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Dagger

T here she was. Sinclair Bronson. The name sounded like it belonged to some snooty chick with blue blood pumping through her veins, though she didn’t look like she rubbed elbows with the rich and incestuous.

No, the subject of this particular recon mission looked deceptively non-threatening.

Instead of skintight bodysuits and stiletto heels sharp enough to pull out a man’s eyeball, she wore a long-sleeve floral tunic that was thin and airy, perfect for the desert heat.

Her legs were completely covered with denim that showed off thick thighs, shapely calves, and when she turned—fuck me—a perfectly round ass.

I watched her as she flashed a friendly smile to children and adults alike.

Waving to excited little boys with flushed red cheeks and khaki-wearing fathers who stared a little too long.

Through it all, she appeared to be oblivious, or maybe just unaffected.

Surely a woman so beautiful was used to being the blatant object of men’s lust?

From where I stood watching, I couldn’t determine the color of her eyes, only that they radiated the kind of warmth that had a coldhearted bastard like me leaning closer.

Her thick hair was sable brown and wavy with honey strands that caught the afternoon sun perfectly.

She shouldn’t appeal to me. I should find her boring as fuck with her Mary Sue vibes, but my cock tried to make me forget we were in public, tried to make me act out.

If I listened to him, I’d march right up to the brunette beauty and take a handful of hair, yanking it back just enough to hear a soft moan leave her plump lips before I claimed her as mine.

But at thirty-five, I was no longer young and reckless. I still had no problem taking what I wanted when I wanted it, but this wasn’t the time or the place. Recon didn’t work if you showed yourself too early. I needed more information. More details.

All I knew about Sinclair Bronson was that she was alone.

She moved to Steel City by herself several months ago.

Her credit and criminal histories showed no red flags.

She had no visible tats, which was a shame for a man like me who was covered in tattoos and spent his days inking beautiful, clean canvases.

She also had no dodgy connections, no criminal associates.

Nothing that would make her a danger to my daughter, who skipped away from the woman with a wide smile on her face. She continued skipping past car after car at lightning speed, only slowing when she realized it was me waiting for her instead of the nanny.

“Dad,” she said in a voice far too cautious for a nine-year-old. “Where’s Callie? Is something wrong?” The light faded from her honey brown eyes and worry took its place.

That look in her eyes was like a punch straight to the nuts.

My own damn daughter, my little girl, was standoffish with me and even though it was my own damn fault, it never stopped hurting.

She’s been with me since she was just a few months old, when it became clear that a baby was more than her mother could handle, and like the asshole I was, I kept my distance, passing her off to babysitters, nannies, and club whores, all in the name of protecting myself.

We’ve lived together for nine years, but we were strangers all because of one of my father’s life lessons that I never forgot.

Love is a weakness, Mo. It can be used against you and when it is, it’ll be your downfall boy. Don’t ever forget that shit.

It was a lesson I never forgot. Not when I was an angry at the world eighteen-year-old and became a prospect for the Steel Demons Motorcycle Club, not when my heart tried to feel something more than lust for a woman. I kept my relationships short and physical, never letting anyone get too close.

Until Dani’s mom.

Not that I loved Mel, I didn’t but when I found out she was pregnant I cared for her and kept her safe, at least I tried. I couldn’t save her, but I saved our little girl and even though I loved her more than I loved anything in this whole fucking world, I didn’t show it.

Not to her.

Not to anyone.

I kept it inside, just for me. It was what motivated me. She was why I’d stepped back as MC enforcer and leaned into my job as a tattoo artist. It was why I did everything, but only I knew it.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Dani asked again, her voice was shaky, but no tears threatened to fall because she was her father’s daughter in every way.

“Nothing,” I sighed. “Callie’s fine. I just wanted to see how your first day of school was.”

Her brows dipped in confusion, which I understood. I left most of her care to her nanny Callie and the housekeeper Charlie in an effort to give her everything she needed without getting too close. “You did? Why?” she asked, her voice filled more with accusation than curiosity.

There it was again, that kick to the nuts. I knew I was doing the right thing, but I hated that it stung so fucking much. “Because I got a message that said Mrs. Berger retired and I wanted to check on her replacement.”

She perked up at that. “Miss Bronson? She’s so cool,” she enthused and pointed to the woman I’d been watching for days. “There she is, do you want to say hi?”

More than anything. “Not yet.” I’d only meant to check her out, to make sure there was nothing in her life that could harm Dani, but over the past week she’d become my obsession. “So you like her?”

Dani nodded and hopped into the passenger seat of the sedan I only drove when she was with me, strapping in without having to be told.

“She is so pretty,” she offered, forgetting to keep her distance.

“Her hair is like caramel and she’s so nice too.

She asked me about my book and said I must be really smart if I read for fun.

” Dani sighed and leaned against the leather seat.

“And her voice is so warm. I don’t feel weird around her, I feel calm. ”

Ah, shit. More and more lately Dani mentioned feeling weird and it always left me on edge.

Was she starting to feel the same mental demons that haunted Mel or was this just the anxiety of a nine-year-old girl?

I didn’t know but the idea that she might end up like her mother left me in a constant state of panic, and the idea of losing her only strengthened my resolve to keep a healthy distance between us. “Weird?”

She nodded and then shrugged before looking away, which was her way of ending the conversation. Long minutes passed which seemed even longer at the stoplights between the elementary school and the clubhouse.

“What’s going on, Dad?” Her little fingers fidgeted in her lap, another sign that she wasn’t like other little girls.

“Nothing is going on Dani, I promise. I told you, I wanted to check out Miss Bronson. Callie has the day off so it’s just you and me today, kid.”

“Okay,” she answered in a voice so small I barely heard her. “Where are we going?”

“I need to stop at the clubhouse for a bit and talk to Diesel.”

Her gaze swung to mine. “Is Chopper there?” All the kids loved the club dog even though he farted like a sixty-year-old with lactose intolerance.

“Yeah, Chopper is almost always there.”

“Last time he was at Leo’s place,” she said sadly. Dani was one of the oldest kids in the MC and though she was happy to no longer be the only kid, she found it difficult to connect with them. “I hope he’s here,” she said softly before she got lost in the book she always kept in her backpack.

***

“We’re here,” I said after another twenty minutes on the road.

Dani looked up at the familiar brick building and closed her book with a heavy sigh. She shoved it into her backpack, swung it over one shoulder, and exited the car. “Okay.”

I opened the door and Dani stepped into the clubhouse first, scanning the area for the bulldog that wasn’t there.

I watched her shoulders fall in disappointment before she caught herself, then she found a chair in the corner that gave her a view of the entire bar, pulled out her book, and shut out the rest of the world.

I wanted to say something that might reassure her, but I couldn’t.

Hell, I didn’t know what to say to make anything better, so I didn’t even try.

I went in search of my brothers. The office was, for once, empty so I retraced my steps through the bar and went out back where I found Slate, Rocky, and Maverick. “Diesel around?”

Rocky shook his head. “Nope. Some appointment for Leo. He’ll be back later, what’s up?”

We all had our roles in the MC and even though I was patched, I wasn’t an officer.

My role was to be there but more than that, I ran Steel City Ink.

I had done since Dani’s mom was found face down in a ditch on the way out of Vegas.

It allowed me to do something I was damn good at, stay in the MC and keep my daughter safe.

“I’m not sure that something is up but something is going on that we all need to be aware of. ”

Maverick snorted. “That’s about as clear as dog shit. What is it?”

I ran a hand through my shoulder-length hair and blew out a breath. Steel City Ink was my baby, but the club was my life. “Some of the remaining Blood Fangs have been in the shop getting new ink.”

“It is a tattoo shop,” Slate offered sarcastically.

“Right, which is what I thought at first too. But they’re all getting the same damn sign and I’m not sure, but I think it’s a new MC or gang.” I pulled out my phone and showed them the tatts. “Does it look familiar?”

“Nope.” Slate snatched the phone and tapped the screen a few times. “I’ll look into it and get back to you.”

“Thanks.”

I headed back inside and found Peyton, Laura, and Harper surrounding Dani, who was smiling under all that female attention. She needed a mother figure, more than Callie and Charlie, I knew that, but dammit if I had the time or the inclination to get serious with a woman. “Dani,” I called out.

She looked up and her smile slowly died as wariness clouded her eyes. “Yeah?”

“Hungry?”

She nodded.

“Let’s grab some food. You pick the restaurant.”

“Me?” The surprise in her voice told me that keeping my distance from my own damn kid might not be the best course of action.

“Yeah, you. Come on.”

Her smile came slowly, slightly hesitant as she stowed her book in the backpack and closed the physical distance between us. “Can we go to Kung Pao Tacos?”

Sounded horrible as fuck but I smiled. “Hell, yeah.”

I needed to do better. I was all Dani had, and she was all I had.