Chapter Sixteen
All walls around us had been broken down and we spent the whole trip talking about the last few days. Hudson filled me in on what happened while I was gone, how they caught Omen, the warehouse fire and what happened to Nytro’s right-hand man.
“When?” I asked.
Hudson looked back at me, I could see it dawning on his face too. The night Nytro and his assholes came to get me.
“Fuck,” War slammed the steering wheel.
“It’s okay, Warren, nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened?” he shouted. “They came,” he cut himself off, shaking his head angrily.
I saw the same expression on Hudson’s face as they realized their actions could have got me killed. But they didn’t know, they were just trying to find me.
I could understand why it was a bitter pill to swallow.
But it was also another reason for them to appreciate Mace a little more, so I could take that.
They wanted to know about what happened while they had me but I wasn’t ready to talk about it, other than it was boring, locked in a room but I had a TV.
“I still can’t believe the shit Danica was spewing at you,” War said, to change the subject. “Or that King kept all of this from us.”
“I can kind of understand why he did it.”
Warren gave me a side-eyed incredulous look in the mirror. “The fuck does that mean?”
“Warren, dad has never talked to us like that before. He’s never spoken about anyone the way he spoke about…
Delaney.” I was still struggling to understand someone I’d never heard of was our mom.
And that we hadn’t been abandoned by her, she’d been taken from us.
“I know what it’s like to feel like that, to lose someone. ”
War laughed and looked at Hudson, who I quickly looked at then turned away. Clearly I was talking about him.
“Anyway, it goes a long way to explaining why dad is the way he is. He doesn’t always show it in his words or actions, but I think deep down, and against everything I believed for years, he does love us, even as much as he loves his precious club.”
That broke the mood a little, War laughing but also agreeing.
“I can see why he hates her fucking guts,” Hudson spoke after War’s laughter died down. “God help her if he ever catches up with her.”
“He will catch up with her, just like I’m going to catch up with Lily.”
After a few minutes of silence, staring at my knees I asked, “Will he kill her?”
“I think he’s owed that much, don’t you? And Connor is too.”
I nodded. The conversation died from there, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
Banshee arranged for a couple of rooms at a hotel near the hospital.
We headed straight there to drop off our stuff.
Warren took one room and Hudson came in with me.
He called Rosa to let her know we were here and she ripped into him without any regard for where she was, or who might overhear her, when he told her I was safe. I could hear her through the phone.
“I assumed Ballistic would have told you,” he said, looking at me as I tried not to laugh.
“He did!” she shouted. “I knew as soon as he knew, because he called to tell me. One of you little fuckers should have done it! Put her on the damn phone.”
He handed it over without argument, then went into the bathroom and shut the door.
“Hey Rosa,” I sat down on the bed
“Oh thank Jesus. You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice, honey. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Rosa, I promise. It could have been worse but there was someone there who helped.”
“Randy told me.”
“If you know all of this, why were you yelling at Hudson?”
“Cos he’s an insensitive, selfish asshole.”
“Tell me how you really feel,” I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. I made sure he was still in the bathroom with the door closed. “He told me he loved me.”
“About damn time. You say it back?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“Good. You belong here, with us. I know you needed to leave that night, you couldn’t have stayed and it was good for you to follow your dreams, I just wish you hadn’t left under those circumstances.”
“That’s all in the past.”
“Is it though?”
I thought about it, my life back there, Declan, all of it. There was nothing fulfilling about my life. Rosa was right, I’d took that chance and achieved my goals. Now, what I wanted was different.
"Yes. Once all this shit is over, I'll get my own place.”
She laughed. Loudly. “Girl, if you think he is letting that happen you’re out of your mind.”
“I just decided I’m staying, you think we’re going to jump right in at the deep end?”
“He built that house for a reason.”
“Rosa,” I sighed heavily, quickly checking the door again. “If none of this had happened, I doubt I would have seen him again.”
“Don’t be so sure. He just needed to get his shit together.”
“We’ll never know now. How’s Connor?” I asked, changing the subject. “Warren told me you found him. That must have been so awful, Rosa, I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“At least I got there in time,” she answered quietly. “I did everything I could for him but finding out you were missing too… Shit, honey that was real hard to take.”
“Well, we don’t need to dwell on that anymore, we need to focus on taking Danica down.”
Rosa’s throaty laugh filled my ear. “Just like that asshole Reinhart.”
“Yeah, the list is growing,” I blew out a breath. “I haven’t had chance to catch up with anyone about that, what’s happening with him?”
“I don’t think there have been any charges against him. Cassie said the reporter is angling to get women to come forward and actually pursue a civil suit against him.”
That didn’t really help. I wanted him behind bars for what he had done, but I understood the law and the statute of limitations meant he could potentially get away with it.
I tried not to let that get me down. I had more important things to worry about and whoever this mystery reporter friend of Warren’s was, I trusted she could take care of it.
“I do know his business is in real trouble. I have a contact in an accountants firm who may or may not work for the asshole. Who may or may not have told me without the Curtis contract, he won’t be able to pay off some of the creditors who’ve been after the company for the last couple of years.”
“Wait, really?” I sat up so fast my head spun. “Creditors?”
“Seems like the company was already in trouble. He was spending more than he was taking in. Your dad’s contract was going to be what got them out of that sticky little problem.”
“You may or may not have had someone tell you a little bit of information? That’s an awful lot of information for such a statement.”
“And I may or may not have passed on that information to a certain journalist.”
The bathroom door opened, and Hudson raised his brows at the giant smile on my face. He leaned one shoulder against the doorframe and crossed his ankles as he stared at me.
“We’ll be at the hospital soon, we can catch up properly then.” She said okay and we said our goodbyes. When I hung up Hudson cocked his head.
“I know Rosa always knows how to make you laugh but what’s this smile about?”
“Andrew’s broke.”
“As in he admitted it all?”
“No, as in his company is broke, he’s in debt, he’s going to lose it all. And there may be a huge civil suit coming his way from his victims.”
“So you got what you wanted? I hope that feels good. Cos it doesn’t feel good to me. I want to break every bone in his fucking face.”
I got up ignoring that. “He isn’t in jail yet.”
“And how do you intend on getting that to happen? I still think I should take him to the Shed,” he pushed off the wall and came towards me.
“I think you have enough people in the Shed right now.”
He laughed, then hooked his arm around my shoulders. “Come on, or we’re going to miss visiting.”
We headed out and Hudson knocked on the door beside ours. Warren came out shrugging on his cut, his face pensive.
“What took so long?” he asked.
“I was on the phone to Rosa,” I told him.
“She’s in the hospital we’re going to,” he huffed, pulling his door shut.
“Yeah well, she’s going to tear us a new one when she sees us,” Hudson said from behind me.
“Why?”
“Cos we never called to tell her Wave was home.”
“I assumed Ballistic would do it,” Warren walked down the hallway. We followed after him.
“He did,” I said.
“Then what’s the fucking problem,” War held his hands out at his sides.
“Women?” Hudson suggested and I stared at him with my mouth tight at the audacity.
“Jesus Christ, no wonder I prefer men,” Warren looked at his watch then adjusted the gun beneath his t-shirt.
“You’re bringing a gun?”
“Say it a little louder for the people two floors up,” Warren rolled his eyes as he reached the elevator and pressed the call button. “And yes, Waverley. We’re bringing our weapons because there is still a very real threat following us.”
That quietened me as we stepped onto the elevator.
It took just five minutes to drive to the hospital.
My heart was in my mouth as we headed up to the floor where Connor was.
Knowing I was going to see him had my pulse pounding.
There was no way to describe how I felt knowing they’d lied to me and that he was still here.
Hudson told me this morning before we left his dad’s house all about Connor’s injuries and it scared me.
Even though he was alive, he wasn’t out of the woods, and he would have a long recovery ahead of him, together with lifelong potential health issues.
Even if things hadn’t changed between Hudson and I, I would have stayed in Sussex.
Because Connor needs all the help he can get.
We headed up and when we walked into the waiting area, Rosa leapt out of her seat and charged us.
Hudson watched in amusement as she pulled me into a tight hug.
Warren rolled his eyes and headed over to talk to the guys.
Hudson followed, sure nothing was going to happen here.
I doubted Danica even knew where Connor was. Or cared.