Page 28 of Banshee
She pulled away and slammed her fist into my chest. “Sorry isn’t good enough.”
“I know.” I pulled her back against me and pushed her head against my chest. She wasn’t quite tall enough to reach my shoulder, but damn if she didn’t fit perfectly against me.
“You will never know how much I hate that I walked away from you. But I couldn’t do it. You were so fucking sad sitting in that chair while your father talked about you like you weren’t there. You weren’t that sassy, defiant girl I saw the first time.”
Her head popped up. “What? What are you talking about? That was the first day we’d ever spoken.”
“That was the first day we spoke. The first time I saw you, you were only twenty. You came flying out of the clubhouse, Zeus hoton your tail as he told you to get back inside. You flipped him off and said you were meeting your friends.”
She chuckled as she wiped away a tear. “That could have been almost any day of the week. It was a constant battle to leave the clubhouse after Diana...”
Her voice trailed off. Everyone in the biker world knew about Diana’s disappearance. But not a soul knew what happened to her. After twenty years, I would have thought someone would slip up. Someone would want to take credit for stealing the daughter of the Gods of Mayhem. But not a whisper had been spoken.
She fought against me as I tried to pull her back in. “Let me hold you.”
“No.” She backed away. “I’m not yours.” She closed her eyes, and I waited for her to speak again. I watched the war behind her eyelids as it traveled across her face.
Fear.
Panic.
Anxiety.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “It was just a lot today. A lot of people in the diner. I had fun.” She looked up at me. “I needed this today. To get out of the clubhouse. To feel normal.” She threw her hands out hopelessly. “As normal as an MC princess hiding from her family can feel.”
“Baby—”
“Please don’t. You can’t call me that.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Because I don’t belong to you. I won’t be here forever. Someday they’ll find me, and I’ll have to leave.”
“I can protect you.”
“No one can protect me. If he finds me, he’ll kill me. If he kills me, my father will declare war. If my father finds out what he didto me, he’ll declare war. Either way, the Silver Shadows will be thrown into a war that isn’t theirs. There are too many innocent lives that will be forever changed. I won’t be that selfish.”
Before I could say anything to dispel her belief or lack thereof in me, in my club, she turned and walked away. Diesel trotted along behind her.
“Baby girl.” She looked up at me, defeat in her eyes. “I need you to come with me.”
“Where?”
I ran my hand through my hair, reaching the back of my neck, and said, “Church.” I saw the moment the panic hit. “It will be okay.”
“It won’t be okay, Banshee.”
I held out my hand and waited. She stared at it as if it were a snake ready to strike. “I won’t leave you alone.”
She took a deep breath and looked at Diesel.
“He has to stay here.”
Her eyes closed tightly, and I knew this was killing her. Nav knew who she was. He’d known the whole time, and now it was time to tell King. I helped her to her feet and led her to the double doors.
I knocked on the door and waited for Nav to yell, “Come in.”
