Chapter Sixty-Nine
I've been sat staring at the climbing frame in the back of the compound for the last hour.
I had to get out of the building, out of Church after Nitro dropped the bombshell about my parents having so much money and leaving it to my brother and me.
I knew they had some money, but I never knew how much.
And after they died, my uncle said everything they had was used to pay the funeral expenses and any debts that they had.
I shouldn't be surprised that he lied to me, but I am.
I can't work out how he thought he was going to get the money.
Apparently, I have to sign for the money, even if it was being managed by another, I still have to sign, it was a stipulation my parents had put in place.
"Tea." Georgia takes a seat next to me and hands me a hot drink. I'm usually always on edge, listening for anything, but I didn't even hear her coming. The fact that I didn't get a fright when she appeared makes me smile. I've never felt this relaxed before.
"Thank you," I tell her, taking the cup from her and wrapping my hands around it.
"Are you okay?" she asks, her eyes trained on my face, waiting for a reaction.
"Do you know?" I ask her. "About my parents, the money, the custody?"
"I know about the custody, don't know about the rest. It has nothing to do with me. Are you going to tell Mason about the custody and the money?" she asks.
I nod then take a sip of my drink. "Yeah, we made a promise after we got to our uncle’s that we'd always be honest with each other. He has a right to know that Andrea is his guardian, and that he's rich." I laugh when I think about that money.
"What’s funny?" she asks.
"Just thinking about his reaction when I tell him he's rich. The first thing he's going to ask me for is drawing supplies.”
She laughs along with me, before we fall into general chat for the next thirty minutes.
"Nova," I hear my brother call my name. I turn around and see him walking toward me, with Prospect right beside him.
"Hi, Georgia. Nova, Prez asked me to bring Mason up here," Prospect tells me. He stops walking and folds his arms over his chest as Mason takes a seat next to me.
Georgia ruffles his hair and stands. "I’ll leave you guys to it,” she tells us before heading back toward the clubhouse. Prospect, however, doesn't move. He stands about ten feet away from us, his eyes locked above our heads, letting me know he’s watching us but not listening to anything we say.
"Nova, is everything okay?" Mason asks me, a little worried.
"Yeah, everything is fine. But I have a couple of things to tell you." I grab his hands in mine and give them a squeeze.
"Okay," he says quietly.
"So, Mum and Dad changed their wills before they died. That will, for whatever reason, was hidden, and that’s how we ended up with Uncle Roger and Aunt June.
The updated will has been found, and it says that Andrea is our guardian.
Well, yours, really, I'm now too old for one.
" As I tell him about the will, he blinks up at me, confused.
"You never have to go back to Uncle Roger’s house ever again. And Nitro has arranged for a restraining order, which means him and Aunt June are never allowed to come near you anymore. You're safe, buddy." I smile at him as tears run down his face.
"But are you safe?" he asks.
He's nine years old and he's never not worried about me. "I am, buddy. We're both safe." I lick my lips and blow out a breath. "There's something else, Mase."
He furrows his eyebrows. "What else?" he asks.
"It looks like Mum and Dad have left us a lot of money. And that was why Uncle Roger and Aunt June kept us around. We think they wanted the money from us."
He looks over at Prospect before looking back at me. "Why didn't he just take the money, why did he have to be mean?"
I shake my head. “I don't know, bud. I know I have to sign for the money, but if he'd asked us, I would have given him it all.
I'm sorry that you've gone through everything you have, I'm sorry that I didn't fix it sooner.
" I lean forward and pull him to me, wrapping my arms around him. "He won't hurt you again, I promise."
"It's not your fault, Nova. You can't stop them from being mean." He pulls back from the hug and looks up at me. "What's going to happen now?" he asks.
"For now, we're going to stay here. Andrea will too. Just for a little while. Is that okay?" I ask him, worried he won't want to stay.
"I don't ever want to leave here, Nova. I feel safe here. And everyone likes us, nobody's mean to us." His voice is quiet, like he's a little scared to say it out loud.
I smile at him. "I know, bud. I feel safe here too. But we can't stay here forever. These guys have to get on with their lives. We can't get in their way forever."
"Okay," he whispers, his face falling with my response. I don't want to see him sad, but he needs to know that we can't stay here Forever.
I hate that I'm not with her. I hate that she asked for space, but I get it. Prez dropped a pretty big bomb; it's a lot to get her head around. I just hope she's okay.
As we make our way to the basement, I shake thoughts of her off my mind, I need to clear my head before I walk in there or this will be over before I want it to be.
"You okay that I didn't tell you before we told her?" Prez asks me as we wait for Tongue to open the door to our ‘kill room’. I turn to look at him, and Wrath watches me as he stands on his right. I smile at them both and nod.
"Don't get me wrong, Prez, I would have liked to have known what I was walking into, but I am okay you told her before telling me.
She has a right to know, and I have no right to expect to be told first. I appreciate the fact that everyone cares about her and her brother.
They've haven't had that for a long time," I tell them both as I turn to face the door.
Prez places his hand on my shoulder and steps in front of me.
Wrath slaps me on the back. "We're brothers, family.
She's your girl, that makes her family. When one bleeds, we all bleed.
We've got you, we've got you both," he tells me before stepping to the side of the door and making a path for me to follow Prez through the door.
I smile as I see the two cops who tried to rape my girl when she was sixteen. They have been stripped naked and are already covered in cuts and bruises.
When Nova left Church, Nitro told me that they figured out who the two cops were and that they had grabbed them with the help of Arthur’s men. I smile as I see what my brothers have already done to them, and the thoughts of what’s to come has a warm sensation settling in my stomach.
I walk forward and stop in front of one of them. His head swings low, his chin hitting his chest, defeat already showing on his face. I lift his chin a little, just enough for him to look at me, and he swallows when he sees my face. "You don't know me, do you?" I ask.
His eyes flick back and forth over mine, before he gives a small shake of his head. "No," he says quietly.
I smirk. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Ice. And I believe you know my girl."
He gives me a confused look and shakes his head again.
"Oh, but you do. She was sixteen when you tried to rape her, sixteen when you and your buddy here kicked the shit out of her in a police cell. Ringing any bells yet?" I ask, my voice so much calmer than I feel inside.
His eyes widen as realisation hits him. "Thats right, your boss’s niece.
Nova." I turn and walk toward the table with all the weapons laid out on it, all nice and clean and placed neatly in rows.
I run my fingers over them—daggers, needles, fishing hooks, knives, lighters, alcohol, a cheese grater, and salt, to name a few.
There are so many, not to mention petrol, a fire extinguisher and a hose.
My fingers run over the edges of a knuckle duster as I pick it up and place it on my right hand.
I turn to face the officers hanging there, flexing my fingers wide enough so they see the weapon tucked around them.
They both move around, trying to break out of the chains and cuffs, not that it will do them any good.
My brothers know how to secure our prisoners.
I slowly walk toward them, clenching my fist. "I may not have known her when you hurt her, but I'm gonna make sure you pay for your actions that day. You see, nobody touches my girl and gets away with it."