I raise my chin and touch my lips to his. “It’s not your fault, Nate,” I murmur, my lips moving softly against his.
“It is. It’s my job to keep you safe. To protect you from shit like this, and last night, I failed.”
“You did protect me,” I tell him. “I was in danger and you came for me. You got me out of there before something terrible could happen, and I have only you to thank for that. I don’t doubt you beat the shit out of a few people to be able to find me.”
“I wasn’t exactly polite,” he tells me with a soft smirk playing on his lips. He lets out a breath and squeezes my waist. “I promise you, Tora. You will never have to see him again. I won’t stop until he’s put away for this. He deserves to pay for what he did to you. Him and all those bastards who dared touch you.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I trust you.”
“Just… tell me you forgive me.”
“Forgive you?” I question as my brows pull down. “You saved me from them. I should be thanking you with my life. I don’t know how you do it, but somehow you save me over and over again, and it’s that fierce love you have for me that makes me love you so much more.”
He shakes his head. “I let you down.”
“I let you down,” I argue. “I should have been more careful. I should have told you the very first day I saw him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You were ridiculous first.”
“I think we have to agree to disagree.”
“Hey,” I hear Jesse says from the doorway, reprimanding us both. My head snaps up to see his face looking in on us. “Stop arguing with my BFF. After everything she’s been through you should let her win your stupid little arguments.”
“Never going to happen,” Nate grumbles, making my lips pull up into the first real smile since waking up.
Jesse walks forward with Brooke coming in behind him. “Jackson went to tell the doctor that you’re up. He’ll probably check you over and then I’d assume you can go home.”
I nod as he walks around the other side of the bed and drops down into the seat beside me. “How are you feeling?”
“I could use a painkiller but apart from that I’m doing ok.” He nods and I hold out my hand, silently asking for his. He doesn’t disappoint as he lays his hand in my palm. I roll it over between my fingers and take in the bruised knuckles. Unlike Nate, Jesse actually took a second to wash away the dried blood. “Did you ice these?” I ask, assuming that the other hand looks exactly the same.
“What?” he gasps, stealing his hand back. “No. These bruises are like a badge of honor. Everywhere I go, everyone will know not to fuck with me.”
“Geez,” I sigh, some things will never change.
With that, the doctor walks in and I cringe, noticing it’s the same doctor who cast my broken arm last year and wonder what he must think of me. I mean, how is it possible for one person to be in this damn hospital so damn often? This is my fourth visit in just over a year’s time.
The doctor talks me through the process of taking a rape kit and has a female nurse come in before sending the boys out. I convince them to let Brooke stay and argue that they’ve already kicked out my support system. They take pity on the poor broken girl and give me what I want.
An hour later, Nate is helping me out from his Camaro and walking with me, hand in hand down to our front door.
We walk through to find our whole group of friends here, even Brylee made the trip to come and check on little old me. Though, it doesn’t go unnoticed how she sits beside Tyson with a love struck, goofy grin on her face. No matter how much they deny it, there’s definitely chemistry between the two. I don’t know how we never saw it before.
Everyone gets up and Brooke goes as far as to shoo Maxen off my favorite spot on the couch, making sure to bring me a pillow and a blanket to snuggle up to. But she should know better by now. If Nate is here, I’m always going to take snuggling up to him over snuggling some silly blanket.
I force everyone to get their ‘How are you feeling’ questions out of the way, telling them that this is the last I want to hear about it. From now on, we move on. It’s behind us. I don’t even want to see the bruised knuckles marring their skin, which I notice, each and every one of them possess. Naturally, they put up an argument, but I put my foot down.
Light conversation starts flowing and Nate drops down beside me before pulling me into his arms, just where I want to be.
Drinks are passed around but I opt for a glass of water. I’ve had enough foreign shit going through my body lately. I think I’ll be sticking to water for a while.
A knock sounds at the door and Jesse jumps up with a huge grin, threatening to tear his face apart. He pulls the door wide and ushers Kaylah in, making sure to give her a big sloppy kiss on the way.
She walks forward and says hi to everyone before looking to me with a cringe. I narrow my eyes on her, unsure why she’s looking at me like that. She walks around the front of the couch which is when I notice a massive gift box in her hands, one that I couldn’t see over the back of the couch.
I look at the gift box then back up at her, letting out a groan. “Tell me you didn’t buy me a present so I can remember this momentous occasion for the rest of my life?”
She sends a panicked glance towards Jesse before focusing back on me. “Shit,” she sighs. “I really shouldn’t have done this. It’s a bad idea.”
She goes to walk away when I notice little holes in the top of the box. “Wait,” I say. “Why does the box have breathing holes?”
She scrunches her face up before letting out a breath. “Fuck it,” she says, placing the box down on the coffee table. I watch as she pulls the ribbon, undoing the massive red bow sitting atop the box and holding it together.
“I kind of bought you something,” she says, raising the lid of the box.
I squeal out and jump to my feet as a tiny little golden puppy head appears at the top of the box with his little tongue lolling out the side. “You bought me a puppy?” I screech, launching forward and scooping up the beautiful little Labrador puppy.
“Yeah,” Kaylah laugh as Brooke barges her way in beside me to get a good look at the little guy. “I did. I hope that’s ok? I just… I thought you could use something to keep your mind off… well, you know. And thought this little guy would do the trick. I mean, you have a big yard and if you’re not a dog person, I can take him back, but-”
“No,” Brooke gasps. “Don’t you dare take him back. I want him.” Brooke turns on me. “Don’t send him away. Please. Let’s keep him.” Next up, she turns on Maxen. “Why didn’t you ever buy me a puppy?”
Maxen’s eyes widen. “Um… do you want me to buy you a puppy?”
“No,” she snaps. “I want this little guy. What do you say?” she asks me. “Can we keep him? Pleeeeeease?”
I look down at the furry little bundle in my arms and smile as his little puppy face stares back up at me. Already I can tell that this little guy is going to change my life for the better. He’s going to be my new best friend. Mine and Nate’s first little fur baby, but the second his little puppy bark sounds out like a tiny little screech, I know I could never give him up.
I turn to Nate. “What do you think?” I ask him with a beaming proud smile as I just became a mommy for the first time. “He looks like a ‘Jesse’ to me.”
Jesse’s face drops as Brooke squeals out her celebrations. Nate just shakes his head, unsure what I’ve just got us into.
I throw my arm around Kaylah. “Thank you,” I tell her. “He’s going to be the best little addition to our screwed-up family.”
“My pleasure,” she laughs. “Now, give him back. I haven’t had nearly enough cuddles.”
How could I have ever known that such a fucked-up night could turn into such a beautiful day? I suddenly have a whole new appreciation and understanding of the rainbow after a devastating storm.
Chapter 24
“Holy shit,” I swoon as
Nate walks in wearing a suit that hugs his body just right. I mean, the open jacket with the two buttons of his dress shirt undone, showing off just enough of his sculptured chest. Wow.
I mean…. Wow. That’s all I’ve got. The only word to describe this flawless perfection. Wow.
“Damn straight,” Trish says, coming to stand beside me while looking her son up and down. “I breed them well.”
“You sure do,” I agree with her.
Nate walks forward with his eyes raking up and down my long, floor-length maroon dress that plunges between my breasts and shows off the perfect amount of cleavage. His eyes become hooded the closer he gets and when he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me hard into him, he buries his face in the nook of my neck. “You look incredible,” he murmurs with his lips skimming along the sensitive skin of my neck.
He breathes me in and raises his head so his lips hover just above mine. As he begins to draw closer, I feel the butterflies taking flight. Just a little bit closer and he’ll be right there. Right where I want him.
A golden puppy comes tearing down the hallway, barking with his tongue hanging out the side, flapping up and down with his quick movements. Within the blink of an eye, he jumps up against me, putting one hell of a muddy paw print right across my ass. “Noooooo,” I shriek as Trish lets out a horrified gasp and instantly runs to the kitchen for a cloth to start damage control.
“Shit,” Nate grunts, shaking his head as he hurries to catch little Jesse and leads him out the backdoor “This damn dog. I swear, it’s like he knows when I want to kiss you. That little cockblocker. He’s just as bad as the real Jesse.”
“Who cares about that?” I panic. “What about my ass?”
“It’s fine,” he smirks, walking back over to get a good look at the damage as Trish starts trying to remove the mud. “I’ll keep my hand on your ass all night. It’s win/win.”
Trish groans. “You’re not helping,” she reprimands.
“I know,” he laughs as Jesse struts in wearing his suit with Kaylah under his arm in a beautiful black cocktail dress.
“Oh, no,” Kaylah gasps, hurrying over. “What happened?”
“The dog,” I whine.
She scrunches her face up as Jesse strolls on over to take a look as well. “Don’t stress, it’s not that bad,” he says. “And besides, you’ve got your tits out. Everyone will be looking at those instead of your ass.”
Nate’s fist punches out, instantly giving Jesse a dead arm.
As Trish finishes off fixing my dress, I can’t help but take in my boys. So freaking handsome. The excitement starts to bubble up within me. We’ve been waiting for this night for what feels like forever.
America’s biggest show for classic cars has been on all week, and naturally, that old dirty car that Nate first started on has been invited to attend. Not to mention, that old dirty car actually turned out to be a 1968 Jaguar E-Type. Who would have known? I certainly didn’t. But Nate, he knew what he was doing from the very start.
Nate’s had his plan since he was a kid and now he’s putting it all into place with calculated, perfected moves, and so far, it’s all paying off. I wouldn’t be surprised if he surpasses everyone else in the industry and becomes the number one restoration business in America. He’s just that good.
His Jaguar has been shown all week to every car dealer and buyer, basically, everyone in the industry and tonight is the big auction where Nate will put all his hard work to the test. It’s rumored that it’s going to reach the highest bid of the night, but we’ll have to wait and see. I heard it could possibly hit just under half a million dollars, and if it does, that would be incredible for Nate. This build has put him on the map in a big way.
It’s going to be a huge event. Hundreds of people are going to be there. It’s going to be fancy and ostentatious. I can’t wait. There will be a dinner party following the auction for all the people involved and I swear, everyone we know is coming to support Nate. It’s going to be nothing short of an awesome night.
It’s been a few months since the whole Josh thing and since then, Nate has been working his ass off. He completed work on the Lamborghini Miura and absolutely killed it. The car looked incredible and when he handed the keys back to the owner, he couldn’t have been happier. He was chuffed, to say the least. He then gave Nate another two high-class projects and had his brother-in-law give him a third.
John appears on the stairs, dressed to the nines in his fancy suit which I’m sure cost him a bomb and walks straight into Trish’s arms. They’ve only been dating for about eight months now, but they’re perfect together. I’ve never seen Trish so happy. They’re so perfect together that John even proposed last week, and naturally, Trish couldn’t resist saying yes. Everyday has been a celebration. Hell, even Nate admitted how happy he was for his mom.
With everybody now ready for the biggest night in Nate’s career so far, we file out the door and drop down into the limo that John had arranged for us, despite Nate suggesting it was unnecessary.
We drive down to the car show as Trish gets overly excited and starts pouring glasses of champagne, not caring about waiting for the auction, just wanting to celebrate Nate’s massive achievements.
I can’t help but look around the massive limo. Jesse and Kaylah are doing great. Trish and John are loved up. And then there’s me and Nate, and every day with him just keeps getting better. I’ve never been so happy. These people here in this long ass car, these are my people. One day I will marry Nate Ryder and this is going to be my family.
Nate has been my rock since day one. He has loved and celebrated me in more ways than I could have ever imagined. We’ve had ups and downs. Moments where we wanted to wring each other’s neck, but that’s love and all it’s done is drawn us closer.
Over the past few months, Nate has done everything in his power to stick to his promise. He made sure Josh Henderson was put away. He went down heavily for drug possession and distribution. He went down for kidnapping. He also went down for his hand in putting me in that room. Not to mention, all those guys paid for what they did to me. They paid more for what they did to those other girls.
I reached out to those girls. All of which had never come forward with the fear of being laughed off and not believed. I mean, they were drugged just as I was. How could they have identified who was in that room? But Josh had it all on tape. Taking everyone, including himself down.
We get to the car show and the driver pulls up at the front entrance where someone in a penguin suit opens the door for us, taking all the girls’ hands to help us out of the car. There’re press as we walk the red carpet into the massive function hall, taking photos of who’s attending and who’s wearing what.
Lucky for me, Nate steps in beside me, blocking my ass from any of the cameras, and where he can’t, he’s sure to place his hand right there, never skipping a chance to give it a good squeeze.
We walk into the massive room and the first thing I notice is the huge stage up the front. A car will be driven from one side, stopped in the middle for the auction, and then driven off the other side once it’s done. It’s huge.
Never in my entire life did I think I would be attending such a high-class event like this. I mean, just looking around at the people in the room, it’s clear we don’t belong. These people are McBillionaire’s. My trust fund has nothing on these people.
As we walk deeper into the room, I laugh at the way Trish discreetly steps in beside Jesse, threatening to castrate him if he makes any inappropriate fart jokes throughout the night. He crosses his heart and promises to be on his best behavior, but the sparkle in his eyes tell me he’s lying.
Nate’s face brightens as he spots a few familiar faces and hurries off to welcome them. I can’t help but watch him as he pulls the guys in for quick hugs and claps them on the back. His three employees. Without which he wouldn’t have been able to finish the Jaguar in time for this show.
He took each of them on board as though he was br
inging in a new family member. Well, one of them sort of is family. Ryan, Maxen’s cousin who was in the car accident and is now living life in a wheelchair.
He can’t help in the typical way, but he’s great on the computer and even better with a fine paint-brush. Turns out the kid has an eye for detail and a steady hand. He has a love for cars just as Nate does and considers himself a bit of an artist. So much so, that all the graffiti you see around Haven Falls was mostly put there by this guy. He’s assured us he’s stopped, but we could never be too sure. He has a reckless side, just like my boys do.
Nate has completely taken him under his wing and watching them together makes me so damn proud. Ryan went into a bit of a depression after the accident and Nate was able to draw him out of it. It’s incredible really. They’ve become great friends and it means there are more parties going down at my place than ever before, but as usual, they’re fun and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As I’m watching Nate with his employees, a familiar couple cut through my vision and I dart off. I throw my arms around my mom and pull her in tight. “Oh, honey,” she sobs. “You look stunning.”
“Look who’s talking,” I laugh, squeezing her a little tighter. She pulls back and I can’t help but smile. I knew they were planning on coming down to support Nate, but they only flew in this afternoon. I’ve been waiting to see them since the day they left.
Dad barges mom out of the way and wraps his arms around me. “How are you, love?” he murmurs into my hair. “Are you keeping out of trouble? How are your studies?”
“It’s fine,” I laugh before rolling my eyes. “I’m keeping on top of it and have done heaps of extra credit,” I remind him for the hundredth time.
“That’s my girl,” he says, standing tall and proud.
Nate comes over and mom instantly wraps him in her arms while dad holds out a hand. “Congratulations, son,” he says, giving Nate’s hand a firm shake. “You’ve made quite the achievement.”
“Thanks,” Nate smiles, looking down at me with love in his eyes. “Couldn’t have done it without Tora.”
Broken Hill Havoc: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 5) Page 21