HARDCORE: Storm MC(172)
I couldn’t wait. As pleasant as I’d tried to make it in the clubhouse for both Gigi and me, my efforts were starting to fall flat. I had no desire to sit through another night of drinking and card games, and didn’t like feeling confined to “my” bedroom. I wondered if it was the way a caged animal felt, unable to control their destiny.
Gigi was in the kitchen with Erica, fixing a treat after dinner, when I heard another loud crash from the office. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I barged into the room to find Lance breathing heavily, fists at his sides. I didn’t know what he’d slammed, though I thought it might have been a desk drawer.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I whispered fiercely. “Are you trying to make her afraid of you?”
“I could really do without your lectures right now,” he spat, holding a hand up in my face.
“Get your hand out of my face.” I moved away, incensed. “You don’t get to do that.”
“I’ll do whatever I wanna do, because this is my clubhouse and my club. And she’s my daughter, not yours. Stop acting like you know what’s best for her.”
“Are you insane? You don’t even know what’s best for yourself, much less for her.”
“Don’t start with me. I’m not in the mood,” he warned. His nostrils flared when he got angry, and they were flaring hard as he stared at me. A quick glance down at his hands told me they were both still in fists at his sides. I kept a distance between us.
He saw me look, though. “You really think I would hit you? Jesus Christ, you’ve been here all weekend and you don’t know the first goddamned thing about me or any of us. And you’re supposed to be the smart one.”
“I’m smart enough to know that Gigi is going to be much better off in my house, sleeping in my guest bed, starting tonight. According to our agreement, of course.”
He reeled slightly, like I’d hit him. “You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna let you take my kid away from me.”
It was my turn to reel back. “You’re not serious.”
“As a heart attack.”
“There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
“Try me. There are dozens of us and only one of you.”
I gasped. “They would do that? Even when it’s obvious she’d be better off with me? Even though that was part of our agreement? Part of the reason I’m here in the first place?”
“Why do you assume she’d be better off with you? What’s so fucking special about you? She has a lot of people here who care about her. You see how much they do. They’re good to her. They treat her like a princess, for Christ’s sake.”
“How long can that go on? How long before she’s not a novelty anymore? The kid has to go to school. She needs her friends, structure. She needs a life. This isn’t a life. It’s a sideshow.”
We faced each other, both of us breathing heavily.
“She’s not going anywhere,” he warned menacingly. “And neither are you.”
I gasped again. “You’re insane. That’s it. You’re insane.”
“I’m not insane. And if you’d shut up for a minute, I’ll tell you why. I’ll tell you why I’ve been going fucking crazy all day. Not because you’re taking Gigi. It’s because I couldn’t let either of you go as long as I don’t know what happened to Rae.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? What does she even have to do with this anymore?”
“Everything. It was one thing when I didn’t know she went to see The Scarecrow the night before Gigi came here. Now? I don’t know how much he knows. If she owed him money or fucked him over, who do you think he’s gonna come after if he hasn’t already gotten to her?”
My eyes went wide as the weight of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. He smiled, seeing that I understood.
“This is the only place she’s safe right now. I know you would do anything to protect her, but like I said, there’s only one of you. There are a lot more of us, and we’re locked and loaded. I’ll do anything to protect her, too.” He paused. “And you.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was all so much to take in at once. When I found my voice, I said, “Me?”
“Yeah, you. I don’t know how much he knows. He might have followed you from your place when you left and came back on Friday. I just don’t fucking know, and it’s making me crazy. I can’t let you go.”