Page 71 of Maverick
He nodded against my chest. “Okay, Dad.”
“Can you do me a favour?” I asked him. He pulled back, wiped his face and nodded. “Can you go into the clubhouse and lookafter Van after I leave? He’s scared right now. He’s not sure what’s happening, and he’s missing his mum.”
Bane nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. We’ll watch Cars.”
I smiled at him. “He’ll love that. If things go my way, he’ll be your little brother.”
Bane scoffed at me. “Dad, he’s already my little brother.”
Fuck me. Punch to the gut in the best possible way. I scruffed his hair and watched him walk out of the bedroom leaving me with Lani.
“I know you have to do this,” she said, getting off the bed and standing in front of me. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“I know.”
“It feels like the universe is testing this father-daughter thing.”
I chuckled, running a hand down my face. “It does. You know I love you, baby girl.”
She nodded. “I know, and I love you too. I always have, even when I flipped you off at games. I love Tavi too, and I want her safe. I feel like if you don’t get her back, you’re not going to be the dad we need anyway.”
Fuck, when did she get so grown up?
I smoothed a piece of her hair that had fallen into her eyes behind her ear, and saw her look up at me with watery eyes. “Please come back.”
Nodding, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her as if it may be the last time I did it. Chances were high that I would come back, I had the might of the Sons behind me, but there was always the off chance that maybe I couldn’t make it.
I hated that I didn’t have the answers for her, for Bane, but I also knew that if the roles were reversed, Tavi would absolutely be doing the same thing for me. It was why I loved her so much. She had an inner strength that I could only admire from afar. That’s why I knew, no matter what he’d done to her, she wouldn’t have cracked.
It didn’t make it any easier to swallow, but I had that to hold onto, to get me through the time I felt like I was sitting around and waiting.
“Go,” Lani said, pulling from my grasp. “Go and get my stepmum back.”
I kissed her on the forehead and moved out of the bedroom, past Bane who was sitting on the couch, and out to the porch.
“Go to the clubhouse when we go,” I told them. “Look after Van. Stay safe.”
I was heading down the steps when I heard Mari call out to me. Turning, I felt her arms wrap around me and pull me into a hug.
“Bring our girl home safe, okay?”
I nodded and headed into the clubhouse. There was one more kid that needed my promises, and this may be the hardest one yet.
Van couldn’t understand logic. He couldn’t understand loss. He just knew his mum was gone and the next best thing was me. It warmed me to think that I could offer him comfort, that I was the one he sought out. He had never had that strong male presence in his life, and yet he clung to me like glue for comfort.
Opening the door, I looked over at Van who was rubbing at his sore eyes. When he saw me, he jumped up on the bed and held his arms out for me.
“How long’s he been awake?”
“Only a minute or two.”
Cherry headed out of the room and left us alone.
“Dane!” he screamed, tears streaming down his little red cheeks again. I moved over to him and pulled him into my arms, rubbing little calming circles on his back. His sobs were breaking my heart. I didn’t want to leave him.
“Come on, little man, it’s okay. You’re okay.”
His sobs into my neck were hard to stomach. He was terrified. He knew. Somehow he could sense what was happening and he didn’t want to let me go. In a matter of hours, his entire life could implode and he’d have no one.
