Dayanara Chapter 2
Sitting at the table at my brother’s house, waiting for him and the others to join me, I worked to calm myself.
Walking into the bar, I’d never expected that my cousin would have any of his club brothers with him.
Lying eyes on Predator and Stalker had made me almost speechless.
I fought hard to remain on task and to project a strong front.
Usually, in situations like the Marshall case, I remained professional, cold, and methodical. However, this case hit close to the heart… way too close. That made it hard to maintain my cool. Add to it that two of the sexiest men I’d ever laid eyes on had appeared in that bar, and I was struggling.
I calculated that both men were in their early thirties, so only a few years older than me.
They were taller than my five-foot-eight.
I’d guess close to six foot two or three.
Stalker was extremely muscular. His muscles weren’t disguised by his shirt or the cut he wore.
His skin was darkly tanned. His medium brown hair was nearly shaved to the skin on the sides.
The rest ran down the center of his head.
It was short, but had that faux-mohawk appearance.
It was a tough hairstyle for men to carry off.
He was one of the rare ones who made it look good.
A closely trimmed beard and mustache couldn’t hide his strong jaw.
His dark brown eyes and strong bone structure completed his handsome face.
Predator had lighter skin and was muscular, but not as big as his friend, although he was far from diminutive.
His golden blond hair was what I called a brush-top cut, with the same shaved sides as Stalker.
His beard and mustache were medium brown rather than blond.
Chiseled features and medium blue eyes completed his look.
I’d seen many good-looking guys. Looks didn’t automatically capture my attention.
But there was something about the two of them that did.
Yes, it was their sex appeal, but it was more than that.
They had an aura of danger that instantly caught my attention.
Dangerous men were an automatic plus in my book.
But I wasn’t into the ones who thought they could boss me around, and who treated me like I was witless.
I was far from it, and I wouldn’t put up with being placed on a shelf like a stupid doll.
The sound of motorcycle engines brought me out of my contemplation.
I stood, then made a final circuit around the living room, before heading over to the kitchen table.
I sat with difficulty. Pacing helped. I took deep breaths to calm myself.
I sat with my hands resting on my lap. I made sure not to clench them or project any tension. We’d see how long it lasted.
It seemed like it took forever for the garage door to open, and in they strolled.
The sound of their boots on the hardwood floor was loud.
Their steps grew closer. When they came around the corner, I met their gazes.
Jessup was scowling. Stryder appeared resigned.
The other two were impossible to read. They wore calm, neutral masks.
“Have a seat. Can I get you guys anything from the fridge? I got beer, iced tea, and soda. Oh, and water if you prefer,” my brother offered to the guys.
My cousin asked for a soda, as did Predator. Stalker accepted the water. Jessup grabbed them and handed them over. They took them and came to the table.
“Since you asked me so nicely, I’ll take a Coke,” I chimed in.
I directed it to Jessup. He flushed, then got back in the fridge and came out with one. He was having a beer. If I weren’t driving, I would’ve asked for a whiskey. I was handed my drink, then he sat.
Before I could open it, Predator reached across the table and did it for me.
If it had been my cousin or brother who did it, I would’ve told them I could handle it myself.
The way they watched me, they expected me to tell Predator the same thing.
Instead, I gave him a head tilt and a thank you.
I wanted to laugh at the astonishment on my family members’ faces.
If asked why I let Predator do it, I couldn’t say.
His move didn’t irritate me for some reason.
“Okay, we’re here, and we’ve all got something to drink. Let’s talk. First, I’ve got to say thank you for wanting to ask your club to help, but I don’t think they need to get involved. Marshall is my problem, not theirs,” Jessup explained.
“If it involves Stryder’s family, then it is our club’s business.
We told you. You’re family by extension through Stryder.
And even if you weren’t, for someone who did what this Marshall did, we’d help even if you were strangers.
No one deserves to be violated, especially a kid.
And people can argue that at fifteen she wasn’t a kid, but they’re wrong,” Stalker stated.
“Stalker is right. We’re not going anywhere. And while we have to get the official vote from our club, we don’t see that being an issue. Our club has resources you don’t. We can find him, enact your retribution, and make sure he’s never found,” Predator said harshly.
“While that’s sweet of you, it’s not necessary. I can find the bastard, enact my own retribution, and then kill him,” I informed them.
Stalker and Predator’s eyebrows raised. They looked from me to my cousin, then to my brother. The latter two wore resigned expressions.
“Why aren’t you two saying anything about her comment?” Predator asked Stryder.
“Because it’s fucking useless to say anything. She’ll do whatever she wants. Try and stop her, and there’ll be blood. She means every word. And if you doubt she can carry through, you’re wrong,” Stryder told them.
“He’s right. That’s why I wanted to meet at the bar, to keep Daya out of this. Now that’s shot to hell, we have to go with it,” my brother grumbled.
“I’m not meaning any disrespect, but what makes you sure that she can handle this. Even if she has a way to track him, torturing and killing someone isn’t easy. You have to live with what you’ve done,” Stalker said.
I pinned him with my gaze. “You’re assuming this is the first time I will have done so. It’s not. I’ll have no problem inflicting pain on him or taking his life. He’s vermin,” I told him stoically.
“Aren’t you gonna say something? She’s your sister,” Predator directed to Jessup.
My brother shook his head before he replied. “There’s no use. And she’s not lying. She has killed before. I don’t know what she’s done as far as torture, but I wouldn’t be shocked if she has.”
“What the hell? Why would she ever have to do that?” Stalker snapped. He seemed upset at the notion.
“Guys, until a year ago, my cousin was a US Marine. She’s been involved in a lot of shit.
Some of it is top secret, so she can’t tell us the details.
But if she says she’s done those things, then she has.
Dayanara isn’t a helpless female. Think of her as a Harley, Jalisa, Brooklyn, Saylor, Sloan, and Mackenzie kind of woman,” Stryder told them.
Their expressions changed from surprise to respect. I wondered who those women were. I wanted to meet them.
“Well, goddamn, why didn’t you say so from the start? We would’ve kept our mouths shut. There’s no use trying to dissuade her. We’re lucky she hasn’t kicked our asses already for discounting her,” Predator said, grinning.
“Christ, we were taunting a tiger and didn’t even know it. Sorry,” Stalker added with a smile.
I wasn’t sure whether to believe their swift reversal.
Were they telling the truth? Or were they trying to bamboozle me into thinking they would include me, then they’d try to go off on their own behind my back?
I’d been subjected to that before. Even in the Marine Corps, some thought women shouldn’t be Marines or at least not involved in dangerous work.
Many were fine as long as we stuck to administrative-type jobs, far away from danger. I gave them a nod.
“Now that my qualifications have been reviewed, what about you guys? What makes you qualified to go after him?” I asked the four men.
I enjoyed watching the surprise register on their faces.
“What the hell does that mean?” Jessup asked.
“Just what I said. Are any of you in law enforcement or related fields? Have you served in the military in a direct combat situation? Or have you done this kind of thing as a civilian? You wanted to know if I could handle it. I’m asking you the same.”
“Daya, don’t do this. We have a real situation to address. Being snarky isn’t needed,” my brother reprimanded.
“It isn’t snarky. It’s a legitimate question.
I know you want revenge, and it’s complicated by the fact that Marshall was your best friend.
He betrayed you in two ways. But as far as I know, you have never tortured or killed anyone, Jess.
Now, as for Stryder and these two, I can’t say.
I don’t know what their club is into. I know Stryder had never done that or been in the military before joining them.
Just because you have cocks doesn’t automatically make you capable or even the right choice to do something like this.
Just like me, being a woman doesn’t automatically exclude me. ”
My tone was calm and matter-of-fact. I met every one of their stares.
My brother hated it when I pushed back. It was one of the reasons we butted heads so often.
He had been against my joining the Corps.
After my first five-year enlistment, he tried to talk me out of re-enlisting.
When I did it anyway, he was pissed at me for months.
Since I got out, he had been vocal about his dislike of my job.
He would deny it, but deep down, I truly believed he was a chauvinist. He thought a woman’s place was in the home or working mundane, office jobs. That would never be me.
“God, Daya, don’t be so crude,” my brother grumbled.