Chapter Seventeen
I hadn't meant to come racing into the clubhouse the way I did, causing the door to slam against the wall and give the women a fright.
I need to talk to Prez and VP, I have something they are going to fucking love, but she completely freaked out when she broke the cup and I knew I needed to take care of her first. I don't know why.
It's not like we've spent any time together. Or at least not that she knows of.
I know she's having nightmares, Wrath told me they usually happen just after I leave her room.
I watch her sleep for a couple of hours, then I take off hunting.
I know I sound like a fucking stalker, and hell, maybe I am?
But there is something about her that makes me want to take care of her.
So, I sneak into her room when I know she's asleep and sit on the chair in the corner for a few hours, watching her rest. Seeing her at peace helps me relax before I go hunting.
As we reach her door, she tries to pull away from me, but I hold her to my side. "Just relax," I tell her. Not that it helps.
She pulls her key from her pocket but fumbles trying to get it in the lock.
I take the key from her and unlock her door, letting her through the threshold first before following her and guiding her to sit down on the bed.
"I'll be right back,” I tell her, as I head to my room and grab the first aid kit from the bathroom before making my way back into her room.
She hasn't moved, she's still sat on the end of her bed, her head dipped low as she focusses on her hands.
I kneel in front of her, opening the first aid kit and placing it beside me on the floor.
"Hey, Nova." I lightly touch her wrists, not wanting to startle her.
She slowly lifts her eyes to mine, the tears almost ready to spill over.
"I'm just going to give your hand a clean, okay?
" She gives me a small nod but doesn't say anything.
As I run an alcohol wipe over the cut, I expect her to flinch or try to pull her hand away, but I get no reaction, it's like she doesn’t even feel it.
I finish cleaning up her hand then wrap a bandage over it, covering the cut with a plaster first. "You should get some rest, baby.
Can you scoot back for me?" I ask, indicating for her to climb further back onto the bed.
She looks at the bed, then up at me, before moving up the mattress and laying down.
I grab the throw from the bottom and place it over her. "Get some rest and I'll be back in a little bit." I go to leave, but she grabs my hand.
"Thank you for cleaning up my hand, and I'm sorry about the cup," she says in a quiet voice. I shake my head at her, like any of that matters. "Where's Mason?" she asks, worry clouding her beautiful face.
"He's fine, baby. He's with Wrath, he'll take care of him for a while, so get some rest and try not to worry." I lean down and place a small kiss on the top of her head. "Now rest," I tell her before leaving her to sleep.
The room is almost empty when I get back downstairs, aside from a few club girls, Marissa and Mason. I'd already sent Nitro and Wrath a text on my way back, telling them we needed to meet in Church, and I'm guessing they are already in there waiting for me.
I do a pit stop at the table with Marissa and Mason. "Hey, buddy, you okay?" I ask him. He looks up at me and gives me a worried smile.
"Is Nova, okay?" he asks, sadness filling his voice.
I place my hand on his shoulder and give it a little squeeze.
"Yeah, she just needs a little rest. Don't worry, okay?
" He doesn't say anything, just nods up at me before dropping his head back to his drawing book, but he doesn’t pick up his pencil, he just stares at the page.
"I gotta go into a meeting, we'll be out soon, I promise.
" He doesn’t move, but Marissa gives me a smile and a nod.
I slip my phone into the box outside the door then head into Church, and everyone stops talking and turns to watch me walk to my seat.
"How is she?" Nitro asks.
"Resting, but she's pretty quiet. I've cleaned her hand, it’s not deep so I don't think it needs stitches but if you could take a look later, Doc?"
"Yeah, of course, I'll check it out when she gets up," he agrees.
"We all saw the overreaction, didn't we?" Wrath asks.
I feel like I want to defend her, but I don't know what to say when Tongue pipes up, "To you it was an overreaction, to her, she felt like she needed to react like that.
She doesn't know how we're all going to react, she felt like she needed to get her apologies in before someone lost it with her.
" We all stare at him, not sure what to say.
"It was a cup, what the hell did she think we were going to do to her?" Nitro asks.
"She didn't know, Prez, that’s the point. She broke the cup and wasn’t sure how anyone was going to react.
She doesn't know us, but she clearly has some trauma that she needs to work through.
Put yourself in her place, running away from fuck knows what and ending up in a clubhouse full of huffy, aggressive, surly men who are watching her every move.
She breaks something that isn't hers, she doesn't know what the reaction is going to be," Tongue states, his tone flat like he's reading from a sheet of paper.
"We're gonna unpick that shit later," Nitro snaps. "But we're here because Ice called us in." He turns to me and holds out his hand toward the room. "The floor is yours, brother."
"I'll keep this short and sweet; I've spent the last few days searching and following up on some leads.
This morning, one of those leads paid off and gave us the location of Snake.
" The room erupts before I've even had a chance to finish what I was saying. Brothers yelling ‘let’s go get the fucker’ and getting up from their seats, ready to ride.
"Hold the fuck on," I yell. "Sit your fucking arses down, nobody needs to ride anywhere." I give them a minute to calm down and reclaim their seats. "You only need to walk a couple hundred feet. The fucker is in our basement with three other members of the Poisoned Devils."
Silence hangs in the air as everyone stops to look at me. You could hear a pin drop, and I'm fairly certain some of the brothers have stopped breathing.
"You're actually fucking serious?" Wrath asks me, barely above a whisper. Like he thinks if he talks any louder that what I said might not be true. I nod at him and smile.
"Happy birthday, brother," I tell him.
"It ain’t my birthday." He smiles at me. "But you just might be my best fucking friend."
"Oi, cheeky fucker, thought I was your best friend?
" Nitro half laughs out. "That's some gift, brother.
I wondered where the fuck you had been riding off to every night and day," he says to me with a smirk.
He knows full well I've been spending half my nights in Nova's room, he’s caught me in there more than once when he himself has gone to check on her.
A light knocking on the door draws our attention. Tongue gets up and answers it. He doesn’t say anything, just steps outside the room, while we all talk plans for Snake.
"Brothers." Tongue stops us mid conversation as he walks back in. "I think Mason here would like to tell us something.” He leads Mason into the room with Marissa beside him. The kid has a death grip on her hand.
"Tongue?" Nitro questions.
"Trust me, Prez," he tells him.
"Mason, can you come here, please, buddy." Nitro calls for him to head to the top of the table, and Mason shrinks into himself, looking up at Marissa then over to me and Wrath.
"It's okay, Mase, come here," Wrath tells him.
Marissa tries to pull her hand out of Mason’s, but he gives her a look that pleads for her not to let go.
She smiles at him and walks him toward the front of the room, stopping at the side of Nitro, between him and Wrath, who instinctively reaches for his woman.
She gives him a wink but doesn't let go of Mason.
She knows how terrifying it can be sitting in here, telling people things you don't want to tell them.
"You have something you want to tell us?" Nitro asks the kid, but he shakes his head and shrinks back into Marissa.
"Mase." She gets down to his level. "It's okay, you can tell them what you told me. I promise you can trust them." He stares at her, and she reaches up, swiping a stray tear that has escaped.
"I can't, we promised we wouldn’t tell anyone," he says to her.
"Hey, buddy." Nitro reaches for him and pulls him closer. "I know you promised your sister that you wouldn't say anything, but we need to know. We can't help you guys if you aren't being honest with us. You saw how upset she was before, let us help you."
The kid looks around the room, his eyes flicking over each of us. He's fucking terrified, and I don't know if it's us, his sister, or something else.
"Mason." Nitro calls him, his tone clipped. He's not trying to scare the kid, he's just trying to get him to focus.
"You've got to tell us something, buddy. You told Marissa—"
"I didn't mean to, it just came out. Please don't be mad," he pleads, looking over to Marissa then Wrath, the tears flowing freely now.
Wrath goes to reach for the kid, and it pisses me off.
I'm out of my seat and by his side within seconds.
"Hey," I say to him and smile. He looks at me and gives me a sad little smile.
"You won't get into trouble for telling us, but I need you to tell me what you told Marissa. Let me help, Mase. I promise, we promise that if you tell us, we will do everything we can to help you both.”