Claimed By My Father’s Outlaw

Chapter13

Cole's POV

Three days. It had been three days since I walked into that basement and saw those women. Three days of barely sleeping or barely eating, barely e even doing or thinking about anything else. The image was burned into my brain. I could still remember their faces and their fear. The way they looked at me like I was the one who put them there.

I could only imagine the state they were in right now and what Ambrose was putting them through. And from what I heard from Ronn, yet another batch of young women had arrived at the lair yesterday.

And then, I hadn't returned the Iron Serpents princess's bike yet. Hell, I hadn't even gone back to pick up mine. The Conclave was tomorrow, and I was supposed to be prepping my men, getting them ready, making sure everything was in order. But I couldn't focus. I couldn't think straight.

I stood in my room, staring out the window at nothing. My hands were braced against the sill, and I was trying to breathe in order to clear my head. It wasn't working.

The door opened behind me and I heard her footsteps before I felt or saw her.

"Hey, baby." Dahlia murmure. Her arms wrapped around my waist, her body pressing against my back. She was so warm and soft. She rested her cheek against my shoulder blade.

"Cole," she whispered, her voice low and concerned. "What's going on with you? You've been like this for three days. You've been so stiff and agitated. Talk to me. Is It Ambrose?"

Her hands moved up to my chest, rubbing slow circles. I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to relax to her touch. But all I could see were those poor women. They certainly weren't doing any relaxing.

I felt the press of Dahlia's breasts against my back, the heat of her body bleeding through my shirt. On any other day, that would've been enough. I would've turned around, pulled her close and f**k her, let her distract me from whatever was eating at me.

But not today, because of what I had recently come to find out about Dahlia. She was warming Ambrose's bed, and behind my back at that. Ronn had found out, and he'd told me, and it had filled me with so much rage that I wanted to hurt Ambrose for. This was only the latest in a long list of things that man had stolen from me.

And beyond the women in that basement, all I could think about was the daughter of Victor Mercer. The woman I had no business thinking about, the woman whose name i didn't even know.

"Come on," she murmured. "Do you need me to calm you down? You know that I can do that real good."

Her hands wandered lower, teasing and exploring. She found me through my jeans and her fingers started tracing the outline of my erection, and I felt nothing. Well, not nothing. My body responded, sure. But my head was miles away. How could I keep this to myself any more?

The image of Dahlia all naked in Ambrose's bed flashed in my head, and the anger took over. With an impatient grunt, I yanked her hand away from my body and flung it aside.

She stopped. "What?"

I pulled away, turning to face her. She looked up at me, wavy blonde hair falling around her shoulders and those sharp siren eyes narrowed in confusion. She was wearing one of my hoodies with the oversized fabric hanging off her frame, and I knew she wasn't wearing anything underneath. I could see the bare skin of her thighs, the way the hoodie rode up just enough to make it obvious.

On any other day, I would've had her on the bed already. But today wasn't any other day. I had so much anger that I didn't know what to do with.

"I'm not in the mood." I told her flatly.

Her expression changed immediately. Confusion turned to suspicion, then to anger. "You're not in the mood?"

I rubbed a hand over my face. "Dahlia, I've got a lot on my mind. Can we just—"

"A lot on your mind?" she repeated after me, crossing her arms. "Or is it someone on your mind?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Cole. You've been distracted for days. You won't touch me, you barely even look at me. So, I know there is another she. And who is she?"

"There's no one, Dahlia." I lied. "I'm just not feeling... this!"

"Bullshit!" she snapped. "You're a terrible liar!"

I clenched my jaw, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make this worse. How could she stand there and accuse me of cheating, when she had done exactly the same with my f*****g boss?! Why wasn't I attacking her with the truth right now?

"Is it someone from the club?" she demanded. "One of those groupies hanging around at the lair? Or is it someone else? Someone new?"

"Dahlia..."

"Nah, you know what? Forget it." She turned on her heel, heading for the door. "I'm done."

The door slammed behind her, rattling the frame. And I felt like the worst piece of s**t on the planet.

That night, I sat in my study with my laptop open and tried to work on organising some paperwork. It was all the usual mess that came with running a club's finances. I should've been focused, but my brain kept wandering.

My phone buzzed on the desk, breaking the silence. I glanced at the screen and it was just Ronn.

I sighed and picked up. "Yeah?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Ronn's voice was so loud that I winced and leaned away from the phone. "Three days, Cole. Three days you haven't shown your face at the lair. What's going on?"

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temple. "You know exactly what's going on."

"Yeah, I do," he sounded calmer now. "But that doesn't mean you get to disappear. You're the vice president, people notice when you're not around. Like they noticed you getting beat up the other day."

"Good for them," I muttered.

Ronb sighed and muttered something under his breath, before speaking again. "Cole, how the hell do you expect me to cover for you when you're ghosting the entire club? You think Ambrose isn't gonna notice, or that he's not already hearing whispers?"

I sat up straighter. "Whispers about what?"

"About you!" Ronn snapped. "The men are talking, Cole. They're asking where you are, why you're not around. Some of them think you're sick. Others think you're losing your nerve. And if I'm hearing it, then Ambrose is hearing it too."

"Ronn, how the hell am I supposed to walk back into that place?" I snapped. "After what I saw? I cannot just pretend like nothing is wrong!"

"I'm not saying pretend," he argued. "I'm saying you need to figure out what you're gonna do about it. Because hiding in your house isn't helping anyone. Not those women, or you, and definitely not me. Because if you keep this up, Ambrose is gonna start asking questions. And you know what happens when he starts asking questions."

Yeah. I knew.

I dragged a hand down my face. "I'm not their babysitter, Ronn. The men can function without me for a few days."

"That's not the point and you know it."

I didn't answer.

Ronn sighed again. "Look, just… show up tomorrow. At the Conclave. Be visible. Let people see you. After that, we'll figure out the rest."

"Fine," I muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Cole—"

I hung up before he could say anything else, tossed the phone onto the desk and closed my laptop. My head was pounding, and I didn't have the energy to deal with numbers or Ronn or Dahlia or anything else tonight.

I stood up and stretched, then headed for the bedroom. Sleep sounded like the only thing that made sense right now.