“We’re standing right here, babe,” Tobias said.
“It was your biker, huh?” Sheena and Seth said at the same time.
“No and no.”
Sheena screwed up her lips. “Liar.”
“It wasn’t him, and he’s not my biker.” Tobias’ girth blocked the door, or she would’ve bolted.
“Then it was news about the biker who’s not your biker.” Seth probed.
“Shouldn’t you be returning stolen wallets?” Daisy tried to push past them.
“Shit, are you doing that again?” Tobias’ shoulder bumped Seth, which set off a chain reaction in the tiny space.
“Let’s not get off-topic.” Sheena waved her hands around. “Tell us who it was.”
“You are very annoying.”
“And that’s what you love about me.” Sheena hopped up on the counter. “Now spill.”
“Might as well.” Tobias shrugged. “We ain’t letting you go.”
“We’re all going to lose our jobs if we don’t get out here.”
Sheena flipped out her phone. “We’ve got exactly seven more minutes of our break. Plenty of time to tell your story. Go.”
“Fine. It was Joker’s friend Eddie. He said Joker’s been going off the rails.”
“Of course, he is. The love of his life runs off without even a goodbye,” Sheena said.
“Did you do that?” Tobias asked. “Shit baby, that’s cold.”
“Man, you are an ice princess,” Seth added.
“It’s so nice to have the support of my friends.” Daisy crossed her puffy sleeves over her chest.
“Since when do you want me blowing smoke up your ass?” Sheena put her hands on her hips, elbowing Seth in the process.
“Just the other night we were talking about it, and we all agreed,” Seth said. “You and the biker dude should be together.”
“We?”
“Me, Tobias, and Sheena.”
“I’m so happy you have my life planned out for me.”
“So, are you going?” Sheena asked.
Her phone pinged with a text, and she swiped at the screen.
Sheena and Seth peered over her shoulder. “Nice, first-class,” Sheena said.
“And a suite at the Drake Hotel.” Seth let out a low whistle. “Shit, can I come too?”
“I guess you’re going,” Tobias smirked, then pulled on the door handle.
Daisy swiped her phone and shoved it back into her sash. “Seven minutes are up. Time to get back to work.”
Seth and Tobias grumbled about her being a hard-ass as they left the bathroom, and Sheena stayed behind.
“They were messing with you, but I do agree. You should be with him.”
“You don’t understand—”
“When you first got here, you could barely get out of bed. Or did you forget you told me the whole story? How he said that he wanted to make some solid changes and include you in his life. Even meet his son.”
“And you conveniently forgot the part about him still having to settle a score with an MC. I won’t get involved in that life again.”
Sheena pressed her lips together. “This has nothing to do with him and that club. It has to do with you trusting someone and making someone a part of your life.”
Daisy stared at the black and white floor tiles for a long minute. “I am afraid. Scared to death.” Her voice caught, and Sheena enveloped her in a hug.
“Just go and see what happens. Give him a chance. Give yourself a chance.”
The two women separated, and Daisy blew her nose on a stiff paper towel.
Sheena swatted her on the ass. “Get out there and put that pirate swagger on, then fly to New York tomorrow and get your life in order.”
Daisy smiled and then stopped. “What about my shifts for the next few days?”
“Seth and I will cover for you.” She rolled her eyes. “Harry doesn’t care who serves as long as the shifts are covered.”
Daisy embraced her again. “Thanks.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
When the stewardess offered Daisy a glass of champagne, she readily accepted. She'd forgotten all the perks of flying first class—roomy seats, decent food, and unlimited champagne—of which she knew her limit. Daisy didn’t want to land in New York all emotional and headachy.
As Eddie promised, a limo picked her up at the airport, then whisked her away to the Drake Hotel, where a beautifully appointed suite awaited. It was a definite perk having Eddie’s wife own one of the largest luxury hotel chains in the country. After a hot shower, a change of clothes, and a light meal from room service, she sat in the back of another limo with Eddie as they made their way to see Joker.
Eddie was the epitome of the strong, silent type, and the complete opposite of Joker in appearance: shaggy blond hair and the startling blue eyes of a surfer, paired with faded jeans, a Harley t-shirt, and the engineer boots of a biker. A direct contradiction of the usual slick nightclub owner’s attire.
“When did things start falling apart?” Daisy asked.
“Soon after he got back to New York.” Eddie stretched his long legs in the spacious back seat.
“He said he wanted to get out of New York. What kept him here?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“And what about his son?”
“It’s not my story to tell. I just know he needs help, and you’re probably the only one who can get through to him.”
She certainly hoped so because underground fighting was sketchy to begin with, but from the little that Eddie had told her, the places Joker frequented now were downright dangerous. It seemed like he was looking for a way to combust and disintegrate.
When they pulled up to what looked like an abandoned warehouse in Lower Manhattan, Eddie turned to her. “You don’t leave my side for any reason, understand?”
“I’m not a stranger to seedy places. I don’t know how much Joker’s told you about me, but—”
“Don’t leave my side until we find Joker.” His remarkable eyes pinned her like lasers.
She nodded, and they climbed out of the limo.
Eddie pulled on the huge metal door off to the side of the crumbling brick building, and they entered a vacant area the size of a high school gymnasium. A rhythmic pounding vibrated the cement floor under their feet. The pulsing beat grew louder as they approached another entry resembling a garage door. A burly giant of a man with a shaved head and a beard that reached his waist greeted Eddie with a nod. No words were exchanged, and as he pulled on a thick chain, the metal door creaked open.
The thumping bass of heavy metal music grew louder and assaulted her ears, along with a dense cloud of cigarette smoke and weed, and the tangy, metallic stench of sweat and blood. Daisy flinched when the metal door slammed down behind them.
Eddie leaned into her ear. “You all right?”
She nodded, impressed by his perception.
Eddie weaved his way through the room of cheering, shouting men, keeping her at his side and slightly behind him. His height equaled Joker’s, but he had the jacked muscles of a bodybuilder, where as Joker’s were more sinuous and rawboned. A few guys slapped him on the back along the way, calling him “Crusher.” She didn’t want to know what that meant.
The riotous crowd shifted, and they were separated for a brief minute, long enough for a muscled arm to drape over her shoulder. “Hey, beautiful. I’d love to fuck you.”
Daisy spun out of his hold, squeezed his wrist at the pressure point, and twisted.
“Shit!” The guy jerked his hand out of her grasp, then turned to his fellow thugs. “Stay away from that bitch.”
Eddie caught up with her, a sly grin playing at his lips. “Joker said you were tough.”
“Honey, I’ve been taking care of myself since I was five years old,” she said in her best West Virginia drawl.
“Shit, next you’re gonna be challenging the guys in the cage.” He nodded in front of them, and when the crowd parted a bit, her jaw tightened.
/> She’d run a scam once involving two promoters and a cage fighter. That fight took place in a garage surrounded by the smell of gasoline and motor oil with a makeshift ring made out of stacked truck tires, and even that was better than this place. Here, the enclosure of metal bars stood twelve feet high and was spaced about two feet apart with razor wire stretched around the outside of each pole. A metal gate lined with the same wire locked the fighters in. It resembled some futuristic torture chamber from a binge-worthy Netflix series.
The two men in the cage snarled and crashed together in a combination of kicks and swinging fists, followed by howls and cheers from the frenetic masses that crowded the room. Daisy squinted against the smoke and glaring light, afraid of what and who she would see in the ring. When her eyes adjusted, she expelled a sigh of relief. Neither man was Joker, but according to Eddie, Joker fought here nightly.
Eddie wove her to the backside of the ring, away from the crush of the crowd. They moved around men in small circles exchanging money, then stopped. Eddie nodded his head toward a few metal chairs lined against the cage, apparently for guys recovering from a fight. She scanned the beaten, bloody faces, then looked back to Eddie.
“He’s right there at the end.” Eddie pointed to the last chair against the wall.
She squinted to see better, then averted her eyes. It pained her to look at him. The harsh warehouse lights picked up every bruise and trace of blood covering Joker’s face and body. His sweat mixed with blood made it hard to tell where his cuts began and ended.
Daisy’s heart fluttered, and she struggled to tamp down the sick feeling inside her. She’d made her decision to leave him, told herself it was the right thing to do—the only thing to do—but to see him like this, so broken, had a cold knot twisting in her chest, constricting her breathing.
Eddie nudged her forward. She’d forgotten he was there since her tunnel vision contained only Joker. She shuffled forward, not knowing what she should say or what she could even do for him. He sat sideways in the chair, his unfocused eyes faced the fighters in the cage, a bottle of Jack Daniels dangled from his fingertips. Daisy watched as he took a long pull from the bottle and swished it around his mouth, then spit the whiskey into a bucket next to the cage and wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand.
As she neared him, Joker shifted in the seat and caught her in his peripheral vision. He faced her, and she shuddered. His loss of weight exacerbated the tendons and muscles in his shoulders and arms, and his gaunt face made the scar along his jaw more pronounced. He blinked a few times, trying to focus, then pushed himself out of the chair.
“What the hell are you doin’ here?” His voice a harsh rasp.
“I came to see you.” The obvious words held so many meanings.
Joker stepped around her, leveling an evil glare at Eddie. “What the fuck is this?”
“Me trying to get you right.” Eddie gave him a once-over.
“Who asked you to? I’m doin’ just fine.” His crooked grin belied his anguish.
Eddie scowled, shaking his head in disgust. “Yeah, right.”
Joker mumbled a curse, then faced her. “Well, here I am.”
He coughed, then swiped the bottle of Jack Daniels off the floor and swigged from it again.
He closed the distance between them until they were only inches apart. The desperation and agony in his eyes was painfully visible. “I don’t know what he told you”—Joker jerked his thumb toward Eddie—“but I don’t need saving. I’m right where I belong, gettin’ what I deserve.”
“Fighting guys you have no chance of beating because you’re so wasted.”
He narrowed his eyes, and she braced herself for his fury, but instead, he laughed. A sad, mocking sound. “Why are you even here?”
“I told you. I came to see you.”
“You got a thing for broken down, boozed-up fighters?”
The defeat radiating from him floored her. How could a man so powerful and intense and fierce be so beaten down and weak?
“I was looking for the man who wanted to make a better life for him and his son.”
“That guy’s dead.”
The crowd roared, and Joker focused on the two guys pounding each other unconscious in the ring. Blood spurted from one guy’s nose, drenching the mat.
He turned back to her. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you.” Daisy held his gaze, daring him. “You’re better than this.”
He stared at her for a few long seconds. “The only problem I had was fooling myself into thinking I was better. Wishing for too much and wanting a life that I had no right to or chance of ever getting.”
“You can certainly do better than this.” Her words were punctuated by the bloody body staggering out of the ring.
“You just don’t get it, do you?” He spread his arms wide. “I am this.”
He raised the bottle to his lips, and she wound her fingers around his wrist. “When was the last time you ate?”
“Not hungry.” He tried to shake off her hand, but she tightened her grip.
“Well, I am, and I hate to eat alone.” She grabbed his hoodie off the railing and held it out to him.
He glared at her for a few long beats, then lowered the bottle.
“I seem to remember you liked pizza.”
He took the hoodie and tugged it on. “You’re stubborn as fuck.”
“You used to like that about me.”
Eddie moved to her side and leaned into her ear. “Take the limo, I’ll get another ride home.” Then he cut his eyes to Joker. “You’re welcome.”
“Miserable fucker,” Joker grumbled, then he and Eddie did some fist bump male hug thing.
As they moved through the crowd, Joker placed his hand on the small of her back, and a familiar feeling returned. Messed up and wasted, yet his firm hold on her triggered so many memories.
Chapter Thirty
After they exited the warehouse, Joker patted his pockets but came up empty and sighed.
“Good time to think about quitting.” Daisy smiled at their inside joke but kept some distance between them, sensing he needed space.
He nodded toward the waiting limo. “Traveling in style.”
“It’s Eddie’s.” She opened the back door, and he held her gaze before sliding onto the leather seat. She followed him in, then told the driver to take them to the Drake Hotel.
“You're staying there too?” He rummaged through the low cabinets that ran along the interior and mumbled a curse when all he came up with was water.
“Eddie put me up in one of the suites.”
“Maybe we have adjoining rooms.” He handed her a water bottle.
“We do.”
“Fuckin’ Eddie thought of everything.” He pointed to the cabinets. “Except booze.”
“I understand Eddie’s wife is a Drake.” Pointing out he’d already had too much to drink was probably futile.
“Yup. And even though they come from different places, she’s ride or die, always has his back.”
Was he trying to tell her something? She decided to ignore that too.
“Flew me out, first-class.”
“Wow, that fucker really went all out, huh?”
Daisy guessed this was what people called small talk. She wasn’t a fan.
“He’s concerned about you, and so am I.”
There was so much she wanted to say, wanted to ask, but if she didn’t get the words right, he would shut down. Her leaving him couldn’t have brought him to this dark place. There had to have been something else. Something so big that numbing himself with alcohol and reckless fights was the only answer. They sat in edgy silence until they pulled up to the Drake Hotel.
“You might want to zip up.” She motioned to his hoodie and bloodstained wife-beater. “Wouldn’t want the doorman to think I’m bringing in an ax murderer.”
“You’re right. The lobby is usually empty by the time I stumble in at night.” He leaned into her ear as
they headed for the elevator. “They probably think you rescued me from some homeless shelter.”
“Not too far from the truth.” She glanced at him. “You look like shit.”
“I thought you didn’t curse.” He smirked, and it was her first glimpse of the old Joker, the invincible tough guy she—fell in love with.
“It’s the only adjective that fits.” They boarded the elevator, and she punched in the floor number. The other couple in the elevator stared until Joker hit them with a threatening glare. A few seconds later, the door whooshed open, and they stepped out into the hall. “My place or yours?”
“Yours. Even the maid doesn’t go in my room anymore.”
The minute they entered the room, he located the wet bar and snatched up a mini bottle of Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, and Patron. “Gotta love these five-star hotels.” He flopped down on the couch, unscrewed the whiskey, and downed it in one gulp. “Always got the best booze.”
“So, that’s it. I came all the way from Vegas to watch you get trashed.”
“You don’t have to watch.” He held out the Grey Goose. “You can join me.”
“Fine. Why stop there?” She picked up the hotel phone on the end table and punched in the room service number. “I’d like a bottle of Jack Daniels.” She slammed down the receiver and turned to him. “Satisfied?”
“There’s that fire. You look so damn classy on the outside, but underneath you’re tougher than anyone I’ve ever known.” He unscrewed the mini bottle of Patron and downed that one too. “Where’d Eddie find you?”
“At the Pirate’s Cove in Las Vegas. Sheena, Tobias, and Seth work there. They got me the job.”
“Ahh, the DEA agents.” He chuckled. “You got me with that one.” His grin had a touch of sarcasm to it like he still hadn’t forgiven her for keeping him out of the loop.
“All part of the game.”
“Vegas, huh? Always wanted to go there.”
“Slinging drinks in a pirate costume isn’t as exciting as you might think.”
“Pirate costume, huh?” The scar on his jaw lifted when he smirked. “Sounds boring, but I bet all the male customers like it.”
Beyond Redemption: Joker (Serpents MC Las Vegas Book 1) Page 21
