Chapter Twenty-Five
Janea
After the door softly shut, Eros’s footsteps echoed off the floor.
The bed dipped under his weight, but I kept my eyes closed.
Immediately, he wrapped me in his arms, and his scent of pine and leather engulfed me.
Earlier I hadn’t realized how much I missed him and how afraid I was that I would never see him again.
He didn’t ask me too many questions, but I told him what my father and Shannon had done to my mother.
He asked me what I wanted to do about it, but I doubt it mattered at this point.
My father had gone after him and his club.
I knew what that meant. However, I loved that he asked me.
And I can’t say that I no longer disagreed with that decision.
My father was so damn evil. He didn’t deserve to live after what he had done to her.
“What time is it?” I asked, my voice raspy.
He tightened his arms around me.
“About two in the morning.” He sighed, as he inhaled my hair. “Took care of some business then got my dad and the brothers settled.”
“Sorry, I didn’t get to meet him. I was just so worn out.”
“It’s fine. He understands. You’ll meet him tomorrow. He’s ornery as hell, but you’ll like him.”
“Apple doesn’t fall too far for the tree, huh?” I asked, laughing when he grunted.
As soon as I’d got things straight with Caleb and Gerald, Eros escorted me to his room at the clubhouse, and I crashed. Then everything came rushing back to me like a freight train.
My mother was murdered. My entire life had been nothing but a lie.
And knowing my father and someone I had once considered a sister killed her, my heart broke.
Not for me. I felt nothing but disgust and pure rage.
My heart didn’t even break for my brother who idolized my father.
But it did break for my mother. She adored my father and treated Shannon like a daughter.
They both betrayed her.
“Does that business have anything to do with my father?”
“It does, but we can discuss all that in the morning.” He kissed my shoulder. “You need to rest because we have a big day tomorrow.”
I rolled over in his arms and faced him.
My fingers trailed down the bruise on his face.
He downplayed the reason he was battered and bruised, but I knew where to place the blame.
My father tried to have him killed inside the jail even though Eros refused to tell me exactly what happened.
I knew the man my father was now. He would take out anyone who was a threat to what he wanted.
He brushed my hair away from my face. “Everything is going to be alright, sweetheart. But I’m going to need you to trust me and let me do what I need to do to protect you.”
“And what if I want to do what you’re going to do?”
He propped up on his elbow and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. However, I haven’t. I wanted to be the one who avenged my mother. She deserved justice. I could see now that my father had too much power to get her true justice. It would be up to us.
A haunted look entered his eyes as he sighed, the sound echoing in the quiet room. “It’s not easy living with that decision, Janea. I know I’m the last person who should speak on the subject, but it’s not easy.”
At this point in my life, going through this situation with my father, I could see why people sometimes took justice into their own hands. Sometimes it was the only way to survive. There was no doubt in my mind this wouldn’t end until he was dead.
“Is that what you were doing the night you met me?”
I asked because I needed him to trust me. I needed him to know I’m going to be here for the long haul, and he can trust me with his secrets.
He nodded. “It’s not something I’m going to go into detail about because it’s club business.”
“I don’t think it’ll be easy to do or live with, but I need to be the one who does it. He needs to look me in the eye, so he knows what he’s done to this family. Shannon does too. They both have lied to me and my mother for so long. And they took away the only person who loved me.”
“Making that decision changes you.” He placed his hand on my chest over my heart. “In here. Forever. Are you ready for that?”
I ran my fingers through his hair and nodded.
“I’m not saying it will be easy, Niko. But it doesn’t change the fact that I need to be the one to do it.
A lot has changed about me since all this started.
I’m ready to move past it and move on with my life.
That can’t happen if he’s still alive. And that can’t happen if I pass that responsibility on to someone else.
This is my mess. I want to clean it up.”
By the look on his face, he didn’t agree. But I couldn’t just let him take care of everything for me. This was my problem to fix.
“Okay,” he reluctantly agreed. “But if it becomes too much, you let me finish it.”
“Deal.” I pressed a kiss against his lips. When I pulled away, desire swirled in his eyes. “Now could you please erase this shitty ass day? I’d like to replace the memories with something good.”
That devastating smile crossed his face as he rolled over on top of me. “I want you to know how much I love you, Janea. It’s you and me forever.”
Before I could respond, his lips crashed into mine. I loved him too. And nothing, not even my father would stand in the way of me having my happy ending. My father’s life was now in my hands, and I would get justice for my mother.