“That’s why you stayed gone so long?” I ask.
I don’t get told a lot of shit that goes on in the club, but I do know Ravage hadn’t been too happy about Sasha being back in town at first. That was common knowledge. I don’t know what changed, whether it was him learning he had a daughter and that Lily-May was ill, but he and Sasha managed to move beyond their messy past. The love Ravage has for Sasha is clear in his face every time he looks at her. He looks at her with such devotion, such need. It’s uncomfortable viewing sometimes, but it’s also special. He would hang the moon for his girls, and I’m jealous she has that.
Sasha’s smile is thin. “I had a lot of reasons for staying gone. All of which seem stupid now.”
I glance down at my hands in my lap. “Don’t tell Levi I was here. He’ll worry.”
She considers me for a moment. “Does he have a reason to worry?”
“No.” The lie falls far too easily from my lips.
“It’s not an easy life being attached to an MC. There are more rules, more shit we have to abide by to keep safe. It can get a little much.”
It’s not the rules I have a problem with. It’s the Sons themselves. Apart from Daimon…
I’m starting to trust him, even if I shouldn’t. Layla thinks he’s bad news, and maybe he is, but he’s been nothing but good to me.
So was he before—
I slash that thought dead. I don’t need to think about what happened that night, or any other nights.
I want to take another sip of my drink, relish the burn, but Sasha’s presence keeps those intentions locked down. I can’t do shit with her sitting next to me.
“You know, if you need to talk, I’m a fucking fantastic listener,” Sasha tells me, her gaze locked on her daughter as she plays in the grass on the other side of the path.
“I’m okay.”
“Drinking in the park in the middle of the morning doesn’t seem okay to me.”
She’s right, but it’s the only way to keep the darkness at bay, to stop from shutting down completely.
“I told you—bad morning.”
“Most people have a coffee and doughnut when they’ve had a shitty day. They don’t drink themselves into oblivion, Brie.” She turns to face me, and I wilt under her sharp scrutiny. “So, you want to talk about it?”
I turn my gaze to Lily who is picking daisies from the grass.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
She lets out a breath that is filled with so much emotion it makes my heart hurt. “You’d be surprised by the things I understand, honey.”
I dip my head to look at my hands folded in my lap. She would be horrified if she knew the truth. They all will be.
Sasha surprises me by grabbing my hand. “Don’t suffer alone. You have a family who loves you.”
She’s the second person to mention family and the fact I’m part of something bigger than myself now. Whether I like it or not, the Sons are part of my life. I don’t know if I’m assured by that or not. How am I meant to tell her that because of her family, I’m hurting?
“Thank you,” I glance at her, then bend to hug her, feeling like this talk changed something between us.
“I’m here, any time you need to talk and you can come to me about anything, Brie.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I push to my feet. “I better get home. Layla will be wondering where I am.”
She won’t. She thinks I’m still eating breakfast with Daimon, who I just walked out on.
I smile. “Bye, Sash.”
Then I rush off, snagging my half-drunk bottle of whiskey from the bench, ignoring the worried stare boring into my back.
13
Daimon
Layla is glaring at me so hard, I feel like I might combust. I ignore her and focus on the front door of the flat. After Briella ran out on me, I rode around for a while, trying to spot her, but she’d vanished into the fucking ether. I figured the best idea was to head to her flat and wait for her to return. That was over two hours ago and I’m starting to get fucking antsy.
What if something has happened to her?
Worst case scenarios attack my mind, forcing me to think of situations that I don’t want to imagine. Fear for her safety has surpassed anger and I just want her to come home. Layla tried calling her a few times, but she hasn’t answered, which makes me even more concerned.
“What the hell did you say to her?” Layla snaps out after a long moment of silence.
This bitch is pissing me off. She’s a haughty, judgemental cunt and I’m not used to answering to anyone, let alone some kid.
She’s the same age as Briella.
I ignore that voice in the back of my head. Brie might only be nineteen, but she sure as fuck doesn’t act it.
“You got something you want to accuse me of, then fucking say it,” I snap out.
She folds her arms over her chest and glares at me. “Does Levi know you’re sniffing around his sister?”
She smirks when I don’t answer straight away, which pisses me the hell off.
“What’s your fucking problem?”
“I don’t like you.”
I snort. “That feeling is completely fucking mutual.” I run my hands through my hair. “I’m just trying to help.”
She stares at me for a moment. “Briella isn’t your pet project to fix.”
“Ain’t what I’m trying to do, darlin’, and if you opened your eyes for five seconds you’d see that. Something ain’t right with her, and she needs to get it out in the open because whatever it is, it’s tearing her apart.”
“The last thing she needs is someone from your club trying to fix her.”
Her words piss me off. My club might walk a knife’s edge, mired in the darkness, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want the best for Briella.
“The fuck is your problem with my club?”
I never find out, because she opens her mouth and closes it again at the sound of a key in the lock.
I push up to my feet as the door opens and reveals Briella. I skim my eyes over her, checking she’s unharmed and when I see she’s whole and healthy, I relax.
She doesn’t.
Her whole body stiffens at the sight of me, and isn’t that a kick in the balls?
My brain screams at me to treat her gently, but worry makes my anger flare.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I demand.
“Hey!” Layla snarls. “Don’t talk to her like that!”
I spin to Layla and she shrinks back from whatever she sees on my face. “You done being a fucking cunt today?”
“Daimon,” Briella chastises me and moves to stand between me and her best friend.
That cuts me. Layla might be a twat, but I wouldn’t lay a fucking finger on her. I thought Briella knew me better than that.
As she moves in front of me, I smell the booze on her breath and my anger mounts. She was off getting drunk while I was sitting here, scared shitless something had happened to her?
“You’re shit faced,” I accuse and my tone isn’t calm. Anger courses through my veins, liquid fire burning everything it touches. She recoils back at my words, before she manages to straighten her spine enough to spit her words back at me.