I set my glass down. My hand feels unsteady. “How?”
Ray smiles. It doesn’t reach his eyes. “Let’s just say I know some people. People who gave her a little taste of the real deal. The drugs. The filth. The way those women get passed around. She saw those aren’t the kind of men she wanted. I can do the same for your girl. She’ll come home. You’ll see.”
I stare at my drink. The whiskey sits heavy in my stomach. Part of me knows this is wrong. Part of me is desperate enough not to care.
“She’s still seeing him, still defying me.” I say.
Ray nods. “They always do at first. But a good scare? That changes things. Nobody gets hurt. Just enough to open her eyes. She’ll thank you. You’ll get your daughter back.”
I hesitate. My mind flashes to Lucy’s face the night she walked out. The way she looked at me like I was the enemy. I take another long drink.
“How do I know it’ll work?” I ask.
“Because I’ve seen it work.” Ray’s voice is calm. Reassuring. “She’ll see the drugs. The chaos. The kind of women they keep around. She’ll realize she doesn’t belong there. She’ll come home. And you’ll be the one who saved her.”
I stare at the bar top. The wood is scarred and worn. My daughter is out there right now with that man. With that club. I feel the powerlessness again.
I stare down into my glass, the amber liquid swirling slowly.
“Okay,” I say finally. My voice sounds far away, like it belongs to someone else. “What do we do?”
Ray smiles again, a cold, knowing smile that always makes my skin crawl a little. But right now, it feels like the only lifeline I have left.
“I’ll make some calls,” he says easily, leaning back in his chair. “Got a few guys who owe me favors. Quiet ones. You just wait. She’ll come home. You’ll see.”
I finish my drink in one burning swallow. The whiskey settles heavy in my gut like agreement. Like desperation. Like the only fucking option I have left.
Before I leave, I slide my phone across the table. “Here. Put your number in. We’ll need to coordinate this.”
Ray takes it without hesitation, typing quickly before handing it back. His own phone buzzes a second later as I text him to confirm.
“Good,” he says, pocketing his phone. “I’ll reach out in the next day or two once I’ve got eyes on her. Stay ready.”
I nod, throat tight, and pay my tab with shaking hands. I walk out into the night. The air feels colder than it should. I sit in my car for a long time, staring at the new contact in my phone, “Ray” before I finally start the engine.
Lucy will understand one day. She has to.
I’m doing this for her. I’m saving her from that animal she’s been running around with. From that filthy biker life she thinks she wants. Even if she hates me for it right now.
I drive home with Ray’s words echoing in my head on repeat.She’ll come home. She’ll thank me.I say them out loud the whole way, gripping the wheel until my knuckles turn white.
I need to believe them. Because if I don’t… I don’t know what the hell I have left.
NINETEEN
LUCY
I wakeup with Tiny’s arm draped across my waist. The room is warm. Sunlight slips through the blinds and lands in bright strips across the floor. I lie still for a moment, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest against my back. His breath brushes the back of my neck. I cover his hand with mine and squeeze. He stirs and pulls me closer without opening his eyes.
“Morning,” I whisper.
He kisses the side of my neck. “Best part of the day.”
We stay tangled together like that for a while, warm and lazy under the sheets. Tiny’s hand slides under my shirt and rests possessively on my stomach, like he can’t stop touching me. I turn in his arms until I’m facing him. His eyes are still heavy with sleep, but that slow, crooked smile spreads across his face the second he sees me.
I kiss him.
It starts soft and sweet, but it doesn’t stay that way. The kiss deepens, turns hungry. His tongue slides against mine as his hand moves up my side, cupping my breast, thumb brushingover my nipple until I gasp into his mouth. I press closer, craving every inch of him.
