Page 16 of Blaze

“Blaze, how is the strip club doing?” Cage asks, and I blink and look up, noticing everyone looking my way, Crusher tilting his head with worry.

“Good, revenue is high,” I admit, “We’ve had a few underage kids try to get it, but Paul is picking them up quickly, he’s proving to be a good prospect.”

Paul is someone I sponsored to come prospect in the club, doing grunt work for a year to prove himself, and so far, he hasn’t let me down.

“He’ll be due to patch in next month, so we need to test him with information on the decoy runs and see if anything happens,” Killer mentions, and I roll my eyes.

Since he messed up and got half the fucking brotherhood arrested years ago, he doesn’t trust well, but where me and his son are concerned, he doesn’t trust our judgement at all.

The man is a jackass.

“And here I thought the old timers are supposed to be seen and not heard,” Crusher mutters, and I smirk.

Normally, the fuckers only come into church once a month or unless it’s an emergency, but for the past few months, since Killer realized his son had a son, they’ve been in here every fucking time and most of us are fed up with it.

Cage shakes his head, then looks at Trick and asks, “What happened at the hospital? You’ve been on shift so update us.”

I tense, the image of Blair on the floor, throwing up, causing my whole body to tighten up.

I never went back to El’s, something she was pissed about. Acting like a jealous old lady, something she knew I didn’t want. Instead, I sat outside Ms. Hallows's home.

“Here,” Ms. Hallows murmurs as she hands me a flask, and I smile and confirm, “Hot cocoa?”

She nods, and I take a small sip as she sighs.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I have known you most of your life, and if my intuition is correct, you want my daughter. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be out here.”

I swallow hard, trying my hardest to refuse her words, but they don’t fucking come out.

“I’ve known Blair since she was fourteen, at that point she had already been in two foster homes,” she explains, and I nod so she knows I’m following, “Her parents were killed in a plane crash when she was nine. They left her with her sister while they went for a second honeymoon, celebrating forty years of marriage,” she smiles sadly, “Blair was a late baby, her sister was already fifteen when she was born. She was old enough to take on a nine-year- old at the time, but the day they had found out their parents died, she also kicked her sister to the curb because she was left nothing.”

Ms. Hallows looks at her home, and I follow her eyesight and swallow hard at the pull I have to go inside, the reason why I won’t ride away.

“When she was sixteen, Poppy managed to get full custody of her, no thanks to her now husband's father, Judge Leen. Her husband illegally obtained their parents will and realized the sale of the house and cars, of everything was left in a trust for her sister. They decided she wanted it, but just after Blair turned seventeen Poppy kicked her out again claiming she was disobedient. When in reality, not only could she not gain access to the trust that Blair will be receiving it in a few weeks, but her husband sexually assaulted Blair.” She says, and I look at her sharply.

He did fucking what?

Ms. Hallows smiles slightly and admits, “We went to press charges, but Judge Leen offered us anything that we wanted, so his precious son didn’t get caught. I demanded that the adoption papers be signed. She became my daughter and her sister disappeared, until now.”

“Her lip?” I growl, and the woman who took care of me for a small part of my life nods.

“Her sister hit her after her husband came onto her after stashing cocaine and ecstasy behind her toilet,” Ms. Hallows admits, and I take a deep breath to control my rage.

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask.

“Because you are currently sitting outside of my house, struggling to leave my daughter. You are showing the signs of her being yours, despite you screwing Elenor. I always told you to stay clear of her… I know my daughter feels something towards you, but refuses to act on it, not just because of Elenor but because she's running from anyone who can hurt her. Other than me, everyone has left her, it’s why she demanded to be homeschooled so no one can get close to her, just like you’re shacking up with Elenor because you know you’ll never love her.” She says hitting the nail on the head, “All I’m saying, if you are sitting out here because you are concerned for a woman you met a mere few hours ago, then you need to reevaluate what you really want, and stop allowing your mother, who didn’t realize how lucky she was to have you and your father who is an idiot, dictate your life.”

“Belle,” Trick says, and Crash groans, “What did she do now?” bringing me back to church, and I swallow hard.

I stayed outside until four in the morning when Ms. Hallows nodded that Blair was okay, and even then, it took everything in me to ride away. Since then, I’ve done the same thing, routinely, while ignoring Elenor.

“Cans came in on a self-inflicted stab wound, hoping to break out of prison,” Trick begins, “Belle listened to the fucker when he said the cuffs were too tight and his guard was using the bathroom. She claimed the guard asked her to watch him, but the guard denies even seeing her and was adamant his keys were attached to his belt. The fucker got loose and knocked out one of the best nurses in the hospital. She is also our accountant, and now she’s on leave for two weeks with a grade two concussion. Cans is back in solitary confinement in prison.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Crash growls, shaking his head, and I wince when he mutters, “She wanted my attention and was hoping she'd be hurt…”

“Dr. Love vouched for her, so she didn’t lose her job,” Trick grunts, and I shake my head, confused at Belle’s frame of mind lately.

Crash has already admitted he isn't in love with her, and if she isn’t careful, he’ll leave her.