“I won’t change the birth certificate.”
“Thank you. And please, no more yelling,” she bossed. “I have to get up in six hours.”
“No more yelling,” I promised and kissed her one more time before she headed back to bed.
* * *
Catalina
I was three hours into my shift and grabbed a cup of coffee from the break room, my second, before heading to my desk, and plugging back into the Matrix after my fifteen-minute break.
I’d gotten up at the ass crack of dawn and showered, moving around my room as quietly as possible, hoping I didn’t wake Silas and Nova. Tiptoeing out of my bedroom once I was dressed, I walked into the kitchen to find Silas awake and making a pot of coffee, looking delicious wearing just jeans.
“Too early,” he said.
“For what?”
“You to be looking at me like you wanna eat me when we can’t do anything about it.”
I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing awake?”
“Fixin’ you breakfast.”
“I can’t eat this early, honey, I’ll puke.”
“Coffee?”
“Coffee, I can do,” I said. “But you really didn’t need to wake up and do this.”
“Wanted you to get a good start,” he said, leaning down to kiss me quickly.
“Is this how you’re always going to be?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re being sweet. Like, extra sweet.” I narrowed my eyes. “If you set my expectations high this early in the game, you’re gonna have to live up to it forever.”
He chuckled. “If it means I get you forever, then I’m in.”
“You’re in trouble now, bud.” I smiled.
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “You have just crowned me queen and I intend to keep that title.”
Silas cupped my face. “You let me know which gems you want in your crown, baby, and I’ll make it happen.”
“Is this real?”
“Yeah, baby, it’s real.” He leaned down and kissed me, and I slid my hands up his back, holding him close.
“Please don’t break my heart,” I whispered.
“I won’t break yours if you don’t break mine.”
I met his eyes. “Deal.”
“Text me a list when you get a break, and I’ll grab stuff from the store. I’m gonna take Nova to the club and see if Otter can make some sense of her dreams. He might be able to come up with a composite.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “Please don’t traumatize her.”
He smiled. “Olivia’s gonna be there to help and Willow will be there for support.”
Olivia was a licensed counselor, although, not currently practicing, so she was the perfect person to make sure Nova was covered.
I bit my lip. “I wish I could be.”
“We can wait until you’re done with work. You just let me know.”
“If her information comes organically, I don’t want you to stop her from giving it, so don’t wait for me.” I leaned against the counter. “How are you getting her there?”
“I brought my truck and the car seat’s in there.”
“In the back, right? Nowhere near the airbag.”
“Yeah, in the back. Don’t worry.” He smiled, handing me a cup of coffee prepared just the way I liked it. “Tonight, after your brother and Posey leave, we’re gonna talk about living arrangements.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’m moving in.”
I gasped. “What? Why?”
“Hear me out.”
“Why are you dive bombing me with this right before I have to go to work?”
“Less chance of you saying ‘no.’”
I rolled my eyes. “You underestimate my veto power.”
He grinned. “Are we, or are we not, best friends forever.”
“Forever? Hmmm,” I mused, then smiled. “Sure, forever sounds good.”
“We’ve known each other for years, so it’s not like there’s gonna be much in the way of surprises,” he continued. “And it means we can figure out this Nova thing together.”
“I have never lived with anyone other than Nolan. I like things the way I like them.”
“So?”
“So, what if you get fed up with my OCDs and it all goes to shit?” I challenged.
He sighed. “You don’t think I don’t know about your OCDs, Cat?”
“Knowing about them and having them shoved in your face are two very different things, Silas.”
“How about this?” He crowded me against my kitchen counter. “We try it for a week.” He leaned down and kissed my neck. “Then we’ll try it for another week.” He kissed my neck again. “Then another.” He met my eyes and smiled. “Then another.”
His mouth covered mine and I slid my hand to his jaw as his tongue slipped between my teeth. After a few seconds of bliss, I broke the kiss, and dropped my head to his chest. I was amazed I’d managed to keep hold of my coffee and not spill a drop.
“I don’t want to confuse Nova.”
“Then this is the best way not to,” he said.
“This is really scary for me.”
“Yeah, baby, I know.” He smiled. “But it’s me. You know me. You trust me. I’m gonna protect you like I always do. Maybe a little more now that you’ve finally let me in.”
I nodded. “I hope so.”
“We’ll start with a week.”
“Okay. I can do a week.”
He chuckled, kissing me again. “You sure you don’t want eggs or somethin’?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you, though.”
“Why are you kissing Cat, Uncle Shutter?” Nova asked, and I felt the heat creep up my neck.
“Because I love her,” he said, hunkering down in front of her.
“Do you love me?”
“Yeah, baby girl.”
“Do I get kisses?”
I snorted, raising an eyebrow. I couldn’t wait to hear him answer that one.
“Not like that,” Silas said. “Those are just for Cat. But kisses on your cheek, absolutely.”
She threw her arms around his neck and he stood, keeping her in his arms.
“How did you sleep?” I asked her, smoothing her hair from her face.
“Okay.”
“Are you hungry?” Silas asked, and she nodded. “Do you want pancakes?”
“Mickey Mouse ones?”
“Sure thing.” He set her on a bar stool.
“I have to get going,” I said, rinsing my cup and putting it in the dishwasher. I stroked Nova’s cheek as she hugged me. “Make sure you brush your teeth really well after breakfast, okay? You’re going to hang out at the barn today with Alfie.”
“Aren’t you coming?” she asked.
“No, baby, I have to work, so Uncle Shutter’s taking you. He’ll bring you back here, then Uncle Shadow and Auntie Posey are coming over for dinner.”
She smiled. “They are?”
“Yep. And I bet if you ask nicely, Uncle Shutter will text Shadow with your favorite dessert and Auntie Posey will make sure they bring it.”
Her eyes widened. “Can I have cake and ice cream?”
“Well, you’ll have to ask nicely and see,” I said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”
I grabbed my jacket and purse, then Silas walked me to the door. “You good?”
I nodded. “Yes. Are you sure you’re okay with Nova?”
“Done this a few times before. That’s why I’m taking her to the barn. Backup.”
I smiled. “Call me if you need me.”
I turned to go, but he took my hand. “Hey. I need a proper goodbye.”
“Do you? Do you need one?”
He slapped his hand against his chest. “I’ll die without it.”
I rolled my eyes, leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him.
“Now I can survive another day,” he said dramatically.
I squeez
ed his chin. “Have a good day, dear.”
He laughed, and I headed to my car, smiling like an idiot.
My line blinked indicating a call, so I pulled myself from my memory, and answered. “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
* * *
Shutter
I closed and locked Catalina’s door and made my way back to Nova. “Mickey Mouse?”
“Yes, please.”
“How about you go get dressed while I make breakfast?”
Her eyes widened. “Can I pick my own clothes?”
“Sure thing, baby girl.”
I would regret that answer ten minutes after I gave it.
“I’m ready,” she said, climbing up onto the stool again and I bit back a garbled laugh. Cat was gonna fuckin’ kill me.
I cocked my head. “You sure you wanna wear that?”
She bobbed her head up and down. “Yep.”
She wore a pair of bedazzled jeans, a unicorn t-shirt, complemented by the pink tutu and plastic heels over mismatching socks.
I shrugged. “Let your freak flag fly, baby girl.”
After breakfast, I took a picture of Nova, before she went to brush her teeth, and sent it to Catalina.
I had just slid my phone into my pocket when it buzzed. I grinned. “Hey.”
“You cannot let her out in public looking like that,” Catalina whispered.
“Well, I told her she could pick her own clothes.”
“No, honey, that’s a total rookie mistake.”
“I am a rookie.”
She sighed. “Go into her room and grab a spare pair of jeans, the blue t-shirt in her second drawer. Also, matching socks and her tennis shoes. Do you know if she put on clean underwear?”
“Didn’t check that far, Cat. Drawing the line there.”
“Grab her a pair of undies from the top drawer. Put them in a bag and when she gets to the barn and her friends see she’s dressed weird, she’ll want to change.”
“You sure?”
“Well, no, because Dogs’ women have raised really sweet children, so they may not say anything, but just in case.”
“Okay, baby, I’ll take care of it.”
“Should I meet you at the club?”
I made my way to Nova’s room. “Not sure how long everything’s gonna take, so let’s figure that out later.”
“Okay. I need to go. We’ll talk about appropriate attire at length later.”
I laughed. “Can’t wait.”
She hung up and I gathered up the change of approved clothing, dumping it into a shopping bag.
“I’m ready,” Nova announced from the doorway.
“Okay, let’s roll.”
I grabbed my keys and we headed down to the truck.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Catalina
THE REST OF the day flew by and when I was done with my last call, I didn’t delay in clocking out and walking down to my car.
I had just started the engine when my phone rang. I saw it was Silas, so I stayed parked for the moment. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby. We’re back at home.”
“Okay. Everything go okay?”
“Yeah. We’ll talk later.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said.
“It’s not bad,” he said. “Just have ears everywhere.”
“Okay. Do you need me to pick anything up?”
“Nope. Sent a recruit to grab the list, so it’s all here.”
I sighed. “That makes things so much easier.”
“It’s supposed to. Drive safe. We’ll see you in a few.”
“Okay, honey.”
I made my way home, pulling up ten minutes earlier than predicted, and making my way inside to total chaos. Nova was screaming her head off, but it wasn’t her normal sad cry. She sounded pissed.
“What is going on?” I called out and Silas stepped out of Nova’s bedroom covered in baby powder. I covered my mouth with my hands, trying not to laugh.
He scowled and I could tell he was at his wits end. “Nova doesn’t like the way I comb her hair.”
“Oh my god.” I closed the distance between us. “Did you bring a change of clothes?”
“Yeah.”
“Go clean up. I’ll talk to Nova.”
I walked into her room and she was on the edge of her bed, arms crossed, tears streaming down her face and the bottle of baby powder on the floor. I picked it up, twisted the lid closed, and set it on her dresser. “What happened, Nova?”
She huffed. “He doesn’t do it right.”
“Doesn’t do what right?”
“My hair. He starts at the top. He’s supposed to start at the bottom and get the tangles out first.”
“Did you tell him that?”
She glared at me. “He should know.”
“Sweetness, how would he know if you don’t tell him?”
“Because it’s the way Mama does it!” She threw her hands in the air. “He should know. He was doing it the stupid way.”
“Don’t say stupid,” I said as I knelt in front of her. “You know that Uncle Shutter is doing his best, right? I totally get how much you loved how your mama did your hair, and we will work with you to do it that way, okay? But it is absolutely not okay that you dumped powder on him.”
“But… but he was doing it wrong.”
“That’s still no excuse to be disrespectful.”
She huffed again and stuck her nose in the air, looking away.
I turned her face back to me. “I’d like you to apologize to your uncle.”
“No.”
I gripped her chin gently. “You’re going to lose privileges if you continue to be disrespectful, so you make the choice. I understand that your mama did things differently, and I know you miss her, but that doesn’t mean you get to be disobedient.”
Her lower lip quivered, and her eyes filled with tears. “Will you show Uncle Shutter how to do it right?”
“Of course. We’ll teach him together. But he’s doing his best, and it’s always important to be kind to people… especially to Uncle Shutter. That starts with an apology.” I stroked her chin. “And after you apologize, you’re going to clean up the mess you made. Uncle Shadow and Posey are coming over for dinner, so we need to do this quickly.”
She nodded.
“I’m going to get Shutter.”
I stood and made my way to my bedroom where Silas was pulling a fresh T-shirt over his head.
Pity.
“Hey,” he said.
I smiled. “Hi. She’s ready to apologize.”
“She doesn’t need to do that.”
“She does, Silas. She’s allowed to have her feelings, but she cannot go around destroying property or attacking people. She needs boundaries, especially in her grief, or she’ll go off the rails. Trust me, I know.”
“You think?”
“Yes.” I nodded to the pile of clothes on my floor. “Want me to throw those in the washer?”
“Yeah, baby, that’d be great.”
I scooped up the pile and dropped it in the washer, throwing my stuff in as well. I heard Silas and Nova talking quietly and I bit my lip. So far, so good. There was no screaming, but then again, the night was young. I closed the accordion doors that hid my washer and dryer just as Silas stepped out of Nova’s room.
“How’d it go?”
“There was some crying, a little bit of pouting,” he said. “But in the end, she made me feel better.”
I chuckled. “Did she apologize?”
“Yeah. And we made a deal that instead of getting mad at me, she’d talk to me.”
I nodded. “Good.”
He slid his arms around my waist. “You’re pretty fuckin’ smart, you know that?”
“I don’t know about that. But I have to admit, the fact my mother insisted on my brother and I enduring copious hours of counseling is certainly giving me tools to help Nova. I just hope it works.”
“But…?”
“I’m afraid
someone’s going to take her away.”
He smiled, cupping my face. “They can try, baby, but I’ll fight it all the way.”
“What if they insist on a paternity test?”
“I highly doubt they have the resources to do that.”
I nodded. “Fingers crossed.”
“We’re doing this because of you, Cat.”
“Why are you accusing—”
“Baby, I’m not.” He frowned. “I’m trying to compliment you.”
“Oh.” I sighed. “Sorry. I keep forgetting you have my back. I’m still figuring out this new us.”
“I had your back even when we were just friends, Cat.”
“I know. It’s just that things have changed and I’m trying not to panic.”
“At least you’re finally seeing us as an us.” He smiled. “And you can panic, just don’t run.”
“I’m not going to run.”
“Good.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek, whispering, “Because I grabbed condoms from my room at the club. I have plans for you.”
I shivered, gripping his cut. “Are you seriously saying that an hour before my brother gets here?”
He met my eyes with a cheeky grin. “Hell, yeah, I am. I want you crazy for me once Nova’s asleep.”
Nova chose that moment to walk out of her bedroom. “I’m cleaning up and I ’pologized to Uncle Shutter.”
“I’m so proud of you,” I crooned. “I’ll get the vacuum and show you how to use it.”
She looked up at me, her lip quivering. “Am I’m really going to lose priv… um… what’s the word?”
“Privileges,” I said.
“That.”
I knelt in front of her. “I’ll tell you what. You’ve done what I’ve asked you to do, so if you clean up and help with dinner tonight, I’ll reinstate your privileges.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
I looked up at Silas. “What do you think, Uncle Shutter? Is that fair?”
“I think that’s very fair.”
“Thank you.” Nova threw herself against me and I hugged her tight.
“You’re welcome.” I rose to my feet and pulled open the coat closet, tugging the vacuum out of it.
“You want me to do that? Or do you want me to start dinner?” Silas asked.
“You start dinner,” I said.
He grinned and nodded, and I walked Nova through how to use the vacuum.
Revealing the Biker's Destiny (Dogs of Fire: Savannah Chapter Book 9) Page 6