by Eve R. Hart
Not even a second later, the door cracked open and we were met with the barrel of a Glock 21. I took no time shoving Dya behind me, but she carried on as if she wasn’t phased. It was almost like she had expected it.
“I took a walk by the river and the old man gave me a stone,” she said in a normal fucking tone. What the hell was that? And what do those words even mean? It felt like some straight up cult shit right there.
Whatever she said seemed to work because the gun was suddenly lowered and the door swung open just enough for us to step through.
“Who the fuck are you?” the tall guy that answered the door asked.
I was normally a pretty cool, relaxed guy, but I was two seconds from flipping my lid if someone didn’t tell me what was going on. I got that we came up into this dude’s house all crazy like and since I could tell that he didn’t know Dya from Adam, his gruffness was just.
“We’re here to see the package,” Dya said her head tipping slightly in my direction as she kept her eyes deadlocked on the guy.
“I wasn’t told there would be two of you.” His eyes flickered between Dya and me.
“Grant, whats going on?” a very fucking familiar voice rang out from my left. My head snapped to the side as my eyes went wide.
“Darcy? The fuck?” I growled. What the hell was my damn sister doing here? With this fucking guy, no less? Who the hell was he?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Nadya
I stopped the truck in front of a one-story cabin. It was the only thing out here for miles. I had no idea what was going through Noah’s head and I was sure my silence only set him more on edge. I couldn’t talk, I knew if I did I’d spill everything and I wasn’t sure how he’d react to it all. I figured it was just best to get him here as fast as possible. I was sure once he saw that his son was alive he would be alright.
Inside the cabin, the air felt tight. I tried to inhale but it was like my lungs were frozen. He would know soon and I had no idea where that would leave me. And I actually found that I felt sad.
But it wasn’t about me right now, it was about him. So I stood tall and did my best to put up a front, even if I felt completely gutted.
A woman walked out of the hall and Noah’s head whipped to look at her so fast I thought it would snap. She was tall, with long, black hair and a face with features I recognized so well. Features that were a bit more delicate than the ones I’d spent the last few months staring at. This had to be one of his sisters. For a moment Noah looked stunned and confused, then he started to steam with anger.
“Tank, how did you…” Her words died in her throat as she flung herself into his arms. I could hear her soft sobs even though they were muffled by his shirt as he wrapped her up tightly in a hug.
“So, this is the boy’s dad?” The guy that she had called Grant asked.
This was it. This was the moment of truth and I had no illusions that I would be forgotten completely once the beans were spilled. And that was alright because I knew Noah would be happy and his life would go on with his son. Even if it was without me.
His sister looked over at Grant, he gave her a firm nod and took a seat on the couch, his butt perched on the edge like he was ready to jump up at any second. This guy was trained. It was not only obvious from his tight stance but from the way his eyes danced around the room, never lingering on one thing for too long. I knew nothing about this situation and who this guy was. The only thing I could guess was that this was some sort of safe house and he had been placed to play guard dog.
Eyeing the small space, I saw a few toys scattered about, a coloring book rested on the table next to a romance novel. If it weren’t such an intense moment, I might have chuckled at that.
“Why are you here?” Noah asked looking down at his sister before turning to me with a pensive look on his face. “And how did you know?”
“Tank, there’s something you need—just follow me,” Darcy said capturing his attention once again.
I stayed rooted in place as she took his hand and led him down the dark hall. I wanted to follow. I wanted to witness the moment the happiness returned to his eyes. And after hearing him talk about his son, I wanted to see them together. But at the same time, I didn’t think I could handle the hurt that was to come, because there was no denying that as soon as he saw his son, the world would be shifted and I’d no longer have a place there.
“You look familiar,” Grant said, jolting me out of my thoughts. I leaned my shoulder against the wall and looked over at him with a shrug. I didn’t want to look familiar to anyone, that was never a good sign. “Marco Perez.”
One name that made my blood run cold.
“I was there,” he said, shocking the fuck out of me.
The one job that I’d fucked up, well besides Noah. It seemed like I was on a roll lately. Maybe Silas was right, I should hang up my hat.
“How?”
“I was working with the FBI. My team had been called in to help with a case. We knew you were there, but we kept it from the FBI. Figured it was better if we let you get to him first. The things he’d done…” Grant blew out a harsh breath as he shook his head. Clearly, he knew more about the guy than I did. I mean, I had an idea that Marco had done some unsavory things, but during my week watching him I’d never seen anything too bad. “What happened with that?”
“I was all set up and ready to go. I saw the FBI approaching the house, and I knew it was now or never. But then that little girl came into the room and I had to make a choice. She had to have been, what, five? Six? It was between her seeing her dad’s brains splattered everywhere or letting her see the FBI take him in. Figured it was bad enough her dad was a monster, she didn’t need to be scarred by what I was about to do.”
“The lesser of two evils,” Grant mumbled.
“Yeah, sure.” I didn’t have a good reason for it all. I would have liked to have said that it was all bullshit, but then again maybe it was the truth. I didn’t let myself think about it because it was easier to move on that way.
“What?!” The word angrily roared down the hall in a tone I’d never heard from Noah. My eyes shot to the darkened space of where Noah and his sister stood. I wanted to go to him and calm him down.
I couldn’t imagine it was easy news to find out. To know that what you’d been going through—feeling—the last few months had all been a lie. To learn that the weight you had been carrying around on your shoulders, and the death you were trying so hard to live with, wasn’t real at all. It couldn’t have been easy to swallow.
“I can’t imagine how he’s feeling,” Grant said, though my attention remained on the hall. “You should go to him.”
“No, this is his time. He needs to be alone with his family. I’m just the delivery girl.” I could feel the tears stinging my eyes as I said those words but I didn’t let them fall. I held my head high like I’d always done. This was just a small bump in the road. I’d be able to move on, or so I tried to convince myself.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Tank
My sister dragged me down the hall until we reached the door at the end. She stood there, shifting nervously on her feet. My heart started to race. For some reason, my mind had an idea what was behind that door but I’d been to Hell and was currently on my way back, so I wouldn’t allow myself to even believe that it might be true. Because if all the ‘what ifs’ came back, I knew I’d break if it turned out I was wrong.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said looking up at me with a mix of emotions playing on her face. “Who is she?”
“Stop stallin’,” I said losing patience with all the games. No one was telling me what was going on and I was damn tired of standing there in the dark. “The fuck is going on?”
She took a deep breath and pulled her shoulders back. Then she delivered the words that I never thought I’d hear in a million fucking years.
“Grass is alive. He was pulled out before the bombs went off,” she said low but loud enough for
me to hear every word.
“What?!” I roared, shock and anger clenched my heart so tight I felt like I was having a heart attack.
After I collected myself, I cracked the door open. The light on the night side table cast a dim glow on the whole room. The little boy sleeping on the bed was face down with his head covered in curls that were a little longer than I’d last remembered. His small body rose and fell heavily with a steady rhythm, he seemed unaffected by my outburst a moment ago. But then again, that kid had always slept hard. I used to say he slept like the dead, but somehow that no longer seemed appropriate to say.
With heavy steps, I made my way over to the bed. I needed to see his face, to touch him, it wouldn’t feel real until I did. How did I know I wasn’t dreaming? Or maybe I’d gotten my wish after all. Maybe I was dead and this was my own Hell that I was moving through.
He didn’t even shift as my weight dipped the mattress when I sat down on the edge of the bed. It all felt so unreal. Like luck was there just waiting in the corner, ready to stab me as soon as I moved his hair out of the way so I could see his face. But as I did just that, the beautiful face of my boy filled my vision. Tears spilled from my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t hold back the emotions if I wanted to.
All the air left my lungs as I folded over him and my huge body covered his. I inhaled his smell, remembering the familiarity of it like I’d just smelled it yesterday. He was so warm. Alive. Fuck, I didn’t know what to do now.
I cried silently until there was no more wetness to fall from my eyes and he slept through it all. I wanted more than anything to wake him, but knowing what I was going to have to do, it was best that I didn’t. I ached to hear his voice call my name, to have him know how much I loved him and that I’d come for him. But it wasn’t the time just yet.
The club was still in deep shit. Savage was still alive and the damage he had already caused the club was too great. None of us were safe. And I was under no illusion that if it had been anyone but Dya that had taken that contract, I would be dead.
Perhaps that was something I should thank luck for or some shit. I got fucking lucky once again. But how long until it ran out? I wouldn’t put my son in the line of fire again. I wouldn’t take that chance at all.
So, as fucking hard as it was, I had to leave him here until this shit was all over. Knowing Darcy was here with him eased the pain a bit.
I took a few deep breaths, collecting myself as best as I was able to, before I took one last look at him. My mind was made up. I wasn’t changing it no matter how anyone tried to convince me, but I had a good idea that no one would.
I made my way to the door, where Darcy was watching with bleary eyes. I let out a heavy breath as I walked past her and into the hall. I heard her shuffle behind me, lightly closing the door.
When I rounded the corner the first thing I saw was Dya. The slight look of worry in her eyes pulled at my heartstrings.
Yeah, I got that things were now different and I had no idea how she felt about the situation. I mean it was one thing to be in love with a broken man, but now I had a son. Yes, in love, because even if she wouldn’t say it, that didn’t mean she didn’t feel it. I knew she couldn’t actually have kids but that didn’t mean she’d never thought about it. Right? Granted, her profession wasn’t really one for raising a kid in. I guessed it was something I was going to have to ask her at some point.
Needing to feel her against me, I walked with hurried steps across the room until I wrapped her up in my arms. She clung to me like she never wanted to let me go. And the thing was, I never wanted her to. It felt weird to go from nothing for so long to this. To go from being disgusted with the thought of most women to being head over heels for one. But it was a good weird.
She melted into me and the soft sigh that escaped her lips barely registered to my ears. We needed to talk. I needed to put everything out in the open and figure where to go from there.
But first, I had to take care of club shit. Because life would never go on how either of us wanted it until Savage was put down.
“You ready to go?” I asked releasing her from my hold.
She didn’t let go as her brown eyes peered up at me full of questions. Not answering any of them because I didn’t trust myself to talk about it yet, I turned to Grant only to find him tossing a concerned look at my sister. If I would have been in the right frame of mind I might have noticed the look and silent conversation that passed between them. I might have even voiced the questions that I might have been thinking. But the only thing I could think was that I needed to get out of there before I chickened out and changed my mind about leaving my son.
“Thanks, man,” I said holding my hand out to him. He gave me a firm shake and a stiff nod as if to say it wasn’t a big deal, but to me it was. He was protecting my family and they meant the world to me. I owed him more than I could ever imagine. “Keep them safe.” The words came out low and full of desperation. Because I wanted to see them again soon, after the dust had settled.
“I will,” Grant replied, his eyes flicking over to my sister and a softness touched them once his gaze found hers.
Well, fuck. I couldn’t deal with whatever the hell was going on with that right now. So, I grabbed Dya’s hand and walked out the cabin door. I didn’t step foot off the porch until I heard the locks engage.
The ride away from the cabin was as silent as the one there. I let her drive, mostly because I was too drained to concentrate on the road, but also because I knew she’d fight me again and I just didn’t have it in me.
Halfway back to the Gray Fort compound, I made her pull over and stop at a motel right off the highway. It was late and I was sure she could use a break and a bit of sleep. Luckily, Savage and his fucks didn’t take my wallet, but I guess there wasn’t really much they could have done with it anyway.
Once the room was paid for and we were safely inside, I sat down on the bed. Dya walked around, making sure the door was locked and the curtains were closed tight. Then she sat with a cat-like grace on the bed and rested her back against the ugly as fuck fabric covered headboard. She tucked her hands between her thighs and I took it as a sign that she was a bit uneasy even though her face gave nothing away.
I opened my mouth to speak. I didn’t think, I just let the words come out as I felt them.
“I don’t even know where to start. To be honest, it still doesn’t feel real.” I blew out a harsh breath and then swallowed the lump in my throat. “I want him dead. I should have never walked away from my brothers, from my club, and now I’m ready to stand beside them and fight. I want to end this thing, end fucking Savage.”
She didn’t reply, she didn’t say anything. She just sat there and listened, her eyes on the wall across from her the entire time and I kind of fell more in love with her for it. I had to get it all out and she understood that without me having to tell her.
“My son is alive,” I went on and she gave a short nod. “I don’t know if I even deserve that but I’m fucking grateful. Weeks ago I was ready to give up on everything, on life. But you were there. Just simply there. You didn’t try to fix me. You didn’t try to tell me that it would all be okay. And that may have been what I needed the most. You didn’t look at me with pity in your eyes. You saw me at my worst fucking moments and you still stayed.”
“To be fair, you kept passing out in my bar and I had no choice but to deal with your ass, chal-baro.” Even though I had no idea what she called me, I loved the way her accent came in thick, the way she rolled the letter r.
Just hearing those few words made me lose my damn mind and my dick apparently didn’t get the memo that now wasn’t the time to speak up. I couldn’t fucking deny that she was the sexiest woman I’d ever been around. Hell, that I’d ever seen.
“Did you just make a joke?” I asked playfully huffing out a laugh. I liked that she was starting to relax more around me.
“Maybe…” She cut her eyes over to me for a second as her eyebrow arched hig
h. “So what’s your plan now?” she asked, getting me back on target.
“I’m going to go back to Tennessee, handle business, then go back home. And hope that the last words I spoke to my president and brothers before I left weren’t bad enough that I can’t take them back.”
“They love you, they will forgive you,” she said like it was that fucking simple.
“I want you with me…when I go home.” I knew it was asking a lot. We hadn’t talked about the future. There hadn’t even really been little hints to it. But I knew what I wanted in my heart and I hoped like hell it was the same for her.
“You just found out your son is alive. You have your life back. You don’t need me.” Her words were a bit cold but not unexpected from her.
Did she really think that I’d toss her aside like that? That my feelings were that shallow? Or maybe it was all too much for her. Loving me was one thing, but now I came with more than just me and I got that. But my son would always come first and if she didn’t want that life, then I had no choice but to let my angel go.
“Come here, Angel,” I whispered as I moved my legs onto the bed so she could crawl onto my lap.
Surprisingly she came, straddling me and wrapping her arms around my neck as her fingers tangled in my hair. I couldn’t ignore the zap of electricity that ran down my spine from her touch and by the way her body shuddered when my hands wrapped around the curve of her waist, she felt this thing between us, too.
“I get that things just got real fuckin’ crazy, and I’m sure you are having all sorts of doubts running through that beautiful head of yours,” I said, my lips almost brushing hers as I spoke. My eyes pinned her with a hard stare, I wanted her to know how serious I was. “But I want you to know that I am one hundred percent certain that I need you in my life. Yes, I said it. I not only need you, but I want you there too. I know finding out about Logan changes everything, but I have no doubt that kid will love you. He has a huge heart. Damn, he’s such an amazing kid.”