“Check me?”
Without warning, Bobby stomps forward, grabs the hem of my shirt, and lifts it up, exposing my bra. The cold rain blasts against my flesh like razor blades as he pats my back, legs, head, and every other inch of my body.
“Clean, no wire,” Bobby informs.
Wire?
“I’m not one of them!” I yell in frustration.
The wind gusts, and lightning cracks loudly from above as my heart bleeds for them to believe me.
“Let’s take this inside.” Bull nods toward the club.
Bobby pushes me in the small of my back toward the clubhouse, making me stumble. Everyone treating me like a rat has me second-guessing going inside, but with the grip Bobby has on my arm, I don’t think I have much of a choice anymore.
***
I’m sitting in the spot at the wooden table where I always sit. It seems I’m always in trouble when I’m sitting at this table.
“What did you fucking tell them?” my dad questions. “And, Dani,” he pauses, “I want everything.” His voice is demanding, and his menacing eyes penetrate my soul. Gone with the loving, caring father he was before, before my mother tried to bring the club down. I can’t believe she had the nerve to make it look like I was part of it.
His voice is cold and laced with warning, making me think hard before answering.
“They asked if I knew Ricky, the boyfriend of Shadow’s mother, Cassie. I said no. The agent showed a picture of Shadow carrying me out of Ricky and Cassie’s house, when you guys rescued me from being kidnapped, making me out to be a liar. So I said I woke up to Shadow carrying me and I don’t know or remember anything else.” I stop to look around the table at Locks and Bobby, their faces not giving any indication they believe me or not. “I didn’t tell them anything. I swear.”
“She’s a liar, Prez,” Locks says as if I’m not even in the room. My hands begin to tremble with fear; if my dad listens to him, I won’t be alive much longer.
“She’s my blood.” My father speaks with emotion. It takes me back. Maybe I have hope on my side after all.
“I think she’s telling the truth,” Bobby says, looking right at me, his words making me smile slightly.
“What the fuck would you know?” Locks snaps.
“I got to know Firefly a little bit, and I think I would have seen something along that time to indicate she had something to do with it, and I didn’t,” Bobby insists. The name Firefly catches me off-guard. I remember when he gave it to me how ridiculous it sounded. Yet, I fell in love with it after Shadow said it was perfect for me; that I was his light in his cruel, dark world. Shadow. Where is he?
“Vote,” Locks demands.
Vote? What the hell does that mean?
Bobby and my dad both look in his direction, Bobby’s face unreadable and my dad’s angry.
“Fine, but until then take her to your room, Bobby. Get all the guys rounded up. I want this shit aired out now.” Bull moves his hand toward the door, indicating Bobby to take me away.
I stand up, the chair scraping the hardwood floor with a screech. I make my way out of the doors, not looking back at the table, which will hold my fate.
“I don’t need to stay in your room, Bobby. I can stay with Shadow in my old room,” I declare, shaking his grip off my shoulder as we head toward the hall.
“No, you need to stay with me, Firefly. It’s for the best,” Bobby whispers softly as he tries to grab hold of my arm again.
“You can shove that thought up your ass, Bobby. I’m not staying with you. Shadow wouldn’t allow it.” I look at him over my shoulder with raised eyebrows. He looks shocked at my crude tone, but if I’ve learned anything by all this, it’s that you can’t be soft. Soft means you’re weak, and weak can break you.
I open the bedroom door to mine and Shadow’s room and see Shadow lying on the bed naked, a sheet wadded around his crotch. There are empty beer bottles on the floor, and the nightstand has drugs laid out across it.
“Shad-“
“Who the fuck are you?” a female voice interrupts from the en-suite bathroom the bedroom holds. Snapping my gaze from Shadow to her, I notice a tall, skinny woman. She has dark-brown hair which is long and tangled; overall, it’s just disgusting. She is tying up her slutty dress around her neck like she had been naked just moments before. My gaze slides back to Shadow, who looks like he’s seen a ghost. I suddenly feel sick to my stomach, and I want to claw my heart from my chest from the unbearable ache spreading from it.
“What the fuck is she doin’ here?” Shadow asks Bobby as if I’m the stray dog who came in from the rain.