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“I’ll pass,” he smiled before frowning at me. “You know, you’re right. I need to spend more time with Bee. She’ll be a teenager before we know it. How about this? Once a week, no matter what is happening in the club, no matter what other obligations we have, we promise that we take her out for a day of fun. Once a week, just me, you, and Bee. I’ll make an effort to do more with her through the days, even if it’s just helping her with that god-awful homework.”

“That’s another thing I wanted to ask. Why doesn’t she go to school? I know I’ve asked before, but—”

“She does go to school. Technically. She’s remote learning, I think they call it. The teachers send work home, and we have a meeting every couple of months to discuss her progress. She attended school for the first few weeks, but it didn’t suit any of us. She doesn’t have a normal childhood – you’ve seen that for yourself. Those early mornings weren’t helping her at all. She does the same work as all the other children, but just on her own time. So, I guess she is technically home-schooled, just not in the traditional sense.”

“How did I not know any of this? I spent two weeks helping homeschool her, and your mother never said a word.”

“Probably because you’ve spent your entire time here insulting my mother,” he laughed. “She was probably trying to impress you by letting you think she arranged all the work herself.”

“You still should have told me.”

“You’re right, but in my defence, it never occurred to me. I just assumed you would either figure it out, or my mother would tell you once you started taking over as Bee’s main caregiver. We suck at this communication thing, don’t we?”

“We’re not the worst,” I said with a tight smile.

“So, speaking of withholding information, why didn’t you tell me about Callum?”

“Callum?” I asked in surprise. “Why would I tell you about Callum?”

“Well, you told me about Alex and—”

I interrupted him by shaking my head. “I don’t… No, Callum was never involved with Alex. This is a very new thing. I mean, I saw him a handful of times when he was hanging around Alex’s club, but I always got the impression that Alex scared him. He never showed any interest in anything that they were doing. I never even saw him speak to any of the girls. That includes both the girls that were groomed, and the girls working for the club. He didn’t seem to have a lot of patience for anyone and had this nasty sneer that said he was above all of us, and we could all rot in hell. He said all of five words to me in those years I was around. Alex and Ben used to constantly take the piss out of him because he was so focused on college and university. They would brag that they had all this money, without a qualification between them, and that Callum was wasting his time.”

“So, what do you think brought about the change of heart?”

“His parents, probably,” I said with a shrug. “That family has watched one too many movies. They think they’re the leading mafia gang of Britain. I’m guessing they’ve filled his head with thoughts of retribution and vengeance.”

“How much of a problem are his parents going to be when they find out we’ve got Callum locked in the garage?”

“I’ve no idea,” I said, raising one of my shoulders. “My mother told me that they had some trouble, which is why they’ve all moved away. I can’t see them all coming back. They’re powerful in the small corner they network in, but that small corner is also full of people who wouldn’t hesitate to sell them out the minute they stepped foot on British soil. And they would know the second that happened, too. These people treat their best friends like their enemies – usually because they are, so they’re watching their every move, constantly.” I paused for a second and then asked, “Why? Were you planning on telling them?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It serves as a warning in case any of them get any dumb ideas and come looking for him.”

“In that case, I’d say they’re probably going to cause a lot of trouble. They know some evil men. Men who won’t hesitate to jump into a fight if it means they can see some bloodshed. But it’s also easy to betray them. You just find the next loser family looking to be powerful. There’s no loyalty there.”

“Right. I’ll see what Hacksaw can find on them. But just to be safe, we prepare for an attack from both sides. The Riders and Alex’s family. I need you to think and try to remember everything you possibly can about them. I can get Hacksaw to do whatever it is he does on the laptop and find some stuff out, but it would be nice if you could give us some insiderinformation, too. The more knowledge we’re armed with, the better we’re able to protect ourselves.”

I nodded my agreement but stayed quiet and chewed on my lower lip as I thought about our situation. It seemed we had a new fight coming from all angles, and it was honestly exhausting. I knew this wouldn’t be forever, and we just had to get through the current blip, but how much damage would be done before this blip was over, and what repercussions were waiting for us?

Dante almost seemed blind to the fact that there were a lot of enemies after us right now. He wanted to continue life as normal. On one hand, he’s saying to be prepared, and on the other, he was talking about taking Bee for days out. As much as I wanted to continue life as normal and explore this new phase in mine and Dante’s relationship, I could think of nothing other than the danger that was waiting for us.

Visions started plaguing me of all the ways the club could be hurt, of who would be the fallen ones when all this was said and done. It was an unspoken truth that not everyone could or would survive this latest battle.

Dante smiled at me, and I beamed back at him, putting just enough of my mask in place that he wouldn’t see the dark thoughts lingering beneath the surface. He seemed satisfied with my smile, and pulled us both back down to the mattress, wrapping his arms around me, keeping me close.

Was there a chance I was going to lose him? Did our relationship have an expiration date, before it had even really begun?

It was a terrifying thought, and one I didn’t want to entertain any longer. This is why I hated to let my guard down and let anyone in. You started relying on their presence for your own happiness, and in this world, Dante’s world, that was a dangerous way to live.

Chapter 19

Rachel

Doc arrived not long after, wanting to take a look at Dante’s wounds, putting an end to any further conversation. Which suited me fine, because I was no longer able to plaster a fake smile on.

Doc and Dante pretty much ignored me whilst they checked out Dante’s wounds, and honestly, I was grateful for it.

As nice as Dante was being, history told me that we didn’t have long before we fell into yet another argument. We seemed incapable of keeping the peace even when we were surrounded by calm, so we certainly had no chance in the middle of this chaos.

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