Page 49

Rachel

The next morning, we were both up bright and early, ready to go collect Bee from the hospital.

I spent the entire morning cleaning the house from top to bottom to make sure everything was free of dust, thinking that she was immediately going to catch an infection once she stepped foot in the house that hadn’t been used for so long.

Dante spent the entire time laughing at my actions, causing me to take far longer than I usually would, since he kept picking me up and moving to a different section of the house, or finding ways to be irritating.

He threw teddies in my direction; he rumpled the sofa cushions, and he dragged his feet on the floor, causing his boots to make a god-awful squeaking noise.

I kicked him out of the house when he decided to “accidentally” spill a cup of water in the kitchen, and he went grumbling to Vienna’s, telling me to come get him when I was ready to leave, and that I was no fun anymore.

The entire ride to the hospital, I stayed silent, refusing to acknowledge him on his stupid bike as he drove next to the car.

“Are you done sulking?” He laughed, pulling off his helmet as we pulled into the car park.

“I’m not sulking. You’re annoying me. There’s a fucking difference. You need to grow up.”

“And you need to lighten up,” he said, slapping my ass. “This is a good day! Bee is coming home.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I grinned up at him.

This was a good day. Despite the fact that the more comfortable Dante got around me, the more he turned into a ridiculous man child, nothing was going to dampen my mood any further.

Bee was finally coming home, back where she belongs .

“Miss Brooks?” came a voice as we entered the children’s ward.

“Yes?” I asked pleasantly, twisting my head over my shoulder.

“Hi. Doctor Peters,” he reminded me.

“Of course,” I smiled, ignoring the way Dante’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. I’m glad I ran into you, actually. It saves me having to give you a call when I find a spare five minutes. Are you okay if we have a quick chat regarding your blood work?”

“What about her blood work?” Dante demanded.

The doctor smiled patiently. “Nothing serious. But if I could just have a word with Miss Brooks in—”

“You can have a word with Rachel right here, where I can hear.”

“With all due respect, sir, this is confidential information and—”

“And what? As her significant other, I have the right to know what you’re going to say,” he snarled, stepping towards the doctor.

“Dante!” I snapped, pulling him backwards. “Are you trying to get us both kicked out? It’s fine. I need the results. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is—”

“Nothing. Exactly. Go to Bee and help her pack up her belongings. I’m sure she’s dying to get out of here. I will go with Doctor Peters and find out what’s up, and then I’ll come and find you. Okay?”

He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing at the doctor. “Fine. Okay.”

I reached up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss and then walked away with Doctor Peters before he was able to change his mind.

“You have quite a way with him,” he chuckled softly when we were out of earshot.

“You know him well, do you?” I couldn’t help sarcastically drawl at him, assuming he was judging Dante based on his lifestyle, like every other fucker we came across seemed to do.

“We’ve dealt with his family a few times at this hospital.

In fact, I was around the last time you were admitted, Miss Brooks.

They can be quite… difficult under stressful circumstances.

But he seems to have found something soothing within you.

Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. It makes my life much easier,” he chuckled again, pushing open the door to his office.

I’ve a good mind to set Dante loose on you, prick. I’m not here to make your life easier.

I also wasn’t here to be a cunt to people for the sake of it. I really had to get these mood swings under control. I had no idea what had come over me lately.

“Take a seat, please,” he gestured at the one chair opposite his desk, and came to sit on the end of it, looking down at me. “There’s nothing serious. Let’s just get that out of the way first,” he smiled. His stupid smile and chuckles were beginning to get on my tits.

“So why have you dragged me in here?”

“I’m not in the habit of discussing patient information in the corridors.”

“Can we speed this up? The sooner I know what the results are, the sooner I can go back to my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” His eyebrows raised in surprise, his eyes shooting to my ring finger.

“Yes. My daughter,” I said firmly.

“In that case, congratulations. The girl needs someone other than bikers around her all the time…” his words trailed off as I cleared my voice pointedly. “Right. Yes. So, the tests were inconclusive.”

“I beg your fucking pardon? You dragged me all the way here to say the results are… nothing? There are no results because the tests failed?”

I could hardly fucking believe it. He had no idea that I was capable of calming Dante down. He had said himself that the Devils were difficult to deal with… and yet he had made a big song and a dance over telling me nothing?

The mind fucking boggles.

“They didn’t fail. They’re just inconclusive. There were traces of blood in your urine, and some minor abnormalities in the blood work. You’re O negative, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

He smiled at me again, and I had a feeling there was something he wasn’t telling me. “If we could get another urine sample from you today, and the nurse will take a blood test, we’ll have more news for you in a day or two.”

“Why?”

“It’s standard procedure, Miss Brooks,” he said, handing me a plastic sample tube.

“What is it you think is wrong with me?”

“Nothing. Everyone admitted to hospital must take the same tests. With yours showing errors, we want to repeat them to see if they were anomalies, or anything we need to treat. The blood in your urine could be due to stress. It could be a water infection. We’ll test for a variety of things now that we have seen a minor cause for concern.

Rest assured; it is nothing to worry about. ”

“Fine,” I sighed, my patience wearing thin.

“Excellent. The toilets are directly opposite this room. If you come back here when you’re done, I’ll have the nurse sent up to take your blood tests.”

I left the room the second my blood tests were done and hurried back to Bee’s room. My head was in my phone, texting Dante about what had happened and that I was nearly there, when I almost collided with a soft, doughy body as I rounded the corner.

“Steady, Rachel, anyone would think you’re in a rush,” the man said, his voice immediately making my hackles rise.

“You,” I spat, raising my eyes to look at Officer Bradley’s smug expression. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Amy’s release day.”

“Her name is Bee, and it’s not release day. She’s not a fucking prisoner.”

“She’s not a prisoner yet. It’s only a matter of time when you’re a member of that family.”

“She’s a five-year-old girl. You clearly have some issues, and I don’t have time for this,” I said, rolling my eyes and tried to step around him. He stopped me with a firm hand on my arm, his fingers curling into my skin.

There’s no fucking way he was this stupid.

“Get your hand off me. Consider that me asking nicely. ”

“I was just thinking,” he said, ignoring my command, and tightened his grip slightly. “Hasn’t your dad also celebrated his own release day recently?”

“That’s none of your fucking business. Get your hand off me,” I said through gritted teeth. “I find it shocking that I’ve had to warn you more than once. There are laws against sexual harassment.”

“Oh, believe me, I wouldn’t stoop so low. But then again, I’ve heard you’re not exactly… fussy… when it comes to your sexual favours.”

I stiffened, but that was the only reaction I gave.

“Regardless of what you’ve heard, in the words of Vivian Ward and Kit De Luca – I say who, I say when, I say how much.

Pretty Woman,” I clarified when he looked confused.

“Forget it. Female empowerment, no wonder you’re confused.

I take it you’ve been digging into my past? ”

“I just wanted to know what was up with the woman with the haunted eyes. Seems I may have been mistaken in thinking you needed my help that day at the club. You’re not as innocent as you seem, are you?

” He knocked my chin with his fist, and I had to clench my hands to stop me from swinging it at him.

I knew when I unclenched them, there would be small crescent moons on my palms from where my nails had dug in.

“I’ve never needed anyone’s help. Certainly not the help of a Jobsworth police man with nothing better to do with his time than harass innocent civilians. If you’ll excuse me…”

“Except that’s not exactly true, is it?”

“Good grief, there’s more,” I sighed. “Just spit it out. I have places to be.”

“I’ve not forgotten the way you treated me, Rachel. I offered you my help, and you threw it back in my face.”

“I told you. I don’t need help.”

“But you needed your dad’s help, didn’t you?”

“Don’t all little girls need their dad once in a while?” I smiled, refusing to rise to his bait. He had definitely been digging into my history.

“Seems like your dad also needed Dante’s help. How convenient that Chris suddenly got all the information needed for parole. You know, none of us believed that it was him that murdered Alex. ”

“Well, that’s why court and a jury of our peers exists. Police rarely know what they’re talking about. What you believe, and what actually happened, are two different things.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t worried at the time, and I’m not now. My dad did the time, time he didn’t deserve to do, and the new evidence proved that. Alex was an evil man, and he got what was coming to him.”

“You almost sound thankful.”

I raised a shoulder. “You’ve looked into my background. You should know what I suffered at his hands.”

“True… it’s just… I also investigated your dad’s history. He never once mentioned his daughter was being abused in any of his therapy sessions.”

“Perhaps because therapy is confidential.”

“Unless the right person asks,” he countered.

“Oh, we both know that’s way above your pay grade, officer .”

He gave me a tight smile. “Just let it be known. I’m watching you. All of you. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to my favourite red head.”

I returned his tight smile with one of my own. “Watch all you want. The police force must either be very quiet to be able to waste the resources. Or you’re just easily disposable and not much use to them at all.”

“And how disposable are you to Dante?”

“How insecure do you think I am?” I laughed. “Do you think you have the power to knock my confidence in him? In fact, you mention him a lot… is this some sort of jealousy thing? You seem mighty obsessed with Dante.”

“Yes, because I have a secure job, a future, an ability to climb my career ladder… So, you can see why I’d be jealous of a criminal drug lord.”

“One might see it as a drug lord. Some might see it as a man who owns two houses, a successful business, and an entire devoted family around him. A man who stepped up for his daughter when she lost her mum. A man who is surrounded by people who would die for him in an instant. And what do you have? A job where you could be replaced with one little ad online, donuts, and a badge. Baby, don’t compete where you don’t compare. ”

He gave me a tight smile. “Cute. That smart mouth will get you in trouble one day. One wrong move, Rachel, one—”

“And what? Your threats don’t scare me. Whatever you think happened with Alex is irrelevant.

The past is in the past, and clearly the rest of the police district, as well as the courts, agree with me.

Or else they never would have released my dad.

But” I said, shuffling closer to him and lowering my voice.

“You would also do well to remember that all rumours start somewhere, and all rumours have a shred of truth in them. Perhaps it wasn’t my dad that murdered Alex.

If you really believe that, perhaps I’m not the wisest person for you to be pissing off. ”

“Are you threatening an officer?”

“Threatening?” I said, stepping back with a fake gasp. “Me? Now why would I do that? It was a friendly reminder. I am not a woman that can be intimidated or easily scared. Enjoy the rest of your day. I’m sure there’s a man littering somewhere that needs your attention.”

He let me go when I pushed past him this time, and I felt his eyes boring into my back as I retreated down the corridor.

This wasn’t fucking good.

But I wasn’t about to let the little fuckwit get the better of me. All he had right now was too much time on his hands. He had nothing concrete. And whatever he did dig up, Hacksaw could erase from the database. Everything would be fine.