Page 39

Danny

This was a big fucking mistake, but it wasn’t like I had a damn choice. King was ready to kill me. The club brothers wanted Ghost back, the women were tired of the fighting, and Dante, well, I’d show him later what it meant to withhold sex. But the one person I couldn’t ignore was Danika. My beautiful little girl. She didn’t understand all this crap. All she knew was that Melissa was her mama and the ornery woman loved her to pieces.

That was the only reason I was doing this.

For my daughter.

Everyone else could go get fucked.

“I want to apologize for my reactions as well. My mother would kick my ass if she were to see how I spoke to you. Not to mention what my dad would have done. The truth is, I was just as angry at you when I walked into the clubhouse. Haizley told us Dani was calling you mama and ... I didn’t take it well.”

She stopped walking and pulled her arm away from me and headed back for the cabin.

Groaning, I silently cursed and sighed. “Melissa, wait. I know you did nothing wrong.”

“I never asked her to call me mama,” she said, her back ramrod stiff.

“I know. We watched the video from the zoo.”

When her shoulders fell and I heard her sniff, I cringed.

Great! Way to dig your grave faster, Danny.

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck and spoke, “Melissa, please look at me.”

Shocker. The woman refused.

Fuck it. Here goes nothing. “Dante and I know what you did. We know you worked hard to not only care for and protect our daughter, but also make sure she didn’t forget who we were. I can’t tell you how much it meant to us to be able to see everything we missed.”

“But?” she asked, her voice hoarse with the emotion.

“Melissa, there is no but. I am trying to express our gratitude for everything you did for us. Dante and I talked, and while I didn’t want to see it at first, he showed me how important you are to Dani. How much she needs you in her life.”

She spun around to look at me. “What are you saying?”

“We’re staying in Diamond Creek. At least for now. There are still things I need to do. The war that’s coming...” I paused as I looked out over the land and wondered if Grayson would sell me a few acres. I could build Dante and Danika a nice little house out here, where it was quiet and away from everything and everyone. Specifically, one annoying woman. “We don’t know what will happen, so we’re staying here.”

“Really? You aren’t taking her back to New York?”

“I can’t say we’ll stay here forever. But for right now, no, we’re not taking her back to New York.”

I barely had time to brace before Melissa rushed into my arms. Holding onto her for dear life, I held the woman as she cried. “Thank you!”

“But I need you to do something for me. For Dani.”

“What? Anything!” she muttered.

“I need you to talk to your brother.”

And just like that, she stiffened as she slowly extracted herself from my arms.

Fuck me, her mood swung faster than a swing set!

She stumbled back and glared at me. “No. That is unfair.”

“It’s not. Melissa, you work with children. You help them get over their trauma, but you refuse to deal with yours.”

“What about your trauma, Danny? What about what you went through in New York? Have you dealt with that?”

“Not all of it, but Haizley is helping,” I admitted, then grinned. “Do it for Dani. She’ll need her uncle.”

Stubborn woman narrowed her eyes at me. I knew she wanted to rip into me for using Danika against her, but I didn’t give a fuck. I was tired of fighting and wanted this shit to be settled. She could either meet me halfway or learn to FaceTime Danika.

“Did Haizley tell you to do this?”

“No, Dante did.”

She turned back to the house and whispered, “I don’t think I can do that.”

“Not even for her?”

“That’s not fair, Danny.”

“I know. But it’s all we have to work with.”

“Miss Jefferson?”

Spinning around, I glared at the man who somehow stumbled upon us. Who the fuck was this chump, and how in the hell did he sneak up on me? His face looked familiar, then reality came rushing forward. This was the motherfucker stalking Missy!

Oh, he had fucking balls showing up here.

Stepping forward, I tried to move in front of Missy when the fucker sneered, “Don’t move.”

Melissa snarled, “It’s Dr. Jefferson.”

“Not the time, Melissa,” I whispered, then asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I want my daughter back.”

“Your daughter?”

“Yes, my daughter. The little girl you stole from her mother. I want her back and you are going to help me get her.”

“I don’t have your daughter, Detective.”

“But you know where she is,” he stated as he pointed the gun at the both of us.

“She is with a nice family. She is happy. She doesn’t need to be disrupted.”

“She’s mine!” he shouted.

“Then where the hell were you?” she yelled back at him, and I groaned.

Of course, she wouldn’t give a damn that a man was holding a gun on her. She just had to speak her mind. Woman needed to learn how to read a fucking room, or in this case the open range. She was going to get me killed faster than that cunt Jane would. The woman had no filter. I firmly fucking believed that because what she said next confirmed it.

“Where were you when she was hungry and crying? Where were you when she was being touched by men her mother paraded through their home? You waited until she was beaten, bruised, and broken before you stepped up. You don’t deserve her! I would never help you get her back!”

“YOU FUCKING CUNT!”

“MELISSA!” I shouted, tackling the mouthy woman to the ground. The fucker fired.

I felt the sting and groaned as I rolled to the side and she yelled loudly, “DANNY!”

I groaned, holding my arm. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Danny, are you ok?” Dante asked, his voice filled with raw fear.

“Yea, it’s just a scratch,” I said as I held my arm, blood seeping between my fingers. “Where’s Dani? Is she ok?”

“Dani’s fine. She’s in the house,” Dante quickly said as I watched Melissa get to her feet and she walked toward the detective who was lying on the ground.

“Melissa, what the fuck are you doing?” Dante asked as I looked at the woman.

“He might still be alive,” she said.

“Get your ass back here,” I yelled as Dante jumped to his feet to stop the lunatic.

“We need to get the gun. It’s too close to his hand. I don’t know what happened, but if he wakes up—”

“He’s not waking up,” I said, getting to my own feet, walking over to the prone body.

“How?” she asked, looking around. “Did his gun backfire?”

“No, he shot Danny,” Dante said. “You can’t release two bullets at once in two different directions.”

“He shot you?” She grabbed my arm, and I winced.

“It’s just a scratch. The bullet grazed my arm. It didn’t go into it.”

“What the fuck did you do?” she yelled, her eyes blazing with fury.

I know she wasn’t yelling at me. Not after what I just did!

“I was trying to save your life.”

“By giving up yours? Have you learned nothing?”

“Are you for real right now? Most people would say ‘Thank you, Danny.’”

“Thank you? You want me to thank you for putting your life in jeopardy? What if you had been shot in the chest? Where would that leave Dante and Danika?”

“Woman, what if he had shot you? You antagonized the son of a bitch until he aimed his gun at you!”

Dante roared, halting our heated talk. “Oh my God, you two are going to drive me crazy. You’re both equally stupid and reckless.”

“Can you believe he just called us stupid?” she asked.

“And reckless,” I added, narrowing my eyes.

“I’m going to check on our daughter. And call in reinforcements,” Dante said, storming off back toward the cabin.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome.”

“Who do you think shot him?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but I think we’re about to find out.” I said, as I watched Winchester ride up on a horse.

“Did you shoot this fucker?” I asked.

“I did,” the familiar club brother admitted.

“Where the hell were you? We didn’t see anyone,” I asked.

“Pippen radioed when Henderson showed up. I was a little less than half a mile out when I took the shot.”

“You can shoot that far?” Missy asked in amazement.

“They don’t call me Winchester for nothing.” The brother smiled, then winked.

“From the back of the horse?” I asked, skeptical, but then again anything was possible.

Winchester just shrugged.

“My cousin’s a sniper. Don’t think he’s ever done it riding a fucking horse, though.”

“So now what?” Missy asked, bringing us back to the matter at hand.

“Gotta call it in,” Winchester said.

She gasped. “But you killed him.”

“Yea, but Nebraska has clear ‘stand your ground’ laws.”

“But you were half a mile away. You weren’t in any danger,” she argued. “Can’t the club just clean it up?”

You’ve got to be kidding me!

Now she is PRO-BIKER! “Now you trust the club?”

“For something like this? Yes! To keep him from getting arrested, yes.”

“I won’t get arrested. The sheriff ain’t gonna haul me in. Not with this cut on my back,” Winchester said as he walked toward the body, talking on his radio, telling whoever was on the other end to call in the sheriff.

“So, the sheriff is dirty?” Missy whispered.

“Good God, woman, you are fucking exhausting.”

“What?”

“Haven’t you lived in a red state for the past ten years?”

“So? What the hell does that have to do with the sheriff being paid off by the MC?”

“The sheriff is King’s brother. He isn’t dirty. And the club isn’t dirty either. King opened this chapter because they didn’t want to be caught up in shit anymore,” I explained.

“How’s that working out for him?”

I just glared at the woman.

“I don’t wanna bring Dani out here, not with...” I heard Dante shout. “But she’s asking for you, Missy.”

Groaning, I rolled my eyes. “Go. When the sheriff gets here, you can give him a statement.”

“Thank you.” She quickly stepped up and squeezed me tight before running toward the cabin.

“Think you finally made a new friend there, Sypher.” Winchester smirked.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “And she’s gonna be the death of me. I just know it.”