The knowledge is burning a hole in my gut. It’s tearing me up inside and mostly because I think Jan’s words might be the truest thing she’s ever said. Terry is probably Annabelle’s dad, not me. The one thing I’ve ever done in life that I was proud of, and…
My hand comes up to hold my daughter’s. It’s so small and delicate, so pale and white compared to the sunbaked, inked-up dark complexion of my own. We’re so different, especially in ways that a father and daughter ought to be at least a little similar.
That hole in my gut burns brighter, harder.
“Daddy loves you, Belle,” I tell her, letting the tears run free. They’re silent, but they’re torn from me because I’m broken. It won’t matter. Terry’s rotting in the ground and that fucking bitch Jan is one line away from snorting her last. She’ll overdose without me watching over her and I don’t fucking care anymore.
Nothing matters but my daughter. And she is mine.
I may not have fathered her with my seed, but I’ve been there. I held her when she had high fevers and Jan was out partying. I read her bedtime stories, rub her stomach when it hurts, chase off the monsters that she insists hide under her bed… I’ve done all of that and I’ll continue to do it. She’s mine. “Daddy loves you, Belle,” I whisper again, dried tears on my face as my eyes close and I finally let alcohol and sleep claim me. “Daddy, loves you…”
I really fucked up tonight.
Spending an hour sucking some damn prospect’s dick didn’t help shit. The asshole told me he could get me a key to one of the vehicles outside. After I got him off, he told me Skull and Torch had taken all the keys during lockdown. Bastard could’ve told me that shit before I swallowed his pencil dick.
I need to lay low until I can find a way out. There’s no way I can face Beast until I have a plan. He’s an idiot, but I doubt he’ll even buy that I was lying about it all. Now that I’ve ripped the blinders off, he has to know that Terry is Annabelle’s dad. Shit, I never even fucked Beast that night. I knew I was knocked up, and Terry and I drugged his ass so that when he woke up, he’d think he could be the father when I told him.
Terry was the love of my life, but he didn’t have a dime to his name. Beast was loaded, and Terry was already facing ten to fifteen in jail for attempted manslaughter. We needed Beast, so we used him, plain and simple.
And I still can’t believe I fucked it all up last night.
I freeze when I get to Annabelle’s room and find the bastard lying on her bed. He’s huge, way over seven-foot and he looks like the side of a house, he’s so fucking big. His dark hair is long and he constantly wears a beard—entirely too much hair. He can’t even carry on a conversation unless you count grunting. I hate him. He could’ve kept Terry out of jail.
I look at him lying beside my daughter and figure there’s a way I can make him pay. Finding the money and keys on the nightstand just makes it that much easier. I quickly pack the whelp’s overnight bag. She annoys me almost as much as Beast, but she’s the last piece of Terry I have. I grab the money and the keys and stuff them in my pockets. Beast is snoring loudly. Fucker always did—another reason to hate him.
I pick up Annabelle. “Mommy?” she asks sleepily.
“Quiet, Belle. You’ll wake your daddy,” I tell her, choking on the words. “We’re going to run out and get a surprise for daddy.”
“We are?” she whispers excitedly. “What are we gonna get? A puppy? Daddy likes puppies!”
“That’s it. Exactly. But we have to be quiet so no one sees or hears us. We have to sneak out so it will be a real surprise,” I tell her, and I could nearly laugh out loud when she does as I tell her. She’s going to have to toughen up in this world. She can’t be as stupid and clueless as a man. Women have to make their own way. I’ve depended on Beast, and he just kept fucking me over and holding me back. This will be a new start.
Annabelle’s car seat isn’t in the vehicle. Fuckers must have taken it out when they went to drink. I just buckle her in the seat without it. That’s good enough. I get in the car, start it, then drive through the lot. The tricky part is, there’s a gate up ahead. I slow down. That fucker I sucked off is manning the gates—him and another prospect.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks through my window. “Skull said no one in or out.”
“Beast gave me his keys. I have to take my daughter to the doctor. She has a fever.”
“They didn’t tell me. I think Beast would’ve said something, or else be with you. I’m going to have to clear it with them before I can let you go.”
Son of a bitch.
“What? Why? I just sucked you off! You owe me, you miserable fucker!”
“Please, you weren’t even that good,” he says, walking away and grabbing the phone inside the small guard shack.
He’s going to ruin it all. I can’t let that happen. I look over at Annabelle. “Hold on. Mommy’s going to drive through the gates so we can get out of here.”