Chapter 31
Danica
T he week flew by thanks to all the wedding plans.
I finished out the last week of school, much to Smokehouse’s irritation.
Construction work on the club's school had been put on hold for the moment so all the guys could tail their old ladies as we all split up to go to work, or help with getting Hush and Seek’s wedding set up.
Each night we were huddled around tables inside the clubhouse, talking through what still needed to be done.
Seek’s mom and sister had been out to plan, too.
Keely was helping out as well since she was still on her vacation.
She and Hush were taking Seek to the florist today.
Pretty much everything had been checked off the list, minus a few last minute items.
It was Friday afternoon, school was out for summer break as of yesterday, but I didn’t get to enjoy my day with the others.
Flower shopping sounded a lot more desirable than what I had to do.
This appointment was too important to reschedule, so here I was.
Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the building through the windshield of my car.
A tap on the glass made me jump. I glared over at Riptide, who just gave me a lazy smile. His eyebrows rose when I stayed inside the car. “You getting out? Kind of hard to get to an appointment when you’re locked in there.” There was understanding and kindness in his eyes.
The week of planning also gave the women plenty of time to tell me their individual stories and it really helped me get to know them better.
The guys, too. I knew from Sloane that Rip was dangerous as hell.
It was hard to picture since he was always smiling and teasing.
He seemed so laid back. I hadn’t been surprised to find out he was a surfer.
He sort of had that vibe. He brushed his hair, it was a lot longer than all the other guys, out of his eyes while he waited for me to make my decision.
I pushed open the car door and got out. This was the last thing I wanted to be doing right now. Smoke hadn’t been able to come with me. He’d promised to help Kit move over a few more of her things today. I hadn’t mentioned the appointment until this morning.
He’d given me an irritated look, but ignored me when I said I could go alone. Rip had been lounging nearby and offered to come along since Sloane was planning to be at the clubhouse all day.
We walked down the sidewalk and entered one of the few tall buildings in our smaller city. Tucson didn’t have skyscrapers. Just a few lonely multi-level buildings downtown. We made the trip in the elevator in silence. Rip seemed to realize I needed it.
I was wringing my hands together as the floors counted up to four. The paperwork I needed was stuffed in a folder inside my oversized purse. We made our way down to the right office and I gave the receptionist a weak smile. “Hello. My name is Danica Carmine. I have an appointment.”
“Hi, Danica. Take a seat. Ms. Levitz will see you soon.”
We sat in chairs against the wall. Even with my nerves buzzing around like irritating insects, I noticed the way Riptide was watching the door.
He was studying the people coming and going down the long hallway.
I’d seen Smoke and the others do the same enough times now that it didn’t bother me.
They were always on alert. It actually made me feel safe, especially after what happened last weekend.
There hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary this week, so far.
At least not that the guys had told us. No one was caught watching any of us, or the clubhouse.
There hadn’t been any communications from the Italian Mafia.
I still couldn’t believe that I’d had a run in with mafia men.
Or that I was dating a biker. And somehow it was all better than being married to Eli.
If you told me a year ago that this was what my life would look like, I’d have laughed.
Everyone seemed to be full of mixed emotions about the lack of action on Don Amato’s part.
Lock and the others told us what they’d found out from Cade and his wife Murphey, though it was made clear that they were telling us so we could be safe as we continued on with our day to day lives, not so that we would get involved.
We’d learned our lesson there. At least for the immediate future.
None of us planned to get involved in club business again.
A pretty woman, about my mother’s age, poked her head out from behind a door. “Danica?”
I stood and smiled at her, extending my hand as I walked forward. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” Her eyes slid to Riptide.
“He’s a friend,” I told her. I looked over my shoulder. “Be back in a bit?”
He nodded and gave me an encouraging look.
Taking a deep breath again for courage, I walked into Carol Levitz’s office.
“Your mother explained your situation,” she said, sitting down behind her desk.
I took my seat and pulled the folder out. “Yes. I’m so grateful you could see me so quickly.”
Her smile was bright, and understanding. “It sounded like something we should get started on as quickly as possible. Why don’t you walk me through everything? I want your account of it all.”
Swallowing, I stared down at the folder in my hands. The papers inside detailed a sad and lonely life. Pathetic really. Frowning, I tried to figure out where to start.
“Danica-”
“Please, call me Dani,” I told her, meeting her eyes.
“Dani. This is a safe place.” She searched my expression. “Anything you don’t want to use in court, we won’t. You have full control. I just need to know the details so that I can come up with the best plan of attack.”
“I’m a little embarrassed,” I admitted.
Carol’s gaze softened. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I promise I won’t judge you. If what your mother tells me is true, I’m impressed with your strength and courage in leaving.”
“He didn’t beat me, or anything,” I told her. “He was just verbally and emotionally abusive.” I gave her a wry smile. At least now I could verbalize the way Eli had treated me. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it for what it was. For so long, I tiptoed around him and gave him everything he wanted.”
“Narcissists are incredibly good at getting people to do what they want,” she told me.
Tilting my head, I considered her words. “You know… That’s exactly what he is. Not diagnosed or anything, but I bet he would be if he ever bothered to go to therapy.”
“He won’t,” we both said in unison.
I laughed and shook my head. “You seem to know a lot about this.”
She nodded. “I see it a lot in my profession. Plus, I had a grandmother like that. Everything was always about her.”
Sucking in a breath, I handed over the folder and launched into everything Eli had put me through over the years. It was almost therapeutic to get it all out.
“So, you’ve already tried to get him to sign the divorce papers?
” she asked when I finished. She was flipping through the paperwork.
There were the divorce papers, bank statements from him taking his mistress out on dates.
Too bad I didn’t know of the other women over the years or I could have gathered that as well.
Eli was so sure he’d get me back that he hadn’t bothered to take me off his accounts.
I’d already made my own and that was where my direct deposits were going now for everything.
He probably figured I wouldn’t have the balls to go snooping around.
Back then, I wouldn’t have. It was amazing how much I’d changed in only a couple of months.
Without his influence holding me down each and every day, I was reverting back to the person I’d once been.
Was it possible to miss yourself? Because looking over my marriage with Eli, I couldn’t see the girl I knew myself to be.
She’d disappeared after that first year.
That was when he’d really given up on the facade he’d erected in order to win me over and shown his true colors.
Realizing Carol was waiting on my response, I cleared my throat and focused on the present. “Yes, more than once. There was…a bit of a disagreement between him and…”
She looked up from the notepad she’d been writing on. “Go on.”
I bit my lip, then sighed. “I’m pregnant. But it’s not his baby,” I hurriedly explained when her brows shot up. “I had already given him the papers when I slept with…the man who’s now my boyfriend.” My smile was weak. “It’s complicated.”
“That does complicate things.” She cocked her head as she spoke.
“Nothing we can’t deal with,” she promised when she saw the look on my face.
“I want to get this in front of a judge as quickly as possible. So what I’m going to need you to do is get a prenatal paternity test. All they’ll do is draw some of your blood and swab the father’s cheek. ”
Relief began to ease the brick that had been sitting in my stomach all morning. “I didn’t realize you could do that.”
“It’s not as ideal as doing the paternity test after the baby is born,” she admitted, “but we have enough here with the infidelity and emotional abuse that I think the judge will accept it. If I have my way, you’ll have your divorce in a few months.”
The steely determination in her eyes made me smile. “You remind me of my mom. And my sister.”
Her smile was warm and affectionate. “Thank you. I’ll be honest, Dani. I’m feeling a little protective over you.” She shrugged. “I always give my best in these cases, but for you?” Her smile was sharp. “I’m going to rake him over the coals.”
“Oh.” My laugh was nervous. “I don’t even care about money. I just want him out of my life.”
“He will be,” she promised. “I’m going to get you a restraining order as well as that money. I’m going to make it so that if he comes within fifty feet of you again, he’ll ruin his entire life.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, trying not to cry.
The humiliation and nerves that had plagued me all the way here flew off on butterfly’s wings, leaving me with nothing but gratitude and relief.
Carol was going to help me make Eli disappear.
Now all we needed to do was make this trouble with the mafia and Fremont go away.
That didn’t seem like it was going to be as easy, but I was glad to have this, at least, out of the way.
The last thing Smoke needed was my leftover drama distracting him.
Fifteen minutes later, I stepped out of Carol’s office and smiled at Riptide. “Sorry it took so long.” He’d been hanging around out here for at least forty-five minutes.
“No need to be sorry,” he told me as he stretched, then stood up. “Ready to head back?”
“Yeah.”
He kept shooting me looks as we walked back to where we’d parked.
“What?” I asked.
“You look lighter.” My jaw dropped and my steps halted as I stared at him.
A horrified look crossed his face. “No. That’s not what I meant.
” His eyes darted down to my belly. My bump wasn’t even showing yet.
“I meant emotionally. Relieved,” he practically shouted the word.
“You look like there’s been a weight lifted off your shoulders. ”
With two pregnant women living at the clubhouse before I even got there, I could understand his reaction to my shock. If anyone told Seek she looked light, or heavy, she’d probably punch them. She’d laugh afterward, but they’d get hit for the poor word choice.
The laughter bubbled up within me until it spilled out.
Now Rip was the one who looked relieved.
“I am,” I finally told him once I could speak again.
“I thought for sure getting this divorce was going to be messy. I mean, it sort of is, but Eli has actually made it really easy to get rid of him. In more ways than one.”
“Good.” A fierce expression settled on his face. “That asshole is going to find out what happens when he fucks with one of ours.”
I smiled and looped my arm through his as we started walking again. “I think he already learned that. He hasn’t bothered me in weeks. Not since Smoke and the others went to his house.”
“But now, legally, he won’t be able to do shit either.”
“And that’s better for the club,” I replied. “The last thing we need is him causing more trouble. I just want him gone.”
“Butcher could make that happen and save you some lawyer fees,” Rip offered with a malicious grin.
I blinked up at him. The others had told me about Butcher and why he’d gotten his name. It was hard to picture him as a cold blooded killer after seeing him with the kids. He was so good with them. “That’s okay. We’ll save that for a later date, if Eli decides to do something stupid.”
So much had changed. Here I was, joking about offing my soon to be ex-husband.
The crazy part was, I knew Rip wasn’t kidding.
And I knew Butcher really would do it. And I was perfectly okay with that.
From the time I’d served my husband the divorce papers, until that day I’d taken a pregnancy test, I’d been getting back to the girl I used to be.
From that day on, I was growing into a completely different person.
I didn’t hate who I was turning out to be.
She was someone who would burn piles of money that belonged to a crime organization. Someone who’d been willing to shoot as many men as she had to in order to protect the people she loved. I’d gotten my backbone back and I wasn’t ever going to lose sight of my strength again.
I was an elementary school teacher. And a biker’s old lady. And a woman who was willing to kill for her family. A smile grew on my face as I started up my car. I was excited for everything to come because I knew I’d face it all with Smokehouse.