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King looked at Jack who left the room again. He stood from his position at my feet, running his hand over my hair, and walked back around the table.

A moment later, Amber was next to me. I locked my gaze with hers. “Can you watch her?”

“Of course. Do you want me to take her up to your room?”

“Please,” I begged.

“Come on, sweetheart.” Amber lifted her tiny body onto her lap and I kissed Dani’s cheek.

“Mama will be back soon. You have fun with Amber.”

Dani looked at me, and I tried my best to give her a reassuring smile. When she looked up at Amber and smiled, I knew she would be ok. The two of them left the room just as Gunner returned.

“What the fuck is going on?” he asked.

“You will sit and keep your fucking mouth shut while Mellie tells us what is going on. As far as she is concerned, you are not related right now. Sit in your fucking chair,” King ordered when Gunner tried to sit next to me.

“King—”

“Park your ass.” King pointed to the chair between him and Jack. Gunner hesitated before finally moving away from me. The breath I held, waiting to see what Gunner would do, slowly slipped between my lips in relief at his obedience.

I knew I would have to talk with him eventually but right now, everything was just too raw. Too close to the surface. I was never very good at keeping my emotions tucked away like Haizley could. Unless I was at work. During a session, it was like I was a different person altogether.

“Mellie, please start from the beginning.”

Leaning forward and placing my hands on the table, I clasped them together, giving myself something to hold on to. Dani had been my shield, but King was right. She shouldn’t be in here for this. She would feel my fear and apprehension, and she had suffered enough.

“When I lost communication with Dante, I decided to disappear with Dani. A doctor I knew had been in contact about buying my practice. I built my practice from the ground up, and I am good at what I do. But with Dani, and the circumstances surrounding her, I wouldn’t be able to continue practicing. I couldn’t take a chance leaving her with a babysitter. I knew disappearing with her meant living under a new name. So, I contacted the doctor and made the decision to sell.”

I sat back and looked around the table. When my eyes landed on Gunner, I knew he was struggling not being able to ask me questions. The anger and confusion on his face didn’t scare me. He was my brother, and despite what I said to King, I knew deep down he loved me. He just had a fucked-up way of showing it.

“A few days before I planned to leave, I received the first note. Then two days later, a second note. Both jammed into my mailbox at the office—”

“What did they say?” Gunner asked, his voice filled with emotion.

Something about my brother—he had a nasty temper. Especially when it came to my safety. You would think that would make me feel better about him walking away from me.

It didn’t.

I knew he was trying to keep his temper in check, and I knew he was failing. It was why I didn’t want him in here. That and I wasn’t ready to talk about us.

“The first one said,‘I love her’and the second said‘I miss her’. At first, I thought maybe they were from Dante. That he couldn’t call me but wanted to ease my concerns.”

“Until...” Blade pressed.

“The last day, before we left, I had gone to the office to grab a few things I had forgotten. Dani and I were leaving the next morning, and I had left one of her favorite toys. I checked the mailbox one last time, but there was nothing there. I thought we were in the clear, even convinced myself they were a mistake. Put in the wrong mailbox. But when I stepped off the elevator, there was a note on my door that said, ‘I know the truth,’ and when I opened my locked office door, I saw that someone had trashed the place. Everything was in ruins. Pillows slashed open, the bookshelves flipped over. Papers from the file cabinets were thrown everywhere.”

“What did the police say?” Jingles asked.

“I didn’t call them.”

“Why?” Colt asked.

I looked over at the man sitting at the large carved table in the church at the MC clubhouse. He was handsome like the rest. Only there was something about him. Something dark behind his eyes. The tone of his question was neutral, but the tension in his body spoke of something I didn’t want to put into words. I had to keep reminding myself that Dante trusted these men.

“Because this was about Dani. And the MC doesn’t involve the police. So, I erased the camera footage and Dani and I went home, packed the car and left.”

“What about all your patient files? If someone went through them, they needed to be told,” Colt said.