“Has she reached out to you?”
“No,” I tell him honestly. “Although, I have been getting this unknown number that’s been calling. Sometimes, I wonder if it’s her, but every time I pick up, they hang up.”
I groan when the doors open, and I see both Ash and Khan get into the Jeep. “Fuck, really?” Oz looks at Ash and he just shrugs his shoulders. “I told you, it’s not club business.”
“And we’re not here representing the club.” Khan says, “We’re here to make sure that whatever is going on will not end up with one of our members dead and the other behind bars for it.” It actually makes me laugh.
Oz groans, looking at me, and I shrug again. “Okay, but don’t ask questions, and neither one of you is running this shit. Those are the rules.”
“Got it, boss.” Khan laughs out, looking back to Oz.
“I’m not running this shit, either.” I smirk at the thought of him sticking up for me. Both men look confused before they look back up at me, and I shrug before pulling out of the gate.
“You may also want to let Fury know to watch after shit for a bit. We’ll probably be gone until tomorrow.” I glance in the rearview mirror at Khan, causing Oz to laugh out.
“Hopefully,” I can see the confused faces in the backseat, but Khan takes his phone out and taps on his screen quickly.
I turn the stereo up to drown out everyone else. I don’t want anyone asking me questions or talking. I need to keep in this headspace.
The first few bars of the song come on and Ella’s face lights in my vision. I’m driving, but I’m clearly on autopilot as the words plague my head. I’m mouthing along the words. Even if I was singing to them, the volume is too loud for anyone to hear them.
I feel the entire Jeep shift into an uncomfortable energy as the words; she calls me daddy play through the sound system.
I stop mouthing along to the song and just let it play.
When we finally get into Palm Springs, it’s getting late, the moon is up. It’s the darkest night of the month, though, with it being a new moon… specifically planned. Pulling into the parking lot, I shift into park.
“How long?” Oz asks me.
“10 minutes. maybe…” I shrug, “there’s no way to know for sure.”
“What are we doing here?” Ash asks, and I look over at Oz.
“Remember that whole no questions rule?” I smirk as Oz snaps at him.
“It’s fine.” I tell Oz as I look at the guys. “In the window, at the bar.”
“Why does he look familiar?” Khan asks.
“Because you’ve met him.” I tell him before I look at them. “It actually works with you two being here. He’ll recognize me… and probably Oz as well. We’ll explain later.” I tell them. “There’s a camera on each side of the building. If you walk close to the left side, right next to the building, the camera won’t capture your face. Knock him out. Put him in his car. Passenger seat, just in case you get pulled over. Say he drank too much and passed out.”
“Why would we get pulled over?”
“Because everyone in town knows his car. If they see someone driving it without him, it will be suspicious.”
“Where are we going?” He asks.
“His place.” I nod my head as I look at Jake as he pays the bartender. “When we get there, I’ll tap my brakes twice. Open the garage door. It’s a two car so we can both fit in there, but I’m going to circle the block twice before I pull in.” Both of the men nod their heads. And then I hand Khan a comms. Nodding, he pushes it into his ear and then gets out. “I don’t care who drives. Let us know when you’re ready to go and if something happens.” They both nod. “Oh, and just so you know. I have security footage at the club recording some old footage, which we all are in.” They all laugh out loud. “It’s footage that's far enough back that it’s been erased.” The security system is set up so that it keeps recordings for 6 months. You can then choose to save them. Both of them hop out of the jeep, pulling their hoods up and walk across the street.
“Those two could run a game on anyone.” Oz laughs out. “Always been two peas in a pod.” I just nod my head. “Ugh,” Oz stops as his voice drops and looks back at me. “I never told you. With everything that happened. I’m glad that she felt safe talking to you about everything. She didn’t need to keep all of that in by herself.”
“I agree. I wish I could have done more. I should have. I should have told all of you about us.” Then he laughs out.
“Well, with how we all acted, I’m not surprised you didn’t.” Oz quiets before I see him out of the corner of my eye looking over to me. “You’re in love with my daughter, aren’t you?”
Looking up at him, slowly nodding my head, I answer, “Yeah. Even with as hard as I tried not to be. How did you find out, anyway? With the way you showed up…”
He laughs, shaking his head. “I ran into Jeff when I was heading to the shop. He was out of lunch with two uniforms, who said something about being shocked that I would let my daughter run around with one of my brothers.” I grimace slightly and he laughs.
