Addictive (Diamondback MC Second Generation 3)

“Good idea. Henley, why don’t you go on to the house?” I shake my head, unable to get the words out just yet. My gaze travels from my dad’s to Shovel. Both of them are older. The salt and pepper in Shovel’s hair is more apparent now; same goes for my father, except he’s more salt and a whole lot less pepper. Wrinkles where there once was smooth skin show they’re getting older, but one thing for sure is that they aren’t slowing down any.

“I’d rather not. I want to see the videos, please.” The footage I’m talking about isn’t from when Sailor was taken but rather from where Sailor said she recognized the guy who dropped her off at the hospital in our own freaking apartment complex.

“Henley, honey, you heard what the doctor said at your last appointment. The stress, it doesn’t help anything. Let your dad and uncle deal with this and then talk to you.” I’d usually take everything she says to heart, but on this, Mom and I can disagree.

“Sadie, we’ll let her stay. If it gets to be too much, we’ll call you to come get her, okay?” This comes from Shovel. Once he speaks, everyone knows its law.

“Alright, fine.” She veers from her way to the door and hugs me close to her body. I breathe in her scent knowing she means well but also needing to know what the hell is going on.

“Love you, Momma.” I turn my head to whisper that into her ear.

“Love you. Don’t let this get to you, okay? I need you healthy. We all do.” Her red hair is down to her shoulders, shorter than how she used to wear it, similar to what my own hair was at one time. I remember the day like it was yesterday, when my hair was falling out in clumps and I went to them and told them it’s time to get rid of the rest. Mom held my hand. Dad offered to shave his head. Hell, I thought Jackson was going to until I told him Sailor wouldn’t be too happy about it. It’ll grow back; I knew it then and I know it now. The only thing we don’t know is how long it’ll take and what shape it’ll be in as well.

“I promise.” She makes her rounds to Dad before walking out the door. The silence of the door to my dad’s office shutting is deafening. I know they’d usually hole up in the room where they usually hold church, but with that only being for members, Sailor, Mom, and I not part of that, they decided to do it in Dad’s office instead.

“Okay, let’s figure this out, okay?” Dad pulls up the surveillance video with a few clicks. I’m not the least bit surprised he can find everything out so quickly, and when the guy who’s shown on the screen appears, well, let’s just say I’m in for the shock of my life. That’s not the only thing; both Dad and Uncle Shovel let out a puff of air. Apparently, I’m not the only one who knows the handsome man on the screen getting into the fancy yet most luxurious car I’ve ever slid inside, and when they rewind it further, it’s then that I realize I’ve got a lot of explaining to do, and fast. Not just for me, but for Dante as well, because let’s face it, he’s the one who has everyone and everything to lose, again.

CHAPTER 15

MASSIMO

“Are you fucking crazy?” I’ve been banging on Henley’s door for the past ten minutes, to no avail. I’ve called, texted, sent Giuseppe on a wild fucking goose chase to try and figure out what the hell is going on with Henley. Of course, it didn’t help that Dante and work were consuming my life. It seems he’s going through all the emotions related to losing his mom. Somehow, it’s translated to him fighting kids at school. It didn’t help matters that they were calling him an orphan since he now doesn’t have either of his parents. If I had known this started while Sienna was still alive when they called Dante a bastard, I could have at least done something to prevent it or made the little brat kid’s parents a reason to actually be a parent to their child.

“Me? Let’s talk about you. What the fuck is going on, Henley? You don’t answer my calls or my texts, and Giuseppe said you told him to tell me to forget I ever met you.” Damn highly unlikely. This woman is making me addicted to everything that surrounds her.

“Oh, I don’t know, you want to talk about kidnapping my brother’s girlfriend, or did you think nothing would ever be found out about that? Or how about the fact that my family tapped into the security footage here, and they saw everything. How you picked me up, the way we ended our night, and even when you had that small interaction with Sailor, jarring every memory she lost, putting her through hell all over again.” It’s then I look around her apartment. There are food boxes everywhere, bottles of water, some empty, some half full. She clearly hasn’t left her apartment.