I unlocked the cell. Ember and Reese made their way out keeping as far away from Phoenix as possible.
Phoenix hung his head. Was that shame? That wasn’t like Prez. He had no problem admitting when he was wrong, but he stood by his actions, never apologizing. He once told me he would always make the best decision he could with what he knew at the time. If he turned out to be wrong, so be it.
Once the girls were out, Phoenix walked into the cell and sat on the rusty bed. I placed the key in the lock and asked, “You sure about this, Prez?”
He nodded. His voice was gruff and almost pained when he spoke, “Yeah, I need to talk to her, without an audience. If this will make her feel safe, I have no problem with it.” I don’t think he intended for anyone to hear his next words, but I did. “I deserve it anyway.”
CHAPTER 4
Ember
Everyone left the room. I clung to Reese’s hand until she pulled it from my grasp. “You’ll be just fine. Carbon and I will be right on the other side of this door.” I skeptically looked up at Carbon. “Contrary to his previous actions, my brother will step in and make sure nothing else like this happens to you. Right, brother dearest?”
“Watch it, Reesie,” he scolded. “But yeah, after all is said and done, if I need to get you out of here, I will.” I’m not sure if I believed him or not, but I had more pressing things to face.
Reese gently closed the door. I turned around and looked everywhere but at Phoenix. I had no idea what to do with myself. I couldn’t recall ever feeling so uncomfortable. I started rubbing my palms together and had no desire to try and stop myself.
Phoenix took a step closer to the bars. I instinctively took a step back, or tried to. Apparently, I was already plastered to the wall. “I knew your mother.”
I gasped. “You what?”
He continued, his voice thick with emotion, “I was in love with your mother. Wanted to marry her. Was going to marry her.” He swallowed hard. “We had been dating for almost a year when she finally gave herself to me, which happened to be the night before I was deployed. I joined the Marines right after high school, just like my dad. It had always been my plan. Annabelle said she understood that. Said she would be there when I came back,” he paused for a moment and cleared his throat. “Damn, this is harder than I thought. I came back for her, to marry her, and, and she was gone. No trace of her. I went to her parents’ house and they were gone, too. No one knew where they went or how to find them. I looked for her. Searched everywhere for her. Never found her. I kept looking for her until I was deployed again. After that, without Annabelle, I just didn’t want to come back here. And I didn’t until about eight years ago.”
I was fascinated to meet someone who knew my mother. I knew nothing about her except for her name and how she died. As much as I wanted to hear more about her, I didn’t understand what this had to do with the situation at hand. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Let me ask you something first. Do you know what a Phoenix is?”
“Yes, I do.” I was beginning to wonder if this man was mentally stable. He kicked everyone out to speak to me about a private matter, yet he’s asking me about my knowledge of mythical birds.
“Good. Okay, so, your mother’s name is Annabelle Rose Burnett. My name is Phoenix Black. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
I thought my knees were going to buckle. I placed both of my hands on the wall to stabilize myself. The dots were starting to connect, but I needed him to say it. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that with your mother’s name and your date of birth, there’s a very good chance that you are my daughter. Your name only adds to the likelihood.”
The room spun and I felt myself falling. I heard Phoenix yelling something just before everything went black.
CHAPTER 5
Dash
I was waiting with Carbon and Reese in the hallway. I honestly don’t know why I was there. I could claim it was because I had the key to the cell, but I could have given it to Carbon. I could say it was because I wanted to make sure Ember was okay, but I wasn’t ready to admit that to myself.
The silence in the hallway was broken when yelling and some sort of clanging noise sounded on the other side of the door. I rushed in, Carbon and Reese right behind me. Phoenix was yelling and shaking the bars of the cell with every bit of strength he had. “Help her!” he screamed, pointing to the floor.
I followed his finger to see Ember crumpled on the floor in the far corner of the room. I tossed the cell keys to Carbon and went straight to Ember. I scooped her up and ran upstairs with her held tightly to my chest. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than making sure she was okay as fast as possible. “Patch! Somebody get Patch!” I yelled as I ran toward my room.
I gently laid her down on my bed and smoothed her hair out of her face. She was breathing, but her eyes were closed and she wasn’t making any attempts to move. Damn, she looked white as a ghost.
Phoenix plowed through my door, breathing heavily, eyes wildly scanning the room. “What the fuck happened?” I demanded.
“I’m not sure. I think she fainted,” he panted.
“Why do you think that?” I asked. He wasn’t making any sense to me. Healthy young girls didn’t just drop to the floor without something being seriously wrong, did they?
Phoenix looked uneasy, “Uh, well, because I told her I think she might be my daughter.”
“What?!!” shrieked Reese. Fuck, it wouldn’t be long before the whole damn club was in my room.
