Dragon

26 - Feeling anger like never before!

Dragon

“Hey,” I smile at Jett as I walk through his office door.

“Come take a seat, Dragon.”

I tip my head and sit in the chair in front of his desk. “I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to come and see you. I know you wanted to speak to me before now. But I couldn’t leave Greer and Kyla for too long. I also know I’ve been slacking in my duties lately…”

“Dragon,” Jett holds his hand up, stopping me from rambling. He chuckles. “You’re not in trouble for taking care of your family. Any man worth his salt would put his wife and child before anything else, even club business. Okay, I know Kyla isn’t your wife, but I have no doubt she will be soon enough.”

I smile because he’s right. As soon as I can sort it out, I’ll make Kyla my wife. That’s all I’ve wanted since I met her. Kyla was born to be my wife, and I was born to be her husband. And that’s just the way it is.

“That she will.” I smile. “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Jett leans forward in his seat, resting his arms on the desk. “Nothing important. If it was, do you really think I wouldn’t have dragged you in here before now?” Jett raises his eyebrow.

I had wondered why I hadn’t been summoned and only asked to come here.

“Okay. So, what’s not important that you wanted to talk to me about?” I ask.

Jett chuckles. “I just wanted to check in with you. How are you doing? The truth, Dragon. All you’ve had thrust on you lately can’t have been easy.”

“It was a lot,” I admit while scratching my jaw with my thumbnail. “Waiting to see if Kyla would wake up was the worst thing I’ve ever been through.”

“I can only imagine.”

I nod at Jett. “But my little girl,” I smile. “I can’t even explain how much I love her, Jett. I wasn’t expecting Kyla to return to me with our daughter. I didn’t even know we’d created her. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“It gets us all that way, Dragon. The moment Jessie came into my life, I was lost to that little girl. Trust me, you’ll lose yourself to each child you might be lucky enough to have in the future.”

I haven’t given any thought to Kyla and me having any more kids. I’ve barely been able to think of anything but making sure she’s alright enough to come home. There’s plenty of time to think about our future when things settle down.

“There’s plenty of time for all of that.”

Jett nods. “Has the doctor said anything about when Kyla can come home?”

“Tomorrow.” I smile. “I can’t wait, Jett.”

“I couldn’t tell,” He playfully rolls his eyes when I clap my hands together.

I laugh because I realize I must look like an excited child.

“Is the house ready?”

I nod at Jett. “Yeah. Everything is ready for Kyla.”

“And you’re sure you have everything you need?”

I nod again. “Yeah. Thank you.”

“Are you moving in with her?”

I bite the inside of my cheek before shaking my head. “I don’t think so. Kyla hasn’t asked me, and I don’t want to put her on the spot. We’re together now, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready for me to move in with her. Besides, Kyla’s Aunt Jane will be here for a while. So, she’ll be there in case Kyla needs anything during the night.”

It’s not that I haven’t thought about moving in with Kyla. I’d do it right now if that’s what she wanted. But Kyla hasn’t mentioned anything. It wouldn’t be right for me to suggest it. I wouldn’t want Kyla to think she had to say yes just because I asked.

“Right.” Jett sits back in his seat. “Well, I’m gonna give you a couple of days off to help settle Kyla back in at home. She’ll need you during the day more than I will.”

Being there for Kyla without having to worry about Jett calling me up for collections for the next few days will be a big help. I know Jane will be there, but I want to help Kyla in any way I can.

“Thank you. But what about Snakeskin?” I haven’t been to the club’s tattoo studio since Kyla’s accident. Tattooing is how I make my money. Okay, not the only way I make money, but it’s my legitimate job. Rabid already told me that he’d divided up my bookings between the others who work there. But I’m losing customers because I haven’t been in.

“It will still be there next week, Dragon,” Jett tells me. “Stop worrying about things that aren’t important right now. What is important is your family. Kyla and Greer, whom I’m still yet to officially meet.” He raises an eyebrow with a smirk.

I feel bad that I haven’t introduced Greer to my extended family. It wasn’t intentional, but I just never found the time. Around visiting Kyla and ensuring Greer was happy at home, there weren’t enough hours in the day.

“I’m sorry, Jett. I’ll bring Greer to the clubhouse in a couple of days to meet you and everyone else.”

He nods. “I can’t believe my sister is a grandma.” He chuckles. “Of all my nephews, I thought one of VJ’s boys would have knocked someone up first.”

I laugh at my uncle. VJ’s sons aren’t old enough to get anyone pregnant yet. They’re only ten and eight. Although it’s no secret that my uncle VJ was sexually active by the age of twelve. We can only hope his sons don’t turn out the same.

“Yeah. Well, I was a stupid kid, and I didn’t think about condoms at the time.” Unlike VJ, who made it clear to us all when we were younger that he never did it with anyone, even at twelve, without wrapping it up first.

“We live and learn, Dragon. What’s done is done, but you got Greer out of it. She was worth it, no?”

“Of course, she was.”

I don’t regret making Greer with Kyla. Now that my little girl is in my life, I couldn’t imagine her not being there. She’s everything to me.

Jett nods knowingly. “Anyway, I just wanted to check in with you. Remember, if you need anything at all, let me know. The club is your family, Dragon. We’re always here for you.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” I smirk.

Jett rolls his eyes and laughs. Jett might be my President within the club, but he’s also my uncle.

I get out of my seat to leave when the door knocks. Jett yells for whoever it is to enter, and I furrow my brow when my mother walks through the door holding my daughter’s hand.

Why isn’t she in school?

And why the hell is she crying?

“Dragon, you’re here.”

“Mom, what’s going on?”

“Daddy!” Greer yells while running into my arms. I crouch down in time to catch her, and she sobs in my ear.

I look at my mother while standing at my full height. “What happened? Why isn’t she in school?”

“Mrs. Porter called me,” Mrs. Porter is Greer’s teacher.

“Why didn’t she call me?” I ask because I should have been called!

Mom closes the door behind her. “Sorry to have barged in, Jett.” He waves her away with a smile, letting her know that it’s fine. Mom looks at me. “She did try to call you, Dragon. But there was no answer.”

Still holding Greer to my chest, I fish my phone out of my pocket. I sigh upon realizing the damn thing is dead. Fuckin.g thing won’t hold the charge lately. I need to invest in a new one ASAP.

“It’s dead,” I mumble while shoving my phone back into my pocket.

Mom nods. “Mrs. Porter called me as I’m down as an emergency contact. She asked if I could go to her office.”

“Why?” I ask while stroking Greer’s back. Sobs wrack her body, but she doesn’t move her head from my shoulder.

“She asked if I could collect Greer because she was upset. Some kids had been picking on her all morning. By this afternoon, Greer couldn’t take any more, and she told one of the kids to leave her alone. That kid took it upon themselves to shove Greer over and kick her in the ribs.”

“What?!” I roar, and in a panic, I stand my daughter on her feet. She looks at me with such sadness in her eyes that it breaks my heart. “Baby girl, are you hurt?”

She shakes her head, but I can tell she’s lying. I lift her shirt over her stomach and search for any bruising. Her left side is red, and anger fills me.

“Greer, does it hurt?” I ask while touching her side.

“No, Daddy. It’s just sore a little. I tried to be brave, but I was scared.”

I clench my jaw as emotion fills me. I pull Greer’s shirt back into place. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”

“I told the teacher what happened, like Mommy always told me to do. But I cried, and I wanted you.” She wraps her arms around my neck and cries harder. It breaks my fuckin.g heart!

“Mrs. Porter said she’d deal with the kids involved,” Mom tells me.

I grit my teeth. I don’t give a fuc.k what Mrs. Porter will do. I’ll find out who those kids are and talk to their damn parents about teaching their kids about keeping their hands off my daughter!

I’m not a naturally angry person, not like my brothers. But when it comes to my daughter, I’ll kill anyone who ever hurts her!

I get to my feet with Greer in my arms, eyes wide. My mom looks at me sympathetically. But it’s Jett who takes my shoulder.

I look at him with wide, angry eyes.

“Calm down, Dragon. I know this is upsetting, but your daughter needs you to be calm. She’s frightened.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” I hiss. “I thought Greer would be safe at school, but she wasn’t. She’s sweet and kind, and those kids took advantage of that and hurt her!”

God only knows what this will do to Kyla when I tell her. I cannot keep something like this from Kyla. She’s Greer’s mom and has every right to know what’s been going on.

“I know,” he says softly. “And we’ll deal with it, I promise you that. Don’t lose your head right now, Dragon.” He tips his head to my daughter, now looking at me with a sad smile.

I stroke the back of her hair and kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry, baby girl.”

“It’s okay, Daddy.” She sniffs. “Who is this?” She points to Jett.

“This is Jett. He’s grandmas big brother.”

Greer smiles. “Hi, Uncle Jett.”

Jett chuckles. “Hello, sweetheart. It’s nice to finally meet you, Greer.”

Greer nods and then lays her head on my shoulder. “I want to go home, Daddy.” She whispers.

“I’m gonna get her home.” Then, I’m going to that fuckin.g school and dealing with this shi.t once and for all.

No one hurts my baby girl. No one!