Page 166 of Relentles
“Something has to be done, babe,” Joe said, once the moment ended. “If you don’t treat my daughter as if sheisyour daughter, too, I’m taking her.” Even if he had to kill Dinah. The idea chilled him. Deep down he knew he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to harm her. Unless he discovered supreme neglect or abuse. “We will set aside tonight’s near catastrophe.”
Other than being wet, Meggie seemed fine.
“Don’t let it happen again. Watch her. Protect her. Love her. That’s all I fucking ask, Dinah. As long as you follow those instructions, you won’t run afoul of me, whether we’re together or apart.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“What do you think, Ms. School Marm?”
“I can call the police and report you. I can sue for sole custody ofmydaughter and cite your dangerous lifestyle.”
“Stop with the fucking threats!” he barked, the fierce urge to kill her returning.
They faced off. Seeing he wouldn’t back down, her shoulders sagged.
“I’m sorry, Joe! I swear I don’t hurt Meggie. Ask her. Her favorite dish is mac and cheese. Just like me. I use my mother’s recipe. Meggie likes chocolate milk and…” She drew in a deepbreath. “I love her. You know what a good girl I am. Kind. I couldn’t hurt a fly.”
She was. She couldn’t.
“Do you honestly believe I’d harm a child I protected in my womb for forty weeks, then labored to bring into the world?”
“No, babe,” he croaked.
“I’m overwhelmed, and I’ve always reacted badly when that happens. I’m so sorry.”
“Forgiven, but, babe, no matter how overwhelmed you are,Meggie is a fucking little kid. Let her enjoy her childhood without grown up problems. It’ll happen for her soon enough.”
From all indications, she would be a heartbreaker. He had to whip one of those puppies into shape to be worthy of her. Christopher was his first thought, although he always brushed aside the idea. One, there was ahugefucking age difference. She was a small child and he was already a grown motherfucker. By the time she came of age, he might’ve find a woman to settle down with. Two, if he took Meggie and tapped Christopher to guard her that would mean he’d watch her grow up, and that would betoofucking weird. Three, he loved the fuck out of the kid, but Meggie was sweet and innocent. Christopher was a fucking killer and womanizer.
Johnnie came to mind. He was good-looking. Well on his way to obtaining a degree in business. Smart. Charming. Funny. And Logan’s Chosen One, even if Johnnie was on the fence about the club. One month, he was there all day every day and the next month the motherfucker rarely showed his face. But if the eyes were the mirror to a man’s soul, then Johnnie hid a beast. When he let his guard down, Joe saw the coldness. He didn’t want Meggie with a man too weak to take a firm stand because he wanted to please LoganandChristopher, and he didn’t have the balls to explore whathewanted.
Maybe, when Meggie turned eighteen, he’d send her to Roxanne. He’d allow K-P to reveal the truth to them, though he’d never tell Dinah, not after her shocking bullshit earlier.
Roxanne wouldn’t turn his daughter away, even if she wasn’t aware that Meggie was Bailey’s cousin.
Fuck. He scrubbed a hand over his face. Christopher was Cee Cee’s son, and Cee Cee wanted Christopher to take a more active role in the club. The kid was still a fucking Probate, not that it mattered to his old man. If Christopher was installed on the board and Joe remained president, Cee Cee foresaw a profitable alliance between the Scorpions and the Dwellers.
For years, Joe had tried to push it through the membership, but whenever it came up for the vote, it was always shot down, courtesy of fucking Rack and his faction.
Perhaps, Christopher wasn’t the man for Meggie for another reason. Thebiggestreason. Cee Cee. He’d fucking kill her. She was one of the heirs in Joe’s will. As Christopher’s wife that would give her claim on the club an unfair advantage.
Besides, she wasn’t meant for club life, and Christopher was meant forno otherlife.
Roxanne it was. The day Meggie turned eighteen, he’d start putting a bug in her ear by telling her she needed to head to New Orleans for college. UNO, Tulane, Loyola were excellent choices. As long as she did her part and made good grades, he’d see to the rest. And she’d be under Roxy’s influence. K-P visited Bailey four or five times a year. Between the three of them, they’d find suitable partners for Meggie and Bailey. They’d protect them from club life and psychopaths.
For now, Joe wouldn’t take any action. He’d allow Dinah to live and he’d leave Meggie with her, but he’d monitor the situation. He’d make it a point to drill some of life’s lessons into her head. She didn’t have to be a hard, heartless bitch like Celia.Shedidhave to stand up for herself and put motherfuckers in their places whenever the need arose.
“Let’s get you changed, then we’ll get something to eat.”
“Ice cream, Daddy?”
Joe smiled. “After a proper meal.”
“What about me? You’ll just leave me to starve?”
“Of course not, babe.” He didn’t want her with them. He wanted to talk to Meggie without Dinah’s presence. “I’ll bring you back whatever you want. Enjoy the bath Meggie prepared for you.” The one she almost drowned over. Just the idea sent chills through him. He’d never recover if he lost Meggie in any way. She was his daughter and needed his protection, but she could also absolve him of his shoddy parenting of Joey. “Take the time to enjoy the solitude of your new house.”
They’d moved in six weeks ago.
