“What don’t you like about bedtime?” I enquired.
“I miss you when I’m sleeping,” she said delicately.
“You do?”
“Mmm hmm, I don’t know how long we’ll be here or when we have to go home, so I want to spend as much time with you as I can.” She closed her game and placed it down on the bed. When she turned to look at me, I saw the sparkle in her eyes and knew she was trying to hold back tears. My brave little girl.
“Harlyn, I can tell you one thing for sure. I don’t know what’s going to happen but know this, it doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, I love you. I promise I will make more time to see you. If I could, it would be every single day.” I brushed her curly locks back from her face and watched as her face lit up.
“You mean it?”
“Have I let you down so far?”
She held out her pinky finger and I couldn’t help but laugh. It had been something I’d done once to try and stop her from crying when I had to leave her and Sugar and head home. It had stuck. I hooked her pinky with mine and squeezed. “Pinky promise?”
“Pinky promise, baby.”
She nodded her head sharply like it was a done deal. Turning around, she wiggled herself back under my arm like she’d been before. “Are you and Momma going to get back together?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Why would you ask that?” She shrugged, but I knew she was getting at something. “Do you want that?”
“No,” her answer was definitive and sure.
“Why not?”
“Because you like Chelsea.” My eyes widened, clearly I had underestimated how much Harlyn saw and heard around the clubhouse. “I like her too.”
“Harlyn...that’s not really something you need to worry about,” I told her quietly.
“I’m not worried,” she said casually as she picked the iPad back up and opened the reading application, flicking through the many different children’s books with her finger until she landed on one she liked—Cinderella.
This kid.
I drove us in Rose’s car to the hospital. I could tell she was in pain, not just from her hand but from her father, in general, but she tried to make light of the situation.
“I guess it could have been worse.” She forced out a laugh.
“Rose,” I warned, not really wanting to hear her joke about something that was actually extremely serious. This man had purposely hurt her. He was supposed to be her parent, someone who cared about her and loved her unconditionally. It was wrong. On so many levels, this was wrong.
“Oh come on Chel.” I could tell even without looking at her that she was rolling her eyes. She was trying to brush it off, make out like it was no big deal.
We pulled into the hospital parking lot and I found a park close to the front doors.
I heard her sharp intake of breath. “What’s he doing here, Chelsea?” She turned to me with her eyes wide. I didn’t have to guess who she was talking about. The club was closer to the hospital than we were, and I had no doubt he would have ridden like hell to get here.
“He cares,” was all I said, as I pulled the door open and climbed out.
Blizzard was standing at the doors that lead to the emergency room, his stance wide and his arms folded across his chest. With the light behind him I couldn’t see his face but his shadow was intimidating enough.
“You called him,” she hissed accusingly as we walk forward.
“He cares,” I told her again, growling under my breath as we got closer.
She didn’t say anything and he just stood there, watching us and waiting. We stopped in front of him, the air was slightly chilly around us, but I wasn’t sure if it was the weather or the way he eyed Rose that caused me to shiver.
“Let me see,” he demanded. Rose held her hand to her body, cupping it against her protectively. “Let. Me. See.”
Rose’s shoulders slumped as she gave in and held her hand out, palm up. He stepped to the side so that the light from inside the emergency room shone on us and allowed him to see better. He placed his hand under hers, lifting it slightly, his touch I could tell was light and delicate, almost protective.
He studied it silently for a minute. “What happened?”
Rose’s eyes shot to me nervously, she didn’t know what to say.
“I…uh…left the element on the stove on and she leaned on it. My fault really. Blonde moment.” I tried to play it off, just like I had scolded Rose for doing moments before. She wouldn’t tell him what happened. She didn’t want him to know, and for now I would keep her secret.
For now.
Blizzard looked over at me, his eyes scanning my face. He knew I was lying. I waited for him to call me out.
“Let’s get it looked at,” he muttered even as his eyes still watched me. There was a promise there. A promise that he would get to the truth. He placed a hand on the small of Rose’s back and gently guided her through the doors. She looked over her shoulder at me, her face full of concern, but I tried to give her my best reassuring smile. He pushed her to the front desk and I took a seat in the waiting room, allowing Blizzard to take the lead on this one. I flipped through a magazine, looking up when I felt the chair dip next to me. Blizzard was alone.
“Where’s Rose?” I asked, looking around nervously.
“I made them take her right away,” he murmured.
I looked around. The room was full of sick and injured people, all that had been waiting longer than we had. Blizzard seemed to read my thoughts. He leaned back in the seat and folded his arms across his broad chest.
“Came in before you got here. Money talks, you should know that.”
I nodded, I did know that. Being with the club had its perks, you got the best service, the best seats, the best of anything because they paid for it.
“You gonna tell me what actually happened?” he asked quietly, aware of the people around us eying him. I wasn’t sure if they were intimidated because of the MC cut or just curious. The boys were watched and judged wherever they went. It was normal.
“She’ll tell you when she’s ready,” I said simply, hoping it would pacify him for now.
He scoffed. “You called me, Chelsea. Asking me to keep an eye on her. To do that, I need to know what’s going on.”
I sighed. “Look, she’s not in any immediate danger if that’s what you’re worried about. I know, I called you, I just … I care about Rose. I want to protect her, but she’s just not ready for that yet.”
I saw his jaw clench, but he continued to stare straight ahead. “So someone did this.”
“Blizzard.”
His head snapped to me. “Someone fucking hurt her,” he growled, now obviously not caring whether people heard or stared. Which they did. My eyes traveled down to his hands and I watched them clench and flex in agitation and anger.
“Don’t pull this shit on her,” I snapped, attempting to keep my voice low. “You go all caveman on her and she will run. She will run straight back to them.”
He snarled, his lip turning up. He knew I was right.
I placed my hand over his. “She needs to trust us and know that we will be there for her. But right now, she’s just scared. And scared people do crazy things.” My words didn’t please him, but I knew that for now he understood.
“I won’t let them hurt her,” he whispered, his voice gravelly.
I nodded. “Neither will I.”
We sat in silence for a long time. I pondered about Blizzard and Rose. What the connection was that they had? Why he wanted so much to keep her from harm? Was it just because he felt something for her? Or was there more? I’d always known Blizzard to be a ladies, man. He never talked about getting an Old Lady, but then again none of the brothers do. From what I gathered they were all content being manwhores until the right one came along and then it was like a slap in the face.
Maybe Rose was Blizzard’s slap in the face?
Rose had retreated into herself over the last couple of we
eks. She was no longer the flirty, cheeky girl I once met. Sure, I got glimpses of the other her occasionally, but I was really starting to worry. I thought maybe by asking Blizzard to watch out for her that it would bring them closer. Maybe they would find something that they were missing within each other. Maybe he would make her happy again and she would see that she didn't deserve to be treated like shit, that she didn't have to put up with it because she had other people that cared about her too. Us.
Blizzard stood to his feet before I knew what was happening. I looked up and found Rose standing next to the front desk talking to the doctor. Blizzard was by her side in a flash. The doctor eyed him warily but continued to speak to Rose as if he wasn’t there. I didn’t want to crowd her. Blizzard was doing a good enough job of that for the both of us.
When the doctor walked away, I moved closer. Rose gave me a soft smile. “Not as bad as we thought. Just second degree.” Her hand wasn’t bandaged or anything. “Doctor said painkillers and some antibiotic cream should do the trick.”
I felt a little better and let my body sag. “That’s good. I’m so glad.”
“Can we go home now?” she asked, her eyes pleading with me.
“Yeah, let's—”
“I need to talk to her first,” Blizzard said quickly, taking hold of her elbow and leading her away.
“Um...okay. I’ll just wait in the car.” I frowned. I hoped he wouldn’t mention anything to her about what we’d discussed. Rose was all I had at the moment. With Harmony so far away Rose was my rock, and I really didn’t want to do or say anything that would hurt her.
I could see their outlines as they stood just to the side of the emergency department doors. Blizzard reached out to touch her and she shifted back. I could even see his body go rigid as she did. It was only a couple of minutes before they were walking toward me, Rose looking sad and still slightly nervous in Blizzard’s presence and Blizzard looking frustrated.
Maybe I had it wrong.
Maybe she wasn’t his slap in the face.
Maybe she was more like a kick in the balls.
The last week or so since Chelsea left had been both quiet and fucking crazy all at once. We weren’t any closer to figuring out what the fuck was going on with the DePalma’s. Leo had been keeping a watch on Anthony with one of our boys sitting outside his hotel at all times of the day and night. Hoping, that if they try something else, that we won’t be caught with our pants down like we were with the car bomb that was planted under Chelsea’s car.
Kev had taken a look at what was left of the device, and had come to the conclusion that it was set to a timer. So the mystery remained, was Chelsea the target or was the bomb meant to go off and hit the club and hopefully some of its members.
Luckily for us, Chelsea parks her car under the shade of a tree which borders the fence line of the clubhouse, and not near the building itself like we do with our bikes. So there was very little damage done to anything but her car.
Leo tells me that Anthony has been leaving the hotel and meeting up with some men for casual lunches or drinks. From what we can gather they’re wealthy businessmen but nothing so far that seems like a threat to the club. It’s all very strange and ultimately mindfucking. But for now, the heat from the fire wasn’t burning too hot, and I was hoping it would stay that way.
I sat on a picnic table outside, watching Harlyn as she raced around the playground. The kid never seemed to get tired. When Sugar wasn’t forcing her to sit down and do her school work, she was constantly on the playground. It was like every day she looked at it like it was a new toy to play with, but it was just the same stuff she’d spent hours playing on the day before. I guess that was a child’s imagination for you. You could dream up anything and turn it into something amazing.
I heard the front gates creak open. I climbed off the table and walked over to the large fence that we’d built to protect the view of our outdoor area from the road. The reason for it being there always caused me to feel a rush of emotion. My mother had been shot sitting right where I was just sitting during a drive by. Some small time punks who thought they were the shit, wanting to brag about shooting up the local MC’s clubhouse.
My mom was killed that day and I should have been sitting there next to her, maybe even in front of her so that the bullets would have hit my body instead of hers. But at sixteen I was far more concerned about making it known that I wanted to prospect for the club. It would be two years until I would be allowed to even step up and plead my case, but I had watched these men my whole life. I knew this was where I wanted to be.
So instead of sitting outside with the women and children while the men held church, I was inside, sitting outside that room, waiting for them to come out. Offering to do jobs and wanting to spend time with them.
Thinking of myself rather than watching out for my mom.
I shook the thoughts from my head as I stepped into the space where the path ran down the side of the clubhouse from the front to the back. A dark blue Chevy truck pulled past the gates and into the lot, parking right by me. Connor climbed out of the driver’s seat and lifted his chin at me in greeting. His passenger door opened and closed, but I couldn’t tell who it was past the tinted windows. I heard another door bang shut before Lucy stepped around the massive vehicle carrying a small child on her hip.
Lucy gave me a smile as she came closer, it wasn’t her usual broad grin, though. “Hey, Op.”
“Hey, Luc.” My eyes flicked between the two of them. “What’s going on?”
It was unusual for them to visit, especially since I could count on both my hands the amount of times Connor had ever come to the clubhouse, and X-Rated girls weren’t usually permitted to be here unless there was a party and they had been invited.
“Sorry to rock up on you like this, but I saw Blizzard in town and he thought it would be a good idea for us to come have a chat with you regarding this little one,” Connor explained, pointing to the girl with dark hair who had a death grip around Lucy’s neck.
I took me a while to figure out what this had to do with us, but it clicked when she finally lifted her face and looked directly at me. “She Hayley’s kid, huh?”
Connor nodded.
I sighed. “Take her around to the playground, Lucy. Harlyn’s there with Neil. I’m sure she’d like a new friend to play with.”
“Sure.” Lucy smiled. “Shall we go make a new friend, Jay?” She placed the little girl on the ground and they held hands before disappearing behind the fence.
I tipped my head toward the clubhouse. “Let’s go talk.”
Connor followed as we walked through the main room and down the hall to my office. I shut the door behind him and took a seat behind my desk. He sat down opposite, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees.
“X-Rated is back up and running tonight. Should be busy,” he said casually.
We’d had to shut down the club for two nights so that police could investigate Hayley’s murder. I knew they wouldn’t find anything and they’d made us close our doors just to be assholes. But I didn’t argue. Hayley deserved more than for us to just hide her body somewhere like nothing happened. There was a little girl to think about, which I assumed was the reason for this visit.
“They find the girl some family?” I asked, not wanting to mess around.
Connor looked up at me and shook his head. “Parents are hardcore Christian. Want nothing to do with an illegitimate child. Tossed her out when she found out she was pregnant and she moved in with an old lady who used to babysit her.” He looked tired and frustrated. I knew he felt entirely responsible for the girls at X-Rated. They may belong to the club, but he was like the house mother and he protected them fiercely. “Jayla calls her Gran. She lives over in Montgomery, but she’s eighty-years-old and can’t even do a lot for herself nowadays. She can’t look after a four-year-old.”
“So what are our other options here? Obviously, there was never a dad listed and whether he even knows he has a
kid out there is slim to none, and what’s a bet she never told anyone who he was.” I folded my arms and leaned back.
“For now, the police have allowed us to take care of her. She’s been staying with Lucy, Kat and Summer at the apartment downtown, and I’ve put the girls on rotating shifts so that at least one of them is home with her all the time.” He pushed off the chair and walks around it, staring at the floor. “They won’t let us keep her for long. Eventually, they’ll have to come and take her and then what? I don’t want that for her. She’s four and she just lost basically the only family that she knows.”
My mind instantly flashed back to Chelsea. It was like the past repeating itself.
“Look, let me see what I can do. Try and hold off giving her up for a while longer.”
He nodded but his head still hung low. He was feeling this loss hard. It was her association with the club that got her killed, so I’d do whatever possible to make sure that her daughter was looked after. Silence hung in the air and I knew there was something he needed to say.
“I want justice for her,” he spoke quietly, but I heard him loud and clear.
“That’s exactly what she’ll get,” I confirmed slowly, thinking we’d already gone over this.
“I wish I’d known more about her. We had shit in common.” He tried to laugh, but it was strangled. “I know the whole Christian family shit well. I grew up in one. All my friends were from Christian families.”
I began to understand his investment in Hayley’s life. He felt that connection, he realized what she had been through and the idea of trying to make your life better when people who were supposed to care about you, completely shit all over you. I stayed silent, allowing him time to continue if he wanted. I wouldn’t force him to, but sometimes we just need someone to hear our story, to validate who we are and what we’ve fought to get to where we are.
“My best friend got addicted to meth in our senior year at high school. When his parents found out, they supported him while he battled his way out of it. I was there for him. I pushed him to be better and with all that unconditional love behind him, he came out the other side.” He laughed again, but this time it was darker, full of anger and disgust. “I saw what he went through and how everyone had his back and that year, I decided to come out. I’d known I was gay since I was fucking twelve. But you know what I got in return? Shunned.”
Chelsea (The Club Girl Diaries Book 2) Page 18
