Page 6 of Wild Ride

“I know,” I exhale. “I have your number. If something happens, I can call you or the police. But I think I need to go on this journey on my own.”

Briana helped me get my license after I left the commune, and I’ve paid for a rental car because I don’t spend my money on anything. I’ve been saving up to get my own place. Although I probably have more than enough to do that, I’m also not sure that I want to live alone yet—the irony is not lost on me.

“I expect you to check in with me when you stop, every single time, and then again when you’re on the road. Only stay at hotels where the parking lot is well-lit and it’s in a busy area. God. I cannot believe I’m not jumping in your back seat.”

My lips curve up with a smile, and not for the first time, I wish Briana had been my mother. Granted, she’s only five years older than me, but still, she’s been more of a motherly figure than mine ever was, which was something I didn’t realize until after she passed away and my eyes were opened to the rest of the world.

“I’m going to be okay,” I whisper.

“I will fly out to wherever you are. I have Life360. I will find you,” she snaps.

She does have that app. She installed it on my phone just in case I got lost around town, but the joke's on her. I never went anywhere until now. So, I guess now the joke is on me because I’m driving, literally, across the entire United States on my own.

Giving her a trembling smile, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and try as hard as I can not to cry. “I love you, Briana.”

Her eyes get watery as they search mine. “I love you, too, Dakota. And I hope that you find everything you’re looking for and so much more.”

Closing the car door, I start the engine and shift it intoDrivebefore I ease out onto the street. I try not to look in my rearview mirror, but I fail. Briana is waving one hand and wiping her tears away with the other.

God.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. My heart races inside of my chest with each mile that I drive farther away from Briana and my safe space. I haven’t felt this way since the day I walked away from the Haven.

I don’t know what is going to happen to me, but as terrified as I am, I am also excited. I won’t ever get to meet my father, but maybe going to his home and being around his things will help me feel the connection that I’ve always wondered about.

I hope so.

BULLET

It still doesn’t feel real. Four weeks have passed since we had the funeral for Shade, and while I’m now the president of the Vicious Reapers, sitting in his office, making all the major decisions, it feels like I’m impersonating him. As if I’m playing dress-up.

It doesn’t matter that I’m forty-two years old. I do not feel ready for this. There is a knock on the door. Lifting my head, I look over to see Ivy standing in the doorway, his brows raised before he clears his throat.

“What?” I ask.

He seems nervous, definitely hesitant. Since he’s our club defense attorney, that makes me feel all kinds of ways. Lifting my hand, I motion for him to come farther into the room. He does, closing the door behind him.

“I am not supposed to know this or tell you about it, but since she’ll be here in a few days, I think it’s something you need to know.”

“She?” I ask.

“She,” he repeats, dipping his chin in confirmation. Tilting my head to the side, I watch him and wait for him to continue. “You got your shit locked down?” he asks.

“Not sure what I need to lock down, so no.”

Ivy smirks, then sinks down on the couch across from my desk. I watch as he slides his palms down the thighs of his jeans, stopping at his knees. His eyes lift to meet mine and hold my gaze for a moment before he speaks.

“Shade had a daughter.”

Shaking my head from side to side, I almost tell him that he’s a fucking liar. “An attorney in my firm represents his estate and sent her a letter after he died. Shade left her everything. His house, his bike, and his percentage of the security company. Everything goes to her.”

It is safe to say that I have zero, not one ounce, of my shit locked down after hearing this news. I stand so quickly my chair flies behind me, clattering as it tumbles over. I don’t look back. I don’t fucking care.

“How?” I demand.

Ivy shrugs a shoulder. “I didn’t know she existed, either. I knew he came to the office to set up his estate and will shit, but I had not the first fuckin’ clue he had a kid. I don’t think anyone did.”

“So where the fuck is she?” I ask with a snort. “We had the funeral, we had the celebration of life, and she was nowhere to be seen. Hell, we all helped take care of him when he was sick, and she’s going to come in here and cash a fucking check without ever once coming to visit him. Nothing?”

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