Page 116 of Steel

I shake my head, knowing better than to question how my girl knew I was with Bailee. She’s fucking astute.

“Love you, Princess.”

“Love you more, Daddy. See you tomorrow.”

The screen flashes, showing me she’s hung up, yet I stare down at it, my stomach churning. It’s screaming at me but not telling me why, leaving me with nothing but questions regarding the choice I made to let her go.

Bailee takes the phone from me and climbs into my lap. Heat seeps into my cheeks when she cups my face between her palms.

“Do you want to go get her? We’ll leave right now and go.”

“No,” I say, exhaling heavily. “Sounded fine and actually happy over there for a change.”

Her thumbs caress the skin right under my eyes. “I don’t like the look in these. It tells me you’re worried.”

“All good, Hummingbird. But if you want to help, you can do something to distract your man.”

I lean forward and suck her bottom lip into my mouth before releasing it and biting down.

“My man, huh?” she questions, lifting a brow.

“Don’t see anyone else ridin’ my dick, baby girl.”

“You want more sex, or do you want to actually talk?”

“Much as I fuckin’ love being buried inside your pussy, my dick is worn out.”

I lean my head back against the headboard and peer at her through hooded lids. Tenderness swells inside me as I gaze at the woman who has captivated me from the moment I met her. Her skin is soft and silky against the back of my knuckles when I brush them down her cheek.

“Want to fuckin’ know everything about you,” I admit gruffly, not really liking the vulnerability that statement opens up for me.

And so, she tells me all the shit I was always scared to know before.

She moves off my lap so she can rest against my chest. While my fingers dive through her red hair, we talk about everything we could possibly talk about until both our eyes are closing and we’re drifting off to sleep.

Chapter thirty

Next Day

After I drop Baileeoff at Sinful Saloon, I head for the clubhouse. There’s so much shit going on there right now, and I feel like I’m not pulling my weight. I wear an officer patch, but right now, I can’t say that I fucking deserve to have it on my vest.

I’m stopped at a light a few blocks from Heather’s apartment when my intuition washes over me, urging me to turn toward it. Since that’s where my daughter is, I follow my gut as it has yet to fail me.

I aim the bike that way and twist my wrist on the throttle to send me hurtling down the road. The angry growl from the pipes accompanies me on the quick trip. The closer I get to Heather’s apartment, the more the venom in my gut sharpens, eating away at me.

I fly into the apartment complex, ignoring the horn from the angry driver I cut off, and pull to a stop in front of the building Heather lives in. Kicking down the stand with the heel of my boot, I jump from the bike and stride toward my destination.

My knuckles pound against the steel door, echoing through the little balcony area. The television plays from behind it, but no one comes. When my second knock goes unanswered, I reach for the handle and find it unlocked.

Shoving it open and stepping inside, a growl erupts from my throat. I take in the scene with clenched fists and tell myself to calm down. Right now, my daughter needs my calm so I can take control of the situation.

A little orange pill bottle, an empty baggie, a blackened spoon, a lighter, and a used syringe are set in a tray on the table in front of my daughter.

I’m going to kill this bitch.

Lyric glances away from the screen and up at me. The blankness of her normally lively eyes eats me.

“Mommy took medicine to make her feel better and then she fell asleep,” Lyric says in a monotone voice.

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