one of them.
It always amused me that she had such control over the rest of her body, even to the extent of having the best poker face I had ever seen.
And yet she had never quite managed to curb her nervous habit of tapping her index finger.
When we went upstairs, she led the way, and I did my best not to stare at her ass as it swayed back and forth in front of my face.
Another time, another life, I had chased her up the stairs before fucking her to the point where she could barely remember her own name.
And now I was legally bound to never touch her.
What the fuck did I agree to that for?
All I could picture was that ass in my hands as she bounced up and down on my cock. Or that ass up in the air as she bent over for me. It was both heaven and hell, and it took every ounce of strength I possessed not to reach out and touch her.
“Is she still in the same room?” She asked, looking over her shoulder at me as we approached the top of the stairs.
“I…” I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
She gave me a weird look. And who could blame her? I was being fucking weird. But she didn’t press it any further. She took the slight turn around the corner and walked down to Bee’s room, hesitating outside the door.
“I feel like I should knock, but is that weird?”
“If you want to knock, then knock. I do.”
“Do you?”
“Of course,” I said, and then laughed at her look of surprise. “She’s seven, Rachel. She has a right to privacy. What if she was writing in her diary?” I did a fake gasp. “Imagine interrupting a girl in the middle of writing in her diary! I’d find out all her secrets.”
She smiled at me, and I raised my hand to knock on the door before she could hesitate any further and pushed it open.
“Hey, Bee,” I smiled at her, pushing the door wide open so she could see who I was with. “Look who I’ve brought to see you.”
“Hey, Bee,” Rachel repeated softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “How are you doing?” She asked, stunning me into absolute silence when I saw her hands moving.
“You sign?” I almost hissed in a whisper. Her response was to wink at me, and then she walked across the room to where Bee was sitting at her desk and crouched down low beside her.
“Do you know sign, Bee?” she asked, signing at the same time.
Bee looked at her, but didn’t respond. I knew she knew some of the basics—she was being taught them at school, after all, but it was clear she would not give into Rachel easily. Not this time around.
I saw Rachel swallow heavily and then beam a bright smile, although I could see the slight shine of tears that she quickly blinked back.
“I learned sign language when I was in America, so it might not be quite what you’ve learned.
America and British sign language are a little bit different, but I’m sure we can make it work. ”
I watched her hands in fascination as she signed along with her words, slowing down her speech as she did so. She didn’t need to, as Bee’s hearing was still perfect, but I knew she was showing Bee what the hand gestures meant.
Bee still stared down at her, not giving her so much as an inch, and I felt my heart skip a beat in sympathy for Rachel, even if I did understand the reasoning behind my daughter’s actions.
“Does everyone else here speak to you in sign language?” she asked.
“I can imagine your dad is hopeless,” she signed, whispering the last words, earning herself a small smile from Bee.
A small smile that was quickly replaced with a scowl.
Bee turned away from her, looking back at her book on the desk.
“Okay, sweetheart. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” She pushed herself to her feet and raised her hand as though she was going to stroke Bee’s hair, but then thought better of it.
As she turned to walk away, Bee spun around in her chair and tapped Rachel’s arm.
“No,” she signed.
“No?” Rachel repeated.
Bee rolled her eyes. I wonder where she got that from? That look was Rachel all over—and then picked up her LCD writing tablet.
No one here knows how to sign , she wrote, using the wrong variation of “know”, putting “no” instead. But my heart leapt all the same.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Rachel signed back, sighing at the same time. “I’ll teach you, if you would like?”
Bee hesitated and then nodded.
“Good. And maybe together we can teach your brother. Would you like that?”
Bee pressed the button to clear her tablet and then wrote, does he talk?
Rachel paused as she read it and then smiled. “No,” she spoke and signed. “He tries with some words, but he’s not quite there yet. He can learn both, though, can’t he? I’m sure you would be the absolute best teacher. Much better than me and your dad.”
Bee studied her for a moment, lips pressed tight, before the corners of her mouth twitched up into a cautious grin. Then she nodded.
“Why don’t you come down with us and meet your brother? I know he’s desperate to meet you.”
Bee pulled back slightly, and for a moment I thought she was going to say no, but she nodded once and jumped off her chair.
“You go down, sweetheart. He’s with Shark. Me and your dad will be right behind you, okay?”
Bee didn’t respond. She carried on walking, high-fiving me on her way out, and went straight down the stairs. The minute she was out of earshot, Rachel flew forward and started smacking my arm.
“You horrible fucking bastard!” She snapped, punctuating every word with another slap. “How could you not learn fucking sign language for her?!”
“I did!” I hissed back, trying to gather her arms up to restrain her. She came at me like a goddamn octopus on meth. Every time I blocked a swing, another arm came out of nowhere to smack the shit out of me. I was laughing, swearing, and flinching all at once.
“She fucking needed you, Dante, and you’ve let her down!
” She hissed at me, her breathing heavy as she hit me over the back of the head.
“I don’t give a fuck what you say. We’re having a club meeting here first thing in the fucking morning and I am teaching the lot of you the basics.
The poor girl deserves people to say hello to her in the morning in a way she can fucking understand and respond to! ”
“Fine, fine!” I snapped back, finally managing to gather her wrists and pinned them against her side. “Are you calm?”
She broke out of my hold and stormed back over to Bee’s table, snatching up her tablet and marching out of the room. But not before she smacked me on the shoulder with the tablet.
I bit back a laugh at her anger and followed her down the stairs.