Page 66 of Dash

“Give me a fucking heart attack, why don’t you?”

“Best place to have one,” he remarks.

I stroke my fingers—the ones not clutched in her death grip—through her hair. It eases something inside me knowing she wasn’t sitting here alone, vulnerable.

“She okay?”

“She’s scared out of her mind. I tried to get her to go home and sleep, but she fought me on it. Told me she wasn’t leaving unless I physically dragged her out of here.”

I look at her again, at her scrunched forehead and the tear tracks dried on her cheeks.

“You and her…”

My fingers squeeze hers gently. “Yeah. Me and her. She’s my girl.”

“She know that?”

“She’s getting there.” I blow out a breath. “We know what happened yet?”

Riot glances at her sleeping form before bringing his gaze back to me. “We’re working on that. And by we, I mean me, Mace, and Nic. Crank ain’t fucking interested.”

I snort then wince as pain shoots through my skull. I rub my temple. “Did you think he would be? He doesn’t give a shit about us. Me and Diesel almost got slaughtered, and he’s too busy nursing a fucking whiskey to care.” I keep my voice low so I don’t wake Dayna.

“This’ll be the final straw for him. His days as president are counting down fast, brother.” He says the word ‘president’ as if it’s dirty and not the highest-ranking position in our chapter.

“Did he put the club on lockdown?”

Riot scoffs. “What do you think?”

Is Dayna in danger? Am I putting her life at risk by being with her?

“She in danger?”

“I don’t know. I’ve locked down Ivy. Mace has done the same with Maylie, but she’s due in a few weeks, which has Mace spinnin’.”

Understandable. I wouldn’t want my kid born into this shit.

“Then we better figure out who the fuck was behind this and make sure they know not to come at us again.” I shift in the bed, my back aching. “Diesel okay? I don’t remember much of what happened, but he was with me.”

“He’s in the waiting room, scaring the nurses.”

“I don’t think he supports what’s going on.”

Riot tilts his head slightly. “He say something?”

I frown. “It’s just a feeling.”

“Ain’t saying you’re wrong, but we need proof, not feelings.”

I don’t take offence because he’s right. There is no room for fuck-ups here. Every move we make decides the future of our chapter, our club, and our families.

It feels like we’re playing on a chessboard designed to detonate if we move the wrong piece.

“You want me to stay?” he asks.

I brush Dayna’s hair back. “No. Go take care of your family.”

“I’ll come back in the morning, after I’ve got the girls settled.”

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