He turned to face her, “Just wanted to make sure you were okay and see that you got something to eat.” Phoenix glanced to the floor and back to her, “Uh, you can call me Phoenix.”
Ember smiled like the cat that ate the canary, “Oh good because I thought calling you ‘maybe daddy’ would be weird.”
Phoenix chuckled and shook his head. “Right. I’ll stop by a little later, give you some time to eat and rest.”
CHAPTER 6
Dash
When the girls finished eating, I turned on the television for them. Settling into a chair in the corner of my room, I started messing with my phone. I had no interest in the girly shit they were watching, but I had an inexplicable need to watch over Ember.
As my fingers tapped away at some mindless game, my thoughts were of nothing but Ember. The girl had my undivided attention. I had never met anyone like her. She was beautiful, in a different way than most of the girls that came around the club. She wasn’t overly made up, she wasn’t dressed like a whore, and it appeared that all of her body parts were the ones God gave her. In short, she wasn’t trying to be attractive, she just was.
My eyes drifted to her form stretched out on my bed. It was probably wrong of me to shamelessly stare at her body while she was sleeping, but I never claimed to be perfect. She was a tiny little thing, maybe 5’1 or 5’2 and no more than 110 lbs. Even with her small frame, she had nice full tits, I would guess a D cup, and an ass that was begging for my handprint. Her long blonde hair framed her gorgeous face, perfectly complimenting her big blue eyes and pouty pink lips. I wondered if her nipples were the same color as her lips. I bet I could…
Duke walked in and halted my thoughts in their tracks. Damn it. I wanted to keep imagining her naked, writhing beneath me as I…
Duke cleared his throat, “You busy?”
“Nah, man. Have a seat.” I gestured to the other chair I kept in my room.
“How’s she doing, brother?”
“Not sure. She fainted. She ate. Then they fell asleep.”
“Did Reese get something to eat?”
“Yeah, Phoenix brought both of them more than enough.”
“You think she’s Phoenix’s kid?” he blatantly asked.
“Don’t know. Didn’t hear much of what happened. I’ve been in here with Ember and Reese since Ember fainted.”
Duke nodded, “Ah, well, Phoenix was talking about it out in the common room. He said Ember claims to be the daughter of a woman named Annabelle Burnett who died during childbirth.” He looked at me pointedly. Every member of the club had heard of Phoenix’s Annabelle. “Ember turned 18 today. According to Phoenix, if his Annabelle got pregnant the one and only night they had sex, the baby would have been born around this time of year 18 years ago. He’s convinced she’s his kid because of the dates, her mother’s name, and her name.”
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “Could be. Annabelle isn’t a common name, especially around here. As long as I’ve been around Croftridge, I’ve never heard of another Annabelle. It still doesn’t explain why he couldn’t find Annabelle when he came back. He was only gone for seven months. If Ember’s story is true, Phoenix and Annabelle were both in Croftridge when Ember was born.”
Duke nodded thoughtfully. “I hadn’t put that together. It will be interesting to see what Byte comes up with.” He paused, glanced at the girls, then, lowered his voice, “You know anything about this orphanage she grew up in?”
I shook my head. “Never heard of it. Only thing I know of across town is that creepy as fuck dairy farm.”
“Same here. I didn’t know there was an orphanage in Croftridge. I heard Phoenix telling Byte to dig into that, too.”
“We shouldn’t have to wait too long. Byte is fucking quick when it comes to that shit. How’s Phoenix? Any better than he was earlier?”
“He’s all fucked up over the way he treated her at first, thinking she was here to fuck with him or cause problems as soon as she mentioned Annabelle. Thing is, only a few people outside of the club know about Annabelle, and he knows that. I think he just didn’t want to believe it. Annabelle’s disappearance tore him apart and it took him a long time to put himself back together. Now finding out that she had his kid and she died…” he trailed off and just shook his head. “That fucks with a man. I’m not sure how I would handle it.”
A throat cleared behind me. We both turned to see Phoenix standing there, arms braced on the door frame. “I’m fine, brothers.”
“No disrespect, Prez.” I didn’t want him to think we were back here talking about the shitstorm that just blew his way for shits and giggles. I was truly concerned about the man. Phoenix had always been strong and steady, nothing like what we’d seen from him today.
“I get it, but I’m okay. I grieved for Annabelle a long time ago, accepted that she would never be mine. I loved that woman and a part of me always will, but the past is the past and can’t be changed.” He paused, glancing at the bed, “That girl in there is likely mine and she’s here because she needs help. If it turns out she isn’t mine, I’m still going to offer her the club’s protection and help her in any way I can. Seems like she’s had a shit life so far. It’s the least I can do.” He poked his head a little further into the room. “How long have they been out?”
“About an hour or so. Soon as they ate,” I replied.
“Let me know when she wakes up. After all the shit today, I never did find out exactly why she came to me for help, other than wanting a new ID. She’s 18 now, she should be leaving the orphanage anyway, whether she wants to or not. She shouldn’t need a new ID or help to ‘get away from the place she grew up’ as she put it. Something doesn’t add up.”
He was right about that. “You know anything about this orphanage? Duke and I have never heard of it.”
