“What’s Babs up to now?”

“I… I don’t know. I got away from her after that happened. I saw what she could do, and I didn’t want any part of it.” Mindy’s voice cracked and stammered.

“So with what you know, she just let you leave?” Something here sounded rotten.

“No. I stayed about a year. Then when she hooked up with Rabbit and his crew, we just kinda fizzled out. She didn’t come around much. I guess she got Princess’s spot, just in a different club.”

“Let me tell you what you’re gonna do.” Her eyes widened as I stared her dead in the eyes. “You’re gonna call Babs and make nicey-nice with her. Get the low down on what she’s doing to Princess right now and why.”

“I don’t want anything to do with Babs,” she clipped, which pissed me off. Why the fuck she thought she had a say so in the matter was beyond me.

“I don’t give a shit. You wanna be Danny’s ol’ lady and make this shit right?” She nodded. “Then you’re gonna help us out. I want all information on Babs’s plans and thoughts. You’re going inside.”

Her hands began to tremble uncontrollably. “But she’ll kill me.”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” I said leaning back in the chair. “You get in there. Find everything out you can, and after this shit is done, you get out.”

“It won’t be that easy, and you damn well know it,” Danny barked.

Cutting him off briskly. “If I wanted your opinion on the fucking thing, I’d ask.”

“This shit is fucked up. You wouldn’t ask anyone else’s ol’ lady to do this shit.” Danny’s anger spewed through his words.

“I’d move the fucking earth to protect Princess. Get that through your fucking head right now.” I leveled my eyes at him, making him see inside of them. Then turning to Mindy, I demanded, “You have two days. Get in there and find something out.”

“Two days. How the hell is she gonna get anything in two days?” Danny asked.

I cracked my knuckles as I stood from the couch. “Don’t fucking care. Just get it.”

Driving away from their clubhouse, I knew I needed to figure out how the hell this was all gonna work.

Chapter 8—Harlow

Playing with Cooper has been the highlight of my day. I needed to go to Studio X, but I waited for Cruz. Lord knows what he had to do.

When the door opened, and Cruz walked through, he looked absolutely edible, his hair a mess from his lid as he ran his hands through it fiercely. His leather rag hung off of him with his black long sleeved t-shirt under it. His jeans hung low, and I knew that if I took his shirt off, I’d see the hottest V that led me down to his thick dick, along with his many gorgeous tats that lined his magnificent body. He was to die for. Smiling up at him from the floor, I turned Coop around so he could see his daddy. “Daddy!” he yelled, running into his arms.

“Hey, Buddy.” Watching Cruz hold his little boy tightly in his arms made my heart flutter. Seeing him be such a great father to Coop was my undoing. This was my man. I loved him. Even though it’s all been a whirlwind, there was no denying it. He was mine.

“Daddy, me’s colorin’.”

“I see that, Buddy. I need to talk to Princess for a bit, lets head to your room.”

I sat in the recliner waiting for him to get Coop settled. “What’s going on?”

“Coop’s on lockdown here. He’s not to leave for any reason. He’ll be safe.” His words were reassuring, but I needed to know what could happen.

“What if she doesn’t sign the papers?”

“She will.” I didn’t know why he thought this was going to go so smoothly. If anything, these past couple weeks have proven that nothing goes smoothly in this world. “I know you can protect yourself, but until we get this shit sorted out, you gotta be extra careful.”

I knew he was right, but having restrictions just reminded me of prison. But I knew I’d listen, because he’s my man.

Two days later

“What do you mean she’s fucking gone?” Cruz’s rough voice bellowed through the clubhouse. Sitting on a barstool with Cooper letting him play with all the paper coasters as he lined them up repeatedly, I tried to distract him from his dad’s yelling.

“She couldn’t have just fucking disappeared, Danny!” I assumed he was talking about Mindy. I shook my head listening to the one-sided conversation Cruz was having on the phone, knowing I shouldn’t be, but it didn’t stop me.

“You know where she fucking is. Tell me!” Cooper didn’t pay any attention to his dad, as he was too busy stacking the coasters just right.

“I will come over there and make you fucking tell me. You have twenty-four hours for her to show up. Then shit’s gonna get real serious.” Cruz hit end on his phone, slipping it inside his rag anger pouring off of him.

“What’s going on?” Pops asked before I could.

Cruz stepped up to Pops saying something quietly in his ear, and Pops nodded.

Pops turned to me. “You okay?”

“I’m good.”

“I need you to do something for me,” Pops said, almost nervously, which wasn’t his style.

“Sure, anything.”

“I need you to contact that Deara and get any and all information on Mindy and Babs recently. You think you can get it quickly?”

“Yeah, I have an outside contact that can get to her. I’ll see what I can do.” I couldn’t help the happiness that fell through my body knowing they trusted me to get the information.

Lying in bed, I couldn’t sleep for shit. My mind kept thinking of all the shit I’ve dealt with the past two weeks and two years. It was all because one bitch was jealous. She was flat out jealous of my life. I tried to shy away from this life and be manlier, like the guys, just to fit in with them. She was so jealous of a life in which I had to try relentlessly to escape from being called Princess, even though it grew on me. I loved this life. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it. There had to be.

Who the hell could hate me so fucking much that would work with her and help her destroy me… ‘cause I knew there had to be more to this.

Thinking back two and a half years ago, my life was simple. I had my studio, the club, the brothers, and my family. We didn’t want for anything. We were pretty well set. If I wanted to get laid, I’d find some unsuspecting fool at the bar, get my kicks, and never call again.

There wasn’t anyone that I personally had any beefs with, at least any known beefs. I knew the club had tons of haters. That was a given, but I didn’t stir up trouble. I just dealt with the trouble when it came.

I had to throw out a few guys from the studio because they got too rough with the girls, but nothing stood out. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that Babs was working with someone, because considering Babs and I were not even classified as friends in my eyes, it had to be more. My mind kept reeling trying to come up with some rhyme or reason to this madness, but came up blank.

Cruz left on club business a while ago leaving Coop and me to hang out. I really loved my time with him.

These damn dreams I kept having were killing me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him and felt him. I just wanted to take a scalding shower and let the water melt the skin off my body. I didn’t want to close my eyes in fear of seeing the replay.

Having enough, I needed something to take my mind off all this shit. Walking into the clubhouse, Rhys, Becs, Breaker, and Buzz were all around the bar in some deep conversation, but immediately stopped when they saw me. Rolling my eyes, I slowly approached seeing the two women lying on the far couch. It’s like they never left that fucking spot.

“Hey, Princess. How the hell are ya?” Becs asked as he strummed his fingers on the bar. His red hair made him stand out among all the other guys. It wasn’t fire engine red, but a reddish-brown and with his piercing green eyes, he was a very attractive man. His nose had been in a couple of fights and not set quite right causing a large bump in the center, but to me it gave him character. He always acted like a second big brother to me throughout the years.