“Thought you guys kept in touch after you split?” Viper took another pull of his beer, his gaze straying back to Darcy and the other women.
“We did. Bitch didn’t tell me we had a kid, and I didn’t pry into her personal life. To tell the truth, I was glad she was gone. She stayed in touch because occasionally she needed something and knew I was the man who could get it for her. No matter what it was.”
“Did you?” Viper couldn’t help ask the question.
“Of course I did.” Data shrugged. “No reason not to.”
“Darcy says she’s had it rough.”
Data’s focus was instantly on Viper, full and terrible. “What do you mean ‘rough?’”
“Says her mother’s current husband was… inappropriate.”
There was a hard silence while Data stared at him, seething. “Define… ‘inappropriate.’”
“Didn’t go into it. But she called him a molesting bastard. Said her mother was nothing more than his pimp. Her exact words. Not paraphrased.”
Data closed his eyes, his jaw tightening almost convulsively. “Imma beat the shit outta those motherfuckers. Right before I kill ‘em.”
“Just calm down,” Cain said. “I hear ya, Data, and Bones will help. But you ain’t goin’ into this shit halfcocked. This is just like anything else we do. We’ll investigate, plan, then execute.”
“You gonna let her mother know you found her?” Viper took the last three swallows of his beer and set the bottle down. A club girl was there to take it and hand him a fresh one. “Has she been asking?”
“No,” Data said immediately. “And no. It was a long time ago we were together, but she’s every bit as self-centered as I remember her being.” He looked over to the women, his troubled gaze landing on Darcy. “She looks so much like my sister it’s scary,” he muttered.
Viper chose to let Data keep his musings to himself, figuring it was a private observation. He cleared his throat. “Then a total blackout of information. Does she know where to find you?”
“Not sure. Donna and I were together when I was still prospecting for Bones. Right when I’d left the service and had just started working for ExFil. A couple years after the rest of you started Bones.”
“I remember,” Cain said, sitting up straighter at the bar. “She was that little blonde with the big tits.”
“You remember every woman by the size of their tits?” Data sounded a cross between exasperated and amused.
Cain shrugged. “Not saying I don’t. But if you tell Angel, I’ll swear you lied.”
Viper snorted. Data saluted him with his beer bottle.
“So, what do we do now?” Viper had a vested interested in Data’s plans for Darcy. He intended on getting to know the curvy little redhead better, whether or not Data wanted him to.
“Nothing,” Data said. “Keep her safe and inside as much as possible. She’s legal. She can do what she pleases, but I’m not invitin’ trouble.”
“Let the women get her involved in decoratin’ for Christmas,” Cain said, a satisfied grin on his face. “Didn’t realize how much this place would liven up when they got to doing shit like that. Angel’s wantin’ to get together a group of us to go to the hospital and give out presents.”
“I knew they had something planned,” Data groaned. “What is it with woman and Christmas?”
Viper shrugged. “Dunno. But I appreciate those little Santa nighties they always seem to come up with. Little poofy white shit hugging their tits…” He grinned wickedly. “Oh yeah.”
“You’re such a pervert.” Cain laughed. “But you’re right.” He glanced at his wife, who had her head back, laughing with Luna and Magenta. Darcy had a grin on her face, reserved but receptive. “Think I need to collect my wife for a bit.”
“She doin’ OK?”
“Yep. Has morning sickness every morning at exactly six, but otherwise doesn’t seem to have any problems at all now.”
“You and Bohannon are lucky men,” Viper admitted. For the first time, he wondered what it would be like to be expecting a child of his own. Which made him think about Data. How would he feel if a man older than he was wanted to date his daughter? Viper knew the answer to that question. He’d beat the fuck out of the other man and ask forgiveness of his daughter later.
Cain clapped Viper on the shoulder. “Think before you do anything stupid, brother,” he muttered as he left the bar and sidled up to his ol’ lady. Angel was practically glowing with her pregnancy. When Cain wrapped his arms around her, caressing her baby bump, Viper didn’t know whether to sigh or vomit.
“Do all men turn into pussies when they get a woman?”
Data snorted. “I did. Until I realized what a fucking bitch she was.” He gripped Viper’s arm. “You remember that. I’m sure you don’t want to be a pussy. Right?”
“You warning me off?”
“You know it, brother.” There was no humor in his expression.
* * *
Darcy had been so wrapped up in her own problems that she’d nearly forgotten Christmas was in three weeks. The weather hinted at a white Christmas, and she would normally be excited as shit. Now?
Meh.
She’d never felt welcome after her mother had married fucking Rayburn. The last two Christmases had been less than celebratory. His daughters -- who were both older than she was -- were perfect. She was confrontational, something both Rayburn and her mother had pointed out to her daily. Darcy hadn’t been a biddable addition to the family, and she had no desire to be added to Rayburn’s harem. As far as she knew, there was no incest or anything going on with his biological daughters, but the man fucked anything else with a pussy. He was, in a word, disgusting.
“Hey, Darcy,” Angel called, leaning back against Cain, her husband. The man had his arms around her, his hands covering her tummy and the obvious baby bump. “Can you take over light duty for me? Cain has a little something I need to inspect for him.” She giggled when the man growled and bit her neck.
“Little? I’ll show you little.” When he scooped her up and strode out of the great room, Angel laughed merrily. Darcy couldn’t help but envy her.
“You heard her, Darcy.” Luna shoved her a bundle of tangled lights nearly as big as she was. “Light duty.”
“That’s not fair,” Magenta chastised Luna, giggling the entire time. “Don’t give the new girl a chore like that. She’ll run away from us screaming.”
“Yeah,” Luna said, rubbing her lip thoughtfully. “But those things never turn out so well. I can attest to it. The men just drag you back caveman style.” She gave a heavy sigh. “It’s a good thing they make up for it in other ways.”
Both women continued to laugh merrily. Another woman across the room handed Arkham and Trucker beer before going to the stereo and turning on a cheerful round of Christmas music.
“Jesus, woman,” a guy hollered from across the room, sounding put out as hell. “Do you have to play that racket all the damned time? This is a clubhouse, not a cunt house.”
Everyone laughed.
As she stood there, trying like hell to be a part of the women’s circle, Darcy felt more and more out of place. Uncomfortable. Every single one of them was happy, laughing and joking with each other. Even the men joined in despite each of the three women being with one of their brothers. No one crossed a line, or acted inappropriate; rather they seemed like siblings in a big house. It made Darcy long for that comradery. That… acceptance.
She looked around the room until her gaze collided with Viper’s. He was drinking a beer at the bar, leaning lazily against the polished wood. He nodded at her once before turning his attention back to the buxom woman standing next to him. Irrationally, Darcy felt a spike of jealousy. Viper might be crass and fucking annoying, but he was hers, Goddamnit! At least, that’s the way it felt. Why, she had no idea. She didn’t even like the bastard. But when he called her Lil’ Bit, her heart squeezed and her insides turned to mush. He’d same as staked a claim but only to her
. Made her want to scratch his eyes out to watch him smile at the woman standing next to him.
With a defiant raise of her chin, Darcy firmly turned away from him and continued with her task of untangling the lights. The women chattered lightly while lively Christmas music played around them. In the big hearth across the room a fire roared, creating a cozy atmosphere, especially with all the garland and other decorations going up.
She was about to give in to the temptation of looking at Viper again when Data, the man convinced he was her father, approached her.
“They being nice to you?” He indicated the other women engaged in various tasks.
“Yeah.” She gestured to the bundle of lights she was untangling. “Could be worse, I guess.”
“You know, you don’t have to fu -- er, mess with that shi -- uh stuff if you don’t want to.” The urge to giggle was just too strong. Darcy ducked her head, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but him trying to stifle his language in front of her was just too much. “I was just tryin’ to be responsible,” he grumbled. But she saw the smile tugging at his lips.
“I’m an adult, you know. And I swear just as much as any of you, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, but a dad shouldn’t curse in front of his daughter.”
They were silent for a long while. Data even helped her pull at the tangled wires in her lap. It wasn’t awkward, rather companionable. One question burned in Darcy though.
“Why are you convinced I’m your daughter? Mom was never faithful to anyone. I could be anyone’s.”
Data looked at her a long time, his eyes hard and penetrating. She was about to apologize for questioning him when he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a picture. Handing it to her he said, “Gloria. My younger sister. She died from cancer when she was about your age.” The picture was worn, tattered around the edges and obviously at least a decade old, but the woman in the picture could have been Darcy’s twin.
“Wow,” she said. “I guess that’s where I get my red hair from.”
“And your personality. Viper and Arkham told me about them finding you and you fighting them. Did those assholes hurt you?”
“No. I’m good. I think I hurt Viper worse than he did me.”
“Oh?”
“I thought you said he told you about me putting up a fight?”
“They did. Just said they had to restrain you.”
Darcy grinned. “I got Viper in the balls. Dropped him to his knees. Would have gotten away except Arkham caught me. He’s the one who tied me up.”
Data looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “You… got Viper in the… balls?”
“Yeah.”
It was long moments before Data started to chuckle. Then laugh. Then guffaw until tears were rolling down his cheeks. There was no way to keep from joining his merriment.
They were still laughing when a girl of about eleven or twelve joined them. “Need some help?”
“Yeah,” Darcy said. “We could use some.”
“My name’s Suzie. What’s yours?”
“This is my daughter, Darcy,” Data said, his chest puffing out just a little. That little show of pride made Darcy’s heart ache. No one had ever introduced her as their anything, yet here this stranger was, willing to claim her as his family. “She’s going to be with us a while. Darcy,” he turned to her, “this is Suzie. Girl’s sharp as a tack. She has two foster brothers around here somewhere.”
“Cliff and Daniel,” she supplied. “But they’re stinky and nobody likes them.” The mischievous grin said she didn’t really think so but liked teasing them.
“We heard that, you little imp!” The admonishment came from across the room. Two young men were dutifully hanging up garland but stopped to glare at the girl. Neither of them looked really put out. Suzie just giggled.
“I’ll leave you two at the lights,” Data said. “I have a couple of things to finish and it could take a couple of hours.” He looked at Darcy before getting up. “You need anything, you come find me. Anything at all, you understand?”
“Thanks,” she said. Maybe he wasn’t all that bad.
“Oh,” he said as he got to his feet. “And one other thing.” She looked at him questioningly. “Viper is a player. Might be best if you steer clear of him.”
She tilted her head. “You warning me off because you don’t like him?”
He shrugged. “More because I don’t want to have to kill my brother when you get hurt.”
“Why would you do that?” It was a legitimate question. No one had ever come to her defense before. Especially not over something like this.
“Because you’re my daughter. I might not have been in your life, but I swear it wasn’t because I didn’t want to be. I protect my family. With my life.” With that, he turned and walked away.
“Pretty neat, huh?” Suzie whispered. “They’re all like that. They follow through, too. When me and Cliff and Daniel and Angel were in trouble, they had to kill a few people after they attacked the club.” She scrunched her nose, but talked about the carnage matter-of-factly. “They protected us. Now, once the guys are old enough, they’re gonna let them prospect for Bones. If they prove themselves, they’ll be patched members. Maybe even get to work in Cain’s army.”
Darcy blinked. “Cain has an army?”
“Yeah. They go on missions and everything. It’s all really cool.”
“Well, OK then.” Darcy had no idea what to make of that.
“Ask Viper about it. He’ll explain.”
“Are you going to be in Cain’s army, too?”
“I hope so. Only I’ll do stuff like Data does. He says I’ve got the mind for it. He works with the computers and stuff. I’m learning. It’s really fun.” She grinned from ear to ear.
“Data a good guy?” Figured she might as well troll for information if she could. She’d need it if she intended to stay here any length of time.
“Oh, yeah. All of them are, though they try to pretend they’re all bad and stuff. Underneath, they’re really all just teddy bears.”
A collective groan rose around them. Obviously, their conversation wasn’t at all private.
“Ah, come on, Suzie!”
“I ain’t no fuckin’ teddy bear. Kid’s lying!”
“Cain! Come do somethin’ with that girl. She’s tellin’ tales again!”
The women all laughed.
It was then she noticed Viper coming in her direction. He had a beer bottle in each hand. He handed her one. “Can I borrow Darcy for a while, Suzie?”
The girl looked from one to the other. “Sure.” She grinned. “I think he likes you,” she whispered as she stood with the ball of lights and headed in the direction of her foster brothers.
Chapter Four
Darcy took the beer he handed her, took a pull, then grimaced. Girl didn’t like beer so well. “Got some clothes for you. Women got together before we got here and bought you some stuff. Angel wanted everything but the underwear washed before you put it on, even though it was all brand new. Something about the dyes being bad for delicate skin. Said the underwear was different because it was… I don’t know,” he searched for the right phrasing when he didn’t understand it himself.
“Because it’s underwear?” Darcy grinned. “She’s right about that. I have to get underwear out of a pack before I wear it. Anything else is just gross.” The woman had such a beautiful smile that revealed the most intriguing dimples.
“Yeah,” he said, answering her grin with one of his own. “When I think of it that way, I guess I understand what they meant.” He cleared his throat. Was he actually nervous around a woman? What the fuck? “There’s also toiletries and other things for you. Got ‘em in your room.”
She blinked. “I have a room?”
He wanted to answer, “Yeah. Same as my room,” as he dragged her to his room but refrained. On both counts. “Thought I’d show you and give you the grand tour.” He held out a hand to her. She looked hesitant but took his hand anyway. Probab
ly an automatic reaction on her part. Didn’t matter. Viper didn’t relinquish her hand.
“I would definitely like to change,” she admitted. “And take a good shower. I still feel a bit grimy.”
“I was kidding, you know.” Viper knew he was acting completely out of character, but he seemed unable to get it together.
“About?”
“You didn’t stink.”
There was a silence before she ducked her head and giggled. “You’re so full of shit.”
“Come on,” he growled as he pulled her deeper into the clubhouse. “Club officers have rooms on the top level. Club girls who stay here are on the second floor. Everyone else is on the ground floor.” He kept her hand as he took her up the stairs and about halfway down the hall. Then Viper handed her a key and nodded to the door. “You’ll stay here until you and Data work something out. Like all the other women, Mama and Pops, and the kids, being on the middle floor puts you between the club members. Offers a double layer of protection.”
“Protection? I need protection?”
Viper shrugged. “This is an active MC. What we do is mostly legal, but we’ve made enemies over the years. Currently, there’s a club in Nashville and one in Lake Worth, Florida, we’re keepin’ an eye on. Don’t think they’re an active threat. More like enemies watchin’ each other. But we don’t take chances with our women.”
That little tidbit of information raised Darcy’s eyebrows. “Almost seems like you’re using it as an excuse to make sure your women don’t leave without permission.” She opened the door and stepped inside. Viper followed right on her heels. It made her uncomfortable, but not necessarily in a bad way. Darcy liked the heat of him at her back.
“Won’t deny we like knowin’ who’s here and who’s gone, but it really is for protection. Club was attacked a few months ago. Anyone livin’ here, we protect. Keepin’ the women and children between us is the best way to do that.”
Viper (Bones MC 4) Page 3