Page 36 of Sinful Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #9)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Daisy

R achel sits down beside me as I stare at the dragonfly on the barn. “They’ll be back soon.”

Jackson found me on the side of the road and brought me here. It was closer than the warehouse I remember him saying, but I haven’t paid much attention. I don’t even feel real right now. Nothing is real.

“She was going to tell you. She was just trying to figure out how.” She sighs when I don’t respond. Willow walks over and hands her a little box. A silent exchange happens between the two of them.

When Willow steps away, Rachel opens it. She dangles the chain in front of my face. “You are here for a reason.”

Tears spring to my eyes as I recall the day Elizabeth handed the necklace to me on the beach.

“An angel is near.”

“I’m dying, Daisy. I don’t have time to beat around the bush with you. Listen to me, and I’ll tell it to you straight.”

My shoulders fall, and I wipe my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

She wraps her arm around me. “Don’t be sorry, sweetie. Just listen to me, okay?” She kisses my forehead. “Your mother gave you up for adoption to keep you safe, but I think you’ve already figured that out.”

I nod.

“Her story is quite incredible, and someday maybe you’ll be ready to hear it, but right now, we’re going to focus on getting you through this.”

She runs her finger over the dragonfly pendant in her palm.

“This dragonfly leads people right where they need to be. It began its flight with a woman who has a similar story to your mother’s.

She found herself pregnant and in a terrible situation with a bad man.

She made it her mission to do whatever she had to do to keep her son safe.

Same as Elizabeth. I adopted that baby.”

I begin to sob loudly, and she pulls me into her chest. “I can assure you my Jackson is nothing like his father. Nothing.”

“But what if I am like him?”

“You’re not. I promise you, baby, you’re not. Don’t let him claim you. You are your mother’s daughter. You are strong, beautiful, and kind. I know she would do anything for you, but I can’t pretend to understand what you are feeling right now. I’m sure it hurts.”

“No one will.”

“My son will. Please talk to him.”

She leans over and places the necklace around my neck. “Lexie gave me this to give to my little granddaughter, but I think you need it more right now.”

I wrap my fingers around it and cry, falling into her arms.

“We’ll get you through. We’ll get you through,” she whispers into my hair.

It’s dark by the time bikes begin to pull into the driveway.

I’ve been listening to the minutes tick by on the grandfather clock. It didn’t put me to sleep like it did at Henry’s. I still don’t know if he was drugging me. Of course he was. He undressed me.

I sit up, watching for Brody to enter the house. When he doesn’t, I swallow the lump in my throat.

Raffe goes to his wife. “How ya feeling, baby?”

She lays her head against his chest. “I’m doing good. Is everyone safe?”

He nods, holding her face in his hands and running his eyes over every inch. “You look tired. Let’s get you home.”

“I said I was good.”

“Thank you so much for sitting with me, but really, you should go home and rest. It’s been a long day,” I tell her.

“If you promise me you’ll stay. Don’t run.”

I glance around the room looking for Brody.

She grabs my hand. “If he’s not here, there’s a reason. I know him, Daisy. He’ll never leave you. Don’t run.”

I nod, and Raffe picks her up. She sighs. “I guess I’m leaving,” she says, chuckling.

“Thank you again!” I yell as he heads out the door with her.

Jackson sits down next to me as soon as his parents leave. “I’m going to give you a ride over to the warehouse. Brody went on ahead so he could get cleaned up.”

“Cleaned up?”

His eyes bounce over my face. “You know who we are, don’t you?”

“Oh,” I say, looking away quickly. I guess I don’t know who they are, because I never once thought about it. They’ve all been so nice to me. I haven’t pictured them as people capable of taking someone out.

My thoughts go back to the first time I met Brody. When he broke that man’s nose for touching me. If he thinks Henry hurt me ...

“We don’t let anything evil live around this club.”

“Yeah, I understand,” I say, wondering if that includes me.

He tips my chin. “Let that shit go right now. You’re Brody’s old lady. You belong here.”

His gaze goes to the necklace around my neck. “Whatever guidance my mother gave to you today, please listen to it. Her advice always comes from the heart.”

I laugh. “Her advice was for me to talk to you.”

He smiles. “Really?”

“Really. She’s proud of you.”

Jackson looks away from me. “I don’t know if I could have done it without her.

There was a time I wanted to take myself out, because I was terrified I’d grow up to be just like my biological father.

” He turns to me with tears in his eyes.

“You’re going to get through this, Daisy.

Brody is the best fucking man I know. He’s strong enough to carry your ass through anything. I mean that. He’s the real deal.”

I follow him out the door and over to his truck.

“Is Elizabeth okay?” I ask as we pull out onto the road.

“She’s angry at herself. She wanted to protect you from all that fucked up shit, and she thinks she failed.”

“I don’t want her to feel that way, but I do wish she would have told me.”

“I hear you there. I’m lucky that I always knew I was adopted. I’ve received a lot of angel mail from my mom. When I was little, I got a letter for every birthday, but they’ve been less frequent since I became an adult. The last one my parents gave me was on my wedding day.”

“That’s nice she still writes to you.”

“She wrote them all before I was born. She passed away shortly after.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugs. “Her letters show up when I need them. I’ve always felt that she’s close. That she’s looking over me, you know?”

I nod, sighing. “I guess this is what I’ve always wanted. Just to know. Now I do.”

When we get to the warehouse, he pulls up to the front door to let me out. “If you ever want to talk, I’m just a phone call away,” he offers.

“You too. I’d love to hear more about your mother. Both of them.”

“You know, you and I, we’re the lucky ones. We have two moms who love us,” he says.

I feel terrible because Jackson has already lost one of his mothers and is about to lose the other. It gives me a unique perspective.

“When Elizabeth first saw Henry, she was truly terrified, but then she pulled herself together and took charge of the situation. If she hadn’t been there …”

Jackson grabs my hand. “But she was. That woman would die for you, Daisy. That kind of love is hard to come by in this world.” He nods toward the warehouse. “She’s not the only one I saw willing to cross the line for you.”

I glance that direction and find Brody waiting for me by the front door.

“Is he okay?” I ask Jackson.

“He is. I told you that fucker is solid.” He taps his forehead.

It makes me sigh because I know he is. I shouldn’t be worried. “Okay, then. Thank you for everything.”

I watch as he drives away, not able to face the man who’s standing behind me. Brody doesn’t budge from his position.

“I’ve got all the time in the world, baby.”

My head falls and I stomp over to him, burying my face in his chest. When his arms wrap around me, I can’t hold in my tears.

He places his hand on the back of my head. “When I saw that guy dragging you by the hair the day we met, I wanted to hurt him.” His voice cracks and he pauses. “Today when he had you …” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He doesn’t need to.

“I know. I’m so sorry I put you in this position.”

“You didn’t do anything, Daisy. Don’t apologize. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through, but it’s almost over.”

I shove away from him. “Almost over?”

“We need to talk.”

He drops his arm across my shoulder and guides me into the warehouse. It’s quiet. When he starts to head toward the stairs that lead to Jesse’s studio, I begin to drag my feet, but he marches on. He doesn’t stop until we’re standing in front of Henry’s painting of me.

I knew that’s what was in that package. Henry had it framed before sending it to me.

This is humiliating. “I … I wasn’t awake.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“I think he drugged me,” I whisper, hoping he doesn’t think I willingly posed for him.

Brody steps away and grabs a mason jar from the table. I begin to back away when I see what’s inside. “Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

“We’re putting this to rest right now. You and me.”

He latches onto my wrist and then picks up a paintbrush. One gentle tug later and we are standing within arm’s reach of Henry’s painting. Brody stands behind me and forces the paintbrush in my hand.

It hovers over the opened jar as the copper scent begins to fill the air. I press my head against his chest. “I don’t want to do this.”

“That is the point.”

His hand wraps tightly over mine, and then he dips the paintbrush.

The first brushstroke slashes over my naked body, erasing a part of me from the canvas. We repeat the process over and over again as I watch the image of myself disappear. Sobs are wracking my entire body by the time we’re finished.

When he releases my hand, I take the end of the paintbrush and stab the handle into the canvas, ripping it from corner to corner.

My hands are bloody and shaking as I realize there is another painting behind it.

Carly’s eyes follow me as I slowly begin to fall to the ground. Brody catches me under my arms before my knees hit the floor.

“This girl was my roommate.”