Chapter Twenty-Four
I felt her walls come up when I pulled her in for a hug.
I had thought that she was going to break, and that was why I pulled her to me, but as she tried push me away, I could feel her whole body stiffen.
I wanted to talk to her a bit more, I wanted to try and get a bit more out of her before we have to walk into Church, but she had completely shut down.
As I walk toward the door with her hand in mine, I'm left wondering if she will share anything or if she'll refuse to speak at all. I know I said that we wouldn't make her talk, but the truth is, if Prez wants answers, he'll find a way to get them out of her.
I stop at the door, not removing my hand from hers. I use my other one to grab my phone out of my pocket and place it into the lock box outside of the room.
I see her watching me. "Are you okay? Do you need anything before we head in there?" I ask her.
She swallows and shakes her head. "I'm fine, thank you."
Hmm, her tone is flat and it surprises me a little. But I shake it off as nerves and head straight into the room.
Everyone is already seated, and as we enter, they all turn to look at her. Her step falters slightly, but then she quickly straightens herself and lets me walk her to the front of the room where my seat and another empty chair are waiting right next to Prez.
I help her into the empty chair, before taking my seat next to her.
I want to grab her hand again but her body language is telling me not to.
Her head is dipped low, her eyes focussed on her own clasped hand in her lap.
Her breathing is steady and she seems calm.
Maybe a little too calm, given the circumstances.
"Nova?" Prez gets her attention. "I'm sure you've met most of the brothers, but I'd like to introduce them all, so you know who they are."
"Okay," she says, her voice clear as she looks around the room. Both Wrath and I look at each other, surprised by how confident she seems right now. We both watch her as Prez introduces each brother.
"Wrath you already know. Then we have Blades and Tongue, our enforcers.” They both give her a curt nod. “Gears, our Road Captain, Tank, our Treasurer, Priest, our secretary, Data, our security, and Doc, our doctor. And I don't need to introduce you to Ice," he says with a smirk.
She smiles at each of the brothers and then turns back to Nitro. "I understand you have some questions for me." Prez raises an eyebrow at her response, quickly glancing over her shoulder at me. I shrug because I don't know what is going on with her right now.
"The questions I asked earlier gave me enough information.
And I know how hard it was for you to answer them in my office.
My brothers may have questions, and while the choice is yours if you answer or not, I believe I understand enough to shut down anything that may be too uncomfortable for you," he tells her, letting her know he has her back.
"It's fine, I'll answer anything I can," she states.
"Actually, sweetheart, what I'm going to do is start with a bit of information.
" He turns to the room and looks at the brothers.
"Nova and her brother live with their aunt and uncle, they have done for six years.
" He takes a breath, looking at Nova to make sure she's good.
She nods, letting him know to keep going.
"Nova has shared that she has suffered regular abuse from both her aunt and uncle, at least weekly since they moved in with them."
"What the fuck?" several of the brothers snap, and we turn to Nova, but she doesn't react, not even a fucking flicker. I turn to Wrath and Nitro who both look as confused as I feel.
"What about Mason?" Blades asks.
"Twice. Once not long after we moved in. I ensure that anything they dished out after that day came my way. The second time was the day we ran away." She looks directly at Blades as she answers his question. He looks like he's about to say something, but she turns to Nitro.
"My car, you said it was in your garage, were any of my belongings recovered from it?"
He nods at her. "Yeah, they were left in the garage to dry out. I can get someone to bring them to you."
"Thank you. Is the car a write-off?" she asks.
"It isn't in great shape," Tank tells her as one of our resident mechanics. "I've not had much time to look at it, but it will need a little bit of work doing to it. I'll check it over when I leave here, then get your things and bring them to you."
"Thank you. I appreciate that." She smiles at him and then turns to Nitro. "Thank you for everything that you and your men have done to help Mason and I, but we'll be leaving tonight."
Nitro's eyes flick toward mine and then back to her. "Sorry, sweetheart, we can't let you do that."
"Why not?" she asks him, her tone flat—there’s almost no emotion.
"It's not safe for you to leave. Nobody knows that you're here right now.
Just stay, heal and rest. Then we can talk about you leaving.
" He doesn't give her a chance to respond, leaning forward, his face inches from hers.
"You have nowhere to go, no money and no family, other than Mason. Where the hell would you run to?"
"That is not your concern. I appreciate you taking care of us, I appreciate you getting us out of that car and out the hospital unseen. But where we go from here has nothing to do with you, it is my job to take care of my brother. Not yours."
"And a fucking fantastic job you’re doing there, love, crashing your car into a river and almost killing both of you. If we hadn't of been there then you would be dead. You shou—"
"Gears," Prez snaps at our Road Captain. "Enough. Don't be a prick."
"Sorry, Prez," he tells him.
"I'm not the one you need to apologise to." He tips his head toward Nova, but she clearly doesn't want it.
"No. It's fine. He's right. I failed to protect Mason.
I'm trying to fix that, but in order for me to do that we need to leave today.
" She swallows, then lowers her head, taking in a few deep breaths.
She's not as calm as she appears. "Being here puts everyone at risk.
You don't know the lengths they will go to, to get what they want.
I appreciate everything that you have done, but I have to go, it's better that way. "
Nitro looks at her then turns to the rest of the room.
He looks at each of the brothers and then focuses back on Nova.
"I know more than you think I do, and I understand the risk.
Now, how about we tell my men all of it, how about we tell them the very thing you're trying to hide and then we can decide if the risk is worth it? "
"It's not. We're not. Please, Nitro, I'm asking you to let us leave. Forget you ever saw us," she pleads with him.
He shakes his head at her, then turns to face the room. "Brothers, her uncle is a cop."