Page 36

Dante

“Dante, calm down.”

If one more person told me to calm down, I was going to start hurting people, starting with the handsome fucker glaring at me. He was the cause of most of my problems lately and while I loved the bastard to pieces, I couldn’t take much more. Between his accident, memory loss, keeping important shit from me, and his antagonistic behavior toward Missy, I was at my wits’ end.

He had to see it, right?

“I don’t understand what she’s doing,” I snapped as our daughter moved her hands in the air like she just didn’t care. What was she doing? Striking a pose?

“Words, Dani,” Missy said, placing a calming hand on my shoulder.

“No.”

I groaned, hanging my head. “I don’t know what she wants. She points to the door but says no. The girls went outside. Does she want them to come back? Is she lonely?”

“Dante, calm down,” Missy said, and Danny smirked. God, I wanted to slap that smug look off his face, but hitting was bad. At least, that’s what that stupid baby book I read said.

“Dani wants to play in the snow. She is still learning her words, so they don’t always sound the right way.”

Sighing, I felt two inches tall. How in the hell could I forget to buy her winter gear? We were in fucking Nebraska after all. “We don’t have winter stuff for her.”

Missy gave me a quick hug. “You are doing great, Dante.”

“We have some extra things here for Tabby. I’ll go grab them,” Ryder piped up.

“Thanks, Ryder,” Danny said.

“I don’t feel like it. She just kept swinging her hands around,” I tried to explain when Missy interrupted me.

“Dani and I learned sign language. It’s easier for babies to learn sign language than it is for them to learn to talk. So, in order to communicate, her and I would watch YouTube videos in the evening. This is my fault. We haven’t had a chance to sit down and go over everything.”

“It’s been a bit chaotic,” Danny added.

Haizley walked over and suggested, “Why don’t you let Dani play with the girls outside, and the four of us can sit down and talk?”

“I don’t know.” I hesitated, looking between Missy and Danny. Neither one looked receptive to anything.

“Amber and Aspen are both out there along with five brothers, and where Aspen goes, Diesel goes. She will be perfectly safe,” Haizley assured us.

“Ok,” I muttered as Danny glared at me and Haizley walked with a reluctant Missy into church.

As Haizley stood on one side of the table, Danny moved to the other, sitting at the far end, far away from Missy, who sat on the opposite end, leaving me to sit in the middle.

Shaking my head, I sat and sent up a quick prayer for patience, because there was not enough coffee in the world to get me through this shit.

“Now, Missy and I have been friends for a long time. But I have also been working with Danny and Dante for the last few weeks. There are several things we need to talk about before we get to the topic of Danika. Would anyone like to go first?”

“I’m angry,” Missy started.

“We know you’re fucking angry. You’ve made that abundantly clear,” Danny clipped as I slowly turned to look at the man, narrowing my eyes at him, silently begging him to play nice. I got a shoulder shrug as a response.

“Tell us why you’re angry, Missy.”

“I’m angry they left. I’m angry that Danny lied not only to me, but to Dante. I’m angry that he lied to Danika.”

“How the fuck—”

“Danny, wait,” Haizley cut him off with a hand in the air.

“Dante, how do you feel about what Missy said?”

Reaching over, I grabbed Missy’s hand. “I’m angry too,” I admitted. “I’m angry Danny lied to me, not just about when he left, but about Melissa, about my mother.”

“He knows who your mother is? Is she alive? Does she know where you are?”

“Missy,” Haizley groaned. “Let Dante speak. You are not a therapist right now. Continue, Dante.”

“But I’m also thankful. I’m thankful Danny found Melissa, and I’m thankful Melissa took care of Dani for us.”

“Danny?” Haizley asked, looking over at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m fucking angry.”

Of course he was. I silently groaned.

“Why?” Haizley asked.

“I’m angry that the woman I trusted to take care of my husband and daughter when I left can’t shut her fucking mouth long enough to actually listen to why I left and what happened!”

“How long does it take to say the words ‘ club business ,’ Danny?”

“Missy, stop it,” Haizley chastised. “Both of you are acting like children. Neither one of you wants to see this from the other person’s side, and you have Dante caught in the middle of your bullshit.”

About time someone saw the truth!

“Let’s start over. I am going to ask the questions, and you are going to answer them. Only when I ask you. Practice some self-control and do not interrupt.”

“Missy, what did Danny lie to you about?”

“He said he was committed to his family. Only he walked away. He told me they were prepared to uproot their entire lives to be where their daughter needed to be, because nothing was more important than Dani’s healing. And less than two weeks later, he was gone without a word.”

“Danny, would you like to respond?”

Danny said nothing at first as I waited on bated breath for his response, when he shocked the hell out of me and spoke. “Melissa’s right. I did say I was committed to my family and uprooting our lives for our daughter was something we are both still prepared to do. I didn’t lie about that. Going to New York wasn’t something that was planned or something that could be avoided. The truth is, the woman I went after has been trying to destroy the world for decades. She had to be stopped, and I thought I could do it.”

“You were selfish,” Missy snarked, and I closed my eyes in defeat.

“How does wanting my family to be safe make me selfish?”

“What were you trying to do? How did you plan to stop her? I assume this was the woman responsible for the hell Dante went through. For the abduction of Dani? What was your plan, Danny?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

They would never get along. It was impossible. Neither one cared enough to take five fucking minutes to listen to the other. Both were too damn stubborn and headstrong, digging in their heels, thinking they were right, when technically they both were.

“Dante, you’re quiet,” Haizley said. “Anything you want to add?”

“Can I ask a question?”

“Of course.” Haizley smiled.

Facing Missy, I asked, “Melissa, tell me about Gunner.”

Her head snapped to mine. “What?”

“Tell me about Gunner. What happened?”

“We are here to talk about Dani. Not me and my brother.”

Haizley leaned back in her chair and simply asked, “Missy, is it possible you’re projecting your anger at your brother onto Danny? Could your feelings about being abandoned by him in regard to the club be why you are so angry at Danny?”

“We promised never to shrink each other. This has nothing to do with my brother.”

“I think maybe it does,” Danny murmured.

“Fuck you, Danny.”

“Melissa.” I sighed.

“I can’t do this.” Pulling her phone from her pocket, she placed it on the table in front of me. “This is for you. There are hundreds of videos there for you both to see what you missed. There are lists of her favorite foods, her favorite toys. Things she likes and things she dislikes.”

“Missy,” Haizley called out as she stormed from the room.

Shaking my head, I seethed, “I swear to fucking God, Danny, if you don’t stop antagonizing that woman, you will be sleeping in another room tonight.”

“She started it.”

“And I’m finishing it!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. “Do you know the fucking rollercoaster ride I’ve been on since your accident? I’ve had to deal with both clubs, your snarky ass brother, your doctors, your family, my fucking family, and your never-ending mood swings while you tried to regain your memories. I’ve taken care of you, helped you, been there for you every step of the way, and the one motherfucking time I ask you to do something, you ignore me! Well, I’ve had it. That woman uprooted her life because we asked her to and instead of listening to her, trying to see shit from her side, you continue to knock her down. I won’t stand for it anymore. You owe me, Danny, and you will fix this. Today!”

Danny stared at me. His eyes were wide, clearly shocked at my outburst. I didn’t wait for a response. I just turned and stormed out of the room, my heart racing. I knew I’d laid it all out there, but I was tired of holding everything in. I needed him to understand the pressure I’d been under and the sacrifices I’d made while he’d been recovering. I didn’t stop to think about where I was going. I just needed to get away, to be alone and clear my head.

I made my way outside, the cold Nebraska air biting at my face, and took a moment to gather myself. I knew I’d overreacted, but damn, the stress of the past few months had been overwhelming. I just needed a moment to clear my head.

“Got something on your mind, Intern?”

“Not now, Bane, please.”

Walking over to stand next to me, he looked over the horizon and sighed. “It’s not easy holding everything in. I know what you are going through. You have to keep up appearances because you don’t want to rock the boat. Well, I’m going to let you in on a secret, kid. Fuck the boat. Let it sink. There is nothing you can do or say to make others understand. They have to see it and experience it themselves, and if they’re lucky, you’ll still be around when they hit rock bottom to pick them back up.”

“That’s rather cynical.”

The man shrugged. “It’s the truth. Been watching shit play out my whole life and nothing I did ever changed the outcome. Got so bad, I had to step away. Life isn’t always easy, Intern. You know that better than most, but you are smart, strong, and resilient. You are still standing tall.”

Bane was right, of course. I knew that, but hearing it out loud made it harder to accept. I’d always been the strong one, the rock for Danny to lean on, and now I felt like I was crumbling. I took a deep breath, the cold air stinging my lungs, and tried to gather my thoughts. “You’re right, I am struggling. I feel like I’m failing everyone, especially Danny. He needs me to be strong, to support him while he recovers, but I’m at my limit.”

“We all have our limits, Intern. It’s okay to reach yours. You’ve been through a lot and it’s not over yet. But you know what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And, Intern, you are one of the strongest people I know.” I managed a weak smile, grateful for his words. “Now,” he continued, “why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you? It’s not just Sypher’s recovery, is it?”

I slowly shook my head. “No, it’s not. I just recently learned my birth mother is alive and I have a twin sister out there somewhere.”

Bane smirked. “Well, I’m all about the DNA tests. Too bad I never got yours. Could have put it in the club’s database and done a search for you.”

“I kind of wished you had. I hate not knowing who they are.”

“Let me guess.” Bane sighed. “Sypher knows.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then ask him.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to know the specifics yet.”

Slapping me on my shoulder, Bane smirked. “Well, Intern, I hate to give you more bad news, but life doesn’t give a damn if you are ready or not. When she’s ready to spill her guts, she will, and when she does, my advice is to hang on because I’ve learned we rarely like the truth when we hear it.”