Page 7

Dante

St. John’s Presbyterian Hospital, New York City.

“You want me to what?” I asked incredulously as everyone stared at me. They had to be fucking joking. There was no fucking way I would ever agree to this shit. They had to know it.

“Look, Intern,” Montana groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was thinking—”

“And that right there is your fucking problem,” I snarked.

“What is?” Montana growled.

“Thinking!” I shouted at the president of the Soulless Sinners, who grumbled, and Reaper chuckled, but said nothing. “Let me break this down on how shit is going to go here on out. Danny is my husband. Not yours, mine. I am taking him home where he will continue to heal and rest. I don’t give a flying fuck what you all do. All I care about is Danny. As for everything else, you all fucking created this mess, you fucking figure it out!”

Montana growled again as Mercy quickly stepped in front of him and said, “We all want the same thing, Intern, for Sypher to remember, but even you have to agree, he would be safer at the clubhouse.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You guys only want him there so you can try to force him to remember. You heard what the doctors said. We can’t force this. If we do, we could cause more harm than good.”

“That’s why he needs to go home to Tennessee,” Ace grumbled, standing next to Bailey and Charlie. “He remembers home. Everyone there will protect him and give him the rest he needs.”

“Oh, shut up, Ace,” I snarked. “You are just as bad as them. You only want him back in Tennessee so you can hide him away from the clubs and everyone else. Danny wouldn’t want that and you fucking know it. None of you give a damn about his mental well-being. All you care about is what he has stored in his head and how fast you can get it out.”

Ace sneered, “You don’t know what I want or what my brother suffered.”

“The fuck I don’t!” I shouted. “I don’t need to see that fucking file you are holding on to for dear life. I know what that bitch did to him. You think I’m fucking stupid? I survived her and so will Danny! None of you understand. You never will, so back the fuck off!”

“What the hell is going on here?” Dr. Robinette seethed, walking toward us, looking decidedly pissed off. “This is a fucking hospital, not a fucking clubhouse.”

“It’s nothing, Mere,” Montana huffed. “Just a misunderstanding.”

“Don’t lie to me, Montana. What the hell is going on?”

“They want me to pretend that Danny and I are not married. They want to take him to the clubhouse, and Ace wants to take him back home, but none of them once asked what Danny wants.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know what he wants,” Ace argued. “He doesn’t remember you, Dante. He has no idea he’s married, let alone to a man.”

“Don’t fucking go there, Ace,” I seethed, barely hanging on by a fucking thread. “If you’ve got a fucking problem with me, just say it.”

Ace’s eyes narrowed, fury and frustration boiling beneath the surface. “You think this is about you? About your marriage?” He shook his head, exasperation evident in his clenched fists. “It’s about Danny’s safety, his sanity. You can’t see that because you’re too blinded by your own feelings.”

I took a step forward, my voice trembling with controlled rage. “My feelings for Danny are the only thing keeping me grounded right now. You think I don’t want what’s best for him? That I haven’t spent sleepless nights worrying about his safety?”

Dr. Robinette raised a hand, demanding attention. “Enough! This is not how we resolve things. Danny’s care is the priority here. We need to come together, for his sake.”

Bailey, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up, voice calm but firm. “We all want what’s best for Danny. Fighting amongst ourselves won’t help him. We need to listen to each other and find a solution that puts Danny first.”

There was a moment of heavy silence, the tension in the air palpable as I took a deep breath, my gaze steady on Ace. “All I’m asking is that we consider what Danny would want. Not just what’s easiest for us.”

Ace exhaled sharply, the fight slowly draining from his stance. “Fine. Let’s ask Danny then.”

Opening the front door, I stepped to the side as Danny walked in.

He really hadn’t said much since we left the hospital, not that I really expected him to after the scene back at the hospital. I got that everyone was worried about his well-being and only wanted to protect him, but they should have known, regardless of what he remembered or not, Danny was his own man and was more than capable of deciding where he wanted to go. In the end, Danny chose to stay in the city, ignoring Ace all together. As for Bailey and Charlie, they decided to catch the next flight back to Tennessee, seeing as there wasn’t much more they could do here.

The apartment was eerily quiet, the kind of silence that seemed to press in from all sides. Danny took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings as if seeking solace in the mundane. I followed him in, closing the door softly behind us.

“Are you hungry?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, not wanting to shatter the delicate peace.

Danny shrugged, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Not really.”

I nodded, understanding that it wasn’t food he needed right now. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll make some tea.”

He hesitated before moving toward the couch, finally sinking into the cushions with a heavy sigh. I busied myself in the kitchen, filling the kettle and setting out two cups. The ritual was soothing in its simplicity—a small act of normalcy in the midst of chaos.

As the water began to boil, I glanced over at Danny. He was staring at his hands, lost in thought. It was hard to see him like this, so distant and weighed down by everything that had happened. I wanted to reach out, to offer comfort, but I knew that he needed time to process everything in his own way.

The kettle whistled, breaking the silence, and I poured the hot water over the tea bags. Carrying the cups carefully, I walked back to the living room and handed one to Danny. He took it with a faint smile of thanks, the warmth seeping into his fingers as he held the cup close.

We sat in silence for a while, the steam from the tea curling between us like a fragile bridge. Danny took a sip, and his eyes closed briefly as if savoring the moment.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, opening his eyes to meet mine. “For everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” I replied softly. “Just take your time. We’re in this together.”

Danny nodded, a small spark of determination flickering in his gaze.

It wasn’t much, but it was a start. And for now, that was enough.

“I live here?”

I nodded. “Yep. We both do.”

“Seems a little Richie Rich for my tastes,” he said, picking up one of the cashmere throw pillows I picked out right after we moved in.

I smirked. “Yeah, you were never big on the décor. Still not, I see.”

“Never saw the need for fancy shit. I was born a country boy and will die a country boy,” he said, getting to his feet. Walking over to the windows, he looked down at the city and asked, “Is that Central Park?”

“Yes it is.”

“And I bought this place? Me?”

“Yes,” I said, placing my cup of tea on the coffee table. Leaning back on the sofa, I added, “You were living with Ace when you bought this place.”

“Why was I living with Ace?”

“Because we got into a fight. You were living with me at my apartment.”

Shaking his head, he groaned, “I thought you said I was a student at MIT.”

“You were until you dropped out.”

“Why did I drop out?”

“Club business got in the way.”

“Makes sense,” he muttered, turning to see all of his computers in the dining room. “That’s all my stuff.”

“I kept it just as you left it. I wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway, unless something broke, then I could fix it, but you never really needed me for that stuff.”

Walking over to the dining room, he absently turned on his computers and sat. “It feels weird. Like I know, but I don’t.”

“Dr. Robinette said some things would be familiar. Computers have been in your life since you were little. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you without one.”

He stared at the screens, the soft hum of the machines filling the room. “Do you think I’ll get my memories back?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

I hesitated before replying, “I don’t know. Dr. Robinette said it’s possible, but it might take time. Some memories may never return, but we’ll work through it together.”

He nodded slowly, a mixture of hope and uncertainty in his eyes. “Thanks for staying by my side,” he murmured, his fingers brushing over the keyboard as if trying to reconnect with a piece of his past.

“Always.”

Later that same night .

Danny was finally asleep when I locked up the apartment, hailed a cab, and headed for the Soulless Sinners’ clubhouse.

The cab ride was brief, but it felt like an eternity as my mind raced with the thoughts of what was about to unfold. The city lights blurred past, merging into a glowing tapestry of uncertainty. I took a deep breath, trying to steady the butterflies in my stomach. This wasn’t like the other nights when I met with Montana and Reaper. Tonight had a different weight to it, a gravity that I couldn’t shake.

When the cab pulled up outside the clubhouse, I paid the driver and stepped onto the sidewalk. The building loomed ahead, its stark facade illuminated by the faint glow of streetlights. I could feel the adrenaline surge through me, every nerve ending tingling with anticipation. I approached the entrance, the heavy wooden door standing as a sentinel to the world inside. With a final, steadying breath, I pushed it open and stepped into the familiar building.

“They’re waiting on you,” Silver, the club’s bartender, said the second she saw me enter.

Nodding, I made my way to church, seeing the door already open.

As I approached church, I clearly heard shouting.

“He has a right to know!”

“And you can tell him, after the bitch is dead!” Montana shouted.

“It’s not your choice, Montana. He’s my son!” a woman yelled back. “The longer he’s walking the streets oblivious, the more danger he’s in.”

“No one is gonna harm the kid,” Reaper spoke up. “We’ve got brothers on him wherever he goes.”

“That’s not good enough and you know it!”

“Sypher didn’t want him to know until the bitch was dead. He wants to tell him himself,” Reaper added. “We just have to keep him safe until Sypher gets his memories back.”

“If he gets them back!” the woman snarked. “And in the meantime, he’s exposed! Fuck this shit. I’ll take care of it myself.”

In the next second, I distinctly heard a dial tone.

“MERE!” Montana shouted and then threw something across the room.

“You don’t think she will go to Bane, do you?”

“God, I fucking hope not,” Montana groaned. “I can only deal with one problem at a time. Bane finds out that his son has been here the whole time, and I fucking knew and didn’t tell him. Well, let’s just say that Bane is something altogether different, if you catch my drift.”

“An ass beating waiting to happen?”

“Shut up, asshole.”

Reaper laughed.

I had no idea who or what they were talking about. Nor did I fucking care. All I wanted was to get this meeting over and get back to the house before Danny woke up. As it was, I hated leaving him there alone.

Walking into church, both men looked up, and I took a seat as Montana wasted no time getting down to business.