“Hey, Buddy.” Watching Cruz hold his little boy tightly in his arms made my heart flutter. Seeing him be such a great father to Coop was my undoing. This was my man. I loved him. Even though it’s all been a whirlwind, there was no denying it. He was mine.
“Daddy, me’s colorin’.”
“I see that, Buddy. I need to talk to Princess for a bit, lets head to your room.”
I sat in the recliner waiting for him to get Coop settled. “What’s going on?”
“Coop’s on lockdown here. He’s not to leave for any reason. He’ll be safe.” His words were reassuring, but I needed to know what could happen.
“What if she doesn’t sign the papers?”
“She will.” I didn’t know why he thought this was going to go so smoothly. If anything, these past couple weeks have proven that nothing goes smoothly in this world. “I know you can protect yourself, but until we get this shit sorted out, you gotta be extra careful.”
I knew he was right, but having restrictions just reminded me of prison. But I knew I’d listen, because he’s my man.
Two days later
“What do you mean she’s fucking gone?” Cruz’s rough voice bellowed through the clubhouse. Sitting on a barstool with Cooper letting him play with all the paper coasters as he lined them up repeatedly, I tried to distract him from his dad’s yelling.
“She couldn’t have just fucking disappeared, Danny!” I assumed he was talking about Mindy. I shook my head listening to the one-sided conversation Cruz was having on the phone, knowing I shouldn’t be, but it didn’t stop me.
“You know where she fucking is. Tell me!” Cooper didn’t pay any attention to his dad, as he was too busy stacking the coasters just right.
“I will come over there and make you fucking tell me. You have twenty-four hours for her to show up. Then shit’s gonna get real serious.” Cruz hit end on his phone, slipping it inside his rag anger pouring off of him.
“What’s going on?” Pops asked before I could.
Cruz stepped up to Pops saying something quietly in his ear, and Pops nodded.
Pops turned to me. “You okay?”
“I’m good.”
“I need you to do something for me,” Pops said, almost nervously, which wasn’t his style.
“Sure, anything.”
“I need you to contact that Deara and get any and all information on Mindy and Babs recently. You think you can get it quickly?”
“Yeah, I have an outside contact that can get to her. I’ll see what I can do.” I couldn’t help the happiness that fell through my body knowing they trusted me to get the information.
Lying in bed, I couldn’t sleep for shit. My mind kept thinking of all the shit I’ve dealt with the past two weeks and two years. It was all because one bitch was jealous. She was flat out jealous of my life. I tried to shy away from this life and be manlier, like the guys, just to fit in with them. She was so jealous of a life in which I had to try relentlessly to escape from being called Princess, even though it grew on me. I loved this life. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it. There had to be.
Who the hell could hate me so fucking much that would work with her and help her destroy me… ‘cause I knew there had to be more to this.
Thinking back two and a half years ago, my life was simple. I had my studio, the club, the brothers, and my family. We didn’t want for anything. We were pretty well set. If I wanted to get laid, I’d find some unsuspecting fool at the bar, get my kicks, and never call again.
There wasn’t anyone that I personally had any beefs with, at least any known beefs. I knew the club had tons of haters. That was a given, but I didn’t stir up trouble. I just dealt with the trouble when it came.
I had to throw out a few guys from the studio because they got too rough with the girls, but nothing stood out. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that Babs was working with someone, because considering Babs and I were not even classified as friends in my eyes, it had to be more. My mind kept reeling trying to come up with some rhyme or reason to this madness, but came up blank.
Cruz left on club business a while ago leaving Coop and me to hang out. I really loved my time with him.
These damn dreams I kept having were killing me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him and felt him. I just wanted to take a scalding shower and let the water melt the skin off my body. I didn’t want to close my eyes in fear of seeing the replay.
Having enough, I needed something to take my mind off all this shit. Walking into the clubhouse, Rhys, Becs, Breaker, and Buzz were all around the bar in some deep conversation, but immediately stopped when they saw me. Rolling my eyes, I slowly approached seeing the two women lying on the far couch. It’s like they never left that fucking spot.
“Hey, Princess. How the hell are ya?” Becs asked as he strummed his fingers on the bar. His red hair made him stand out among all the other guys. It wasn’t fire engine red, but a reddish-brown and with his piercing green eyes, he was a very attractive man. His nose had been in a couple of fights and not set quite right causing a large bump in the center, but to me it gave him character. He always acted like a second big brother to me throughout the years.
“I’m hanging in there,” I said as I sidled up to the bar. “Can I have a Jack, please?” I asked one of the B.Boys. One of these days I’ll be able to tell them apart, but tonight wasn’t that night.
“You and Cruz, huh?” Becs asked as I shot down the Jack, feeling the burn down my throat, and slamming the glass to the bar. I needed another. I motioned to the B.Boys.
“Never thought I’d see the day when you finally gave in to a brother.” He swigged his beer and shook his head.
I smiled. “Shocked the hell out of me, too.”
“You do okay, inside?” Rhys’s deep voice sent shivers down my back. There was always something about a deep baritone voice that had my body quivering. Rhys wasn’t like the other guys to me. To me, he was far more dangerous, far scarier, but I never let that show to him. I’d heard stories that I wasn’t supposed to hear growing up, of how he dealt with people who fucked with him. And shit if those didn’t freak me out, I was ultimately glad that Rhys was on my side.
“The first few weeks were rough. I had to find my place, and it didn’t come easy. But once that was over, it got a bit better. Then when Pops got the Warden to give me my own room, it got much better. Sleeping with one eye open is a lot harder than I thought. But I survived.”
“You sure did girl. We’re real proud of you. Not many women would have been as strong.” Rhys wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and part of me wanted to cringe away, but I’d never be disrespectful to him.
“Thanks…”
“You get ahold of that chick for info?” Becs asked, taking a pull of his beer.
“Heard back a while ago. She’s got her person on it. I don’t know who that person is, but hopefully we’ll have what we need in the morning.” After the shit that I got for even using her, I was surprised I was asked to get more information from her.
“Good. I hate going into shit blind,” Rhys added.
Shooting another shot of Jack, I felt eyes boring through me. Looking up, one of the B.Boys was eyeing me. “What?”
“You’re the only chick I know that can take out two men and rip one’s balls off without breaking a sweat.” His admiration was funny, so I laughed.
“You’d be best to remember not to piss me off,” the guys groaned. “Oh, come on, it’s not like I did it to you.”