Chapter Eleven #2
She had all the faith in the world when it came to her
father saving her. He would never allow anything bad to happen if he could fix
it. It was what her da did. He fixed things.
“Yeah, well, my father is worried your father is currently
starting a cartel war, and we might all get caught in the middle of it,”
Brianna confessed.
“Da will be very careful.” Of that Daisy was sure. Uncle
Adam was on the dramatic side. It was why her short stint at Miles-Dean,
Weston, and Murdoch hadn’t worked out. A girl hit one little delete button and
it was like the world ended. It hadn’t been the world. It had been a kind of
mean-girl AI assistant, and Aunt Chelsea had sent her a cookie bouquet. Not
that it had saved her job.
“I’m not so sure about that. You are your father’s precious
baby girl. He’s got to be panicking,” Brianna said. “He’ll do a lot to protect
you. I mean he and your brother apparently scared off all the Doms at The
Hideout for years. I can’t believe we didn’t catch that.”
“I knew something was up. I mean when we walk into a bar all
eyes go straight to Daisy’s chest, and that’s the women, too.” Devi cupped her
own boobs, looking down at them. “I wish you’d grown more. Damn my athletic
build. I have my mom’s boobs.”
“You have fashion model boobs,” Bri countered. “You can
actually wear the clothes you design.”
Daisy was confident in her boobs. Nate liked her boobs. He
talked about them all the time.
“I don’t design for skinny chicks. I design for all of
womankind,” Devi explained. “Wait until you see the bridesmaids dresses I made
for Carys’s wedding. They’re beautiful, but the twins and Tash are in the
bridal party, so there is definite cleavage. Daisy, tell her. You look gorgeous
in yours.”
Would she be allowed out for Carys’s wedding? “They’re
stunning and very boob forward.” She loved it when Nate laid his head on her
chest and snuggled. Was he thinking about weddings? They could go to Vegas and
spend all the money they would have spent on a wedding on an amazing suite. Or
she could use it to fix up her house so they had somewhere lovely to live. A
vision of Nate helping her paint and hang curtains floated through her head.
She wanted to go grocery shopping with him. “I think I’m in love.”
Brianna’s eyes rolled. “Of course you are. You’ve been half
in love with him since you were a kid. I knew what would happen the minute you
said he was coming to Dallas. I knew you would see him again and it would be
over.”
“Over?” It didn’t feel over. It felt like life was just
beginning.
“The flirting. The crazy nights,” Bri said, a little
wistful. “I miss our crazy nights, but I also know you two are moving on with
your lives. You’re going into another stage.”
“I’m not moving on,” Devi replied with a shake of her head.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m completely single over here. I’m still
one of the nuns of The Hideout.”
“But you are,” Brianna insisted. “You’re completely into a
guy. It doesn’t matter if he can’t love you back. You feel something for him.
Something I haven’t ever felt. I grew up around this amazing love, and it
wasn’t only about my parents. I watched my brother. Tristan’s loved Carys all
of his life. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I know he still loves Carys and
he still wants to share her with Aidan. I’ve never wanted anyone like that.
Like Daisy wants Nate. Like you want Zach.”
Zach Reed. From what Daisy had put together, he was the
military liaison for the CIA team. She was fairly certain someone had explained
it to her, but it was a lot of acronyms. He’d come to The Hideout with Cooper
for the first time a year and a half before, and Devi had very quietly lost her
mind over the handsome captain.
Not that she’d told him. She’d made Daisy and Bri promise
not to say a word. They were a sisterhood within a sisterhood, and neither she
nor Bri would ever break a confidence.
“I can want Zach all day, but we know who he wants,” Devi
said.
“She’s engaged.” Daisy knew what Devi thought. She’d watched
Zach, and his eyes always followed Tasha Taggart. A month before they’d
overheard Kenz and Kala talking about how Zach had admitted he was in love with
their sister. “Tash is happy with Dare. Zach is a single man.”
“And Tasha is his type. Not me,” Devi replied. “So while I
might have these feelings, I’m not going to act on them. I’m not going to make
a fool of myself.”
“Did I?” Daisy mused. She thought her friend was missing the
point.
Devi neatly ducked as a pillow was thrown her way. A sorry
was yelled out, and one of the boys ran to reclaim it. “I didn’t say you were a
fool. It obviously worked out for you and Nate.”
“I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t tried. I think it might
be more foolish to have these feelings and never give them a shot. Even if he
doesn’t want you. At least you know. And if you’re too scared to be forthright,
there’s always masquerade night. But you should probably wear a better
disguise. Apparently mine wasn’t great.” She reached out to her friend. “I know
how it feels to want someone you think you can’t have. I also know what Bri is
saying. When we were in college we were an unstoppable party, wreaking havoc
and fun everywhere we went. Now we have degrees and we spend our weekends
sitting in the locker room at a sex club trying to figure out what to do with
our lives.”
“I think you know what you want to do with yours,” Devi
chided.
She was wrong about that. “I know who I want to spend it
with. I’m not sure what I want to do. A psych degree sounded like a real thing
at the time. Turns out there’s not a lot of call for it. Maybe I should give
real estate another shot.”
Bri groaned. “Or you should go back and get your master’s
and become a therapist for children. Just don’t tell them about the
supervillain thing you so recently convinced poor Rand of.”
“I thought we were going to let her come to that conclusion
on her own,” Devi pointed out.
The idea played around in her head. She did spend a lot of
her time talking to kids, and most of it was helping them with their problems.
When she thought about it… It was…brilliant. “I would be good at that. I would
enjoy it.”
“Yes, you would. And you’re welcome.” Bri smiled. “Devi’s
got a real shot at becoming a designer. I was with her in New York a couple of
weeks ago and they loved her work.”
“But they haven’t called me back.” Devi stood.
“There’s still time.” Brianna was always an optimist.
“Sure. I’m going to go check on the babies. I’ll be in there
if anyone needs me.” Devi turned when she got to the hallway that would lead
her to the nursery. “And Daisy, I’m happy for you. If your dad can’t be… Well,
then he isn’t the Uncle Li I know. He’ll figure this out and then he’ll be all
team Daisy again. He’ll go from my daughter is a saint of a girl to my
daughter can drink you all under the table. Now, if you love me, you’ll
remind us all Bri has written three books and never lets anyone read them.”
Brianna gasped. “She already knows that.” Bri looked her
way. “You know that.”
“Yes,” Daisy agreed. “I know, and I think what Devi is
pointing out is time works the same way for all of us. It’s going by, and you
need to figure your shit out, sister. Be brave. Let us read them. Then let your
mom read them.”
Bri went a pasty white. “Absolutely not. Maybe someday. When
she’s old and can’t see. Hey, Hunter.” Bri smiled, her weird thank god
something is saving me smile. “Daisy, Hunter is here.”
He was. And he wasn’t alone. Gabriel Lodge was with him, and
they’d brought Lucas Taggart along. Gabe and Lucas were both a bit older than
her crew. They’d been a couple of years ahead of Daisy, but Hunter had always
hung around them.
“I thought y’all would be at The Hideout. Also, I thought we
were locked in.” They hadn’t even given her the security code. Which was
probably good because she wasn’t great at remembering random numbers. Nate had
let them in, and he’d watched as she’d greeted all the kids. When Michael and
Vanessa Malone had brought in way too much stuff for their infant, Nate had
held the tiny girl while Daisy had helped them set up. He’d looked so hot. A
big muscular man rocking this tiny infant. He’d even hummed. He hadn’t looked
freaked out or anything.
Because he was a man who could handle some chaos.
Lucas winked her way. He was a gorgeous man in his
mid-twenties, but he couldn’t hold a candle to her Nate. She’d seen him holding
a baby, and he’d just frowned the whole time. Admittedly the baby was his
cousin, and he’d needed a diaper change. She rather thought Nate would have
simply done it.
“My dad kind of owns the building,” Lucas pointed out.
“He doesn’t,” Bri countered. “Your dad and Uncle Ian donated
the money for the building, but Kai owns it. Have you thought about coming in
for a session or two?”
Bri was kind of being a bitch, and Daisy supported her.
Lucas could be a heartbreaker, and he was a little full of himself. The
Ferguson Clinic was housed in the building next to Sanctum. They’d grown over
the years from it being run by Kai Ferguson and specializing in PTSD issues to
having family therapists and specialists in domestic violence and marriage
counseling. What they didn’t have was a child psychologist.
“He knows the code because he caters the group sessions they
have sometimes,” Bri continued. “Why are you acting like…like you? You do
remember who we are, right?”
Lucas gave them both a big smile. “Yeah, you’re my little
cousin and Daisy is… Well, we’re not related, Daisy and I.”
“Actually, neither are we. Like no blood between us.” Bri
gasped when she looked over at the indoor playground. “AJ, you cannot hit him
with a chair. This is not wrestling.”
She ran off to save Wyatt Murphy from Armie Hutchins, who
apparently had been watching wrestling with his dad. Or maybe his grandpa had
been in town. She looked back at the guys who’d invaded her space. “What do you