My head snaps in his direction, my eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I wanted what was best for her.” My eyes focus back on Penelope, a tear running down my cheek.
“And that’s exactly how I know you’re going to be a good mom, Delilah.” Reaching his hand out, he runs a hand up and down my back, the contact making me want to cry harder but I hold back the tears and suck it up.
“What about her other family?” I don’t know what to do about that. I feel like I’m taking her away from them.
“They can visit, we won’t close them off but they can’t raise her. That’s your place. You’re her mother now and Maranda told her about you for a reason,” Dad says with a strict voice, hearing him saying it like that makes the guilt rush away and I nod confidently.
“I should tell Thane. I never did tell him, but I think I need to—”
“No. You don’t.”
My eyes wide as saucers, I look to my dad with confusion.
“He’s her father, he has a right to know.”
“I’ve been on the phone with a support club down in Georgia. You think I was just going to let his fucking club get away with what they did to you?” He gives me an incredulous look, and the surprise drains from my face. I knew he was working something up this whole time but he was so sly about it.
“Men were hurt from Big Chief’s truck but they found one of The Fallen Gods men shot and killed.”
“That was not us!” My voice raises and Penelope stirs.
“Yeah, I know,” Dad assures in a hushed voice. “Thane called me to set up a place and time to talk about how to handle everything, and I told him my guy didn’t do it.”
“Jesus, he thought we killed one of his members? I bet he was wanting Big Chief’s head.”
“And yours, but yeah, I told him it wasn’t you guys and my guy wouldn’t lie to me about it. Turns out he has some shit going down in his own club right now. I don’t know the specifics, but what I do know is there will be a war and telling him about Penelope right now would be dangerous for her.”
Sliding up next to my daughter, I have to hold her, to feel her next to me. Dad helps me situate under the blankets and sits next to me, his hand on my side.
“As it is my job to protect you, it’s yours to protect her. Telling Thane right now is not an option, D.”
Little spurs of warm breath skip over my cheek as I stare at the soft apple cheeks of Penelope, and I know my dad is right. Thane can’t know. There is something going on down there. I could feel it when I was there myself. The way the guys acted, they weren’t like the men here. Telling Thane would mean he’d want to have visits, bring her down there, and God knows what his mother would think of him having a child tying him down.
“Do you love Thane?”
The question hits me hard, and I compare the way I feel about Lee and Thane. The emotions are so different. Thane is lust, but Lee is something stronger. Lee knows me on a level nobody else does, he has my heart and if he left tomorrow, I’m not sure I’d ever heal from the blow.
“No,” I clip.
Dad just nods, he doesn’t say anything and I think about how he made Lee walk across glass and then him disappearing for a day or so, I thought he was on the roof but now I’m wondering if he was handling club business with Thane.
“Is that where you disappeared to after you made my boyfriend walk across glass? To get word on Thane?”
He sighs and I know the answer is yes. He probably had to meet with someone privately for the information offering a dangerous service in exchange. My dad isn’t nicknamed Shadow for just any reason, he slips past you just like a shadow in the night. He’s quick and sly and always up to something. What scares me is what else he knows about Thane and his club that I don’t know and what did Dad have to do to get the information. Did he have to hurt or kill someone? Pay them off? Promise them illegal goods?
The life of an outlaw always a price, especially for information on another club because then you just made yourself a rat. Which is basic suicide in our world of living.
“You should be aware that I had a supporter club in Georgia that is going to beat the fuck out of Thane and blow up a couple of the club’s motorcycles.” He slides that little detail in and my mouth parts at the retaliation.