Chapter 29
JACK
I look between Camile and my daughter, trying to figure out how the hell to handle this.
Vani is my priority, but I feel for Camile right now.
She looks broken, and if Vani were the one in her shoes, with me dead, and the rest of her family in hiding, I’d sure hope she’d find some softness and care in the world.
Guilt hits me as I realize that all we’ve given Camile is hardness and the biker life.
Christ, have I failed both these young women, the same way I failed my wife by letting her die?
“What the hell is going on between you and my friend, Dad?” Vani says with fire in her eyes, dragging me from my thoughts.
“Jesus, Vani, nothing!” What the hell else can I say?
“Don’t treat me like a damn child. I’m a grown woman. I recognize sexual tension when I’m around it.”
I don’t even like hearing the word ‘sexual’ come out of my daughter’s mouth. “Don’t speak to me like that.”
She brandishes the t-shirt again. “She has one of your t-shirts in her bed.”
“She does?” I focus on the material in her hands this time and recognize it. This is news to me. Where did she get it? She must have taken it from my laundry basket.
“Yeah, the one you lent her to sleep in. Where was she sleeping the night you gave it to her, Dad? In your bed?”
I want to tell her that if Camile had been in my bed overnight, she wouldn’t have been wearing a stitch, but somehow, I manage to keep my mouth shut.
Why did Camile take my shirt, though? Is it innocent, or did she want something of mine to sleep in?
I’d worn the t-shirt a few nights before, so it probably had my aftershave on it, and she could have taken a totally clean one, but she chose that.
Surely, it means something. Even though I know I’m not allowed to feel this way, I can’t help the thud of pleasure deep in my chest.
“Nothing has happened between us.” It’s not exactly a lie… is it?
“But you want it to, don’t you? You want to hook up with my friend. What is there, a twenty-year age gap? She could be your fucking daughter.”
“Watch your mouth, Vani. You’re still my damn daughter. When did you get to have such a foul mouth?”
Her laugh is bitter. “Living around you, and now you’re lusting after my friend.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Vani.” I don’t answer the question she posed earlier and hope she will drop this.
“How long has this been going on? Is she the reason you decided to move up here?” She stops and stares. “It had nothing to do with wanting to be closer to me, and everything to do with being closer to her!”
Vani turns and points at Camile, who is standing nearby, her mouth open and face pale.
Christ, Vani has clearly inherited her mother’s temper. In a way, I’m proud of her being so fiery, but she’s also way off base and spiraling.
“Of course it wasn’t,” I tell her. “I hadn’t met the girl when we came to see you to tell you about the possible move.”
And that’s the truth. Camile isn’t the reason I split my MC in two and moved half of them here. We were already involved in helping the club here that was struggling, and I’d been after a change for some time. Ever since I lost Vani’s mom, I’d wanted something different.
Vani rounds on Camile. “You’re supposed to be my friend, Camile! My mom is dead, and you’re going after my dad? How would you feel if I’d been fucking your dad? Oh, wait, I couldn’t do that cause he’s dead.”
The room goes deadly silent, and Camile jerks back as though Vani has slapped her.
I can’t speak because if I do, I might say something I regret to my daughter.
“Vani, that was a low blow,” Saint warns her quietly.
“You think she doesn’t deserve it? What kind of a person goes creeping after her friend’s dad? I can’t even look at the pair of you.”
Zane signs something at Vani, I’m not sure what, but her cheeks turn pink. I need to try to rein in my temper because I’m about to fucking lose it with my daughter.
I grit my teeth and steady my voice. “Stop it right now, Vani. I haven’t had sex with Camile. You are blowing this out of all proportion.”
“Don’t gaslight me.”
I look over to where the Vipers are watching this whole scene go down, wondering if they’ll get Vani the hell out of here so she’ll calm down.
I can tell they want to step in, but they’re on my territory.
Unless I did something to physically hurt Vani, which I would never do, they won’t interrupt her anger at me.
Her anger at Camile, yes, but me? No way. This is between me and her.
“I’m not gaslighting you.”
She throws up both hands. “And what about Mom? Do you just not love her anymore? Are you going to replace her with Camile? Is Camile going to be my stepmom?” The disbelief and hysteria make her voice rise higher with every word.
“It’s been years since we lost your mom, and I miss her every day, but if I wanted a relationship with someone else—” I deliberately lock eyes with Camile, who looks terrified and glances away— “it wouldn’t be any of your business. Got it?”
I think of the things I’ve done with Camile in my mind, dirty, shameful things. I should have kept my distance, but instead the lure of her pulled me in, over and over. I remember how I’ve climaxed over her, fantasized about her, inhaled her scent and run my tongue up her skin.
Now I’m lying to my daughter.
Am I going to lose her over this? Am I going to lose both of them?
Vani is being cruel, and I didn’t raise her that way, but it comes from hurt, because she loves her mom so much, and seeing me with someone new would be a betrayal in her eyes.
I could get her to see sense with time, but her friend?
A girl half my age? That’s never going to fly with Vani. It will destroy us.
Shit. I need to stay the hell away from Camile. I need to figure out a way to make her someone else’s problem.
“Fuck you, Dad,” Vani spits through her tears.
Her words are ice down my spine. She’s never spoken to me like this before. I could shout, and rage, tell her to go the fuck home and calm down, but that would push her away even more. I already lost her mom; I can’t lose her.
She spins to face Camile again. “And fuck you, too. The pair of you deserve each other.”
“Vani, please…” Camile begs.
I'm not sure how I found myself here. Stuck between two yelling, crying women. Yet here I am.
I can't stand it a minute longer. One thing I've never known how to deal with is women's tears—even my own daughter's.
Everyone is standing around, staring at the scene unfolding, including members of my own MC. God, we can walk into gunfire, but none of us can deal with emotional women, and isn’t that just the story of most men’s lives?
Ace is staring, his eyes bugging. Ghost looks like he’s ready to jump into the fray the moment something physical breaks out. Saul just looks like he’s searching for an escape route, his eyes constantly shifting to the side door.
“I never want to see you again,” Vani throws at her friend.
Camile bursts into tears and turns and runs from the clubhouse.
I watch her go, feeling completely helpless.
After all, I'm the reason for those tears.
And I can't deny it. There is something between us—Vani is completely right—and it's literally tearing me in two.
I can't stand to see Camile cry. That girl is breaking my fucking heart, and I don't know what to do about it.
Whichever way I turn, someone is going to lose.
"Go after Camile," I snap at Ace.
"What?" he says.
"Go after her," I repeat. "Stop her from fucking crying."
"How am I supposed to do that, Prez?" he asks, clearly feeling as helpless as I do.
My frustration builds. "I don't know, and I don't care. Make her feel better. Do whatever it takes."
He throws me a salute and goes after Camile.
I turn to my daughter and very calmly state, “You were cruel today, Vani, and I didn’t raise you to be cruel. She’s lost her father and her home and has no idea what the future holds for her.”
Vani’s face drops, and I can see those calm words have hit her way harder than me shouting or laying down the law would.
“It hurts to see you move on from mom,” she says, and then she bursts into sobs, too.
Fuck my life. I’ve really screwed this up.