Warrant (Righteous Outlaws #1) (15 page)

I wanted to say fuck you and leave, but my energy levels had plummeted and it was getting increasingly harder to hold myself up. I plopped back onto the table.

Kade poked his head in. “What’s going on? He helping or not?”

“I’ll help on a two conditions.”

Kade came into the room and closed the door. It was after office hours, and there was no one there. It didn’t matter whether the door was shut or not, but it was habit. “We don’t bargain.”

I held my hand up to Kade. “Let him talk.”

Kade let out a loud rush of air. “This is fucking ridiculous. Talk, pretty boy. We don’t have all night.”

The doc sat down and rested his foot on his knee. “First, I want you to promise you will stay the fuck away from my daughter.”

“I can’t promise that,” I mumbled, and he stomped his foot down.

“Then you’re on your own.”

“Cash, you couldn’t just fucking lie?!” Kade barked.

I shrugged and forced myself to sit a little straighter. “She already made her decision. She chose you. But, if she ever came back to me, there is no way in fucking hell I would turn her away.”

The doc jumped up, his chair toppling over. “She is too good for you. She has a future!”

“Getting knocked up by that polo-wearing douchebag.” I took a deep breath, trying to make the lightheadedness go away. “Letting that education you paid for go to fucking waste because she gets stuck being a stay at home society mom. Yeah, because that life is so much better for her.”

“At least she’d be safe and out of harm’s way.”

“Safe. Yeah she’d be safe alright. Safe from ever having a real future. What you envision for her is to satisfy your own agenda. I know who that guy is. What his company is. He’s fucking loaded. Makes you look like a goddamned pauper. If she marries him, you’ll never have to worry about money again.”

“If she marries him, I’ll never have to worry about
her
again. She’ll be taken care of, and I’ll be able to sleep easy at night. If you care for her, really care for her, like you say you do, you know it’s the best choice for her.”

“Even if it is,” I said, resting my head back and trying not to let my eyes slip shut. “You can’t force her into it.”

“Maybe not, but forcing her away from it shouldn’t be an option either. Can we both agree on that?”

I took a moment to ponder it, but it didn’t take long for me to come to a conclusion. “Fine.” At least then it would be her choice to make. “What’s the other thing?”

“I want out. I’ve paid my dues twice over, yet I still keep getting roped back into your shit. I take care of you and you let me out.”

“Deal,” I said.

“Whoa!” Kade intervened. “That is not your decision to make, Cash, and you know it. It’s a club decision. It needs to be brought to church.”

“And, we need a majority rule. You’ll vote in favor, won’t you?”

Kade and I never stood divided. We made a pact a long time ago that we always stood together. I knew I could count on his vote.

“Even if I do, the others won’t agree to it.”

“I’ll find a way to make it happen. After today, the Righteous Outlaws and me are through with you. I give you my word.”

T
oday was a total nightmare
. Dad came to dinner at the club, but he wouldn’t even look at me. He barely spoke to me and, when we got home, he didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I thought that, by choosing him over Cash, it would fix things, but it didn’t. If anything, it made everything worse. I would never be Daddy’s girl again. His little princess. Funny, how I always wanted to be more than that, but, now that I lost the title completely, I just wanted it back.

Dad had never done anything to disappointment me. He always had my best interest at heart. He only wanted me to be happy safe, and secure. How could I have faulted him for that? I needed to fix this. Fix us. I needed to repair all the damage I caused. Make him see that who I chose to be with doesn’t change who I am. Who I have always been. I’m still me. And I am still his daughter, regardless of what I’ve done.

He headed to the office after our dinner, and skipped out before dessert came. I ordered his favorite: cheesecake with whipped cream and strawberries. I had the waiter pack it up for me with a couple of forks.

When I was a little kid and I couldn’t sleep, I would sneak down to the kitchen and always find Dad having a late night snack. He would hand me a fork, and we would talk about our days over cheesecake. He’d give me advice and make me laugh.

I hoped by going to him now, cheesecake in hand, he would remember that time. It was a small gesture, but a peace offering nonetheless. He couldn’t just cast me aside because he wasn’t happy with my choices. If he would have allowed me to make my own choices as I was growing up, maybe I would have been better prepared for the ones I made. But, we would never know.

I grabbed the cheesecake and headed into Dad’s building. It was a three-story building, just outside of Black Hills. It was in a good location near the hospital, making it convenient for Dad to be in both places when he needed to be. I still remember when he purchased the place. Martha cooked us a huge dinner as if it were a holiday. We pigged out on turkey and mashed potatoes in celebration.

It’s funny how certain memories stand out brighter than others in your mind. How you clung on to some while others faded. Seems to me, it was always the simplest ones that had the biggest impact on my life. Who would have ever thought that something so mundane as sharing a piece of cheesecake with my father would have left such a lasting impression? I chose to hold onto the good ones. The ones that made me happy and brought a smile to my face.

I let the good memories stay front and center, while I took the stairs to Dad’s office. As I walked down the hall, I heard voices drifting out from one of the exam rooms.

I detected Dad’s first. It was loud and clipped. “You better keep your end of the deal,” he said, and I pressed my body against the wall, listening closely. What deal was he talking about? And who was he in there with. “We’re through.”

“We’re through when we say we’re through,” a loud gruff voice said.

“Enough! I said I would take care of it and I meant it.” The voice was familiar, and my heart stopped when I realized it was Cash. “As of tonight, you’re done with the club.”

Done with the club? What did my father have to do with the MC? Did he and Cash know each other before this afternoon? Is that why Dad was so mad? Because he knew Cash?

“Just remember. This works both ways. We’ll cut ties with you, but that means you can’t come back to us, either. You get yourself ass deep in shit again, and you’re on your own. No more loans. No more selling your drugs and reaping the rewards. You got it,” Cash said.

Daddy was selling drugs to the club? Is that what Cash was saying. That couldn’t be true. My father wasn’t that type of man. He was a law-abiding citizen. He wouldn’t be mixed up in the MC. That’s why he was so hard on me because he wanted me to be like him. Wanted me to make all the right choices and do all the right things. Build a life I could be proud of, and that others could admire.

I needed answers, and I wasn’t going to get them standing on this side of the door. I pushed off the wall and went to walk.

“Did you hear that?” the gruff voice said.

“It’s well after hours. No one should be in the building.”

The door flew open and, before I could react or even scream, a hand wrapped around my mouth. The cheesecake fell from my hand and thudded across the floor. A gun pressed to my head and visions from that night ran rampant in my mind.

The guys hand on Cash’s throat, the life being sucked out of him. The blood…

I clawed at the hand holding me, now desperately trying to break free. I didn’t take a man’s life to lose mine only a short time later. I bit down on his hand as hard as I could, and he loosened his grip. I shoved away from him, but he was quick and turned the gun back on me.

“Panty girl?” he said, with a squint of his eyes before laughing.

“What’s going on?” I whispered, not wanting Dad or Cash to know I was there until I knew what the heck was going on. “Why are you here? What does my dad have to do with your club?”

Kade scratched his temple with the barrel of his gun. “Sorry, sweetheart, but that’s not my story to tell. But, what I can tell you? You have my boy all fucked up in the head.”

“Who? Cash?”

“He had a death wish today after whatever went down with you two. He could have gotten himself fucking killed if I didn’t take him down. Luckily, he only got a bullet to the arm.”

“Cash got shot?” Panic rose inside of me, every worst-case scenario popping in and out of my head. I thought I heard his voice, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t seriously injured. Didn’t mean that he wasn’t…dying? What if the bullet nicked an artery? Was that why he was here? Was Dad treating him? I had so many questions, but the most important one came out first. “Is he okay?” I asked, taking a deep breath and preparing myself for the worst.

“He’ll be fine, but that’s not the point. The point is, you fucked with his head.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you meant to or not. What matters is, you fix this. I’ve only seen him snap like that once before, and it was when his old man died. It was fucked up, and I thought I’d lose my best friend. We’re not going to go through that shit again. So, you
will
fix this.”

I thought about that night at Cash’s house when I asked him about his father. How he tried everything in his power to avoid answering my questions, and how explosive he became we he finally did. I couldn’t even imagine how he was after it happened. The pain was still so fresh in his eyes that night you would have thought his dad died only days prior. It was painstakingly clear that Cash loved his father immensely and his loss was devastating.

I could barely calm him down that night. I didn’t know what to do. I was completely out of my element. All I knew was that I wanted to be there for him just as I did now. The only problem was I had no idea how to do that. Not when my own father could barely look at me.

“I don’t know how to fix it. I’m between a rock and a hard place.”

“All I’m saying is, figure it the fuck out. You coming?” he asked as he headed back toward the exam room.

I shook my head. “No, and don’t tell them I was here.”

“Why should I lie for you?”

“Because I just heard things on the other side of that door that are making me think that my entire life has been a lie. I just want a chance to find out the truth on my own. And, I don’t think ambushing my dad and Cash at the same time is going to help. I need to talk to them separately. Please.”

Kade didn’t say anything. Instead, he bent down and picked up my cheesecake, handing it to me. “You dropped this. I’m going back in there. It’s best if you get lost.”

I didn’t know what to expect from Kade; if he was the type of guy that could care less about other people, or if, beneath the leather and biker boy badass façade, there was a man with a heart. He just stripped the leather away and showed me his heart. “Thanks,” I said as he nodded toward the hall. I turned on my heel and hurried away.

I couldn’t leave, though. Cash was here. I could talk to him. Piece together the bits of information I heard with all that he knew. With what I had just heard, I wasn’t ready to talk to Dad yet. I wasn’t sure when I would be, but I knew it wasn’t tonight.

The hallway went to a T, and I stood on the side that led to the exit. Cash and Kade were bound to come this way eventually. I heard muffled voices coming toward me, and sent up a silent acknowledgement of gratitude.

As soon as they turned the bend, I stepped out. Kade, without a second’s reaction, held his gun up and pointed it directly at my head. Again.

“Aubree.” Cash smacked Kade’s hand, forcing the gun down. “Put that thing away, would you?”

“I thought you were leaving?”

“Thought she was leaving? You knew she was here?” Cash asked.

Kade held his hands up. “Look, I’m not getting caught up in this. You two have shit to discuss. Can you give him a ride home?”

“I can.” And, because I knew he was giving me the opportunity to speak with Cash like I had said I wanted, I added. “Thank you.” He flashed a half-hearted smile, and took off toward the exit.

“Come on,” I said to Cash, taking in the bandage on his arm, the blood soaking his shirt and pants. “How are you feeling? Does it hurt?”

“What are you doing here, Sunshine? And I’m not talking about being in this building. I’m talking about being here with me right now.”

His green eyes were heavy lidded and tired. He was pale, and my guess was that he lost a lot of blood. His hair was a matted mess, and he looked like he had been through hell and back, yet he was still the sexiest man I’d ever seen.

I swallowed down the desire to take him in my arms. To crash my lips to his. “We need to talk.”

“You already made you decision. There’s nothing left to say.”

“There’s plenty left to say.”

“No, there isn’t.” Cash pushed past me, but I wasn’t going to let him walk away so easily. I had questions, and he was the only one who could answer them. He was the only one I trusted.

I grabbed his good arm, and spun him back to me. His eyes met mine, and I could see his defiance waning. He reached out, his hand resting on my cheek, and pulled me close to him. His lips were a mere whisper away from mine, but before I could succumb to my desires, I needed to know. “How do you know my dad?”