“Gather around, girls. We’re about to attend our first church meeting.”
“What did you do?”
“I slipped Father dear’s mini nanny cam he used against us onto Gabby’s hair bow.”
“No fucking way. That will be way too big! You’ll get us killed. They’ll see it!”
“Relax, Louise. When I say mini, I mean microscopic. It’s amazing what money and a twisted sick fuck can find when they want to spy on you,” Katie says hatefully, and that same hate twists inside of me too. I hate my father for so many things. I thought I hated him before, especially the day I discovered Katie was alive. That was nothing compared to the hate that grew once I traveled back to France.
“But…” Louise starts.
“She’s right. Trust me, I carried it around for months not even knowing it was there.”
“Where did he hide it on you?” Annie asked, studying my face closely, almost like she understands what kind of monster that Katie and I called father. I doubt that’s possible. My hand automatically goes to my upper arm, rubbing it through the cotton sleeve.
“It doesn’t matter. Just trust me: Torch will never see it.”
“Now let’s see what the boys are up to, shall we?” Katie, says, drawing attention back to her.
When I look at her, she’s looking me in the eye. Memories are there. The same ones I’m remembering. Nightmares even. She gives me a weak smile and I walk to her. I don’t want to remember those. Not right now. It haunts me enough at night. Katie pulls up the camera feed on her phone. Time to get my mind on the task at hand. The past needs to stay in the past.
Maybe I can bury it with the cold dead bodies of Matthew and Colin.
“What are you doing with Gabby? Where’s Beth?” I ask when Torch comes through the door carrying my daughter.
I immediately get up to take her from him. She’s already fucked up enough about not knowing me. She’s not going to get the chance to think of another man as her papá. That shit is not happening.
“Beth was sick. Katie was watching her, but she got a migraine. Mattah had to leave, so I volunteered to keep her.”
I ignore the fear that’s wrapped around my heart at the mention of Beth being sick. That’s not my concern anymore. It doesn’t stop the words that come out of my mouth, however.
“Is Beth okay?”
“Katie said the nightmares have been keeping Beth awake. She took the baby so she could sleep.”
“Nightmares?”
“Yeah. Living with Redmond Jr. and Senior wasn’t exactly a fun-filled ride. Katie gets them, too.”
His words burrow down inside of me and I don’t want to think about them—at least not right now. I’ll think about them later after I take down Matthew.
“Call the club doctor and get Beth looked at,” I grumble.
“No offense, boss, but if you get your girlfriend to check out your ex-wife, you’re just inviting a murder,” Briar says.
“True enough. My Annie is shy, but if I did that, she’d tear the doctor apart limb by limb.”
“My money is on Beth,” Latch speaks up. “She’s quiet. Those quiet women can be hell on wheels.”
“True story,” Sabre says, bumping fists with Latch.
“I don’t know. I think Dr. Torres might have the advantage, being a feisty Latina and all,” teases Clutch.
“She’s not Latina, you idiot,” Shaft grumbles.
“I think she might take Beth, too. But it’d be a hell of a match,” Torch chimes in.
“Will you fuckers shut up? I don’t have a fucking girlfriend and I’m talking about Doc Patton. Get him to come out. He will help the club anytime we ask.”
“Patton? Jesus Christ eating pancakes! Is that asshole still alive?” Torch asks. “How old is he now?”
“Shit, he has to be a hundred and twenty,” Briar says.
“Mierda! Can we talk about what the fuck we’re here for?”
“You know you need to watch the words you say in front of Gabby. Before you know it she’s going to be running around telling everyone to fuck off.”
“Good. Then they’ll know not to mess with her,” I grumble at T-Rex.”
“Not so good,” Beast objects, and his deep voice quiets the room down. “Little girls are supposed to be cherished and taken care of. They shouldn’t need to tell anyone shit. That’s our job.” The room goes completely silent now. The man’s eyes are glued on little Gabby and there’s such pain coming off of him, it swamps the room. I haven’t had Gabby long, but I swear I don’t see how Beast does it. I don’t know how the bastard still finds the courage to breathe.