Page 79 of Always Mine

There were not a lot of people around, but whenever she tried to do anything, they were there to stop her.It was exhausting trying to find work to do covertly.She wasn’t even allowed to make herself a mug of coffee.Stink actually made her a cup of coffee, and she thanked him.

Lacey had offered to come and redo her hair, and even her makeup for the day, and she declined.She was happy to just be walking around the clubhouse, not cooped up in the hospital bed.

With coffee in hand, she decided to make her way toward Lash’s office.She had been toying with the idea of telling him the truth.She didn’t want Anthony to suffer.

She rarely spoke to Anthony’s father.The truth was, he kind of terrified her, always had.She knew where Anthony got his silent contemplation, but the other difference between them was, Lash didn’t mind talking.Again, she found that a little terrifying.

Knocking on his office door, she waited, and when he called for her to come in, she did so.Her stomach was in knots.

“Hey,” Daisy said.

“Hello.”Lash put the pen down on his desk and sat back.

Stink had not only made her a cup of coffee, she asked if he would be willing to make one for Lash as well, and he did.

“I, uh, I got Stink to make me a cup of coffee, and I thought you might like one as well, so I got him to make you one.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

She placed it on the desk, and her nerves were making her feel like she was close to throwing up.

“Can I talk to you?”she asked.

“Sure, but if it is to ask me to go easy on Anthony, that is not something I’m going to do,” he said.

“Oh, no, it’s not that.”She pointed to a chair and Lash nodded.This might be the longest she had ever spoken to him, and that, in itself, was terrifying.“I know what we did was wrong, and we need to be punished for it.”

“What would you like to talk to me about?”

She sat down and just stared at him.Glancing down at the mug of coffee in her hand, she suddenly felt jittery.

“It’s simple, I guess.”She took a deep breath.“It’s about something that happened a long time ago.”

Lash sat back in his chair.“I’m ready to listen.”

It was easy for him to just listen, but it was harder for her to just spill it out.

“It’s about my dad,” Daisy said.

“What about him?”

“He didn’t shoot himself in the head,” Daisy said.“I ...he ...I mean, he kept coming around, you know.He would beg me for money, and I had to find money to keep him quiet.He kept saying he had dirt on the Skulls, and he was going to use it, unless I got him the money he wanted.He was very convincing—” She stopped as he put his hand up.

“Your father had nothing on the club, Daisy.”

She pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and then just said it.“I killed him.Not a gun, not Anthony.I paid him and told him it was going to be the last time.He laughed and told me I was going to do exactly as I was told.He threatened the club.When I left, I saw the shovel.”She opened her eyes and looked directly at Lash.“He was so happy with the money I gave him, he didn’t see it.I whacked him around the back of the head, and I kept hitting.Anthony came and told me he would fix it.”

“Daisy,” Lash said.

“Yes.”

“I know.”

“What?”

“Sweetheart—and I feel I can call you this seeing as you’re my daughter-in-law—I know this is not going to come as a shock to you, but I have killed a lot of people.I mean, a lot of people.More than my fair share, and I can tell you I know what it looks like when a man’s head gets bashed in, as opposed to blowing it out.”

“Oh,” she said.

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