Secrets Worth Keeping (Finding my Home Book 2)

by Nikita Parmenter

  “Ever, I …” he starts.

  “Atlas, can I have a word with you before we go?” Trick asks interrupting what ever it was that Atlas wanted to say.

  “Yeah, sure man” Atlas replies, with a sigh, clearly already guessing what he’s wants to talk to him about. He bends down and picks up his hoody that we dropped when he tickled me, handing it to me and smiling as I instantly pull it on. It’s so big that it nearly hits my knees, I absolutely adore it.

  “Come on, Il mio Cuore, you can help us try and pack the trailer for some reason nothing is fitting like it did before” Cash says grabbing my hand and pulling through the door under the stairs.

  Just before the door closes behind us I glance back to see Atlas and Trick both with grim looks on their faces and talking heatedly. The last thing I see before the door fully closes is matching dark grins adorning both their features. These men are dangerous and yet I have never felt more safe.

  “Is everything ok?” I ask Cash, nodding my head back towards the doors.

  “Yeah, Dragonfly. Everything is fine they just needed to discuss something. Nothing to worry about” he replies and I almost buy the light-hearted attitude he’s trying to give off if it wasn’t for the dark shadows in his eyes and equally dark smirk he lets slip.

  I smirk in reply and shrug my shoulders. Let them keep their secrets, they’ll soon understand just how unafraid of their darkness I am.

  “Jensen for the last fucking time you can not put that there!” Riot suddenly yells as we step into the garage.

  Me and Cash share an amused look before walking around to the back of the trailer. The guys have already hooked it up to Trick’s truck.

  “Dude why are you trying to balance your bag on top of the snow mobiles? And what’s in all of the crates?” I ask, staring at the haphazard mess in the back of the trailer.

  “Erm, I raided the wine cellar?” Jensen phrases his answer like a question and I burst out laughing as the guys immediately start berating him.

  “That’s why it wouldn’t fucking fit!” Rafe exclaims.

  “Dude you know, there is no way we’d be able to hide that many crates from our parents. One we might be able to though” Luc muses.

  “Now we have to unload the whole damn thing because of course you packed the crates of alcohol first and they’re now at the bottom" Riot says exasperatedly.

  I can’t help the laugh that escapes me at Jensen’s pout and as he grumbles. We all unpack the crates and whem Trick comes back in with Atlas he makes Jensen take all of the crates back to the wine cellar himself. After going back and forth for a good twenty minutes Jensen finally manages to convince Trick to bring one crate, promising that they wouldn’t get caught with it. We finally have the trailer all packed again and surprisingly, without the five extra crates of alcohol everything fits just as well as did before, go figure. I don’t think any of us are really mad at Jensen for the extra work though as it just means we get to spend a little bit of extra time with Atlas. It seems like it’s not only me that’s worried this will be the last time we see him. Considering he already disappeared on them for a year it’s not really surprising.

  After spending the last few days with them all it’s obvious to me that they really do consider each other family and that somehow I’ve now been included in with that and I feel incredibly lucky. It does make it even more hard to leave one of our own behind though. I think I would’ve found it hard if me and Atlas had just ended up being friends, especially knowing that he is going to be in danger and has something major going on that involves this town. He’s not just my friend though and my feelings for him are definitely way beyond friendship. They’re just as strong for him as they are for the others. Which is why it feels like a piece of my heart is breaking more and more the closer it gets to the time we need to leave.

  I take a deep breath and watch curiously as Atlas darts back into the house.

  “I don’t want to leave him” Trick mutters next to me and I lean into him.

  “Me neither” I reply, my voice already thick with emotion.

  “We have to trust that he knows what he’s doing though and that he will bring us in as soon as he can” Cash says seriously, closing the door on the trailer.

  “We need to talk about if we’re truly prepared for what that may entail when we get back, although I have a feeling I already know what the answer will be” Trick chuckles and the guys join in as I grin.

  I don’t imagine these guys would ever turn their backs on one of their own.

  “Ok this is a burner phone. I can’t use it to contact you regularly but I should be able to use it very sparsely” Atlas says as he reappears and hands a phone over to Trick.

  “Promise you’ll use it if you get in too deep and need a hand” Trick orders and Atlas smirks.

  “You can count on it brother. I promise” he replies, settling something inside me, at least we have some sort of contact with him now.

  I stand off to the side with a strangle hold on my emotions as the guys all say goodbye to Atlas. Jensen says something to him that’s too quiet for me to hear but he looks more serious than I have ever seen him. His feral darkness comes out to play as Atlas nods at whatever he asked him. He looks at me as he steps away from Atlas and gets into the car with the other’s, all of them giving me and Atlas a chance to say goodbye in private.

  Atlas strides over to me and wraps me in his arms holding me tightly. I gulp back the tears, as he leans back and looks down at me, he studies me for a second, looking for something and whatever he finds has him taking a small step back from me. I watch curiously as he spins a gold ring with some sort of crest and gems on his middle finger before he slips it off revealing a band of pale skin beneath.

  He motions for me to turn around and I feel him messing with the necklace that Jensen gave me as a Christmas present before the weight of Atlas’s ring drops down between my boobs resting near my heart and next to the infinity sign on the necklace.

  “Forever and always, Princess” he vows as he turns me back around and kisses me softly, “you’ve given me something to fight for and made me more determined than ever to sort this out. This is not a final goodbye” he says firmly and a tear drips down my cheek. I only allow the one to escape and he frowns using the pad of his thumb to wipe it away.

  “It feels like a final goodbye” I whisper brokenly.

  It hurts so damn much.

  He pulls me in, bringing me against his chest and holding me tightly as he takes a shuddering breath. He holds me for as long as he can before we really need to get going if we’re going to get down the mountain before it gets dark.

  He kisses me as if it will be our last and my heart breaks as I put as much feeling as possible into it. Our tongues tangling, as our hands try to bring us closer together.

  “Keep this hidden ok?” He says seriously as we separate and he tucks the necklace with the ring on back underneath my top.

  I can tell how important it is to him that I do as he asks and I nod.

  “I promise” I manage to get out past the clog of emotion in my throat.

  “Forever and always” he says as turns me towards the car.

  “Forever and always” I reply and then I walk towards the truck unable to look back.

  Cash opens the door and pulls the seat forward so I can get in the back with Jensen. He pulls me in quickly as I pass him, hugging me and giving me a kiss on the top of my head as I pass.

  “He hasn’t taken that off in all of the time that we’ve known him” he mutters, they obviously saw Atlas give me the ring.

  I just smile sadly as I hop in the back. As soon as my seatbelt is on Jensen pulls me into his arms and the dam breaks as tears slip down my cheeks. I’m unable to stop them and I don’t even want to, this hurts like a bitch. Trick pulls out of the garage and starts our journey home, the truck quiet as each of us are lost in our own thoughts.

  Can I really call it home if I feel like I’ve left a piece of my home behind? />
  Atlas

  Watching her drive away with the only true family I have ever known, is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do and I don’t remember a single damn easy day in my life until I met the guys. The urge to just say fuck it and bring them all in now was so strong that I almost caved but if I had, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee Ever’s safety and I need to be able to do that before I bring them all in. I have to let her go right now, I don’t have a choice. The simple fact of it is that it’s not safe for her to be around me. I’m more determined than I ever have been to exterminate the threat. I want a life with Ever and my brothers, granted it would be an unusual life and for more reasons than the obvious one. Reasons that the guys don’t fully understand yet but Trick is starting to pick up on.

  I will fight tooth and fucking nail to get that life though.

  My fingers automatically go to spin the ring on my finger as I watch them drive away, a habit I’ve had since it first fit me. I always spin it when I get lost in thought. I grin when it’s not there. Ever has no idea the significance of that ring and what it means that I gave it to her. Quinn would probably have a fucking heart attack but I’m hoping that by the time him and Rage find out, I will be able to bring the guys and Ever in. That way they’ll understand why I gave it to her, Quinn already has an idea and I know for damn sure I’m going to get twenty fucking questions when I stop in on my way back later.

  There’s a tradition in my family, one of the only fucking tradition’s I’ll ever honour. The men in my family are made rings when we are born. All of the rings have the family crest and motto on them but then they have a combination of gems specific to each man. No two rings look the same and we never take the ring off. As babies we wear it on a chain around our necks until we’re old enough to wear it on our finger. Over the years it’s adjusted to fit, but other than that it stays on. The only time we ever take it off is when we find the woman we plan to spend the rest of our lives with. The woman who owns our hearts.

  My family are extremely powerful and not only is it the ultimate honour to give our rings to a woman, it also gives the woman a certain amount of power and status as well as protection in the circles that my family run in.

  My mother doesn’t wear my fathers ring despite them being together for twenty plus years and all of the shit he’s put her through. It’s not really surprising though my father is a selfish, calculated and abusive bastard. Unfortunately that’s something my asshole of a brother fucking inherited. Except that because of what my father put us through, he’s even fucking worse, there’s no moral compass at all. He’ll kill someone just because he fucking feels like it and even in our circles he is feared as a lose cannon.

  I push thoughts of my deranged family away as my mind once again focuses back on Ever.

  I really hope that she heard the warning in my tone when I told her to keep the ring hidden, maybe I should have explained but I can’t without giving too much away. I’ve watched her closely since she caught me off guard that first night, needing to know whether she can handle it if I bring her and the guys in. Thankfully she’s proven that she can more than handle it and I actually think she’s going to shock the shit out of not only the guys but Quinn and Rage too. She really would have cut off that guys dick off for what he’d done to those girls and I was sorely tempted to hand her my knife but like Quinn said we have to be careful right now, any unnecessary attention on us and every fucking thing we’ve worked so fucking hard for falls apart and so many more innocent lives will be ruined or worse lost.

  The ring will offer her protection from certain people that run in my father’s circles but there are others who would see it, instantly know it was mine and what it means that I’ve given it to her. They would use it as an opportunity to get to me. I only felt safe giving it to her because I regularly have guys do a sweep of Serendipity and none of those men are there. Serendipity is as safe as I can make it without bringing in more men and therefore risking a mole.

  If I want to bring the guys and Ever in as soon as possible then I need to get going. I’ve got a lot of shit to sort out before I can and I want to bring them in. I have a feeling shit is about to hit the fucking fan and I’m going to need them. My heart pangs at the thought of being separated for so long from Ever. I have no idea how she managed to capture me so completely but she has my heart.

  I didn’t give her that ring on just a whim.

  I need to drop this food down to Quinn at the bar for him to hand out to the people who need it in town and I need to get an update from him. After that though I have one last stop to make before I go back. I’ve been gone for far too long already and I’m going to catch hell when I get back. Thankfully it’s nothing I can’t handle and if Rage has done his fucking job properly then it will only be the minimum amount of hassle. Although I imagine there are still a few fires I’m going to have to fucking put out myself. As scary a motherfucker as Rage is, he just doesn’t carry the same weight as I do when it comes to threats.

  Before I can go back though, I need to call in a favour with a contact I have and see where that Jeremy fucker is being transferred too. I pull out my phone and send a quick text.

  Me: I know you know about Everleigh and the guys. Look into her case and tell me where Jeremy is.

  Unknown: Fuck, Atlas. He’s being moved into a low security place about an hour away from your location.

  Me: good.

  I start to put my phone away when it buzzes again.

  Unknown: Atlas he is one fucked up son of a bitch and your father was the one that had him moved.

  I stare at the words before a roar of rage erupts from me. That mother fucking cunt. Something else is fucking going on and somehow Ever is fucking involved. I send one last text and hope that he fucking handles it. I can’t fucking deal with this right now. Blood boils in my veins and I grin savagely as a location and time pop up on my phone, well that’s fucking convenient timing. It’s time to make Ever, my Princess safe from at least one threat.

  Time to go hunting.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Everleigh

  The drive home is a blur. The guys try to start a conversation a couple of times but none of us seem to have the energy to keep it up for very long. I don’t even bother trying as I stay curled up in Jensen’s arms. Eventually we pull up to Trick’s house and we just sit for a second as if in preparation. I slowly pull my aching body away from Jensen and he kisses me softly, offering comfort. I can see how hard it was for him to leave Atlas, shinning in his green eyes and my heart aches for all of them. They’ve already lost him once and although this isn’t supposed to be forever or even for that long, the echo of when it happened before is still there.

  I smile sadly and then close my eyes as everyone climbs out of the car. It’s way past dark now and the night wraps around them.

  Come on Ever, you’ve got this.

  Push it away.

  If Jenny even suspects something is wrong then I’m just going to end up spilling the whole stupid thing and most likely bursting into tears. My heart feels like it’s missing a piece and I only fucking knew him for a few days, I don’t know if that makes it worse or better.

  On the one hand, if I feel this strongly for him after this short amount of time then I imagine that it would’ve been completely impossible to leave him if we had spent more time together. On the other hand though, I only got a few days with him and I want more.

  I finally step out of the truck when I’ve successfully pushed my emotions away and buried them. As soon as my foot hits the pavement the guys all turn to look at me, obviously worried about how I’m going to react. I grin happily at them, I’ve put this mask on so many times in the past but it’s never felt this fucking heavy.

  Their eyes widen and Trick takes a step towards me as Jensen opens his mouth and Rafe watches me concerned. The other three sharing a worried look. The front door opens suddenly behind them and Jenny comes rushing out in whirlwind, hugging each of us and interrupti
ng whatever was about to happen next.

  “Kids!” Jenny calls as Rob chuckles by the door, “I’ve missed you so much. It’s been far too quiet and there’s too much food in the house” she chuckles and we all join in.

  Making sure to keep my emotions on lockdown as I focus on the here and now.

  “Ever!” She cries as she wraps me in her arms.

  I chuckle as I return her hug. Having to focus a bit harder not to let the mask slip when I’m in the arms of someone giving me a mom cuddle.

  “How was the trip?” she asks excitedly as she leads me into the house.

  The guys all tense slightly, obviously expecting the question to break the fragile hold I have on my emotions.

  “It was awesome” I reply excitedly, noting the worried look the guys share as they start to grab the bags from the trailer. “The snow was so pretty. We had a great time. What did you guys get up to?” I deflect.

  “Oh you know this and that” she replies and then winks at me making a real laugh escape me.

  “You had fun then?” I grin.

  “Oh yeah” she giggles, then turns to the guys, “all of your parents want you home for the night” she says sternly as if she’s already anticipating a fight.

  The guys gaze automatically lands on me and I shrug, it’s about as much input as I can give right now. With all the emotions of leaving Atlas it hadn’t occurred to me that of course the parents would want the guys home.

  “It’s alright, I’ve got her” I hear Trick say quietly to the others when Jenny gets occupied with something Rob says.

  Each of them pull me in for a tight hug and completely uncaring of the parents watching, each of them give me a kiss goodbye.

  “Keep your phone on Firecracker. We’ll text you later” Luc instructs as they all walk out of the door.