Chapter 5
EVERLY
This is not how I imagined me telling Phantom about his little girl.
Phantom considers me through narrowed eyes. It’s hard to read him as I see the mental shield snap into place over his emotions.
The man has trust issues as deep as the Grand Canyon and I just dug in another trench. Not only did I abandon him after he popped the question, now he knows why. Or at least he thinks he does.
“Phantom,” I start and pause. How do I tell the man he has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter I had no plans of telling him about until she was old enough to protect herself?
Shit.
Phantom steps back and lets me down. The second my feet hit the floor I push past him and pluck my toddler off the floor.
“Yes, baby. Mommy is here. You should leave, Phantom. It’s better if you leave and let the past die.”
The second the words are out, I regret them because when I look over my shoulder at him, the level of misery painted on his handsome face kills me.
I feel like I’ve killed him time and time again. He should put me out of my misery already.
There are some days I wish I’d stayed in bed. Today is one of them.
But no. I had to save the world single-handedly.
I inhale deeply and let it out until there’s nothing left.
Keeping his back to me, Phantom speaks in a soft tone that feels as powerful as a sledgehammer to my heart.
“Why are you here, Everly? After all this time, you pick now to show up?”
I wrap my baby girl in her coat and prepare for our exit despite my heart pleading for me to slow down. “You know why. My father. Someone has to stop him. It’s been me and my brother for so long. There’s no one else to trust.”
Phantom slowly turns. “You had me. You still do. I’m standing right here. What will it take for you to see you are not alone? You’re as–”
His eyes fall on Kaylee and his candid words fade into a hard exhale.
His expression morphs from one of confusion and anger to raw surprise.
Come to think of it, I don't think I’ve ever seen that look on his face.
Mr. Control here prides himself on knowing everything about everyone.
At least he did. I finally caught him off guard.
Make that twice now, given he never saw me leaving him the way I did.
I could walk out the door right now. He doesn’t even need to know Kaylee is his.
He would think I married someone else and I would never put him or my baby girl in danger again.
My father would never know I hooked up with his enemy and he would never think to hurt him by hurting my daughter.
He’s the kind of animal who would do just that.
It could work.
“When were you going to tell me I have a daughter, Everly?”
Phantom closes the gap between us and takes a silky piece of Kaylee’s charcoal hair between his fingers. As I look on, he takes in her large gray eyes and the cute little dip in her chin.
“What is my daughter’s name, Everly?”
He holds his voice low and even. I don’t know why. Kaylee is not scared of the large biker man. She seems completely mesmerized by the colorful tattoos on his hands and throat.
She bounces in my arms and holds her hands out for Phantom to take her. Just like her father, she makes friends easily and seems to know who she can trust better than I can ever tell.
Phantom’s hands go around her tiny frame, and he holds her to him.
Instant. Freaking. Tears.
Regret and heartache swirl in the pit of my stomach. This is all I ever wanted. A family that showed love instead of hatred. A family who healed wounds instead of causing them.
My heart melts into a puddle of goo in the middle of Chloe’s living room watching them connect for the first time. Tears burn the back of my eyes and I fight with all that I have not to cry, but a couple of the bastards slip out to fall down my cheeks.
I clear my throat. “Umm, Kaylee,” I answer.
He inhales sharply. “After my sister?”
I lift a single shoulder. I don’t want to break down into a weeping mess right now, but the onslaught of emotions is getting thick and I don't know how strong I can be much longer.
“Yeah. I wanted to keep her memory alive. I know what it’s like losing a sibling.”
“I heard about Shawn. I’m sorry.”
Phantom should be raging mad at me and threatening to take my head off for the secret I kept from him. Not stroking the backs of his knuckles over the swell of my cheek and kissing the top of my head while holding our daughter.
I lean back and our gazes connect. The shield he threw up a moment ago has totally crumbled to dust as he holds our girl like he’s an old pro at being a dad.
He’s being as open as he can and here I am looking for every exit. That’s what growing up with a murderous, psychotic narcissist does to your brain.
I am not good at letting people into my tiny bubble. It’s one of my many shortcomings, as anyone can see. I’ve been hurt too deeply and way too often for my twenty-six years on this planet. It’s hard to trust, even with the people who love me.
I swallow the fear always lodged in my throat and open up with something I’ve never shared with anyone. “When the pain of losing Shawn took over, it was hard not reaching out for you and to seek your warm arms again. I wanted to come to you, but please understand that I couldn’t.”
He waits for me to push on. When I don’t, he pulls me into him and starts for the door. “We can talk more when we are safely behind Savage protection. We are too exposed out here.”
Chloe enters the living room right when we get to the front door. “Finally. I knew it wouldn’t take long,” she says in a way that has me looking between both of them. I watch as my old friend and baby daddy exchange a look of recognition that has me curious.
“You two know each other?”
Chloe's massive amounts of gray curls bounce as she nods. Before answering, she shuffles over to the kitchen table pushed up against the far wall in the open styled living room and sits. That is the first cue as to an incoming long story that I don’t have time for right now.
“Umm, Chloe. Uh, can we get the abridged version of what you are about to share. None of us should be here right now.”
Aged eyes find mine. “You need patience, child. And I already told ya. I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
“You’re not wrong about the patience, but I can work on my shortcomings after people with guns stop hunting me and my child.”
That makes Chloe harrumph and Phantom snort.
“Your biker boy here can’t stay away. The first week you left he was here every day begging me to tell him where you ran off to. He was convinced he could win you back. That he could be anything you needed him to be.”
“Way to out a man, Chloe. Damn.”
My dear friend offers a blushing Phantom a warm smile.
“Love is love, young man. Nothing to be ashamed about.”
Phantom switches Kaylee to his other arm, and he slides his free hand into mine. Looking at me with all the love in the world in those gray eyes, he whispers, “It’s true. I tossed every corner of this parish looking for you.”
He pushes every ounce of emotion I see swirling in the depths of his eyes into his carefully spoken words. Confidence in his feelings adds another layer to this whole situation. Like he does not doubt for a minute that he loved me.
“I don’t deserve that kind of love, Phantom. I don’t think I ever will.”
“Another of your shortcomings you need to work on, young lady.”
Chloe doesn’t hold back, and she’s pretty fast for being an old lady working through her eighties. She’s up and across the room to stand in front of us in a few strides. Warm hands touch both of our faces.
“You need to not let the negative in this world erode and erase what could be between you. Stop being foolish, the both of ya. Now get goin’.”
Fear stabs into my heart like a hot iron. She makes life sound so damn easy.
I keep my eyes pinned to the small patch of carpet between Chloe and me. It’s safer than looking into Phantom’s eyes right now. I do that and I will follow that man anywhere and do anything he says. I can’t let that happen. I have to go my way and he has to go his.
At least until my father is dealt with and he is no longer a threat. The amount of power he wields is beyond anything Phantom or I can fight against. The well-being of Kaylee depends on me being strong.
His phone goes off and I move to take Kaylee, but she wraps her tiny arms around Phantom as he answers his phone.
There’s a pause where whoever it is on the other end feeds him information. The look on his face is grim, making my stomach knot up with renewed fear.
“Interesting.”
Pause.
“She is? The whole family or only her?”
I bristle at his words.
Another infuriating pause, causing my mind to whirl. She who? Me? The way he’s looking at me like I’ve kicked a puppy and wrecked his favorite Harley feels like I’m on the right track.
“Understood.”
Holding my gaze, he listens for a few beats before ending the call.
I raise my brows and for a second all I can hear is the rush of my blood in my ears. “What is going on? She who?”
He looks like he wants to grill me for information, but opts out of that option as quickly as the idea hits.
He settles on something that doesn’t make me feel any better with his next words.
“Your father saw you at the old station. You’re coming with me.”
My body tenses. “No, I’m not. I’m getting out of here, yes. But I have no intention of staying in Haven. You asked about the whole family? What was that about?”
“The Vultures have a little black book full of names and yours is in it. So are your father’s and brother’s.”
I instantly recall watching one of the Savages grabbing a book from a Vulture earlier this evening.
“What’s in it?”
“All kinds of juicy details. The bad of the bad. All kinds of evidence about the dirty people working in the shadows of the Euphoria underworld.”
Aka how we take down my father.
My brain stutters hearing that information. “Mine?” Confusion threads through me. “Why would I be in any book?”
With a frustrated grumble he says, “Good question. Let’s find out.”
In one fluid motion, he tucks Kaylee into him and stretches a hand out for mine. He threads his fingers through mine and for the first time in three years I feel I am right where I need to be.
Calluses cover the pads of his fingers. His hand is larger than mine and yet he takes care not to tighten his hold to the point of pain.
Rough skin glides over my palm. I’m not an expert at relationships, obviously.
I am also on new grounds on how to feel about rekindling an old one.
But the sight of him slowly raising my hand and placing a delicate kiss over the backs of my knuckles has my mind whirling with curiosity.
“We can’t play family, Phantom.”
He frowns deeply, his brows knitting together. “You’re done running and not trusting the people around you. That ends here and now. You’re not safe out there all alone. But you are with me. And so is this little angel. Got it?”
Kaylee’s fully fallen asleep on her dad’s shoulder like she knows she is safe with him.
I look to Chloe and then to Phantom. “I don’t know how to do that.” The truth slips out when I mean to fight his words down to the last command. I want to blame it on how gentle his touch is, but the other truth of the matter is, he’s right.
“Chloe, lock up tight after we go. I’ll send some prospects your way. Don’t open for anyone.”
He walks toward the front door, holding me at his side. We don’t stop until we are outside of his SUV. It’s nearly one in the morning and my father has his men cruising around New Orleans looking for me.
He opens the passenger door and extends a hand. “The first step to learning to let others help you is getting in and letting me get you both to safety.”
I shoot a hard look at him but I also don’t fight him when he helps me into the passenger side and passes our baby girl to me.
“And?”
His gray gaze fixes on mine in the light of the overhead dome light and I know I am going to hate what he says next. “And second, if you want to see your brother, I am the only one who has the firepower to help you.”
With that he closes the door. Something tells me my fate is sealed and I better learn to accept I don’t have control over this moment in my life.
I’m starting to think I never had it to begin with.