Chapter 16
RAELYNN
Tears poured down her face as she looked at Daddy and everyone else in the room.
“I had to leave her behind because I didn’t have time to get her.
I didn’t have time to get anything important to me because my escape wasn’t planned,” she explained.
“I just saw an opportunity and didn’t think about anything else.
I couldn’t think about anything else because I could have been caught. I could have died.”
She pulled out of Daddy’s grip and crawled out of his lap. He had given her Rosie, and she had to leave her behind in that horrible house.
“I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t mean to, but I was so worried that if I tried to go up the stairs and get her before he came back, that I wouldn’t be able to.
” Raelynn’s breathing picked up as she took several steps back, her eyes wide as she went from looking at Daddy to the other two and back to Daddy, never focusing on one person too long.
“I shouldn’t have left her by herself. I should have gone and gotten her so she wasn’t all alone there.
Oh, to think of what he is doing to her or has already done to her. ”
“Little Fairy,” Daddy gently said as he stood up.
“I know you gave her to me all those years ago, and I promise I took care of her. I hid her so many times so he wouldn’t do anything to her, but I left her there, all by herself.
She was there to keep me company when I was in the closet for days.
She was there with me when my stomach was grumbling and twisting in pain,” Rae rambled.
“She was always there with me, and I just left her. Oh my goodness. I just left her there.”
Arms wrapped around Rae and held her tightly against a solid wall. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay. I’m not mad that you left her there. I’m glad you got out safely.”
“Your Daddy’s right. You needed to protect yourself first. Sometimes that means deciding not to go back for something,” Reaper said. “You did nothing wrong.”
“But I didn’t even think about her,” she whispered. “I saw the opportunity and took it. I didn’t grab anything.”
“That was your instincts telling you to run,” Levi pointed out. “Everyone has those. It’s what kept you alive. I know for a fact that everyone at the club is glad you took that opportunity and got out of there.”
“I know it’s hard to think about her being there, and I promise we’ll get her back one day,” Daddy gently said.
“Will we really?” she asked. “When he finds Rosie, then he, for sure, will do something to her.”
It wasn’t a matter of if but when. That was how most of her things had been destroyed. Edmund liked to take anything of hers and destroy it, especially if it came from Butch. He loathed him, especially because of how special he was to her.
Rae had tried several times not to show how much she cared for Butch, but he knew exactly what to do and how to get a reaction out of her.
Edmund had kept several of the things she had gotten from him over the years they were together.
Whenever she did something particularly naughty, he would take them out and destroy them in front of her, leaving no possibility to fix it.
“If he does something to Rosie, I’ll get you a new one. I’ll get you all the stuffies you want in the world,” Daddy said.
“And I have no doubt that people at the clubhouse, when they find out about Rosie, they’ll get you new ones, too, so that you’re never alone,” Reaper said.
“I got one at the clubhouse that I meant to give to you before you had surgery, so you had a friend to wake up to, but your Daddy was pretty overprotective about who you saw,” Levi said, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry that I forgot to bring it today.
I was excited to see you after your surgery. It completely slipped my mind.”
“It’s okay,” Rae whispered. “But you guys don’t have to get me anything. I should be content with Niko.”
Levi gripped his chest and groaned. Raelynn pushed away from Daddy and turned toward Levi, worry coursing through her body.
“Are you okay?” she asked, rushing toward him. “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt? Is your arm also numb? I think we need to go to the hospital, Daddy!”
Levi cracked a smile and let his arm go limp. “My heart hurts.”
“Hurts!” she yelled. “Oh my goodness. Your heart hurts, which means something is wrong, and we need to get you checked out before something bad happens. Daddy! Get the car ready!”
“You would go to a noisy hospital for me?” Levi asked.
“Levi! Stop talking. Reaper, help me get him off the couch and to the car,” she demanded.
No one moved, and Rae growled.
“Why aren’t any of you moving? Why are you not helping me get Levi to the car so we can get him to the hospital?” she asked as she looked around.
“Why don’t you take a peek at Levi again and tell me what he looks like?” Daddy suggested.
“Daddy, we don’t have time for this. He said his heart was hurting!” she whined.
“Ask him why his heart was hurting,” Reaper said.
Taking a deep breath, she glared at Daddy and Reaper before turning to Levi, who was relaxed against the couch, looking at her.
“Le-Levi?” she hesitantly asked.
He smiled at her.
“But you were hurt,” she whispered.
“I wasn’t actually hurt. Well, I was, but nothing serious that we need to go to the hospital for,” he explained. “Why don’t you ask me?”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and she looked away from him. How could he pull something like this when she was worried about him?
“I’m sorry, Little Miss. I didn’t mean to make you cry.
I just wanted to tease you a little. My heart hurt because you said you didn’t want any other stuffies and I already have one at the clubhouse, waiting to be in your arms. She can’t wait.
I know she will be sad when she hears that you don’t want her any longer, and it hurts my feelings,” he said.
“I got really sad, and my heart hurt because of it. It wanted to show you that you really need the stuffie. You should get several others, too.”
“Meanie.” She glared at him.
“That’s no way to look at Uncle Levi,” he said. “I was just teasing you. There is no harm in that.”
“There is harm in that.” She raised her voice. “I was genuinely worried that something happened to you, Uncle Levi!”
Uncle Levi pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to her. “I’m sorry for making you really worried. Will you forgive me?”
She eyes the candy in his hand and then up to him.
“You won’t do it again?” she asked.
He scratched the back of his head with his free hand. “Well, I can’t promise that, but I promise that it won’t be anything like a heart attack again. Those are serious, and you showed me what I did wasn’t good.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I forgive you. But you need to give me another piece of candy. And the next time I see you, I want the stuffie.”
Levi threw his head back and laughed. “You are going to have an interesting time with her,” Levi said as he looked over at Daddy. “You’ll have to keep a close eye on her. She could bargain her way to becoming president of the MC if you’re not careful.”
“Deccan would never let that happen,” Reaper said.
“No, he wouldn’t intentionally, but I think Raelynn here could possibly do it. She has a way of making you forget about everything and saying yes to all her demands,” Levi points out.
“You didn’t agree yet,” she replied. “I haven’t taken the candy yet, either.”
Levi gave her a pointed look. “Like I would be able to say no to you. Not possible with how cute you are, Little Miss.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Why do you call me that?”
Daddy pulled her into his lap again and held her close.
“I didn’t know your name several years ago when your Daddy was talking about you.
He described you as this person who was defenseless without him, so I started calling you Little Miss.
Then he told me that you were his Little when you guys were in high school, and the name just fit more than before,” Levi explained.
Raelynn played with her hands as she looked down. “And you guys don’t care?”
She sucked in a breath as she waited for them to answer. It always made people uncomfortable when they found out that she was a Little, but also…
“What do we not care about?” Reaper asked.
She shook her head and relaxed into Daddy’s embrace.
“I think I know what this is about, and no, we don’t care that you guys are legally stepsiblings. You don’t share anything but that your parents got married to each other,” Reaper said. “Some people might be disgusted, but no one in the Springfield Sinners will judge you.”
“And anyone who does judge you will have to go through us. You guys are in love, and it’s not wrong,” Levi pointed out.
“See, Little Fairy. I told you that you had nothing to worry about,” Daddy gently said.
“But not everyone is like you guys,” she commented. “There are a lot of people who won’t think that what we have going on is okay.”
“No one knows you are stepsiblings, besides the club and anyone else you tell,” Reaper said. “All they are going to think is that you are two people in love and nothing else.”
“Exactly. You aren’t from here, and I know for a fact that Butch doesn’t talk to a lot of people, so you don’t have to worry about anything,” Levi said.
“Be thankful you’re not this guy.” Reaper gestured at Levi.
“Don’t you even dare.” Levi glared at him.
“Why wouldn’t I want to be him?” she asked.
“Levi is in love with his best friend’s younger sister,” Daddy said. “Poor man can’t seem to do anything with her since his best friend would have his balls. He’s just sitting there and watching from the sidelines.”
“Does she like him?” Raelynn asked.
“Oh, she does. They both like each other, but neither of them will act on anything,” Reaper explained. “I thought something was going to happen when she shot the guy in the arm at the coffee shop, but he just took care of her for a little bit. Once she was better, he sent her home.”
Her eyes grew wide as she looked over at Levi. “Why don’t you just start dating her?”
Rae had no room to talk or ask about anything since she was new here and didn’t know everything, but she wanted to know. If he thought that she and Daddy could be together despite them being stepsiblings, then he could be with this girl.
“Because it’s an unspoken rule that you don’t date your best friend’s younger sister,” he said.
“Fuck unspoken rules,” she blurted out.