Chapter 19
Smokehouse
T he next morning, I watched as Dani and Keely walked across the club’s parking lot with their parents in tow.
They’d gotten in early this morning and settled into their hotel.
Dani had begged for me to let her pick them up alone.
She’d said she had a lot she needed to tell them about her life with Eli.
I hadn’t realized she’d kept everything her ex had done to her a secret.
I hadn’t liked it, but there was no way for Eli to know where she was unless he was tracking her movements. It didn’t seem likely he was at that point yet. It might escalate to him stalking her—why else wouldn’t he sign the papers—but we weren’t quite there.
For now, Fremont had just taken over as the biggest threat. As soon as we dealt with the looming court appearance and got Fremont to back off again, then I’d deal with Eli. One thing at a time.
I studied the three women. They were the spitting image of each other.
Dani’s mother was a gorgeous older woman, blonde hair piled on top of her head, impeccably dressed in one of those women’s suits, and currently glaring down at the gravel that was making it hard for her to strut confidently in her high heels.
Keely looked much the same, though there were a few less inches on her heels.
A smile broke out on my face as my gaze landed on Dani.
She was in a pair of jean shorts, a cotton top, and had a sensible pair of sneakers on her feet.
She wasn’t having trouble at all with the rocks.
Out of the three, she was the only one I had this pull to.
Sure her beauty had captivated me as soon as I’d stepped foot into that bar, but now something else about her had its hooks in me.
It was hard to say what I expected from their father, but honestly, he met the picture I had in my head.
He was wearing Khakis, a plaid shirt, and his styled hair was swept back off his forehead.
He let his girls charge forward toward us, but intelligent blue eyes swept the lot, looking for any signs that there was trouble.
I respected him immediately and I hadn’t even spoken a word to him.
He wasn’t there to stand in their way, but was ready to defend.
“Everyone,” Dani called out as they got closer. “Most of you have met my sister, Keely, but this is my mother, Cynthia, and my father, Robert.”
There were quite a few people here, both brothers and their old ladies, because everyone was curious about Dani’s family. Static had seemed impressed by them, and that wasn’t easy to do.
In fact, the man was in the crowd today. Lock had asked him to be here for this. The rest of us were so far out of our depth when it came to the law that it was nice to have someone who knew what the fuck he was talking about.
Lockout stepped forward and held out his hand to greet Dani’s parents. “Thank you for coming.”
Robert smiled, “You’re welcome, but we’re here for our daughter.”
“I can understand that.”
Robert scratched his chin, his gaze wandering over the group. “I have a lot of questions.”
“I’d rather ask them somewhere a little more…private,” Cynthia interjected.
“Don’t worry, Dear. My questions aren’t about the case,” Robert told her. “Where’s the man who knocked up my daughter?”
“ Dad, ” Dani hissed at him, throwing him a glare as a blush spread over her cheeks.
Snickers sounded from behind me, and a grin broke out over my face.
Danica may be an exact replica of her mother in looks, but she was her father’s daughter.
They both had that soft air about them that turned to steel the minute they wanted it to.
Seeing him for all of two minutes confirmed to me exactly why she’d followed in his footsteps.
Stepping forward, I held out my hand. “I’m Smokehouse.”
“What kind of name is that?”
“It’s a nickname, Dad,” Keely supplied in a helpful tone.
“Knox Kincaid,” I told him as we shook hands. If I’d thought the man would have a limp shake, I would have been wrong. He squeezed my hand until it was just this side of painful.
“And I’m Kit, his sister.”
Robert looked over as my sister stepped up next to me and he shook her hand as well, though a lot less aggressively, I noticed.
“I know this is…an unusual way to meet,” my sister said with a smile. “But I just want you to know how excited I am—we all are—to have Dani with us. We’re all one big family and she’s a part of that now, too.”
The sound of a beer being cracked open split the air.
Everyone turned around and Toxic froze with the can halfway to his lips.
He looked startled to be the center of attention, though I didn’t know why.
He and Butcher had been born as the centers of attention.
“Want one?” he asked the group in general.
“It’s nine in the morning,” Cynthia pointed out.
“I’m behind,” he muttered before taking a long drink.
“Sorry about him,” Lockout said, amusement and resignation crossing his face.
At one point he had hoped that Toxic would be able to keep Butcher in line.
In a way, he did. Butcher was far less violent when his friend was watching over him.
But now the two of them were so much more creative about the trouble they caused.
Lately Lock had just started assigning a third—and sometimes fourth—person to watch them when he needed them contained.
As a last resort, he’d send them on runs to keep the peace while we completed whatever task needed doing.
There was no way he’d be sending them away now, though.
One, because it was too fucking dangerous to split our numbers with Fremont on our asses.
And two, those men were useful as fuck to have around, even if they were drunk half the time.
It wasn’t that they were useless drunks either, I’d seen them set aside the alcohol and not even look at it when we had something to hold their attention.
They were far more dangerous when they were sober. They drank to stave off boredom.
“This could all be handled a lot easier,” Butcher said loud enough for everyone to hear.
“No, Butcher,” Lockout bit out, giving him a look.
The man had already offered to make Fremont disappear.
And Eli. And anyone else who asked questions.
While that would take care of our current problems, it wasn’t a road Lock was willing to go down, yet.
It would put our club under a microscope and if anything went wrong we’d all end up in prison for life.
“We’re grateful that you’re helping our little girl with Eli,” Robert said, getting the conversation back on track.
I gave Dani an amused look. She had a resigned expression on her face.
Kit often looked the same whenever Ridgeback called her his little girl.
They’d always be that to these men. They were their daughters.
It made me kind of hope that we had a girl.
Boys were great, but a little girl with Dani’s fire and my knack for trouble? That was bound to be a fun time.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I winced at the feel of fabric stretching over me.
I hated the feel of scratchy cotton t-shirts.
Started as a kid. I was always running around without clothes.
It wasn’t as acceptable when you were a grown man.
At least that’s what I’d been told. Multiple times.
“Dani’s safe here with us. Eli won’t fucking get near her,” I promised him.
“Language,” Robert said, in a tone that reminded me of my fifth grade teacher. “Thank you. We weren’t in the loop on everything that was happening.” He gave his daughter a side-long look that had her shifting in a way that only a guilty child could. It didn’t matter that she was twenty-five.
“Let’s bring this inside,” Riptide suggested, giving Cynthia a winning smile since he was echoing her suggestion. He held out an arm for her to take.
Rolling my eyes at him, I moved over to Dani’s side and pressed a hand to the small of her back, moving her forward, but ready to steady her if she needed it.
Even the slightest touch through a cotton barrier had my fingertips warming.
It was getting harder and harder to keep my hands to myself around this woman.
I could feel Robert’s eyes on me. Really, I couldn’t blame the man.
He didn’t know me and I’d impregnated his daughter.
He was being far nicer than I would be in his shoes.
Everyone waited quietly as we all took our seats. We were having this conversation inside the room we held church in. It was the only place big enough, and private enough, to do so. Dani, her family, Seek, and Static were the only non-members of our club present.
“Dani told us what happened,” Cynthia said as soon as everyone was seated. Her eyes latched onto me. “Thank you for trying to help her.” She paused and I saw the pain in her eyes. “We had no idea that Eli… Of how he was treating her.”
Dani had gone to pick them up from the airport around five this morning. She’d spent the rest of the time with them at their hotel, telling them all the sordid details she’d kept to herself over the years and it was easy to see that was contributing to her father’s mood.
It pissed me off, knowing that she’d been alone and at that asshole’s mercy that whole time.
It didn’t matter that I hadn’t known her then.
I wished I had so I could have gotten her out sooner.
Glancing over at her, I saw that she was staring down at the table.
Guilt and embarrassment flooded her face with color.
She didn’t want the others to know her business.
Hell, it took her all this time to finally tell her own family.
“We’ll do whatever we can to help Danica,” Lockout told Cynthia. “She’s one of ours now.”
“Doesn’t seem very comforting considering you’re asking for our help right now,” Robert pointed out.