Page 8

W ith a box cutter, I carefully slice into the cardboard. Opening the box, I see it’s filled with tattoo aftercare products. Picking the box up, I carry it to the front of the shop and begin to fill the display case of products we sell.

I don’t know why, but before I worked here, I thought you could use any kind of soap and lotion to care for your tattoo, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case. Almost every time I ring someone out for a tattoo, they buy the recommended products we keep on hand without question.

Right when I finish filling the display case, the bell on the front door rings.

“Hi, welcome to Dynasty. How can I help you?” I ask the pretty woman who steps inside.

She smiles when she sees me. “You must be Lainey.”

“Yes?” I say, completely confused as to how she knows me when she doesn’t look familiar.

She touches her chest. “I’m Tara, I own the bookstore next door.”

“Oh, I’ve heard Elle talk about you!”

“All good things I hope,” she quips.

“One hundred percent. Is there something we can help you with?”

She shrugs with a small smile. “I just had a break at the store, and I wanted to come meet the woman who took my job.”

“Uh…”

“Wait, that came out wrong.” She laughs. “I used to be the receptionist here before my man bought me the bookstore.”

My eyes widen. I open my mouth to say something, anything, but words fail me. Holy shit. Talk about one hell of a gift.

She rolls her eyes. “Ridiculous, right? Don’t get me wrong, I love my store, but it definitely wasn’t on my yearly bingo card, that’s for sure.”

“I can imagine. So you used to work here?” I say as I move the box behind the front desk, out of view in case anyone comes in.

“Yeah, I did it because I wanted to help out a brother, but I ended up loving it.”

“It is a pretty cool place,” I say, even though I want to ask what she means by brother. I know she doesn’t mean blood brother, because she and Midnight couldn’t look any more different if they tried.

“It really is. Elle and Jerico are the best too.”

I roll my eyes. “Jerico is something else.”

“Does he have you ordering food all the time?” she teases, making me laugh.

“I think I’m on a first-name basis with all the delivery drivers in the area.”

Tara tips her head back and laughs. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

I go to say something, but her phone rings.

She cringes. “Shit, sorry. One second.”

“No, go ahead.”

She pulls out her phone, and she checks the screen. “Sorry, I got to go. I guess my man decided to surprise me, and he’s wondering where I am. It was nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you too.”

She turns toward the door but pauses. “Oh, if you ever come to the clubhouse again, make sure you look around for me so we can hang out.”

“Will do.”

As soon as she walks out the door, it clicks what she meant by brother. She has ties to the MC, and if I had to guess, I would bet that her man is a member. I don’t plan on going back to the clubhouse anytime soon, if ever again. I think that one night was enough for me.

Unless I can hang out with Midnight again.

Shaking my head, I pick up the box and take it to the storage room. As I’m walking back toward the front, the bell rings again. Shit, I hate stepping away and leaving the front unmanned.

“Hey, wel…” I stop when I see an annoyed-looking Midnight and the girls. “Hey guys. What are you doing here?”

This morning, I woke up to a text from Midnight, confirming that he wanted me to cancel his appointments for the day. I sent him a thumbs-up, so he knew that I saw it, and then I sent him another text after I finished telling him that everyone was rebooked.

So it surprises me that they are here, and it especially surprises me that the girls look a little worse for wear. The twins looked like they were rushed out of the house without a chance to look in the mirror before leaving. Even Midnight’s usually perfect hair is messed up and looks like he’s been running his hands through it all morning.

“I need you to watch the girls for me,” he snaps, making me jerk back.

Holy shit. I know I haven’t known him long, but not once have I ever heard him take that tone with me or anyone else.

Guilt flashes across his face when he sees my reaction, and he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Shit, sorry. I’m pissed off, and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“It’s okay. I’ll watch them,” I say, smiling at the girls.

“Thank you.” He gets down and gives both girls a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Be good for Lainey, okay? I’ll be back soon.”

“Promise?” Sienna asks.

“Promise.”

“Love you, Daddy” the twins say in unison before walking hand-in-hand to the back.

“Are you okay?” I ask when they are out of earshot.

“I will be. Will you watch them, though?”

“Of course.”

He sighs. “Thank you. Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

I watch him walk away and shake my head.

I don’t know what the hell is going on right now, and as badly as I want to ask, I won’t. It’s none of my business. That’s a lie, I’ll totally ask if the opportunity presents itself. I know my curiosity will get the best of me.

Shaking my head, I go in search of Elle and find her in her room with the door open. “Hey, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what’s up?” she says as she spins toward me.

“Can you keep an eye on the front and listen for the phone for a bit? Midnight dropped off the girls, and I need to run them out for a minute.”

Elle frowns. “Sure, is everything okay?”

“I think so.”

“Sure, go do what you need to do. Grab cash from the till if you need to.”

I won’t. I refuse to take money from him without his knowledge. Even if it is for his kids.

“Okay. Thanks.” I smile and head to his office.

“Hey guys, do you want to get out of here for a bit?”

The twins share a look before turning toward me and nodding. “Where are we going?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

The girls get up and follow me. I don’t know what’s going on right now, but I’ll do what I can to make Midnight’s life a little easier like he’s made mine.

At seven a.m., I gave up on sleep, and I’ve been sitting outside with gritty eyes and a cold cup of coffee ever since. I don’t know why, but for some reason, something about yesterday bothers me the more I think about it. While it was very much a Miranda move, she’s never done it when I wasn’t around. Something’s just not right, and I know it.

I rub my jaw and wince as the facial hair that’s grown since last night scratches my skin. Shit, I should take a shower.

My phone rings, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What’s up, Trigger?” I ask when I see his name flash across my screen.

“Hey, do you have a minute?”

“I do. What did you find?”

I hear the sound of Trigger’s glasses hitting his table. “I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’ll just come out and say it. Miranda is in the wind.”

My mind races as my body tenses. “What do you mean, she’s in the wind?”

“I mean, I can’t fucking find her. Her phone hasn’t been turned back on since she left Dynasty yesterday, the tracking on her car has been disabled, and her cards haven’t been used at all.”

“How the fuck is that possible?” I ask as I rake my hand through my hair.

“It’s possible because she planned this, brother.” He sighs. “I accessed her bank account, and for the last two months, she’s been pulling out all the extra money she has at the end of each month after making sure her bills are paid.”

“What else?”

“How do you know there’s something else?”

“I know you.”

“Since she started pulling cash, her grocery bill has been cut in half,” he says, making me feel numb.

“Are you telling me she was starving my girls?” I rasp.

“She’s still been buying food, just not as much as before.”

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do with this…” I confess.

“We add it to the list of the other times she’s dropped the girls off unannounced so it doesn’t come back to bite you in your ass.” He pauses. “I was planning on going over to her place to look around. See if she’s there.”

“No, don’t. I’ll go. If she’s home, I need to fucking talk to her.”

“She might not be there, though,” he points out.

“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

“Okay, well keep me updated, and I’ll keep looking on my end. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” he says sincerely.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, brother. I appreciate you trying.”

I get off the phone and clutch my hair between my fingers as my chin drops to my chest.

What the fuck, Miranda?

I take a few deep breaths and pull myself together. I need to wake the girls up and head out. I can’t wait any longer to check her place. I need to know what’s going on.

Fuck.

I can’t take the girls to their mom’s. Who knows what I will find, and I can’t subject them to that. I can’t exactly take them to the clubhouse either.

There is one place you can take them, though. One person you trust with them.

Standing, I head inside and wake the girls.

“Hey, you two, we need to head out. I need you to change real fast.”

“What’s wrong?” Selena asks, picking up on my tension.

“Nothing you need to worry about, but we gotta go now.”

“But Daddy, I need a shower,” Sienna says.

“Later. You can take one when we get home. I’m sorry, baby, but we gotta go now.”

The girls share a look before jumping out of bed.

I head down the hall and grab my boots from next to the door and start to put them on. A few minutes later, the girls come down the hall. They look like drunk sailors with the crust still in the corners of their eyes and the way they sway on their feet, but they don’t fight with me.

Thank God for small favors, because I don’t know if I could handle that right now.

I pull into the empty driveway and sigh. Guilt lays heavy on my skin because of how I snapped at Lainey. I never should have talked to her like that when she’s the one helping me out.

You can make it up to her later.

Getting out of the truck, I pull a set of keys from my pocket as I head to the front door. Miranda would freak the fuck out if she knew I had a key to her place, but what she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt her. Besides, the place is in my name, and I am the one who pays the mortgage.

I let myself inside and come to a stop as the door shuts behind me.

What. The. Ever. Living. Fuck.

The photos I know she had on the walls are gone, along with all the furniture. You can see an outline on the carpet where the couch once sat. The only things left in the room are the curtains covering the windows. Pushing forward, I find the rest of the house the same. There isn’t a plate or a cup in a cabinet or a forgotten spoon in a drawer. There isn’t even a crumb in the pantry.

The only door closed in the house is the door to the girls’ bedroom. Pausing outside, I swallow hard, unsure of what I’m about to find.

Man up and open the fucking door.

Twisting the knob, I open the door, and my breath catches. There are two trash bags next to two stripped beds. With heavy feet, I step into the room and open one of the bags. Some of it is their clothes, while most of it is the sheets for the beds.

Where the fuck are all of their things?

A note on the bed catches my attention, and I pick it up. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I brace myself for what I’m about to read because I know it’s not going to be good. I take three deep breaths before I unfold the paper.

Michael,

I can’t do this. I can’t keep living a lie and making myself unhappy in the process. It hasn’t escaped me that the girls would rather live with you, so they are finally getting their wish. I raised them for the first eleven years of their lives, and now it’s your turn. Please don’t look for me, and rest assured, I won’t be back. At least, not anytime soon. For years I’ve been fighting the urge to run, and now that I have, I don’t want to be sucked back in. If I am, it might kill me. Make sure they know I love them.

-Miranda

Swallowing roughly, I blink back tears as I crumple the note in my fist.

That fucking bitch.

How dare she make it sound like our girls were a burden on her life when she knew that I would gladly take them. I begged her when she left all those years ago for her to leave the girls with me, and she refused. She refused time and time again until now.

I know the note says she won’t be back, but I don’t trust her. History shows that her word means shit. I hope she never shows her face again, but if she does, I’ll be ready because my girls are never going to be in her presence again if I can help it. That’s a goddamn fact.