Page 21

Chapter twenty-one

Heather does her best to carry on a conversation with me while I wait for Lyric to get her shit together, but I keep it as minimal as possible. She knows I’m mad as fuck, but she also knows I’m not going to do shit about it as long as my daughter is around, so she’s trying to take advantage of that.

Sometimes, I really do think she forgets who the fuck it is she has a kid with. She thinks she’s been able to manipulate me all these years, not realizing the only reason she’s ever gotten away with any of the shit is because of the love I have for my little girl. There’s going to come a time where even that isn’t going to be enough to stop me.

Last night worked out some of the aggression that had been riding me hard since the fallout with Bailee, but it’s only taken this woman trying to get under my skin to almost have it rising back to the surface.

Not fucking happening.

I’ve got plans for today, and they won’t fucking work if I’m pissed-off again. Bailee doesn’t know it yet, but she’s about to be unable to resist the lure of an irresistible pair of innocent, charming green eyes.

I’m about to use my daughter to get my Hummingbird to talk to me, and I’m not even the least bit ashamed about it. Bailee has been wanting to meet her for a long time now, and I think it’s time. Hell, if I’m honest, it’s probably past time.

“We’re going to have to work this out, Steel. I don’t understand why you’re not talking to me,” Heather says.

I cut my eyes to her, and whatever she sees in them has her taking a few hesitant steps back.

Fucking smart decision right now.

“Don’t you?”

Her throat convulses as her fear permeates the space of her living room. “No. I have no idea, Steel.”

“Liar,” I say softly, the threat threading my tone clear. The skipping of Lyric’s feet coming down the hall keep me from continuing with the rest of what I want to say. “You and I got shit to talk about, but not while our daughter is around. Goin’ to make one thing clear right fuckin’ now, Heather. Not your property. Don’t own me. Keep your fuckin’ claws sheathed.”

Lyric is back in the living room as the last word pours from my mouth, so Heather doesn’t get a chance to say anything back. Not that I believe she would. She’s not that fucking stupid.

Fucking hope not, anyway.

“Ready, Daddy,” Lyric chirps.

My girl. Always a happy little thing.

She walks over and gives her mom a hug, holding on tightly, then kissing her on the cheek and whispering something in her ear before coming back to me and grabbing my hand.

“We’ll talk more when I bring her home,” I tell Heather, waiting until she gives me a nod of acknowledgement before leading us out the door.

There’s something off about this drive, and it smacks me in the face when I glance in the rear-view mirror and glimpse the somber expression on Lyric’s face.

My normally chipper daughter is full of sadness, which is not something I’m used to seeing on her. There are little needles digging into my skin at the fact that I’m having to witness it now because there’s only one person responsible for putting it there.

Reaching over, I turn the volume down on the stereo and call her name. “Lyric?”

She peers up at me, and god-fucking-dammit, she smacks a smile right on her face so I don’t have to see her without it.

“It’s okay to be sad, Princess. Don’t have to be happy all the time.”

“I know.”

“So, you can drop the fake smile, girl. You don’t pretend with your dad, right? Feel what the fuck you need to. Want to talk about it?”

She nibbles on her lip, and I think for a few seconds about getting on her but decide to let it go since it’s not as important as my girl’s mental health is.

Lyric nods slowly. “Think so.”

“Then I’m all ears, Princess. We have time.”

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

I shake my head, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “Nope. You know I don’t make promises I can’t be sure I’ll keep.”

“Right,” she whispers, nodding and glancing down at the fingers she’s twisting together in her lap.

Lyric has to make the decision to talk to me about this on her own, so as much as I want to push her on it, I keep my mouth shut and watch the road, keeping my eyes peeled for any trouble that might come at us.

“Mommy keeps saying we’re going to be a family together again. Why does she keep saying we’re all going to be together again? I thought you said we wasn’t? She said you guys love each other, that’s why. You don’t ever lie to me, Daddy, so I don’t know why she keeps saying that. Did you change your mind and realize you love her?”

My fingers clench around the steering wheel, and I gnash my teeth together to fight the maddened roar from escaping my chest at the confusion in her voice.

If I thought I was vexed with Heather for the shit she pulled with Bailee, it doesn’t have anything on the way my little girl’s confusion has me foaming at the motherfucking mouth because her mom is trying to play head games with her in a bid to get to me.

“Lyra, I have no clue why your mom is sayin’ those things ‘cause they ain’t true. Like you said, I don’t lie to you. I’m sorry she’s sayin’ stuff that confuses you, Princess. I’ll have a talk with her, okay?”

“No!” she cries out. “You can’t say anything, Daddy. She’ll be mad at me. I don’t like when Mommy is mad at me.”

I don’t fucking like it, but the panic is building on Lyric’s face, and I know she’s thinking of what happens if she loses her mom. So, instead of choosing to confront Heather later like I want, I nod.

“Then you got to promise me, if you’re unsure about anything else she tells you, you’ll call me.”

“‘Kay. I pinky promise,” she says solemnly, leaning as forward as her seat will allow and holding her hand out with her pinky extended.

Without taking my eyes off the road, I curl my arm behind the seat, stretch my pinky out, and hook it to hers.

“Where we going, Daddy?”

“I’ve got a friend I want you to meet. You think you’re up to that, Princess?”

She tilts her head. “Who is it?”

“Not someone you’ve met before. She’s actually a friend of your Aunt Em’s too.”

“Auntie Em knows her?” she asks excitedly.

I chuckle. “Yeah. She grew up with all of them.”

“Wow. Who is she? What’s she like? Is she pretty? Is she your girlfriend? Do you think she’ll like me? What about horror movies? Do you think she’ll watch them with me?”

She fires off the questions at a rapid pace, her body bouncing in her seat animatedly. Her cheeks are rosy with happiness and her eyes twinkle with excitement. Both are a much better sight than the fucking somber expression she was wearing moments ago.

This . . .

This is the shit I want to see on my daughter every fucking day. This is what I fight so hard for. This is what I always thought I was working toward when I was trying to make things work with Heather, not realizing I was doing the complete opposite.

“Slow down, Princess,” I say with a laugh. “Why don’t you wait and find all that out for yourself? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“Yes, so hurry now,” she demands.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Before long, we’re pulling around to the side of Sinful Saloon where Bailee’s apartment is. She’s not working today because I called Reva this morning and told her to put her off schedule. She wasn’t fucking happy about it, gave me lip, but I knew she’d do it because I’m her boss. It also helped that I told her I’d fucked up and needed to make it right with Bailee.

My Hummingbird thought she was going to be able to work through her pain without having to face it, but that’s not how this shit is going to go down. I’m fucking tired of us running from this shit. If it’s not me, it’s her. We’re going to face this shit together. She’s going to hear me out, let me explain what I wanted to yesterday, then let me make it up to her.

I fucked up. Not denying it. Then I took off when she told me to, after telling her this was why I didn’t do relationships. I’m a work in fucking progress, always gonna be, but I’m learning and adapting. My girl doesn’t have the best mom. She’s been watching the way I treat her and she’s gonna think that’s what she’s got to accept from a man. I don’t want that for her, so I gotta show her there’s better. To do that, I got to be better.

There’s only one woman I’ve ever considered doing that for.

Only one I’ve ever fucking wanted to do that for.

I keep Lyric tucked tightly to me, observing our surroundings as I carry us to the apartment door.

The club is busy, but there doesn’t seem to be many stragglers loitering around outside. It’s prohibited, but it doesn’t stop some assholes who think they’re the exception to the rule.

Giving Bailee a chance to let us in before I decide to use my key, I knock and wait patiently for a few minutes before doing it again. “It’s me, Hummingbird.”

When she still doesn’t open, I flip through my keys until I get to hers and then slide it into the lock and let us in.

“Bailee?” I call out so she knows it’s me. “I brought someone to meet you.”

The place is quiet. Something about it makes me uncomfortable because it’s far from the vibrancy I’m used to with my Hummingbird. I keep Lyric’s hand in mine as I take us farther into the apartment. Bailee’s phone is sitting on the counter along with the contact case and all the faux facial jewelry.

“Daddy?” Lyric whispers. “What’s going on? Where is she?”

“Don’t know, Princess,” I admit, swallowing tightly.

Her clothes from yesterday lay on the bathroom floor, and a damp towel is tossed over the shower curtain rod.

“Let’s check her room,” my daughter suggests and pulls me down the hall as if she knows where she’s going.

The bedroom door is cracked slightly, and we stop in front of it. Lyric peeks over her shoulder at me, and I glance down at her as we both debate what to do.

Do we go in, or do we walk away?

I should have known my daughter wasn’t going to give up, though. She’s too much like her old man for that.

She pushes the door open and pulls me through. Our steps are quiet on the carpet beneath our feet as we approach the bed holding the sleeping beauty. We stop in front of her and stare for a few minutes.

Lyric looks up at me with stars in her eyes. “She’s beautiful.”

My throat tightens at the way my daughter’s voice takes on the adoring tone I knew it would. It’s not hard to adore Bailee at first glance.

“Yeah,” I murmur.

“Why does she look so sad in her sleep, Daddy?” she asks, keeping her voice low.

“Because your daddy is an asshole who fucked up and broke her heart.”

“Well, that was incredibly rude of you,” she whispers snarkily.

“It was.”

“So, fix it.”

“I’m tryin’,” I argue back. “Why do you think we’re here?”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“My money’s on the small one,” a quiet, husky voice says from the bed beside us.

We both jerk our glares away from each other and turn our attention to Bailee as she sits up in bed. She runs her hand through her short hair, and I pretend I don’t notice the way it shakes when she does.

“Good choice,” Lyric says, pulling her hand from mine and hopping up on the bed to sit beside Bailee.

My body is coiled tight as I prepare to grab my daughter and leave the apartment if Bailee tries to reject her because of who her parents are. It wouldn’t be fair to Lyric. She can’t help whose nut she came from or which cunt she slid out of. She’s the only truly innocent person in this room, and if she’s punished because of me and Heather, then Bailee isn’t the person I thought she was, and that’d be a huge fucking disappointment.

Lyric wiggles a little as Bailee continues to stare at her, but she doesn’t lose her smile, nor does she give up. “Hi,” she chirps. “Daddy said you’re coming with us. I’m Lyric. I’m almost seven years old and love horror movies. Do you like them? If you do, can we watch some when we get to our house? Your hair is really pretty. Do you think Daddy would let me have mine that color?”

Bailee’s eyes soften the more Lyric talks, and her lips part as she watches her in wonder.

“Red hair and green eyes. Hey, then I’d look like Christmas.” Lyric giggles. “Just a horror girl who loves Christmas.” Lyric turns to me. “What do you think, Daddy? Can I have red hair like Bee too?”

My eyes flick to Bailee the moment Lyric gives her a nickname only to find them a little glossy. She bites the edge of her bottom lip and glances away from us to look at the wall while she gathers her composure.

I give my attention back to Lyric. “Think you better wait for a while on that one, Princess. That’s a big step, okay? Compromise?”

She tilts her head in the way she does when she’s silently asking what something means.

“It means instead of you coloring your hair this color, he lets you do something, say like, the colored hair spray. That way, you still get the color you want, but it won’t be as permanent as this is.” Bailee looks up at me. “Is that right?”

I stand there staring at her, dumbfounded, because no one has ever been able to understand the silent way Lyric and I communicate. For her to pick it up in such a short time is absolutely amazing and signals to me that I’m doing the right thing by introducing them.

Clearing my throat, I nod, reluctantly dragging my eyes away from hers to look at my daughter. “She’s right. They got that stinky hair spray shit that you usually find at Halloween. Saw some kind of chalk bullshit you can use on your hair that can easily be washed out. See no issue with either of those.”

Lyric squeals, bouncing on the bed, and she does the one thing that makes me want to promise she can color her hair any fucking color she wants—she makes Bailee laugh.

“Right. Lee, grab a bag. Comin’ with us, baby girl.”

Her head whips my way. “Um, no, I am not.”

My eyes narrow. “Get your bag packed or I’ll pack it for you. Either way, your ass is goin’ to my place. You’re goin’ to be with me and my girl tonight.”

“Yup. Daddy broke your heart, and he has to fix it,” Lyric states.

“You’re playing dirty using your daughter,” Bailee grumbles, climbing from the bed, careful to not touch me as she passes.

Before she gets too far out of my reach, I anchor my fingers around her wrist, causing her to freeze, and step up against her back. Leaning down, I whisper, “Baby girl, I wouldn’t be Road Captain of the fuckin’ Dirty Mavericks if I didn’t enjoy playin’ filthy sometimes.”

A shudder runs through her, and I smirk, loving the fact that despite everything, there’s still this between us.

Releasing my hold on her, I step away and get serious. “Lyric is right. Broke your heart and it’s up to me to fix that. We have a hell of a lot to talk about, and now that everything isn’t so fuckin’ fresh, you’re goin’ to listen to me. Grab your shit so we can go.”

She stares at me blankly for a few seconds and then glances over to Lyric. “He’s so bossy.”

Lyric groans, rolls her eyes, and drops back to the bed dramatically like a typical almost seven-year-old would. “Tell me about it.”

“Suddenly don’t think this was a good idea,” I grumble playfully, shoving my hands into my pockets.

Lyric giggles, and Bailee smiles even though it’s tinged with a hint of sadness.

“No take backs,” Lyric hollers.

Bailee looks at me, and despite the pain swimming in them, her eyes are filled with warmth. “No take backs, dad,” she teases.

Turning on my heel, I head out of the bedroom. “I’m outnumbered. I’ll be waiting in here.”

If I’d had known that all it would take was a meeting between my Princess and my Hummingbird to bring me the most happiness I’ve had in the last seven years, I’d probably have saved us all a hell of a lot of heartaches and done it so much fucking sooner.

Leaning against the wall, I close my eyes and listen to whispered words accompanied by quiet giggles between the two of them, recording the sound in my mind so I’ll always have it with me.