“You will eat, Dani,” Shadow demands, looking at me with that furrowed eyebrow which leaves that little wrinkle. He looks so cute when he does it that I bite my cheek to keep from smiling at him when he’s trying to be serious.
“That reminds me, I got you something,” Shadow remarks. He walks over to one of the dresser drawers and pulls it open. I try and look around his body to see what he has, but his muscular frame blocks the view.
He turns around with books and a box on top.
“Got you some books about what to expect when pregnant, a book with baby names, some vitamins, and this is a box with suckers that will help with your morning sickness.” He places the books down with the box and tosses the pills beside me.
I pick up the box of suckers and run my finger along the cover of one of the books.
“Why did you get these for me?” I ask in awe.
“Because I knew leaving you at the hospital to figure my shit out was an ass move.” He sits down on the bed and grabs my chin, moving my face to look at him. “Because I want you and my baby to be healthy,” he whispers. He leans over and kisses my lips tenderly, his sensitivity taking the breath from me.
“I didn’t leave you when I left. I just needed to figure out how I was going to be the man you and my child deserved.” He brushes a hair from my face and kisses my forehead, his words making my heart swell with affection.
“You going to tell me what happened exactly?” he asks, pointing at the cast on my arm.
I bite my lip anxiously. The pregnancy kind of caught everyone off-guard after the attack, and I should have known it wouldn’t last.
“You already know everything,” I lie. I can feel my cheeks turning red from guilt.
“Why don’t you tell me again?” he insists, his tone menacing.
“I came out of work and was attacked,” I tell him, looking at the wall and avoiding eye contact. He grabs me by the chin hard, making me look at him.
“Now, why don’t you look me in the eye and try that again,” he orders, scowling. I close my eyes, trying to escape those stormy blue ones from penetrating my shell of lies. I shouldn’t say anything, but enough shit has rolled after the events of what me and the girls had done.
“Fucking spill it, Dani,” he grits.
“I can’t,” I say, pulling out of his grip.
“You’re fucking hiding something from me,” he growls, standing. He leans down and grabs my chin. “You belong to me, and you and our baby’s safety is mine to look after. I can’t do that unless you tell me everything and stop hiding shit from me.”
I stand as well, angry and downright pissed off. “Hiding shit? How about the fact my mother’s missing! You wouldn’t be hiding anything from me about that, would you?” I ask, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
Shadow flexes his hand, and I can sense the anger building within him.
“You got about two seconds to explain, Dani,” he warns, ignoring my accusation of him having something to do with my mother’s disappearance. I close my eyes, knowing if Shadow did have anything to do with it that means she’s not alive anymore. I’m not sure if I feel relieved or grief at the thought. I open my eyes to see a very angry Shadow, puffed out and furious, waiting for my answer.
“Fine,” I whisper, hoping Babs forgives me. “I walked out to where you have been parking, and a car came hauling ass toward me. The driver door checked me, making me fall.” I point toward the road rash eating my kneecaps. “A group of guys got out and said ‘this was for Darin’ before beating the Hell out of me with a bat.” I’m strangely calm as I tell him all that.
“Darin?” Shadow questions in confusion.
I turn my head, not wanting to give him anymore.
“Dani,” he threatens.
I won’t be a rat; my status around here is already exactly that.
I look him in the angry eyes staring back at me. “You’ll have to ask Babs about the rest,” I tell him.
SHADOW
The word angry is not even in my vocabulary right now. I’m beyond that. I pull my boots on hobbling down the hall to Bull’s room.
I knock loudly, my fist pounding against the old door.
He swings the door open. “What the fuck?” he yells. His hair is a mess and he’s wearing nothing but threadbare boxers.
“Get dressed; we need to see Babs now!” I demand before walking away.
I wait out by my car for Bull to crawl his ass out of bed.
“You want to explain what the hell is going on?” Bull asks, walking out of the club and lighting a cigarette.
“Jump in the car. I’ll explain on the way there,” I tell him, climbing into my car.
“Don’t fucking park up here like this again. How many times I gotta tell you, boy?” Bull questions, getting in beside me.
I start the car and pull out of the courtyard, ignoring him.
“You going to tell me why you woke me up, Shadow?” he drills, resting his head back on the headrest.
“Dani and Babs’ attacks are related. They have gotten themselves into some shit and Dani won’t tell me,” I inform. Bull looks at me instantly.