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Rachel

Bee convinced me to watch Moana with her, and the pair of us laughed our hearts out at her doing her impression of Tamatoa.

She went around my room gathering anything with the slightest bit of shine, or that she deemed valuable, and she hunched over at the back with all the items piled on top of her, singing how shiny she was.

At one point, I almost choked on my burger when she crawled at me, her behind stuck high in the air, her arms and legs rigid straight.

The girl was a pure character, and I felt myself fall in love more and more every time we spent time together.

She even convinced me to act out Maui, and she kept throwing things at me whenever I was supposed to shapeshift into something else, calling it the “magic blast.”

When Moana was finished, she snuggled up to me, her raven hair draped over my chest as she cuddled into my side, using her hair as a pillow. We put on The Lion King, but she was yawning by the time Simba the lion was outcast from his pride.

Boy, I know how that little fucker felt. I felt I was an outcast no matter where I went.

A small kiss to Bee’s forehead had her eyes closing, and she stopped fighting her sleep. Her tiny fist clung to my shirt, resting atop my stomach, and I soon found my eyes growing heavy. Just as I was drifting off into a blissful sleep, I felt her stir below me.

“Rachel?” she whispered.

“Yeah?” I whispered back, opening one of my eyes and pulling a sleepy, funny face.

“Please let me keep you.” And her eyes closed once more, a happy, content sigh leaving her lips before her breathing evened out into the deep breaths of sleep.

My heart clenched. This little firecracker had stolen the small amount of love I had left in me to give. She made the days here bearable, and that terrified me.

I didn’t want to be second guessing leaving. I wanted to be able to cut ties with this club and never look back.

It was different with Joseph. I was under contract to care for him, and I kept my guard high.

But with Bee… I had already been through so much whilst being here, and my usual defence mechanisms were not in place.

She had shimmied her way through the holes in my armour, and I would always worry about her wellbeing if I wasn’t around.

I had seen enough to know that club life wasn’t like a regular life.

Whilst there was an incredible sense of loyalty and camaraderie here, it was also filled with danger and betrayal around every corner.

How long could Bee be kept away from this?

How long before someone used her as leverage against Dante?

It made me want to stay, just so she would always have me around to protect her. Sure, she had her nanny, but I doubt Big Mama had it in her to do much against the more evil people in this world. I had already proven I was willing to do what it takes to survive. I would protect Bee to the death.

I looked down at her and snuggled in closer, holding her tight against me. This girl was precious, and she was the one thing stopping me from hating it here completely.