Luca glanced around the room, eyes sharp, heart pounding and ready in that instant for anything. It took a moment for his mind to clear and the instinctive rush to fade. When it did, he searched the room for whatever had awakened him. He knew he was in his clubhouse but this was a room he didn’t know.
In the next moment, he remembered everything his mind had blanked out a moment ago. The six years he’d spent in prison, the ride home, the fact he had a daughter, his brother dumped on his front lawn, even the visit from Grace this morning.
His heart began pounding again as he searched the room again, this time looking for his daughter. When he didn’t find her, he began calling her name. Jumping from the bed, he rushed for the door flinging it open with such force it hit the door behind him. He ran down the hall and burst into the main room still calling her name and growing more anxious with each hurried step.
Everything went quiet in the moment as Luca searched the room for any sign of his daughter. Bowie and a couple of the brothers were playing pool but they froze as Luca burst in. There were three prospects sitting at the bar, they too froze. It was only when Sunshine came into the room from the kitchen with Bella in her arms that movement began again.
She brought Bella over to him immediately. Luca’s heart began to beat normally again as soon as he laid eyes on his daughter. Closing his eyes, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.
“Sweet Jesus, I thought I lost her.” He whispered as he hugged her to him.
Sunshine looked at him with worry in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I checked on her a couple of hours ago and she was awake, so I took her with me rather than leave her there. I thought you needed your rest.”
“Oh god, Sunshine, I’m the one who’s sorry. I heard a crash and when I woke up, I couldn’t remember where I was for a moment. Then on top of that, I couldn’t find her. Once I realized where I was, I knew she was safe.”
“Then you’re not mad?” the older woman asked.
“Oh, Christ no.” Luca groaned. “I’m grateful for you taking care of her. I wouldn’t have heard her but you cared enough to check on her.” Luca hauled Sunshine in his other arm and hugged her close. He must have held her a moment too long because the next sound he heard was that of a stick slapping own on the floor and footsteps stomping toward them.
He raised his head as he heard the low growl from someone behind him. He carefully loosened his hold and Sunshine wisely moved away from him. Luca slowly extended his free arm out and Bowie came around to stand in front of him.
“Sun is my woman not yours, you don’t get to hold her like that.” Bowie growled.
“I’m sorry man.” Luca apologized. “I didn’t know what happened to Bella when I woke up alone. No offence but I was grateful when I found she was safe.”
Bowie jealousy was legendary within the club. Ever since the day they met, he’d been unreasonable about her. No one touched her and no one showed her disrespect of any kind. Bowie would beat your ass if you did and as he was a big enough man, no one wanted to take him on.
“Bowie, you’re scaring the baby,’ Sunshine warned her husband softly.
When she touched his arm, the beast within him calmed. Bowie turned toward her with an ashamed look on his face. “Oh baby, I’m sorry but you know how crazy I can get. I didn’t mean to snap at Luca.”
“I know baby, I know.” Sunshine smiled gently at the big man she’d shared so many years with. She turned to look at Bella and could see she wasn’t unduly upset. Then she looked up at Luca. “She had her breakfast but didn’t eat much. We were just making some lunch when you bellowed.”
Luca looked down into Bella’s eyes. There was more trust than fear in her eyes now and he leaned toward her brushing his lips on her forehead. “Oh baby, I’m sorry I yelled. I thought I’d lost you.”
Bowie chuckled softly and reached out to slap him on the shoulder. “You’ll learn not to panic when they aren’t with you soon enough.”
Sunshine snorted. When Bowie looked her way, she smiled sweetly. “I’m still waiting on you learning that lesson.”
Bowie flushed then glared at her. “Well, you are my woman.”
Sunshine rolled her eyes and glanced at Luca. “Come on you and Bella can have lunch. I’m sure you haven’t eaten anything today with as upset as you were this morning.”
Luca’s stomach growled at the mention of food and he nodded. When he moved to follow Sunshine into the kitchen, he turned to Bowie and asked, “Any word on how Aiden is doing?”
“He’s holding his own.” Bowie nodded. “They have him in a medically induced coma to allow his body time to repair itself. His skull was fractured so there is bleeding on his brain, his jaw was broken in three places, they were worried he might have fractured his neck but there’s so much swelling the doctors can’t see it yet. He’s got three broken ribs but none pierced his lungs. His left hand is broken the three places and the bastards broke his left hip.”
As he described each injury, Luca felt his heart sink deeper in his chest. For a moment, his mind went blank then he turned to the other man and asked softly, “Was he high when they worked him over?”
Bowie shook his head. “They didn’t find any drugs in his body. I asked. I did I mention the fact that he may start going through withdrawal, so the doctors know about it now. They can plan their treatment accordingly.”
Luca nodded and pressed Bella against him more tightly. He breathed in her familiar innocent scent and it calmed his inner beast. Looking down at the crown of her head, he still marveled at the fact that she was his blood.
Something snapped in his brain and his eyes widened when the stray thought pushed forward. “Sunshine,” he called out gently. “Can you take her back and get her some lunch? I have to talk to your husband.”
Sunshine turned and saw the look in his eyes. She took the little girl from him and didn’t say a word but instead took her the rest of the way to the kitchen, leaving the two men in the hall.
Luca turned slowly to face Bowie.
Bowie read the look on his face and dragged him down the hall to his office.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Luca turned to glare at Bowie. “Last night before Aiden was dumped on our front lawn, Bella had a nightmare. You know how she hasn’t said a word since she got here? Last night in her nightmare, she called out a name. Her voice was little more than a whisper but holy fuck, that little whisper held nothing but pure terror. I didn’t realize it then but she is terrified of someone she called Pete.”
“Who the fuck is Pete?” Bowie frowned and why is she so scared of him?”
“I have no clue. I asked Grace to find out who Frannie has been seeing named Pete but they might not be able to tell me anything. Fannie is in hiding right now.”
Bowie waited for him to continue.
“Then I remembered something from the other night. When we were out to eat just before you guys walked in to Chunky Cheese. We had just sat down and ordered our meal when Adam Peterson came over to our table. He wasn’t happy to see me sitting there with Grace but she said she was working. He even went as far as to threaten to put me back behind bars. That’s when he noticed Bella at our table. He asked me why I had Frannie daughter and if I knew where Frannie was staying. I didn’t but when I told him Bella was my kid, he looked almost sick.
“Bella was terrified of him. She was so scared Grace had to drive us home. I had to hold Bella all the way and even when we did get home, she wouldn’t let me put her down. When I finally got her settled down, she woke a few hours later in a nightmare.”
“What the everlovin fuck?” Bowie was stunned by what Luca was telling him. So much so, he wasn’t sure what it all meant.
After a moment, he asked, “What did Grace tell you about Frannie’s lifestyle? Did she know anything that might explain it?”
Luca shook his head. “Grace left a file with everything she knew and there was nothing in it that told me anything. Frannie simply brought Bella to social services a
nd left her there. She left a letter for the social worker and another letter for me. Basically, both letters were the same shit. They claimed that I was Bella’s father and when she found out, she was carrying my baby she took off in case I didn’t want the kid. She had Bella for six years and now it was my turn to step up and take care of her. That’s it, that’s all we know about Frannie and Bella.”
“What a fucked up mess,” Bowie commented as he ran his hands over the top of his head.
“Has anyone here got any info on Frannie and where she’s been the last six years?” Luca had to ask.
Bowie shook his head. “Wherever she was, she went off the grid. We can’t even find a birth certificate for the kid.”
“Grace had one but she told me it might not be real.” Luca nodded. “The certificate claims Bella was born in Taos but Grace said there’s no hospital with the name of the hospital written on the certificate.” Luca shrugged his shoulders, “She said they tried to run down the certificate, but there was no record that matched hers. That means they don’t know when Bella was born even. The only thing that was real was the blood test Frannie had done. She got a sample of my blood from the prison records so I would know Bella really is my daughter.”
“I’ll get the guys to keep digging. There has to be some record somewhere.” Bowie acknowledged.
“Tell them I need an address. I need to talk to Frannie and find out what the hell is going on with Bella.”
Bowie nodded and looked at Luca. “What are we gonna do about Aiden?”
Luca exhaled. “I don’t know. I told him to get his act together and that until he did he couldn’t be around me and Bella. I told him I wasn’t going to lose Bella because he couldn’t stop taking drugs. He claimed that we were brothers long before she came along. I agreed but I also told him he didn’t need me in the same way she did. I told him I would always be there for him but I couldn’t help him until he helped himself.”
“That was something he had to hear you say.” Bowie shook his head. “I’m sorry I dropped the ball where he’s concerned. I should have seen what was happening with him and tried to stop it before it got this bad.”
Luca shook his head. “No this is all on Aiden. You didn’t point a gun at his head and make him take the drugs. I think we both know that and we both know you would have kicked his dumb ass when you found out about his using. That’s why he kept it hidden for so long.”
Bowie nodded. “Let’s just hope he pulls through enough for you to get down on his ass. We really need to know who did this to him, to you.”
“I think we both know who did this and why.”
“We may suspect but only Aiden knows for sure. We aren’t in a strong enough position to put the blame on Peterson until we hear it from Aiden’s lips.”
Luca curled his hands into fists. “I’m gonna kill that man if he did this to Aiden.”
“Calm down, we have too much work to do before we can say anything at all.” Bowie told the other man. “You have to think Aiden is going to be alright. His chances are good and that’s something you have to hang onto. I’ve got everyone I know looking for skeletons in Peterson’s closets in order to stop him from running for Governor but until we find something concrete we can use, we’re stranded in the water.”
Luca growled and looked so lost for a moment then seemed to buck up. He squared his shoulders and met his Presidents’ eyes. “For now, all I can do is take care of Bella and watch over Aiden the best I can. He’s a grown man and has to learn to stand on his own two feet. I’ll be there as much as I can but I have Bella to take care of she comes first.”
Bowie nodded. “The brothers will watch over your brother until this is over.”
Luca nodded then told him, “I’ll have to go and get some things from the house in White Rock. Bella and I will get settled in the apartment and I’ll be able to start my job in the next few days.”
“You might want to ask Sunshine to watch over Bella while you work,” Bowie told him. “I think she’s looking forward to that. You know her and kids.” He chuckled, “She’s starting to pester the boys about being a grandma now.”
Luca chuckled. “Are you ready for that, Grandpa?”
“Fuck no!” Bowie stated rather rudely. “I’m not old enough to have some snot nosed kid calling me grandpa. I can wait for a few more years but that woman is getting impatient about it so maybe having Bella to take care of will put that aspect off for a few more years.”
Luca turned to find Sunshine. “I might stop by the hospital to see Aiden before I come back for Bella.”
“You do that.” Bowie watched with worried eyes as Luca disappeared down the hall toward the kitchen. He wasn’t sure what bothered him the most, the fact that one of his men had been beaten almost to death, the fact they suspected that law enforcement was behind the beating or the fact that Adam Peterson was leading a campaign against the club.
Luca didn’t seem as gung-ho about the club as he’d been before he went to prison but one thing Bowie was sure of was the fact that Luca wouldn’t do anything to hurt the club. Luca had already proved his loyalty and Bowie knew no matter what that wasn’t going to change.
One thing was for sure. With or without Luca, Bowie didn’t have the manpower to handle a threat like Adam Peterson in his chapter alone. He knew they were going to need help, fortunately, he knew just the person to call.
Chapter Nine
Bella’s new school was full of wailing children. Not a pleasant sound, Luca decided pretty quickly. It was her first day at Kindergarten, and with Grace’s help, Luca found her a nice school a short drive from his new apartment.
Bella squeezed his hand worriedly as they entered her carpeted classroom. The long desks by the walls had puzzles and games on them to keep the children occupied while teachers and staff consoled nervous overly-attached parents.
“It’s OK, Banana. I’ll be back soon to pick you up. I promise.” Luca took a knee and she threw herself at him into a hug. It’d been a few weeks since they moved into the new apartment and Bella still hadn’t uttered another word. Her night terrors returned a few times, but she never said the name Pete again.
“Hey. You gotta be strong, OK?” Luca pulled her away from to look her in the eyes. The poor girl was struggling to hold back tears, but couldn’t. He of course understood why she was a little more upset than the other kids, and would be as patient as she needed. Everyone in Bella’s life so far had abandoned her. Luca was determined to convince her that he wasn’t like them. “After school I’ll pick you and we’ll get ice cream, how does that sound? Chocolate with sprinkles?”
Bella had a sweet tooth like her old man, and after her first full day at school, they were both going to need some sugar therapy. Luca already knew it was going to be hard to concentrate at the bike shop today. He was going to be worried sick about her.
Bella reluctantly nodded, then sullenly let herself be led away by one of the teachers. She quickly joined in with a small group of kids at one of the desks and immediately started to play with the pattern blocks. Within seconds of starting the game, she’d already forgotten about Luca.
He lingered a little while longer to make sure Bella was all right and waited his turn to talk with one of the aides. Truth was the big, bad biker was one of those overly-attached parents who needed reassuring that their kid was going to be all right. After triple checking the pick-up time, he finally headed out to the minivan that Sunshine semi-permanently loaned him.
Opening the door, Luca bemoaned how much he missed his damn bike. Now that Bella’s in school, maybe he could find a few reasons to take it out for a ride.
Before he left, Luca texted Grace to let her know that Bella had been dropped off at school. It wasn’t something he had to do. Grace could find out whatever she needed from the school itself, but it didn’t need to come to that. Luca had come to enjoy the social worker’s company over the past few weeks, and from the quick text reply, Luca could tell the feeling was mutual. Luca had s
tarted melting away whatever biker hang ups Grace had at least enough for him to finally see that she did indeed have an actual personality.
After one last text inviting Grace to join them for ice cream later, Luca went to go visit his brother in the hospital.
The two prospects posted outside his hospital room moved aside to let Luca through. Between Bella and work, Luca didn’t get the chance to visit as often as he’d like or stay as long as he wanted, but seeing Aiden did make him feel a little better.
Not much had changed in the last few weeks for Aiden. His bones had been set, and his cuts were on the mend but he was still in a coma. Luca could feel in his blood that Aiden was fighting to wake up. Every once in a while he’d hear from a nurse that Aiden stirred a little. Luca knew that his brother was too tough for this whole coma thing to take and sooner or later Aiden was going to wake up. Luca was certain.
He had to be, because the other outcome was too hard to bare.
Like every other morning, Luca sat with his brother, ate his breakfast, had his coffee, and read him a chapter out of whatever book Luca had on him. This time it was the incredibly dry, detailed schematic for an electric motorcycle engine so Luca could troubleshoot a frustrating new bike that was brought in to the shop last night. This was obviously not a Steel Veins bike. Aside from the MC’s national president’s ridiculous Kawasaki Ninja, every other member rocked a Harley, Indian or some other American made bike.
The hour came and went, and Luca rose to leave. He apologized to his brother for kicking him out of the house, and told him to hurry up and wake the fuck up already. After lingering fruitlessly with a heavy sigh to see if his brother would heed his demand, Luca thanked the prospects outside and left for work.
The rest of the day at work was spent agonizing over the wiring problems on the new bike and worrying about Bella at school. While rewiring the bike and making trial and error adjustments, Luca had become so lost in concerns over how Bella was going to be able to communicate and make friends without being able to talk that he completely missed lunch. He’d probably have been lying on his side working all day if there wasn’t a loud knock on the frame of the open garage bay door.
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