Raff’s brows lift. “Before all this.”
“Yeah.” I swallow. “Got tied up in some shit, she was there. That was the first time. Then the fool I am had another run for Wrath and the Saint’s, decided to check in on her. One night. No names. No plans.”
“And you just what?” he asks. “Let it go?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “I tried.”
Raff waits. He’s good at that.
“I went back,” I admit. “More than once. Not to see her—she didn’t know I was there. I just needed to be close. Watched from a distance.”
Raff turns fully toward me now. “You stalk her?”
“No,” I snap, then exhale. “Not like that. I just needed to know she was okay.”
He studies me carefully. “That’s not nothing, Miles. And to some laws that would be stalking, brother.”
“I know.” I stare out at the yard, at Justice kicking at the grass. “I got stabbed,” I say quietly.
Raff stills. “What?”
“Couple months back,” I continue. “Nameless Ones MC, they had problems with Saint’s. Blade in my gut. Didn’t even feel it at first.”
Raff curses under his breath.
“I was laid up,” I share. “Could barely ride. I managed to get to the hospital. Didn’t want to answer questions. I waited for shift change. She came out.” I glance back toward the house. “Being around her—Raff, she’s fuckin’ fearless. That shit doesn’t happen in our world. She didn’t flinch or hesitate. Took me home and stitched me up. Made sure I was good and she didn’t even know my fucking name. She didn’t ask questions and she didn’t once falter or have an ounce of fear.”
Raff exhales slowly. “You got it bad.”
I huff. “Yeah. I think I do. Because my ass keeps going back just for glimpses. Half the trips she doesn’t even know I was there.”
Raff leans his elbows on the railing beside me. “Here’s the thing, brother. Her life isn’t here.”
I don’t argue, because he’s right.
“She’s got responsibilities,” he continues. “Family. A whole world somewhere else.”
“I know,” I say.
“So how does this shit work?” Raff asks. No judgment. Just honesty.
I don’t have an answer. That scares me more than anything. Inside, Danae laughs at something Josie says, the sound carrying through the open window. It settles right in my chest, heavy and warm.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “All I know is I don’t want to let her go.”
Raff nods slowly. “Then don’t rush to solve it. Just don’t pretend it’s not real. And don’t fucking run from her but also don’t run from your family here.”
Justice bounds back over, ready to play again, and the moment fractures, but it doesn’t disappear.
Later, sitting inside with the baby asleep on Danae’s shoulder, watching the way she moves so naturally through this family, I realize something I never expected to.
This isn’t a phase.
This isn’t a detour.
Whatever this is—it’s already changing the shape of my life.
And for once, I’m not afraid of where it might lead.
