Page 34

Danny

Sitting at a table, I watched Danika play with Tabby, Ryder’s little girl, as a mangy mutt kept giving me the stink eye, and I couldn’t shake Ghost’s words. He’d only been trying to protect Melissa, but that ass-chewing he gave me about Jane Craven... he was right.

God, he was brutally, terrifyingly right.

What the hell had I been thinking? I knew better. I knew I was outmatched, a hacker behind a keyboard, not a street fighter like the rest of the club. I could handle myself, sure, but Jane Craven was a viper, and she’d played me like a fiddle. I saw it then, even as I was doing it; the slow, deliberate tightening of the noose. And the worst part? A sick, twisted part of me liked the danger, the thrill of the game, even as the cost mounted.

This cost... my memories, the stolen time with Danika... it gnawed at me.

Ghost was right about Melissa too. She’d saved Danika, coaxed her out of her shell. My little girl was blossoming, laughing, vibrant—all thanks to a woman who sacrificed everything for her. The debt was unpayable. But how could I even show my gratitude, given how much I had kept from her, how much I continued to withhold? The truth about Jane, the extent of my involvement... I owed her more than thanks, more than words.

I owed her the truth.

And yet... the thought of telling her everything, of revealing the full extent of my involvement, the lies, the betrayals—it felt like a betrayal in itself. It would shatter the fragile peace she’d built around Danika and expose them both to the same danger that haunted me. The thought of that, of their innocence crumbling, was unbearable. My promise to protect them seemed to clash violently with my desperate need for redemption.

The messed-up part? I’d do it all again. In a heartbeat. For Dante, for Danika, I’d walk through hell. But Jane Craven... she was a shadow, a constant threat and the thought of her slithering closer, closer to my family... it choked the air from my lungs.

I shook my head, trying to clear it, focusing on Danika’s laughter. But even her joy felt tainted, overshadowed by the crushing weight of my inadequacy, of my choices, of my inevitable failure. Because I knew, with a chilling certainty, that Jane Craven wasn’t done. She wouldn’t rest until she had destroyed everything I held dear. And I’d let her. I’d let her get so close, allowed myself to be played so easily.

The mangy mutt’s gaze burned into me, its silent judgment a mirror reflecting my self-loathing. I wanted to run, to escape the weight of it all, but I was paralyzed, trapped in the cage of my own making. The animal seemed to know my secrets, see the rot at my core, the cowardice hidden beneath the veneer of protection. It saw the man I was—not the hero I pretended to be for my daughter. And the knowledge was almost unbearable.

Lost in my own world, I didn’t hear or see Melissa enter through the front doors until I heard Ghost ask, “What’s wrong, Princess?”

Looking up, I could clearly see the woman was shaken. Something had happened, and for the first time since I’d met the woman, something rose deep within me as my eyes narrowed.

“I got another note.”

“Fuck, where is it?” Ghost asked as Haizley handed him a sheet of paper. Reading it, I saw his shoulders stiffen and my gut coiled with tension. Bracing myself, Ghost turned to look at me as I slowly rose from my chair.

“What?”

“We need to talk,” he simply said, which was code for shit was about to hit the fan. Reaching for his phone, he made a call before sending off a text. I assumed it was to gather the rest of the officers, having been on the receiving end of those texts before.

Looking around the room, I found Dante and Amber playing with Danika and Tabby and walked over to them. “Babe, need you to come with me. Amber, can you keep an eye on Danika?”

I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but I could clearly see Melissa’s worry etched onto her face and Ghost’s stiff shoulders as he protectively held her.

Part of me—the cold, hard part that had clawed its way to the surface during the past agonizing months—didn’t give a shit. The woman did her fucking job, and I had my daughter back. As far as that part of me was concerned, our transaction was completed.

Her debt was paid. End of story.

But another part—a sickening, gnawing part—was screaming. It was the part that remembered the terrified look in Dante’s eyes, his pleas for me to stay, the hollow ache in my chest I felt when I left. I did that. I walked away and vowed never to again.

Melissa was just a child therapist. What the hell could she possibly have gotten herself into that warranted this... this level of protection? Some kid steal her cookies? The thought felt ludicrous, a pathetically inadequate explanation for the grim faces and the palpable tension radiating from the pair.

My gut churned.

Ghost, that hulking brute, was a man who dealt in shadows; I’d seen enough of his work to know that. His presence here meant serious trouble; trouble I’d inadvertently dragged Melissa into by my desperate actions. Was this my fault?

I’d promised myself, sworn on everything I held sacred, that I’d never involve any innocent in club business again. And here I was, staring at the potential consequences of my selfish disregard for the safety of others. This wasn’t just about the safety of my family anymore. This was about the weight of my actions, the ripples of my desperation expanding outward, potentially crushing someone innocent. The thought of leaving Melissa to face whatever was coming, leaving her vulnerable because of me, felt like a knife twisted in my chest. But leaving meant risking everything I’d fought for. It meant admitting failure, admitting that my ruthless pragmatism had failed to protect the people who mattered most.

My choice was a cruel mockery: betray my principles and involve myself further, or abandon Melissa and risk living with the agonizing guilt of my inaction.

Either way, I knew I was going to lose.

And the worst part? I knew, deep down, which choice I was going to make.

“—after Dante stopped communication, Mellie started making plans for her and Dani to disappear—” And just like that, every kind of nice, protective thought I had for the woman vanished.

Who the fuck did this woman think she was? Mother Theresa? Bitch was just a child therapist. Her job was to help, not kidnap my daughter and disappear into nothing. Not that she could.

Sitting up, I snarled, glaring at the woman. “You were gonna disappear with my daughter?”

Fucking stubborn woman had the audacity to straighten her back and challenge me as she explained away her actions. Like I gave a flying fuck what she said. I got she took care of my daughter when I couldn’t. I understood she went above and beyond protecting Danika, but the woman was fucking insane if she thought I would let her anywhere near Danika again. Not after what she just fucking told the room. To hell with understanding. I was done. As soon as it was safe, I was taking my family, and we were disappearing. Because there was no way I would let that woman near my daughter again.

Dante placed a hand on my arm to stop me from saying what I wanted to say. It was a good thing too because I was fucking furious. “We don’t need to go into all that here. Melissa is here and Dani is here. They’re both safe.”

“Apparently they aren’t fucking safe,” I growled, glaring at the fucking woman.

“Melissa, please tell us what happened,” Dante urged.

And she did, and the longer I sat there listening to her babble, the more I tried to hang on to my anger. Not because she faced some stalker, but because I found nothing when I looked into her past. I left no stone unturned when it came to my daughter and yet, somehow, I missed a threat. But when she mentioned Little Rock, I sat up straighter and paid a little more attention as she informed the officers of an attack that happened at the Mother Chapter.

My eyes darted straight to King, who sat stiffly in his chair, listening intently to the woman explain her time in Arkansas, and all I could think about was my betrayal. Did I somehow inadvertently involve Melissa in this fucking war? As she continued her story, I gripped my chair tightly, trying to control the anger that wanted to erupt from inside me. I knew Melissa’s story. I knew every fucked-up detail and why Gunner walked away. Brother thought he was doing right by his sister. Too bad, all he did was make shit worse for her. Even I knew a child, regardless of age, would feel abandoned, alone, on her own if her own family wanted nothing to do with her. Gunner may have thought he was protecting his sister, but all he did was cause a chasm the size of the fucking Grand Canyon.

And apparently I added to it.

Fuck! How could I have been so careless?

“What happened today?” I asked, my voice tight.

“I went to have coffee with Haizley. When we left the coffee shop, we found the note on her car.”

Maybe Haizley and Dante were right. Maybe I was projecting my fear and shame on a woman who only did as we asked. She was wonderful with Danika. Treated her as if she were her own flesh and blood, and instead of being grateful, I was treating the woman as some interloper, some second-rate therapist who overstepped her authority. Of course, Danika would get attached. My little girl didn’t have a mother. She never would. Yet, Danika saw something in Melissa that she wanted, even needed, and I was too blind by my failure and fear to see the truth. The fact was, my little girl loved the stubborn woman, and it was clear Melissa adored Danika. Hell, even Dante liked the woman, and he was generally jealous of any woman who got too close.

Could I walk away, knowing that the woman who loved and cared for my daughter was in trouble?

Could I look my daughter in the eyes, knowing I could have helped and didn’t?

Fuck no.

“Stop antagonizing her,” Dante whispered in my ear.

“She put our daughter in danger.”

“She didn’t know.”

“Bullshit.”

“You’re a stubborn ass, you know that?”

My eyes snapped to hers as she glared at me. Narrowing my eyes, I held tight to the fury I wanted to unleash as I kept telling myself she was innocent. It was a hard pill to swallow, but for Danika and Dante, I was willing to bite my tongue.

“Mellie,” King’s exasperated sigh had a few of the men sat around the table snickering.

I didn’t respond when she added, “This will take days to go through.”

“Why don’t you get started? We can’t do anything more until you have a list for Nav to go through.”

Shaking her head, the snarky woman stood. “I know a dismissal when I hear one.”

“Princess.”

“No, it’s fine. I want to go check on Dani, anyway. She’s the reason I’m here.”

Clenching my fist, I bit my tongue and instead suggested, “Dante, maybe you could go with Melissa. Check on our daughter?” I was willing to give the woman a chance, but I still didn’t trust her, not until we came to some sort of understanding.

“Sure,” Dante said as he stood and walked over to the annoying woman.

“I guess that makes you the old lady, Dante. Brushed away, while the men talk about club business. For our protection, of course.”

“Jesus Christ, Mellie. Give it a fucking rest.” King groaned.

Narrowing my eyes, the instigator smiled, encircled Dante’s arm with her own, and clearly said, “Let’s go see our daughter.”

A hand slammed down on my shoulder as the bitch walked out of the room and closed the door.