Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Zion
Her chest rises and falls with each breath on Bear’s black cotton sheets.
My daughter is back with me. Safe. Protected.
I’ll never let her out of my sight again.
I’m sure she’s confused, wondering why she’s here, but she knows me.
I’m not a stranger to her. That’s something, at least. Will she understand when I tell her I’m her father?
When should I do that? Will she be happy here?
Fuck. There’s so much that she needs to know.
I never wanted to put her through all of this.
If I could take her pain and confusion away, I would.
No matter what I do, I’m hurting her in some way.
Damaging her. She stayed with her mother in Daringville to have a shot at a better life, and look what happened.
Her mother is gone forever, leaving her with a monster.
Now that she’s back with me, I can repair the damage, filling her life with only good memories. Love and protection. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.
Her blue eyes blink open. She looks around the room, frowning, before her gaze meets mine. Her face relaxes, and she smiles.
“Zee,” she sighs out, and I can’t help but smile at my little angel.
“Where’s Mommy?” she asks, and my heart breaks for her.
I wrap my arm around her, and she snuggles into my chest.
“Mommy has gone, and as much as I want to bring her back for you, I can’t,” I say, fighting back the tears. She was my first love. What we had was everything, and I gave it all up so that our little girl could have the life Lauren dreamed of.
“Where is she? Can we go get her?” She looks up at me with her doe eyes.
I cup her little face. “I wish I could, darling girl, but she’s in heaven,” I say, not sure if she even knows about heaven yet.
“That’s not fair,” she cries, and I pull her into my chest, a tear running down my cheek. I’ll do whatever I can to take this pain away from her. To protect her from ever feeling this again.
“I know, Cleo. I’d do anything to bring her back, but just know Mommy will always be looking over you, and I’m here to protect you now.”
Cleo nods. “You were always my favorite friend, Zee,” she says, and my heart beats harder.
She’s my everything, and I’ll protect her forever. It’s my full-time job now, and I won’t let anything come between us.
Cleo falls asleep, and we lie like that for an hour, her soft snores filling the room. When she wakes again, she sits up, rubbing her eyes. “Can we go play?” she asks, and I smile.
“Grab your dolls, and we’ll go find the others,” I say, and Cleo rolls off the bed, running to her little bag.
I need to get her more clothes and things from the charity store to make her feel comfortable.
We’re only staying at Bear’s until the dust settles.
Until I’ve got enough money to buy a bigger home for us.
My trailer isn’t good enough for her. I want her to have everything.
Right now, it’s safer to be together. I just need to keep her away from Bear’s creepy rooms. They’ll give her nightmares.
We head into the living room, where Bear is laid out on the couch, one hand down his pants and the other wrapped around his phone.
I pick up one of the pillows and throw it at him. He curses before noticing Cleo behind me. He sits up and waves. “Hey there, kiddo. Whatcha got there?” he asks, pointing at Cleo’s dolls.
Cleo stays hidden behind my legs, peering around at Bear with a curious look in her eyes.
I don’t blame her for being shy.
Bear, with his bleached-blond hair, bright-green eyes, and colorful, mismatched tattoos, does look scary. And he is. But deep down, he is a big cuddly bear to those he loves. Those who understand his crazy ass.
He and Kai are the only people I’d trust around my daughter—and Natalie. She looked after her when I couldn’t. Lauren trusted her, and so do I.
Bear shuffles off the couch and onto the floor. “Wanna play?” he asks quietly, and Cleo hesitantly moves around me and sits down in front of him, passing him one of her dolls. One with bright-red hair that’s all over the place.
“This is tomato,” she says, and Bear laughs.
“Because of her red hair?”
Cleo nods, smiling.
The door to the outside opens and shuts. Kai walks in carrying a six-pack of beer. He passes me one, and I take it, sitting back on the couch. After offering Bear one, which he refuses, Kai places the rest in the fridge.
As Bear and Cleo start playing together, Kai sits down next to me.
“Good?” I ask, and he nods.
“Nothing’s happening yet, but it won’t be long. The clock is ticking. We need to figure out our next move,” Kai says, then takes a sip of his beer.
I knew this was coming. The whole what’s next.
We need to make a move. All I want to do is be with my daughter, but that’s na?ve of me.
War is knocking on our door, and we need to put an end to this.
To make a claim and have more than what we’ve got here in the Hood.
Create redemption for what they’ve done to us. Who they’ve taken from us.
“What are we going to do with Amirah?” I ask. Now that I have my daughter back, there isn’t really a reason to keep her here. Apart from all of us having fallen for her.
What happened yesterday, in that bedroom, I don’t even know how I feel about it. There’s something between us. There’s no denying that. Plus, she didn’t flee when she had the chance. She stayed to protect my daughter, and that’s everything to me.
“We need to hit them where it hurts. Do something big,” Bear says, completely ignoring the Amirah question.
“But without weapons and ammo, we still can’t do much,” I say.
Kai leans forward, bracing his hands on his knees. “I’ve got an idea,” he muses, a smile playing on his lips.
“Spill it out, sweet cheeks,” Bear says. He continues playing with Cleo, and it’s funny watching him with her, the way his whole body relaxes. He’s enjoying this.
“What’s the biggest place that The Brotherhood uses for importing?” Kai asks, and the corner of my mouth rises.
“Docks,” I say, and Bear freezes, doll midway through the air.
“Take over or blow it up?” he asks.
“We bring The Brotherhood there and set up a meeting with them. Demand they let us control the docks. We haven’t got enough weapons to overthrow them yet, but this will give us an upper hand. Access to the supplies we need,” Kai says, and I frown.
“What makes you think they’ll hand that over just because we asked? Or that they’ll even meet us there in the first place?” I ask.
Kai leans back on the couch, running his fingers along his jaw. “Because we’ve got the perfect pawn.”
The door on the other side of the room swings open, banging on the wall, and in storms Amirah with an angry scowl on her face.
“Is that all I am to you? A pawn?”