Dark Secret - Avelyn Paige Page 0,14
have you back home, even if it is just for a little while.”
This time, I don’t have to fake a smile, because as nice as it is for her to have me here, it’s unexpectedly nice for me to be back here, in this house. It reminds me of my childhood. Of simpler times. It reminds me of my dad.
“Thank you, Lorna,” I say softly before stepping outside to get my overnight bag from the car.
Upstairs, I push open the door to my old bedroom, and for a moment, I can’t breathe.
Everything is the same. Like, literally everything. My Justin Timberlake poster is still hanging proudly next to Beyoncé. The pom poms I’d kept from my senior year pep rally still sit on my bookshelf. Even my old CD player sits proudly on top of my dresser. It’s like going back in time.
My single bed is made perfectly, with my ruffled bedspread laid out on top of it. It looks heavenly.
I don’t waste another moment getting ready. In record time, I climb into my nightgown, brush my teeth, and use the facilities. And then, in a moment of pure nostalgia, I peel back the blankets on my childhood bed and climb into it.
When my head hits the pillow, I remember the determination on Wyatt’s face as he plucked away at the keys on Hayden’s computer. That memory is the one thing that gives me the permission I need to finally fall into a deep, much-needed sleep.
Hashtag
“I need to take some time off,” I state, just as the last of my brothers take their seats around our meeting room table. Judge’s stare hardens, and he crosses his arms across his chest.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I just said. Something’s come up, and I need to focus on it.” It’s not every day that a patch asks for time off. When you take your patch, you’re dedicating yourself to the brotherhood. You can’t just walk away from it like it’s some normal nine-to-five job, but I have no choice. Hayden needs my undivided attention.
Judge’s eyes narrow. “Don’t think I didn’t see who crashed the party tonight, Hash. What kind of trouble is she in?”
“It’s not Shelby, Prez.”
“Then what the fuck is this all about? This isn’t a job. You don’t have vacation time.” His voice comes out as a commanding growl. Part of me thought I could just walk in here and request a couple of weeks off with zero questions. Clearly, that part of me is a fucking idiot with his head stuck in the Shelby Dawson fucks-up-my-life cloud again.
“Tell ’em, Hash,” Karma interjects, prodding me to spill it. The last thing I want to do is drag my club into my personal shit, but I don’t really have a choice.
“Fine,” I growl. “I want to make it clear right now that this isn’t the club’s problem. I have a kid, and she’s missing.”
“Shit, man,” GP mutters.
“That’s why Shelby came to me. She needs my help to find her, and thinks she’s been kidnapped by someone she’s been talking to online.”
“Why didn’t she go to the police?”
“She did, but they were no help. She hasn’t been missing long enough for them to take action. They won’t even issue an Amber Alert.”
“Sounds like the bitch’s problem if you ask me,” Stone Face huffs.
“I must’ve misheard you, because I know you didn’t just call her a bitch.” The fire inside of me roars to life, and it takes every single ounce of control I have not to fly over the table and lay the big motherfucker out.
“Dude, I’d shut up if I were you,” GP snaps. “You don’t want to stir that shit pot.” Damn right he doesn’t. He doesn’t know the first thing about Shelby and I’s history. Not many of my club does outside of Judge, GP, and Karma.
“I didn’t stutter.”
Before I can put the brakes on, I’m out of my chair, chest heaving, but Stone Face doesn’t move from his fucking chair. I don’t know what his damn problem is, but I’m about to fix it with my fist going down his throat. “Call her a bitch one more time, I’ll beat that word right out of your limited vocabulary.”
GP pinches the bridge of his nose. “Here we go.”
Karma reaches into his pocket and whips out his wallet, fingers a twenty-dollar bill, and tosses it onto the table in front of him. “I got twenty on Stone whipping his ass.”
“Enough!” Judge yells, shoving himself out of his chair