Chapter 7

Claire pulled up to her house really late. It was a little after three in the morning. After her talk with Daisy they decided to go to a club with Carlos. He needed her help bartending so she stayed until she had enough of guys trying to hit on her.


She sat in her car for a moment, watching the house. She wanted to see if anyone was still up. All the lights were off so Claire knew everyone was asleep. She climbed out of her car and made her way slowly to the door. She was extremely tired from all the driving she did earlier in the day; the eight-hour drive to get Vince. Then there was the bartending she did at the club.

She entered the house quietly, heading up the stairs for her room. She opened her door just as Brian came into the hallway.

"Claire, do you have any idea what time it is?" He whispered fiercely, so as not to wake anyone.

Claire rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah I do. It's three." She said with an attitude. She walked into her room and shut the door behind her. Forgetting she had told Brian to let Vince sleep in her room.

Brian opened her door and walked in, shutting it behind him. He too forgot Vince was sleeping in her room. "What's wrong with you? You shouldn't be out by yourself this late. All kinds of things could have happened to you." He told her.

Claire ignored him and staggered over to her dresser. She really was a lot more tired than she thought.

"Are you drunk? What the hell is the matter with you, Claire? You know damn well you can't drink!" He snapped at her.

That pissed her off. She walked over to Brian and slapped him across the face.

"bYOU/b are bNOT/b my father. Don't think that just because you're back means you can tell me what to do. I'm tired Brian. Now get the fuck out of my room before I get really angry." She snapped back.

Brian opened his mouth to speak, but Claire cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't care what you think. Now get out Brian." She stated unwaveringly.

Brian sighed then left her room.

She turned and headed to her dresser. She pulled out a nightshirt and boxers to sleep in. she turned towards the bed to start changing. She gasped and paused in mid step.


Lying in her bed was Vince, who was watching her.

iDamn it! I forgot about him./i

She thought. She ignored him and went into her bathroom and locked the door.
She quickly changed, leaving her clothes in the hamper.
She took a deep breath before going out into her bedroom. She walked over to the foot of the bed and paused.

"I'm sorry for coming in here and waking you up. I forgot you were gonna be in here. Goodnight."

She said softly then left the room before Vince could respond.

iInteresting. I wonder why she can't drink?/i Vince thought before falling back asleep.

Claire pulled out a blanket and a pillow from the hall closet. She lied down on the couch not bothering to pull it out into a bed. She was just too tired. She lay down and thought about what Brian had said.
She really shouldn't have slapped him, but he just made her so mad. How dare he accuse her of drinking? She knew she couldn't drink because of her medication. Her doctor warned her what would happen if she did. She wasn't stupid. And to top it off Vince had heard everything.

She closed her eyes and tried to forget everything that had happened. She fell in a restless sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The next morning Claire woke up to laughter and voices coming from the kitchen. They weren't loud enough for her to make out what they were saying. She stretched slowly before getting up and heading into the kitchen.

"Morning." She managed to mumble.

Mia smiled at her. "Hey good to see you awake. You sleep okay? I hope we didn't wake you."

The others greeted her as well. Claire said hi to everyone, but ignored Brian. She was still mad at him.

Claire smiled absently as she made her way to the coffeemaker.

"No, you didn't. I slept all right. I see you all made breakfast without me."

She said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Mia looked apologetic.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you, but the boys were hungry."

Claire gave a short laugh. "It's okay Mia. I don't mind. I just hope there's something left for me to eat."

Mia jumped up from the table.

"Of course. You sit down and I'll get you a plate."

She said in her mother tone.

Claire did she instructed. She looked around to the others. Dom was gobbling down his food as if it were his last meal, Leon as well. Letty on the other hand ate slowly. Brain was looking at her, but she gave him a defiant look. Vince wasn't eating. He was staring at her. She quickly looked away, not wanting to give him a reason to give her another one of his 'looks'.

"Hey Leon, I have a friend I want you to meet. Her name is Daisy. Would you want too?"
She asked, remembering what she promised Daisy over the phone a couple of days ago.

Leon looked up, interested.

"Yeah, she cute?" He asked in a typical male fashion.

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Yes she's cute. Why is that always the first thing a guy asks? I've got a picture of her in the living room. It's hanging on the wall in the living room. It's of her, Carlos, her brother, and me. It was taken like six months ago when we went to Vegas."
She said.

Leon stood up quickly and ran over to the living room. Letty and Mia laughed.

"Damn! She's hella fine! When can I meet her?"
He stated as he came back into the kitchen.

Claire smiled. "I'll call her today. I'll have her come over for dinner tonight."

Leon nodded eagerly.

"Hell yeah. Go call her now." He asked excited.

Claire laughed. "I'll call her after I eat." She said.

Leon groaned in protest, but didn't argue.

After breakfast Claire did the dishes despite Mia's protests. It was only fair since they all helped make breakfast and she didn't. When she was done she went up to her room to take a shower and change. Then called Daisy.


When Claire told Daisy how Leon acted after seeing her picture Daisy couldn't wait to meet Leon.

"Hell yeah I'll be over at seven thirty." Daisy stated, and then hung up the phone.

Claire had to laugh. Daisy always had a one-track mind.