Dash (Blackwings MC Book 1) Page 7

  Okay, deep breath. Check.

  Ember, you’re beautiful. Check.

  Take the cover-up off.

  Take the cover-up off.

  “I’m about to get out of this pool, yank that off of you, and toss you in myself.”

  Take the cover-up off, quickly belly flop into the pool, and come up choking on water. Check.

  “That was graceful. Tell me, were you a swan in a previous life?”

  “Shut it, Reese.”

  “Oooh, some sass. Looks good on you, Ember.”

  We stayed in the pool for a while before Reese decided we should layout and work on our tans. We climbed out of the pool and I found myself feeling much more comfortable with the bathing suit. I guess she was right.

  I must have fallen asleep in the lounge chair because I woke to the feeling of large arms wrapped around me, immediately followed by the sensation of falling before I plunged into cool water. I vaguely heard Reese screeching in the background.

  When I surfaced, Reese was already up and she was spitting mad. She was yelling a string of curse words that could make any biker blush at a smirking Duke and a grinning Dash.

  My eyes met Dash’s and I couldn’t help but admire him. The man was very handsome and even more so when he smiled. He glanced down and his eyes seemed to fixate on my chest before he cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

  “Ember!” Reese whisper-shouted. “Ember! Your top…”

  I looked down and right there for the world to see was my left boob, completely escaped from its triangle prison. Mortification the likes I have never experienced before coursed through me. I quickly turned away, tucked my boob back into the malfunctioning triangle, and fled.

  Reese showed up in our shared room not long after my grand exit. “Are you okay?”

  “Seriously? He saw my boob! Duke probably saw it, too!! I can never leave this room again. What if they tell Phoenix? My possible father will think I’m a hussy, especially after finding me in Dash’s bed this morning.” I fell back onto the bed with tears in my eyes.

  “You do realize this is a biker compound, right? Your boob wasn’t the first they’ve seen today, and probably won't be the last.” I sat up staring at her with wide eyes. Surely, she was joking. “I know this is all new to you, but it was a boob. A nice one actually, but that’s not the point. Stuff like that happens to girls all the time, especially in a bikini. You have to learn how to not let things like that bother you.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “You acknowledge the situation, make a joke about it or apologize for it, something like that,” she explained.

  “What would you have done?”

  “I probably would have tucked it back in while saying, ‘You naughty little tit. I told you to stay put. No one wants a sunburned nipple, now stay in there and behave.’”

  And just like that, Reese had me laughing and feeling better about everything.

  She had just convinced me to go back to the pool with her when there was a knock on the door.

  “Who is it?” Reese sang out.

  “It’s Dash. Is Ember in there?”

  She looked at me and I nodded.

  “Yes, she’ll be out in a minute. She had to put her naughty tit in time out.” I burst out laughing and smacked her lightly on her arm.

  “Okay…” Dash sounded confused. “I’ll just meet you at the pool. Do you two want anything to eat?”

  “Yes, please. I think we slept through lunch,” Reese answered.

  “Okay. I’ll have a prospect bring something out for you.”

  We spent the rest of the day with Duke and Dash at the pool. Dash even had a prospect bring dinner out for all of us. I had so much fun and just for a short time, I was able to forget about all of the things looming on the horizon.

  CHAPTER 10

  Ember

  It was three days later when Phoenix summoned me to his office. I was pretty sure I knew why he was calling me in there and I couldn’t have been more nervous. Feeling like I was walking the proverbial plank, I ventured down the long hallway from my room to his office.

  Entering his office, I found Phoenix sitting behind his desk, Patch occupying one of the chairs in front, and one empty chair clearly reserved for me.

  “Come on in and have a seat,” Phoenix said and gestured toward the chair.

  I glanced at it and started rubbing my hands together. “Um, if it’s okay, I would rather stand.”

  “That’s fine, sweetheart. Just shut the door, would ya?”

  “Of course.”

  Patch cleared his throat, “I have the paternity test results.” He held up an envelope. “This was given to me sealed. I have no idea what the results are. So, who wants to do the honors?”

  Phoenix and I stared at one another. I subtly shook my head. There was no way I could open that envelope and read the results. “Patch, I don’t think Ember wants to and I don’t know any of that medical jargon, so how about you open it and just tell us the results, yeah?”

  “All right,” Patch nodded and tore open the envelope. He was silent for a few excruciatingly long seconds before he held up one of the papers and read, “Possibility of paternity is 99.99%.” Then, he changed the tone of his voice and said, “Phoenix you ARE the father.”

  Neither Phoenix nor I said a word. “Oh come on. Have neither of you watched those morning talk shows?” Patch looked back and forth between the both of us. “Guess not. Well, I’ll just leave these here with you,” he tossed the papers onto Phoenix’s desk and left the room.

  I didn’t know what to say. I had tried so hard since all of this came to light to not think about it. I didn’t want to hope one way or the other and set myself up for disappointment. I now realized, in doing that, I set myself up for lack of excitement as well.

  Phoenix wasn’t saying or doing anything. He was just sitting there staring at his desk. Hesitantly, I inched closer to him and put my hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw it. The small drop of water on his desk, joined by another drop soon after. He was crying. This beast of a man was crying. Dare I hug him? Should I give him some privacy? No, Reese said to acknowledge the awkward situations.

  “I need you to help me out here. See, I’m kind of socially awkward thanks to my upbringing, so I’m not sure what the appropriate response is to a beast man crying. Should I just pretend like you have something in your eye and go fetch you some eye drops?”

  Phoenix looked up at me, his eyes red and full of unshed tears. Then, he threw his head back and laughed and laughed. He reached his big hand out and pulled me into his chest. It was at that moment, feeling his arms surrounding me, his laughter filling the air, and his tears wetting the top of my head, that I finally felt like someone loved me.

  Phoenix’s laughter died down, but he still held me to his chest, “Oh, sweet girl. I wish I had known about you. You would have been a welcome addition to my life, just like you are now. I know you’re pretty much grown, but we just found each other. Will you stay here? At least for a little while, so we can get to know each other?”

  “You want me to stay? Like here at the clubhouse or here in Croftridge?”

  “Both. For now, I think it is best for you to stay at the clubhouse, at least until I find out more about this orphanage. Is that okay with you?”

  “Can Reese stay, too?” I asked.

  “Of course. Anything else?”

  I pulled back from him and started rubbing my hands together. “What is it? You can ask me for anything. If it is within my power and my means, I’ll give it to you.”

  “Do you have any pictures of my mother? I’ve never seen any and I’ve always wondered what my biological parents looked like.”

  He nodded and pulled open a desk drawer. “Dash mentioned something about that the other day and asked me to bring some.” He pulled out a photo album and placed it on his desk. He flipped to the first page and turned the album toward me. “This is Anna
belle.”

  I gasped and place my hand on my chest. I looked at him in horror. Jumping out of my chair, I pointed an accusing finger at the photo, “That is not my mother! Is this some kind of a sick joke or something? Let’s see how much we can mess with the poor little farm girl?!”

  Phoenix was on his feet, too, “Of course not. Why the hell would you even think that? This is Annabelle! Why do you think it isn’t? How would you even know?”

  Still pointing at the photo, my finger shaking like a leaf, “Because that woman’s name is Annelle. She worked at the orphanage when I was little. She was the nicest one there.”

  “Is she still there?” he quickly asked.

  “No, one day she was just gone. No one spoke of her ever again. When I asked about her, I was told to hush and never say anything else about her.”

  “How old were you when she disappeared?”

  I couldn’t remember exactly when it was. I knew it was after I had started school because she was there when I left that morning and gone when I got back. “I’m not sure, maybe five or six.”

  “You’re sure this is the same woman?” he questioned as he flipped to other pages filled with pictures of Annelle, or Annabelle.

  “Positive. See that right there?” I pointed to the photo. “Do you know anyone else with a birthmark in the shape of a puzzle piece on their neck?”

  He slammed the book closed and met my eyes, “You could have just said that from looking at the pictures. She had another identifying mark. What was it?” We had quickly gone from bonding as father and daughter to accusing one another of deceit.

  I placed my hands on my hips and returned his stare, “She has a scar in the shape of the letter P on the inside of her right arm, just below her elbow. It was small and light, probably too light to show up in pictures.” I felt an overwhelming urge to stick my tongue out at him.

  He visibly paled and braced himself on his desk. “Did she tell you how she got it or what it meant?”

  “She never said how she got it, but she told me it was for her prince. She said she couldn’t be with him at the time, but the P made her feel like he was still with her even though he wasn’t. It made no sense whatsoever to me then, but I think I get it now. It’s really for Phoenix, isn’t it?”

  He nodded and slowly rolled up his right shirt sleeve. He held his arm out to me and there, in the very same spot, was the letter A on his arm. He softly said, “The night before I left for the Marines, we used paperclips and a lighter to burn our first initial into one another.” He looked up at me and more firmly stated, “Do not ever do anything like that.”

  Without thinking, I blurted, “Yes, Dad.”

  He smiled, “I like that.”

  I grinned in return, “I think I do, too.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Dash

  Phoenix had been in his office for most of the morning and Ember was nowhere to be seen. I took the time to get caught up on some of my club responsibilities I had gotten behind on since Ember showed up.

  I was in one of the storage buildings out back sorting through a shipment we had just received when I almost blew the head off of a prospect.

  He screamed like a girl and threw his hands up in the air, “It’s just me! Don’t shoot!”

  I grunted and put my gun back in its holster. “Fuck, man, let that be a lesson to you. Don’t fucking sneak up on people around here especially when we have weird shit going on. You make some noise, make yourself known. You’re lucky it was me and not one of the brothers with a twitchy trigger finger.”

  He nodded, hands still in the air, eyes wide as saucers. “Put your damn hands down and tell me what the fuck you’re doing out here.”

  “Uh, right, Phoenix said church in 30.”

  “When did he say that?”

  “Um, about 15 minutes ago. Sorry, I couldn’t find you or Duke.” He glanced around the storage shed, “Do you know where Duke is?”

  “Haven’t seen him. Did you call him?”

  “Yeah, I called both of you and neither one of you answered.”

  “Shit. I must have left my phone in my room. I’ll grab it and try to call him. Keep looking and I’ll let Prez know what’s up.”

  I was surprised and a little disappointed to find that I only had the one missed call from the prospect. I don’t know what I was expecting. The one person I wanted to talk to was here in the clubhouse and, to my knowledge, didn’t have a phone.

  I hit Duke’s name and got his voicemail after a few rings. I checked his room to see if he was passed out from partying too hard last night, but he wasn’t there either. I tried calling him one more time and then said fuck it and headed to church.

  “Thanks for joining us,” Phoenix griped at me. “Where’s Duke?”

  “Don’t know. I was out back sorting through the shipment. Haven’t seen him all day. I tried to call him a couple of times but he didn’t answer.” It made me feel a little uneasy. It wasn’t like Duke to disappear without someone knowing where he was going and it really wasn’t like him to not answer his phone. Duke always answered his phone, didn’t matter if he was fucking or taking a shit, he answered.

  Phoenix ran his index finger and his thumb over his chin, “Have the prospects keep looking for him. Get one of ‘em to ride into town and look around. If he hasn’t turned up by the time we’re finished in here, we’ll all go out and hunt him down.”

  Phoenix rose from his chair and started right in, “You are all aware of Ember’s presence in the clubhouse. Earlier today, Patch informed us that I am indeed Ember’s biological father.” Murmurs started to break out around the room, “Shut the fuck up until I’m finished.” The room fell silent and he continued, “So, Ember is my daughter and she has agreed to stay here in Croftridge for the foreseeable future so her and I can get to know one another.” I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders upon hearing those words. “Since we don’t know what is really going on at that farm just yet, she will continue to stay here at the clubhouse. In addition, Reese will be staying with her. Now, about the farm and orphanage. Ember has confirmed that her mother, Annabelle, was actually living and working at the orphanage for several years. Ember doesn’t know when she got there, but she does remember that she disappeared suddenly one day when she was five or six years old. She was also going by the name Annelle at the time. Byte, see if you can dig up anything on Annelle. Try using Burnett, Black, and Blackburn as surnames.”

  Phoenix sat down again and leaned back in his chair, “Now, about this farm, orphanage, or whatever. I want to know why my girls were there. I want to know what the fuck they are doing up there. We’ve all ignored that place for years. Yeah, the place has always been creepy as fuck, but it didn’t affect me and mine, until now. I want to know anything and everything about the place. And I want to know who in the fuck thought they could buy my baby girl. I want answers first, and then we are going to put a stop to whatever they are doing. Women and children will not be sold to fucking monsters in my territory. My club doesn’t stand for that.” Claps and words of agreement sounded throughout the room.

  When everyone quieted down again, Badger asked, “How are we going to get those answers? It ain’t like they’re going to tell us anything if we ask.”

  “I’ve been thinking about this since Ember showed up. She said there are other kids there and they rarely get to interact with each other. I’m guessing that’s so they won’t talk to each other and start figuring out that things aren’t right with that place. I want to get the names of the farm kids they went to school with from Ember, Reese, and prospect Jamie. They should be able to give us enough names to get started. I want Byte to get into the school’s records for these kids and get parents’ names and addresses. Then, we’re going to start digging into the parents. We’ll see what information that brings us and go from there. Anybody have any other business or issues to bring to the table?”

  I cleared my throat and stood, “Anybody seen or heard from Duke today?”
>
  Heads shook and several no’s answered my question. Badger asked, “You think something’s up?”

  “I don’t know, brother. It ain’t like him to just disappear and he ain’t answering his phone. I know everyone in this room has had the pleasure of Duke answering his damn phone when he really shouldn’t have.” Everyone chuckled at that. We had all heard Duke at some of his finest, or worst, depending on how you looked at it, moments.

  “I’ve sent a prospect into town to ride around and look for him and the others are scouring the buildings and land around here. Be at the gates and ready to ride out in 10. Dash and Carbon stay here with the girls and the prospects.”

  Phoenix banged the gavel on the table and dismissed church.

  I dropped my ass onto one of the couches in the common room. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was not right with Duke.

  CHAPTER 12

  Ember

  Reese and I walked into the common room to find something for dinner. I was shocked to find it completely empty. I looked to Reese, “Where is everybody?”

  “How would I know? I’ve been with you all afternoon,” she snapped.

  Okay, so moody Reese had returned. Noted.

  “I just think it’s odd that no one is here. There are always at least three or four people in here,” I explained, still looking around to see if I could spot anyone.

  She looked around the room, that blank look on her face again, “Just enjoy not having to hear them fart or fuck.”

  “What?!?” I screeched.

  She rolled her eyes, “You should come out here after dark sometime. Take a look around.”

  “It doesn’t sound like that is something I would actually want to do.”

  “Probably not, but you should do it anyway. It would be an experience for you, that’s for sure,” she said flatly.

  “Do you think we should go back to the room?”

  “Why? Just because no one is out here doesn’t mean we can’t be out here. I’m freaking starving.”