Chapter Two

Ringo

I was so fucking fucked as to not even be fucking believed. I recognized this girl from pictures our sergeant at arms kept in his room at the main clubhouse. As his enforcer, he and I had grown pretty close over the years, and he'd told me some stories. He had a small table dedicated to Calista. Dom had said the girl's mother had died a few years before, but Tina had sent him pictures of Calista regularly until the woman had passed. He didn't tell me his and Tina's story and I'd never asked. This young woman before him now was definitely Calista. What Dom had failed to mention was how truly lovely the girl had become. Probably why he hadn't put a new picture of her up in a few years. Likely keeping them to himself where horny bastards like myself couldn't see them and be lusting after his daughter.

And it wasn't just her looks. Calista had spunk. She was dressed in black leggings and a black tank, but she had combat boots on her feet. She'd also ventured into our territory intentionally, which meant she'd been walking in the woods for hours.

"How do you know my name?" She gave me a wary look.

"Your father has pictures of you in his rooms in the clubhouse. Your mother sent him pictures until she died."

"What?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "She did?"

"Yeah, baby girl. Come on." I held out a hand to her and it surprised me when she took it. She must really have been tired, because the last thing she needed was to have her hands restricted in the company of men two or three times her size.

She let out a noise of distress as if suddenly realizing she'd given up a very important advantage. If you could call it that. She had fire and might be scrappy, but everyone here -- other than the women and children -- were seasoned warriors and me holding her dominant hand was a distinct disadvantage. "Ain't gonna hurt you. You're family," I tried to soothe her.

"Yeah? What about Peckerwood over there? He gonna hurt me? You know. Again?"

"It's Redwood, girlie." The prospect -- who was still trying to get to his feet -- sounded like anything but a seasoned warrior. She'd definitely gotten in a good lick. If the situation was anything else, I'd have been amused. OK, so I was still amused. This girl had fire. Maybe not as much as Lemon, but she'd get there. Did my heart proud.

"That's what I said." She blinked, all innocent and shit. "Peckerwood."

Yeah. I was fucked. Took every ounce of control I had not to outright guffaw. And my cock wanted this woman. Hard.

Redwood growled, and I tugged Calista's hand. "Come on, little hellcat. Let's go see your daddy."

I led her through the gate. The fence marking our territory boundary wasn't obvious and I'd watched her from the security station just inside the gate. She hadn't noticed the chain-link fence topped with razor wire until Redwood approached her. Not surprising, since Redwood had been prepared for her before she got to the gate and moved out to meet her. Also, even with her flashlight it was dead night and the place was camouflaged with trees and foliage. It was the time of night/very early morning when the moon sets and the sun hasn't started over the horizon. With us being in the woods, it was exceptionally dark. Even with the flashlight she brandished before Redwood had taken it from her, she'd had a hard time cutting through the dark.

The compound was dark. The only lights coming from inside houses were muted by blackout curtains. We didn't always use them, but Dom tried to keep us all aware that, you know, light carried. There were lots of trees and such to blanket us from prying eyes, but Dom was the SAA. It was his job to keep everyone safe.

We entered the main clubhouse. It was more sedate than usual. Probably because of the recent close call with Bear's woman, Liv. Olivia had been forced to spy on Grim Road. Or they'd tried to force her. Fortunately, the woman had a good head on her shoulders and refused to do anything until she had the facts. And the fact was, Bear is as solid as they come.

I led her to Dom's office and knocked on the door. It was open, as usual. He rarely closed his door unless the officers were having a meeting with him. He was working on scouting out a location in town for a clubhouse. We'd never leave our territory here, but Rocket had decided that it would be good to have a place in town for us to crash or party so we could interact with the community. Also, if the authorities thought the new place was our clubhouse, they'd leave this place alone.

"What?" he snapped. "Better be fuckin'… good…" He trailed off as he stared at Calista. Then at me.

Then our joined hands.

I knew it was a bad idea. I knew it was. But I grinned at Dom. "Hey man. Brought home a little stray."

Instantly Dom was on his feet, his face a mask of fury. "My daughter is not a fuckin' stray, you son of a bitch." He reached for Calista, pulling the young woman into his arms and away from my hold on her hand. "Don't hold her fuckin' hand either, Ringo. Off fuckin' limits!"

I grinned. "Only if she says so." I winked at Calista when she peeked up from Dom's chest. For a girl who'd never actually met her father, she was surprisingly at ease.

"She ain't gotta say so ‘cause I'm sayin' so." Dom pulled back from Calista, framing her face in his hands as he looked down at her, stroking her cheek tenderly with his thumb "What happened, sweetheart? You hurt?"

She shook her head. "Just tired. And dirty." She sighed. "And my ass might hurt where Peckerwood shoved me down."

Dom stilled, stiffening as he gave me a thunderous look. "Peckerwood? Who the fuck's Peckerwood?"

I shrugged. "Redwood. Not sure what happened to start it, but she finished it."

Dom looked down at Calista. "He put his hands on you, baby?"

She looked from Dom to me and back. Then back to me. "I… I don't want to cause any trouble."

"You ain't." I grinned at her. "Better tell ‘em, baby girl. He hears it from me, it won't be the good version."

She winced. "Look. It was nothing. I tried to get past him into you guys' territory and he stopped me. I'm sure it was his job. I fell on my ass. Then I kicked him in the balls."

"He shoved you because you almost dislocated his little finger when he tried to strangle you." I'd probably just signed Redwood's death warrant, but honestly, he deserved it for putting his hands on Calista. I leveled a gaze at her. "Don't gloss over what happened because you're unsure of us right now. We're not automatically going to take the side of one of our members over you." I nodded to Dom. "Your dad never forgot you. He always protected you and your mother from afar as best he could. At least, he has as long as I've known him."

"Ringo, take Calista to my room. I'll meet you there in a few minutes." Dom brushed past me on his way out the door. "Need to have a chat with… Peckerwood."

Much as I wanted to let this play out with Redwood, I didn't think now was the time. He needed to find out what had driven Calista to a compound filled with morally gray men in the middle of the Goddamned night. Then I might kill the little bastard myself.

"Dom, wait." I grabbed his arm and tugged. He tried to shrug me off, but I held on. "How about you find out what made her come looking for you? ‘Cause I'm bettin' whoever it is needs to die before Redwood. That little prick ain't goin' nowhere."

Dom gave me an irritated look before turning back to Calista. "Come here, honey." Dom reached for her again, and Calista went to him willingly.

"Dominic…"

"Yeah, honey." Dom wrapped his arms so tightly around her, she almost disappeared inside them. "I'm so sorry I missed… your life. I did it to protect you, though. You and Tina."

"She taught me how to find you when I was just a child. She made up a silly song and I've sung it all my life. As long as I can remember."

Dom chuckled. "Tina was always so creative. That doesn't surprise me."

"She only told me what the song really meant not long before she died. When she did, it was like everything clicked into place in my brain. She taught me how to use a compass and a map. She even drew one." Calista handed Dom an old silver compass. Looked like it was probably fifty years old.

Dom took it from her, reluctantly letting her out of his embrace. He looked at the instrument, releasing the cover and revealing a small, folded piece of paper. In careful, precise lines, Tina had drawn Calista a map. She'd given her a wide area in Riviera Beach where she could enter the wildlife reserve. Calista had as much information as she could in the limited space of the paper. It was a miracle Calista had found us and not ended up gator bait.

"See?" I raised an eyebrow at Dom. "Must be somethin' fuckin' bad for her to have taken off here."

Dom sighed. "You're a pain in my ass, Ringo. Always have been."

"Wouldn't be doin' my job if I wasn't."

I followed Dom as he lifted Calista into his arms. The girl looked like she was running on adrenaline, from which she was experiencing a massive let down. I had no doubt Dom could see her fatigue as easily as I could.

Oddly, I found myself jealous of the other man. I wanted her to be in my arms. Which was all kinds of crazy. The last thing I needed in my life was a woman. Especially one as spirited as this one. I'd given Rocket enough grief when he'd taken Lemon as his woman. Or, rather, when she'd claimed him as her man. I could see how this could end badly for me if I even thought about trying to make Calista mine.

Dom stopped at the door to his room. I stepped forward and opened it. When he took Calista inside, I tried to move in behind him, but Dom just turned and blocked my path.

"Where the fuck do you think you're goin'?"

"Where's it look like I'm goin'?" I loved baiting Dom. I could be as vicious as the next guy -- and I would rain hell down on Redwood when I took care of the bigger problem -- but my job was grim enough without baiting a friend now and then for a laugh. This time, however, I needed to hear what Calista had to say so I could better understand the best way to carry out whatever order Dom was going to give afterward.

"I'm talkin' to my daughter. I don't need you here for that."

"You know I have to be here. There's no need for her to have to repeat herself. We do it all at once where you and I can both be on the same page."

Dom glared at me. "Thought I was sergeant at arms. Meaning I'm actually the boss of you. Not the other way around."

I grinned. "I let you think that." Then I shouldered my way in and shut the door as Dom carried Calista to the couch. He set her down, then snagged a blanket and draped it around her shoulders.

She looked at me. Clear blue eyes gave me a longing look. It wasn't sexual attraction, though I thought I saw that too. It was more like she wanted me for something other than sex. I was a big bastard. My size had always stood me well as enforcer of the club. Given that Calista had basically run blind over some pretty dangerous land in the middle of the night, I was going with her wanting my protection.

Dom dug his phone out of his back pocket and shot off a text. "Gettin' some breakfast up here as well as something other than beer for the fridge," he muttered. "I'll have Rocket bring clothes and shit."

"Why not ask Lemon? She'll come closer to havin' woman shit than Rocket." I knew why. I was doing this to put Calista more at ease. Dom's eyes narrowed in confusion for a brief moment before he figured out what I was doing.

He snorted. "Right. I'm gonna get the vice president of this club to do something because a woman would be better suited for it. I'm telling my president so he can tell his old lady, who happens to be the vice president, to do something a woman would be more suited to." Dom grinned. "I ain't stupid, boy."

"Your vice president is a woman?" Calista's expression was wide-eyed and curious all at the same time.

"Honey, not just a woman. Lemon is more like a force of nature." I smiled at her. "And there ain't no one in this club I'd rather have by my side. If you're unsure about Dom or me or anyone else in this club, you take it to Lemon. She will have your back."

"But she doesn't know me." Calista looked from Dom to me.

I shrugged. "You're Dom's daughter. That makes you family."

Before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Dom crossed to open it, and Lemon stepped inside with Rocket after her.

"What the Christ, Dom?" Lemon stomped inside. "Oh. And don't worry. I already chewed Byte's ass. I'll do the same with Crush when I find him." She pointed at Dom with an accusing finger. "Not cool."

Dom scrubbed a hand over his face. "Never thought I'd ever actually meet her, Lemon. Besides, she's here now." He shrugged. "Now you know."

Lemon glared at Dom before marching straight to Calista and setting a box on the couch next to her. She gave Calista a bright smile. "I'm Lemon, vice president of Grim Road and Rocket's old lady." She hiked a thumb at the president who nodded at Calista. "Byte told Apple who you are and that you were here, so I had time to get you a few things. I'll come by later tonight after you've had a chance to get some rest, and we'll bring you some more shit."

Calista just gaped at Lemon before abruptly snapping her mouth shut. She bit her bottom lip, her gaze going to me once again. I just grinned.

"Thank you so much, Lemon. I-I'll pay you back."

Exasperation crossed Lemon's face. "If I'd wanted you to pay for this shit, I'd have asked before gettin' any of it. Besides, this is all stuff me and Apple put together on the fly. Once the other old ladies are up and at it, the real shopping'll begin. And you still won't fuckin' pay us back."

That seemed to be all Calista could take. Her breathing grew rapid and her eyes glistened. Then she burst into tears.