Chapter 8 #2
I grasp the collar of his leather jacket. “Tell that to the flutters of my heart.”
“This will only work if you promise me one thing. You’ll never go near my clubhouse.” His voice is low with seriousness. “You’re safe in the main center of Logan’s Point, near the hospital, but you don’t venture further. Today was your one and only time. Understood?”
My lips press together, and I nod hurriedly.
His hand grasps my jaw. “Tell me you understand.”
I suck in a breath and utter, “I do. I understand.”
He smirks. “Good, because I want to see you again.”
My pulse intensifies. “Really?”
“Yeah, even though I’m sure you’ll wake up tomorrow morning and come to your senses.”
“Dax, I’ve never thought more clearly.”
He sniggers, running his hand down my neck and resting it on my shoulder. “We’ll see about that, Sassy.”
We huddle together, silently looking out at the ravine. If he’s worried about my life being worse with him, I want to change his mindset. I want him to think life could be better with me.
Our closeness brings back memories of earlier conversations that didn’t end well.
“I know you don’t want me to go there again, but I have to ask.” I pause, ready with the possibility of pushing him away. “Will you reconsider taking your health more seriously?”
Dax exhales hard, looking away from me. “Going to the hospital was a mistake.”
I clutch his upper arm. “Not fully,” I say with a hint of mischief. “If you hadn’t walked in there today, we never would’ve met.”
Dax smirks, turning back to me. “That must’ve been why it felt much more necessary to see a doctor.”
My gut tightens, amplifying my concern. “This necessity won’t go away.”
Dax slumps beside me, sighing. “I don’t want to think about it right now.”
Hope lights inside me. “But you will, eventually?”
Dax throws his head back with a laugh. “You really don’t quit. Okay, sure, I will.” He looks at me with an easy smile. “It’s weird having someone stick by me.”
“I saw your brother asking where you were today.” My mouth runs dry. “Although, I wouldn’t say it seemed compassionate.”
Dax shrugs it off. “It’s just part of his power-trip.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s taken over the club since Dad’s been out of the picture.”
“Oh.” It’s all I can think to say, busying myself with pulling the blanket higher on both of us.
Dax tilts his head as if trying to get a read on me. “You really haven’t heard about this?”
I shrink beside him. “Heard about what?”
“What happened to my dad?”
I grit my teeth, forcing them not to chatter out of trepidation. “Why would I have? I didn’t even know your club existed until today.”
Dax’s eyebrows raise, and he exhales with a soft laugh. “Okay then. Just, usually, the people I run into look at me like they know my whole life story.”
I nod. “Like the nursing staff today.”
“Exactly. Anyway, long story short, my dad’s in jail.”
I suck in a breath, wincing. “Oh, Dax, I’m sorry.”
A smile lingers from his quiet laughter. “Don’t be. He put himself there. Or, actually, my mom put him there.”
“What does that mean?”
“I told you my mom found a way out,” Dax replies. “She was an informant with the sheriff’s department. She knew when everything was going down and planned to leave town that day. I was the only one she told about it.”
“Whoa. That’s a tough position to be in.”
Dax shakes his head. “Not really. I wanted out too.”
My heart breaks. “Dang. And you’re still in.”
Dax slumps against his bent elbows, gazing up at the starry sky.
“When did you get the scorpion tattoo?” I ask. “Did you have to get it to be officially in the club?”
Dax pushes up the sleeve of his jacket and smirks at the tattoo on his forearm. “Do you see how crappy this thing looks? I didn’t choose to get this.”
“What do you mean?”
He sits up to show off the tattoo better. “I got held down and forced to get it. Not only was it a bad job back then, but I was ten, so it’s stretched.”
The air is whacked out of my lungs. I tap my chest and cough hard. “They forced it on you at ten-years-old?”
His brow crooks as he nods at me.
“That’s horrible.” I’m breathless. “I can’t believe they’d do that to a child. What did your parents say?”
“My dad made my mom shut up, and he told the guys to hold me down.”
I swallow hard, feeling violently ill.
He caresses my cheek and whispers, “Sorry to turn you green.”
I blow out a shaky breath. “I’m just sorry for you.”
He shrugs, smiling. “I chose to get the other tattoos.”
I take his hand from my cheek. “The rose for your mom. What do the other tattoos mean?”
He laughs, looking away. “They’re so dumb.”
I bite into my lip, smiling. “Tell me.”
He draws a finger over the right-hand side of his chest. “I was feeling really down one day, like I’d never get it together, and always be under someone’s thumb.
I just had this sinking feeling like I’d never be free.
But then something made me feel lighter.
I thought, maybe, when I’m eighty I’d be free.
So I walked into the tattoo parlor and got Roman numerals of the year when I’ll turn eighty-years-old. ”
The randomness of the tattoo makes me giggle. “And the thought of being eighty makes you feel happy?”
He rubs the side of his head and laughs. “I guess so.”
I squeeze his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll be free long before you’re eighty.”
“It’s a backup plan at least,” he jokes.
“What about the eagle tattoo?” I ask. “I saw it at the hospital.”
He wiggles his eyebrows. “I saw you checking me out.”
I blush hard.
“That one’s just purely dumb.” He laughs. “I got it on a whim. It has absolutely no meaning.”
“Oh my gosh. I couldn’t get something inked into my skin if it didn’t have a meaning.”
He looks at me with intrigue. “But you would get a tattoo?”
I bite my lip. “That’s not exactly what I was saying.”
“I think you’d look good with some ink, Sassy.”
“Maybe one day.”
Dax rubs his forearm where the scorpion lies. “I dunno. It feels like some kind of control to get tattoos that I choose after how I got my first one.”
“It’s sickening how that happened.”
“At least my dad isn’t around anymore.”
I can’t help myself. “So, what is your dad in for?”
For a moment, confusion contorts Dax’s expression. “I don’t know.”
“Huh?” I’m dumbfounded. “How can that be? Didn’t you know as much as your mother did?”
A pensive look crosses his face. “Well, I got told once he was in, that he got charged with burglary. But that doesn’t make any sense because he was the boss. He didn’t do the jobs. He sent the guys out. But no one else got arrested. So I don’t really know what the truth is.”
“Oh, that is confusing.”
“I also heard they’re stringing him along. That his court case won’t be for a long time, making him rot in jail.” Dax huffs. “Maybe it’s so they can connect him to more stuff? I’ve got no idea.”
“How often do you visit him?”
Dax looks me dead in the eyes. “I never have.”
“Oh.”
“Even my brother, Lance, doesn’t visit. He has, once or twice, but he prefers not to so he can run things his way.” Dax winces and grabs his side. “The older guys, like Boscoe and McCoy, visit on occasion. They’re more loyal, and I can tell they’re peeved that my brother is giving them orders.”
“Has the club always been run by your family?” I ask. “Or can anyone be in charge?”
“Anyone can be in charge. My brother just got there first.”
“Do you think he knew what was going down with your dad?”
He shakes his head solemnly. “No. He’s just an opportunist.”
As Dax shifts uncomfortably, still massaging his wounded ribs, I nestle closer to him. “You really should get that checked out.”
He grunts. “It’s not from the fall. It happened earlier. It’ll heal.”
I run my fingers along his jawline and sigh. “I’m sorry you feel like no one has stuck by you. But I’d like to, if you’d let me.”
Dax pulls an arm around me, cuddling me close.
“So, I guess, none of them are wondering where you are right now?”
Dax snorts. “It only matters when I show up again. No one comes looking.” He rubs his hand down my arm. “What about you? Your family must be going nuts. Don’t you want to call them?”
“Nope. I’ve hit my limit of being ignored. Maybe it’ll scare Dad so much that he takes me on his next business trip instead of my brother.”
“Be careful how you play it. Does your home have a tower they can lock you up in?” Dax jokes.
I click my tongue. “My life isn’t much of a fairytale.”
“It mustn’t be,” Dax replies. “Otherwise, you’d be sitting here with Prince Charming.”
“I’ve met Prince Charming,” I say dryly. “He’s a disappointment.”
Dax laughs, holding his ribs. “Maybe you were supposed to kiss him. You know, like the frog.”
I giggle. “I didn’t take you for a guy who was well-versed in fairytale lore.”
Dax shrugs, sporting a boyish grin. “I went to preschool.”
My heart swells, and I’m overly eager to know so much more about this unorthodox but ruggedly handsome boy.
I rest my chin on Dax’s shoulder and sigh. “I just want my dad to see me as more than a party-planning socialite. Maybe giving him a scare will be the jumpstart we need.”
“Like an electric shock.”
“Yeah, just slightly less painful.”
Dax’s fingers play with my hair. “So, is there a party you’re currently planning?”
“It’s a little bit higher-end than a party, but yes. I want to raise funds for the Logan’s Point hospital, and we’re making it a black-tie gala.”
Dax lets out a long whistle. “Whoa. Classy. Isn’t black tie too fancy for Logan’s Point?”
I shake my head. “Not if we want the right people with big wallets to attend.”
“Sounds like it’ll cost a lot.”
“Our society events committee has a funds account for the actual event.”
“Don’t you think you should just donate that? Why blow so much money on a party to get more money?”
For a moment, my brain malfunctions.
Dax rubs my arm again, laughing. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of your whole deal.”
My back tenses as I lean against him. “No, it’s fine.” I tuck my hair behind my ears, taking a moment to let my body temperature cool down. “It’s just, those who usually donate won’t just do it without us bringing it to their attention. And we bring it to their attention by hosting events.”
Dax shrugs, continuing to run his calloused hand against my skin. “It’s all good, Vanessa. I don’t get it, but it’s not for me to get. I’m not someone who’s buying a ticket or getting invited.”
I mumble a laugh, letting my mind wander. “Oh my gosh, I can hardly imagine my family’s faces if I brought you along as my date.”
Dax sniggers. “Maybe that’s the jumpstart your dad needs.”
I lift my hand, softly dragging it over my bottom lip and chewing on my thumbnail. “Hmm. That’s an idea.”
Dax squirms against me. “I wasn’t being serious.”
I bat my lashes. “I bet you’d look great in a tux.”
Dax grimaces, shifting away. “Hell would have to freeze over.”
I run a hand down the front of his leather jacket. “You could arrive in this, but I don’t think you’d get past the front doors. I mean, I have pull, but maybe not that much.”
Dax laughs. “Okay, you’re joking. I thought you were. You are, right?”
“I guess, as per usual, I’ll be escorted by LJ to keep the peace.”
“And who’s LJ?”
“The guy you thought was my boyfriend.”
Dax smirks. “Oh, the guy you kept flinging off you? Does he always grab you like that?”
“Pretty much. But I always see it coming.”
“I know I kissed you without warning, but I don’t like the thought of any guy touching you whenever he wants. He’s not also Prince Charming, is he?”
“One and the same.” I sigh. “It’d be beneficial to my family if I married him one day. That’s the level of romance I deal with when it comes to LJ.”
“Yikes.” Dax’s hand finds mine. “I can tell how much you hate the guy. I’d wear a tuxedo everyday if it kept you away from him.”
The image makes me laugh. “That would be a sight.”
He holds my hand tighter. “I mean it, though. You shouldn’t have to be with some guy just to make your parents happy.”
I lift my head. “Wait. Would you actually go to the gala?”
Dax caresses my cheek. “There’s that smile again. You only look happy in brief moments. If being at the gala will make you smile like this, I’ll be there, right beside you.”
I fall into him, wrapping my arms around him. “Oh my gosh, Dax. I have no idea how that would play out, and it’s exhilarating.”