We walked out into the familiar hallway, the bathroom door was ajar as we passed. There were two more doors along the hall, one was Mace’s room where I’d showered earlier. The second door was closed. I followed him into a wide-open plan living area.
It was an incredibly masculine looking place, the walls were navy and the furniture dark wood with grey and hunter green accents. I wondered if this was his place? I doubted they’d be that stupid though. The first thing my dad would do was check every property the Kingsmen owned, or they knew they owned.
There was a dining area in the far corner with a six-seater grey wooden table. An archway that looked as if it led into a kitchen was to the left of the table. I could see the front door from here on the other side of the room and noted the five locks on the door. They weren’t joking around with the security here. The sun was streaming in from three windows around the room, so it was daytime. I’d suspected as much, but now I knew, we were in an apartment, a few storeys up.
Danica sat on a chair, her long, tanned legs crossed and angled slightly, like she was some kind of royalty, wearing a slim fitting cream coloured skirt and a black blouse. She had a string of pearls around her neck and her hair was styled on the side in an intricate bun. She’d been an MC President’s daughter, a club whore and an Old Lady. This woman doesn’t fit any of those moulds. I didn’t know what she had done since she got kicked out of the Devil’s, but she’d definitely levelled up.
“Have a seat,” she said in that honeyed voice of hers. “Would you like a drink?”
I shook my head, figuring like the discussion with my father, I was best to hold my tongue and my bitchiness because as much as I wanted to tell her to go to hell, it wouldn’t help. Mace left the room and my heart started beating rapidly. I don’t know why the thought of him leaving had me panicking. He was a part of this.
“You’re comfortable?”
I narrowed my eyes, was she for real?
“I suppose not,” she looked around. “The place is a step up from where you were before, we needed somewhere out of the way.”
“Somewhere my father couldn’t find me,” I drawled.
“See, you do get it.”
I shook my head and looked away from her. This place was nice, it was large, spacious, expensively furnished, and to her it was a step up from a basement. “Why am I here?”
She let out a long, suffering sigh, her face full of remorse. I could see right through it but I’d play along. “Because you need to finally know the truth, Waverley.”
“And you needed to kidnap me to do that?”
“Do you honestly think your father would let me walk onto their compound and ask for a chat?”
“With good reason,” I said, getting more comfortable. “You left us, when we were three, you walked out the door and never looked back.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“That’s what happened,” I leaned forward slightly. “I would believe him a hundred times over before I believe you. Especially now, after this,” I waved my hand around the room.
She closed her eyes. When they opened, the sadness in them almost caught me off guard. “I never left voluntarily,” she said. “I ran for my life.”
“Stop lying,” I half shouted.
Her lips pinched, going white around the edges. She sat forward and picked up a teacup I’d not noticed on the table. She took a few sips, looking at me over the rim of the cup.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you there are two sides to every story?” I didn’t comment. She lowered her cup to her lap and held it with both hands. “It took me years to feel safe, to get back on my feet, to trust again and make a better life for myself. I always intended to come back for you and your brother but,” she lowered her eyes shamefully. “I was afraid.”
“My father might be a scary asshole but he doesn’t threaten and kill women,” even as I said it I thought of Tanya. Dad had been this close to killing her for what she did to me. That wasn’t anything close to what Danica had done here. But what had he done all those years ago? I hated that I needed to hear what she had to say. I couldn’t believe her lies.
“Waverley, you don’t know the real man your father is. Tell me, has he ever really been close to you? Talked to you, shown even a little bit that he cared about you?”
“You don’t know anything about my relationship with my father.”
“That’s true, but I know the man he is and I know he will never change. I had to fake my own death just to get close to you, that should say something about how much I fear him.”
I sat and looked at her, she sounded sincere but I knew my father, despite what she’s saying, he isn’t that person. I can’t let her twist my way of thinking. I don’t know this woman and I don’t want to. I picture my brother in my mind and try to focus on him. If what she is saying is true, my brother would know, and he would have told me.
“So you’re scared of him, you faked your death so you could get to me. Tell me, why the fuck did you think it was a good idea to have that skank come into my home, kill one of my best friends and kidnap me?”
It’s funny watching her try and compose herself. She’s clearly trying extremely hard to keep her shit together, but I can see the fury. She’d already shown her hand the first time we met.
“Speaking of that skank,” I tilt my head, lifting my brows.
