Page 127 of Ghost

“I won’t take Dani away from you.”

“Dante, you’re her father.”

“And you’re her mother. She’s never had one. She never even had a chance until you. Danny and I haven’t talked about it yet, but we’ll find a way to make it work. Dani needs you in her life.”

My eyes burned with tears, and I tried to smile. Dante put his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him.

“Not a great idea to make a beautiful woman cry, Intern. Especially when her brother is a giant son of a bitch.”

“Fuck off, Bane.”

The older man, who sat a few stools down from Dante and I, nursing a glass of what looked like whiskey, slammed the glass on the bar and glared at Dante.

“You didn’t hear? I’m not an intern anymore. Got my own fucking brand thanks to Kansas and Storm.”

Bane barked out a laugh. “I bet Montana is fucking pissed. Serves the bastard right.” He emptied his glass and tapped it on the bar for the prospect to refill.

“Are you part of the club?” I asked him.

“Not this one, no. Dante here and I are brothers now, I guess.” He tipped his glass toward Dante and it sloshed over his hand. I watched him for a moment, observing as he downed his glass again.

When the prospect returned with the bottle, he snapped, “Just fucking leave it.”

The prospect jumped, and when he set the bottle down with a crack, I thought for sure it had broken. But Bane picked it up and poured more of the golden liquid into his glass.

I wanted to chastise him for his brash treatment of the young man who was only doing his job, but Amber stepped up with Dani. She stood between Bane and I, and Dani leaned over, reaching for the grumpy man.

Bane snatched her from Amber’s arms and settled her on the bar. My nose scrunched as she grabbed at his glass and he slowly removed it from her grasp as though it were nothing more than a glass of sweet tea.

“This is your daughter, Intern?”

Dante sighed next to me. “Yea,” he confirmed and then whispered,

“The drunk bastard will never stop calling me intern.”

“How old is she?”

“Just turned two in December.”

“She’s small.”

“She was neglected the first two years of her life. She was malnourished. But she’s actually put on a lot of weight, thanks to Melissa.”

“It’s the cookies and pancakes,” I said, smiling at the contrast between the cheerful little girl and the grumpy old man. Dani slapped his cheeks and Bane smiled, bopping her nose.

I wondered about Dante’s parents. Like Dani, he’d been born at the Trick Pony, and I wondered if there was any way to find out who his parents were.

Surely Danny could find that information. That is, if he was as good as everyone said he was. He found Dani, and no one even knew she existed.

The church doors opened, and Danny approached us, sitting at the bar on the other side of Dante. We didn’t speak. I would have to make peace with him if I had any chance of staying in Dani’s life.

“Is there a lawyer in this town?” I asked the prospect.

“Uh, Matlock’s a lawyer. He ain’t here right now, though.”

“What do you need a lawyer for?” Amber asked.

“Their divorce,” I said, my head clicking toward Dante and Danny.

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