The Scars That Define Us (The Devil's Dust #2)(58)

“Sorry to wake you, Dani.” My sleep state is wiped clean as my pulse jumps to a gallop.

I turn quickly in the bed, ignoring my hurting body.

“Stevin, what are you doing here?” I ask shocked. Last time I saw him was when my mother hauled me off. I look him over. He’s dressed in black slacks and a blue button-down shirt and carrying a cup of coffee, but his face looks like shit. Like he has been overworked and hasn’t had enough sleep.

“You need to leave, now. Security!” I holler, but the door is closed and I doubt anyone can hear me. He needs to get the hell out of my room before a club member sees him.

I look around the bed for the emergency call light but can’t find it in the sheets and extra pillow the nurses brought me for comfort.

“I just need a second of your time, please,” he begs, walking toward me, I glare at him. I cannot believe he and my mother were together, a common romance at work, only the work was to take down my father, and who cared if I got ran over in the process. I forget the call light and put my hand up for him to stop walking any closer. He stops abruptly and puts his hands up in surrender.

“I’m not telling you shit,” I spit, my tone angry and cold.

“Your mom is missing, Dani,” he responds loudly.

“She was headed back to New York last time I talked to her,” I say, hoping he takes that info and runs out the door with it.

“She was supposed to meet me back in New York, but she never arrived,” he exclaims, the lines of stress growing deeper around his mouth when he talks. I sit up a little more, curious. “I talked to her the night before her flight but haven’t heard from her since. She and the rental car are both missing from the hotel where she was staying.” He’s shaking his head as he speaks, seemingly not wanting to believe what he’s telling me.

I bite my lip trying to think, but all I can wonder is how he knew I was here. Is the FBI following me?

“How did you know I was here?” I ask.

“Your attack was on the news; your coworker was interviewed and everything,” he explains, shrugging like I should know this.

“Well, I haven’t seen or heard from my mother. Last time I saw her, I threatened to kill her if I saw her again,” I say, looking him right in the eye, my tone promising.

He looks at me with a stunned expression. “Should I consider you a suspect in your mother’s disappearance, Dani?” he questions, tilting his head to the side.

I laugh. “You can do whatever you want, but I can promise you I didn’t kill her.” I furrow my eyes at him, “not yet, anyways.”

“Right. Well, I will find out what happened to your mother,” he threatens, his hand clenching his coffee cup tightly.

“I think you better go,” I declare, scrunching my face with anger and pointing toward the door.

He glares at me before turning on his over-polished shoes to leave.

I fall back gently against my pillow. My mother is missing. I wonder if Shadow had anything to do with it, or if the group of people who attacked Babs and me got a hold of my mother.





SHADOW


I cannot believe I let this happen, I feel like I’m being kicked when I’m already down. What the f*ck? My girl, my ol’ lady, is pregnant with my disgraced DNA. I am hardly the man Dani needs let alone one for a child. If I was a man, a f*cking man like my father, I would have taken care of Dani when the shit hit the fan. But I didn’t; instead, I ran to a bottle of booze and tried to forget her with other women. Dani came home from the hospital today, and I don’t know what to f*cking say to her. I grab another beer can and pop the top, the delicious bubbles fizzing and popping from the opening. I lie back down on the hood of my Mustang outside the apartment and look at the sky. It’s turning that grey color when the sun just starts to set.

I hear heavy footsteps coming toward me but I don’t lift my head to look. I just sip on my beer, hoping the answer to how I’m supposed to feel will come along.

“You going to drink yourself to feeling better?” Bull asks.

“That’s the plan,” I sneer.

“You’re going to f*ck this up,” he declares, sitting on the hood next to me.

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” I ask, turning my head to look at him. I don’t really care to hear it, but I know he is going to tell me regardless.

“When shit went south with Dani, you drank yourself into oblivion. It didn’t make you feel any better, and it sure as shit didn’t make you smarter. But it did make Dani run into the arms of another man,” he states, looking at me with that ‘I know what I’m talking about’ smirk.

I look at him, curious how he knows about Dani and Parker. Probably Bobby, that man is as bad as Babs with gossip.

I scoff and look back at the sky.

“I know I did the same thing when shit got hard between me and Dani’s mother, and I lost her instead of figuring my shit out,” he confides, hitting my leg to get my attention. “Losing Dani’s mother was the worst regret I live with.”

Knowing Dani’s mother, I beg to differ. I think losing her was probably for the best.

“So, what are you saying?” I ask, my voice showing my irritation in his lecturing.

“I know you think you would be a shitty parent, what with how your mother was and all, but regardless of what you think about yourself, you would be a great father. It’s not the end of the world; you choose to be in Dani’s life, it’s just the beginning.” Bull starts laughing, making me smirk.