Chapter 38

Dmitri

I end up calling in Sophie to escort Daelyn back to my bedroom while I stay with Ryker and Vault. After everything Daelyn’s told us, I need a goddamn minute.

“Your girl told us way more than I could find with my research methods,” Vaults says. “Kaleb’s not just elusive, he’s practically non-existent online.”

“Like me.” With a heavy sigh, I scrub my face and lean over to rest my elbows on my knees. My entire life has spiraled down a deep rabbit hole in a matter of days.

“Don’t even think of doing it,” Ryker growls from across the room.

“I’m not thinking of doing anything.”

“Don’t lie. You want to take this on by yourself.” Ryker stalks closer. “She’s a dead woman walking, D. If this guy is as psychotic as she’s painted him, he’ll kill her for this.”

My entire body locks as rage consumes my vision. “No, he won’t.”

“If he doesn’t, someone else will… like a possible cartel connection. It’s gotten too messy.”

No one will touch her. I won’t allow it. “I have to make sure she’s some place safe when this goes down. Her and Addie both.” I look over at Ryker and am once again struck with how empty my life truly is. How little I have to offer. Shit, I have nothing outside of this club, and bringing Daelyn and Addie here isn’t an option. Addie’s just a kid. I can’t explain this place to her and I’m not about to roll a burning dumpster with a target on it into Ryker’s house, either.

“They can stay with me,” Vault offers.

“Or Knox,” Ryker suggests. “Or me. Tara can help keep them comfortable until…” His voice trails off.

Until what? I die? I kill Kaleb? The cops come knocking on our door? Someone else comes to retaliate? No. I can’t drag my friends into this.

“I’ll put them up somewhere,” I say, scrambling to think of where that might be. Maybe Silas can help me secure a place. He’s got a lot of connections. And the man’s a walking safe with no combo to his lock. What he knows, he never shares. He’d help me for the right price.

“I’m going to sleep on this for the night.” When I stand, my knees pop and muscles ache. “Kaleb’s not coming back from Miami for another few days, so there’s still time.”

“Don’t do this on your own, D.” Ryker shoves his finger at me. “We’re family .”

“I know.” Which is exactly why I will do this my way. I’m not letting my friends, the only family I have left, get blood on their hands.

Heading out, it’s like I’ve got one-hundred-pound weights strapped to my legs. Each stride I take is harder than the last. By the time I make it to my bedroom, I’m so exhausted I could sleep for a week. But I’ve now got a plan in mind and have made my peace with it.

Daelyn’s sitting on my cot when I open the door and she quickly tucks her phone under her legs, looking guilty. “Hey.”

“Where’s Sophie?”

The toilet flushes, and Sophie comes out of my bathroom soon after. “If you’re hungry, I can… Oh, hey D.”

I give her a tight smile and nod towards the door. She takes my hint and leaves. There’s no way I want her involved in any of this shit. Once we’re alone, my room feels like a tomb. My safe space no longer feels like home.

Staring at Daelyn’s lap, and the cell peeking out from under her thigh, I want to know who she texted or called. But I don’t ask. It doesn’t matter, anyway. If Daelyn’s playing both sides, or is only on one, she’s still going to lose somehow. Fucking hell, this is awful.

“How do you feel?”

“Terrified,” she admits, her shoulders slumping. “I just texted Addie to see how her day was. She’s sent me some pics. Want to see?”

“Y—” I cough to clear my dry throat. “Yeah.” Sitting down next to her on my cot, I feel small and out of place in my room. Scratch being a tomb, my place feels like a prison cell on death row.

“Here.” With trembling hands, Daelyn pulls up the text thread. “Look how big her smile is.”

The girl in the photo is a striking image of my mother when she was younger. So much so, my heart gallops in my chest with panic. But there are noticeable differences. Addie’s got a different shaped mouth, and her eyes are dark brown, not ice blue like mine. Her hair is dyed blue, and she’s a healthy weight. My mother… our mother… always looked like a bony little bird on the brink of starvation.

Addie’s throwing a peace sign with her freckled cheek smashed against another girl’s cheek. They’ve got matching bracelets on and look vibrant and happy. In the next picture, she’s out in the ocean with her hands up in the air. The water isn’t blue-green like the Caribbean, but it’s still beautiful. She’s surrounded by water and blue skies. The one after that is her name written with seashells in the sand. The one after that is her eating pizza and flipping the camera off.

“She comes home tomorrow,” Daelyn says quietly.

“So do you,” I remind her.

Our time is up.

Funny, when the club gets a Butterfly for a month, the days crawl by so slowly, it’s downright painful. It might be fun, but it’s always a lot of work. By the end, the Dom needs a long mental break, and the Butterfly is set free to live her best life with the experiences she’s gained here.

Daelyn isn’t a Butterfly. And I can’t keep her, no matter how badly I want to.

“Are you hungry?”

She shakes her head.

“Tired?”

She nods.

Not giving a fuck about how we can’t both fit, I lay down on my cot and tuck her next to me, holding her tight. My eyes burn from exhaustion, but there’s no way I can fall asleep. Daelyn cries silently, facing away from me, and knowing she’s trying to hide her misery, and that I’m pretending I don’t see it, kills me.

Finally, exhaustion takes her under, and she passes out in my arms.

That’s when I get to work.

???

The next morning, we head back to Daelyn’s house. Every time I try to leave, she comes up with some excuse to make me stay. I don’t like clingy women. But I love how Daelyn wraps her entire precious body around me when she begs me to stay a little longer.

“I take it back,” I say, pretending to be annoyed. “You’re not a firefly, you’re a damn koala.”

“I’m baaaack!” yells someone from the living room.

Daelyn and I break away from each other like we were just electrocuted.

“Yay!” Daelyn rushes out of the kitchen and straight to Addie. “You’re home early.”

“Yeah, too early by the looks of what I just cockblocked.” Addie beams a big smile at me. “Hi. I’m Addie.”

Daelyn’s face loses some of its color as she gawks at me, not knowing what to say.

“I’m Dmitri. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Your eyes are crazy bright.”

“Uhh, thanks.”

“Sorry, that was random. Annnd awkward.” Addie shakes her head, looking just like my mom would when she was embarrassed. “I’m gonna blame this on sitting in the car for way too long.”

Daelyn grabs her bag from her. “What time did you leave this morning?”

“Saul wanted to drive most of the night so we wouldn’t hit too much traffic. I couldn’t sleep though, so I just watched a million hours of anime, and now my brain’s mush.” Addie slips past us and heads to the kitchen. “Ugh, I’m starving. Do we have stuff for pancakes?”

This is my chance to bow out. “I’ve gotta hit the road, Dae.”

“Don’t leave because I’m here,” Addie calls out. “Have pancakes with us!”

“No, no, he’s got stuff to do,” Daelyn argues. “We can’t hold him hostage with pancakes.”

“A hostage situation would be so lucky to have my pancakes involved.”

My feet won’t budge. I need to leave, yet being in the presence of my long-lost baby sister has me pinned in place. This could be my only chance to get to know her.

“You look like a banana man to me,” Addie says.

I hate bananas. “Yup, I sure am.”

“See?” Addie slaps Daelyn on the shoulder with a spatula. “I’m so good at reading people. I just knew he was a banana pancake guy.”

Daelyn rolls her eyes and then mouths, “ I’m so sorry ” at me when Addie turns her back to us.

Shaking my head, I keep my mouth shut, but there’s no hiding the smile on my face.

“Come on, D. Help me set the table.”

“Yeah, D .” Addie cracks an egg, and pieces of the shell fall into the batter bowl. “Shit.” She tries to pinch them with her fingertips, but the tiny pieces evade her.

“Use the broken shell in your hand to scoop them,” I say. “They’ll come right out.”

Addie takes my advice. “Holy crap. That was crazy easy.” She looks up at me and my chest tightens even as warmth spreads across it. “You’re a genius.”

“Nah, I can’t take credit for it. My friend Knox gave me that tip.”

Daelyn slams a bottle of maple syrup on the table behind us. “What else are we having with these hostage pancakes?”

“Ummm…” Addie purses her lips. “Chicken nuggets and ice cream.”

Daelyn puts her hands on her hips. “What is wrong with you?”

“Ugh, I can’t help it! They made me eat healthy stuff the whole time! I’m literally fifty percent smoothie now.” She flips the burned pancakes in the pan. “My body is in withdrawal. I legit dreamed of a peanut butter sundae last night. With gummy bears on top.”

Daelyn preheats the oven. “You’re a pain in the ass. I don’t even think we have chicken nuggets.”

“I stuck an emergency stash behind the ice tray.” Addie dumps three blackened pancakes onto a plate.

“Oh my god, you did.” Daelyn pulls out a small, crumpled bag, and looks half annoyed, half impressed.

Addie pours more batter into the way too hot frying pan.

Watching them move around, picking on each other, laughing together, has me feeling like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe. One that’s happy and warm and smells like flowers and burned breakfast.

Is this what my life could have been like if things had gone just a little differently?

Would I have lived in a house full of laughter with the smoke alarm going off, and have ice cream for lunch?

“Oh my god!” Daelyn opens the sliding glass door and fans the smoke detector. “You’ve been home for two seconds and you’re already causing chaos.”

Addie laughs maniacally as she flips her pancakes. “Eat them while they’re hot, Dmitri!”

I stuff my face with those burned, god awful banana pancakes.

It’s the best meal I’ve ever had in my life.

???

“I’m gonna go,” I say once again. We’ve cleaned all the dishes, and I looked at every seashell Addie’s brought back for Daelyn, but it’s seriously time to leave.

My girl walks me to the front door, looking awkward and nervous. “Thank you for…” She glances over her shoulder, even though Addie’s gone upstairs to unpack and shower.

“Thank you. It was nice to meet her face-to-face.” This is probably the only memory I’ll ever make with my half-sister. “She’s really happy,” I say quietly, tucking Daelyn’s hair behind her ear. “You’ve done a great job giving her all she needs.”

Daelyn’s expression falls.

“I’ll have a car pick you up tomorrow.”

“What? Why?”

“I want you both out of town before shit hits the fan with Kaleb, Firefly.”

“ No .” She steps forward like she can stop me. “This is my fight, Dmitri.”

“No, it’s not.” It never was. I bend down and kiss her gently. “It’s always been mine. And I’ll do better if I know you and Addie are safe and untouchable.”

“Dmitri.”

“This isn’t up for negotiation.” I step outside, my palms sweating. “I can handle Kaleb, but I need you to make sure you and Addie are safe so I can stay focused.”

It kills me that I’m basically manipulating Daelyn by using Addie as a reason for her to stay away. But I mean it. I’ll fight stronger if I’m not worried about them getting hurt, too.

“Give me this. Please , Firefly.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “We’ll discuss it later.”

She’s not going to back down. Not that I thought she would. After kissing me fiercely one more time, Daelyn shuts the door between us.

“Lock it!” I holler, relieved when the bolt clicks into place.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I head down the street to where I’d parked my bike in the alleyway like usual.

Kaleb stands by my Ducati, dressed in black jeans and a hoodie, with a gun in his hand. “It’s about fucking time,” he says, his gaze shifting to make sure we’re alone.

“Yeah, Daelyn wouldn’t let me leave any sooner.” I stop right in front of him, and his expression hardens.

“Keep her name out of your fucking mouth.”

“Oh, I’ve had more than her name in my mouth.” I flash him a smile. “You know, she makes the best noises when she comes. And the way her pussy clenches my—"

He raises the gun and aims it at my forehead.

Footsteps close in from behind me, and I smile internally knowing everything I’ve planned is turning out perfectly so far.

Let the final game begin.