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I had ordered her some outdoor toys online and had them delivered, but she would rather spend her time moving about nature. I wouldn’t complain. I loved the way she expressed herself and explored what made her little heart happy.

Bugs had become an instant fascination. Whenever she found one, she would lie in the grass and watch it until it got away. One day, she found a baby snake. She picked up the wiggly little creature and tried to eat it.

I blamed myself since we’d had spaghetti the night before and I taught her how to suck a piece up through her lips. We had fun making a mess with the sauce and then she had a bath.

That was another milestone. Dani loved taking baths now. The water table at the office had given her a safe place to explore water, and I couldn’t help but wonder where her fear had started.

Seeing her now as she splashed in the tub, you would never know she had once been terrified of the clear liquid we took for granted. Danny would no longer have to hold her in the shower while Dante washed her through her screams.

As evening fell, Dani and I went inside and made dinner. She had her bath after dinner, and we snuggled on the couch to watch a movie together. Dani lovedMoanaandThe Princess and the Frog. We ate cookies while we cuddled in front of the television and Dani drifted off to sleep.

All that sunshine had wiped her out.

Picking her up, I tucked her into her crib and so began our nightly ritual. Only tonight was different. I sat on the couch with the baby monitor as the time passed by slowly and quietly.

When I heard Dani stir, I said to myself,fuck it.Tonight, we weren’t waiting for the third strike. We weren’t even waiting for the second strike. I crept quietly into her room. I always stayed quiet, waiting to see if she would settle on her own. If she soothed herself, I wouldn’t give in to my own need to snuggle her close.

She was a comfort to me as much as I was security to her. But when I stood by her crib and she sat up and peered at me with her big brown eyes, I caved and gathered her into my arms.

Bypassing the rocking chair, I carried her into my room, and we burrowed under the blankets. My nose buried into her hair as I inhaled her baby scent and sighed. I didn’t know how I would ever give her up.

But maybe I wouldn’t have to.

Maybe whatever Danny and Dante were off doing would prevent them from coming back to their little girl. It wasn’t something I wanted. Dani deserved to live with and be loved by her dads. She deserved to have the whole world laid before her.

Unfortunately tonight, when nine p.m. rolled around and my phone stayed silent again, I had to acknowledge the possibility.

It had been three days since I received a text letting me know they were still alive.

No unknown numbers reaching out to assure me they were doing their best to come back for her.

No enquiries about her well-being. No concern about her safety and security. I knew it wasn’t a lack of caring or love on their part. I knew it for what it was.

Something had happened to them both.

And now I had a decision to make.

Chapter Seventeen

Ghost

February 3, 2025, Diamond Creek, Nebraska.

Life at the clubhouse was fucking crazy right now. Freeway was pissing everyone off. Bane sat at the bar all night drinking. Cash and Ryder could barely be in the same room together. King was pissed at Gunner. And Gunner was stalking his shrink.

Meanwhile, Jingles and I were looking for Warren Kelley, but the fucker kept slipping through our fingers. The shady motherfucker was up to something. The motel sat outside of town, but well within the limits of Diamond Creek.

Megan hadn’t called, but Jingles stopped by and charmed her into confessing that she had seen bikers driving around the building. They weren’t us.

In addition to that, a few nights ago, another woman in town had been drugged. This one had been raped in the bathroom of the bar.

I couldn’t keep my thoughts from traveling back to the night I met Lyssa. I had led her to the bathroom of that seedy bar outside Oklahoma City without a second thought.

My only fucking thought was about sinking my dick into her pussy and busting a nut inside her. And while she had been more than fucking willing, after what Aspen Winters had been through, I felt like shit.

I didn’t know anything about Lyssa except her first name and the way her cunt felt wrapped around my dick. For all I knew, she could have been leading me on to follow her to a hotel and steal my shit.

I didn’t really believe that. The way she moved with grace. The smile on her face as she laughed with her friends. Watching her eyes deepen from whiskey to chocolate told me how much she wanted me.