Chapter 11 #2
Thinking about the undertones to her words, I nod. “I never wanted to be a nomad for as long as I have been,” I mumble.
My fingers move over the old scars at my wrists, the long sleeves hiding past shame. This is why I hold life to such a high standard now. I can’t imagine getting back to that place. It was just before I left my prison and ran away.
I don’t talk about it, and I really hope that the alphas haven’t seen them. They’re barely raised now after so many years, yet I’m still careful to hide them.
“Turbis told me he’d been chasing you for Domino,” Hollis grunts. “I don’t want you to be upset that they hurt me. I played my own game to be able to be in a position where I could take them out and get answers about what they did to you. I needed to know that you’d be safe after this.”
The small pause she takes feels loud over the line, and I find myself bringing the phone closer to me. I can never thank her enough for giving me back my peace of mind. Whatever I’ve had that comes close to that has always been a mirage. Shimmering in the horizon, but always fake.
“Everyone deserves the freedom to be their own person, Nova. I left home at eighteen because I didn’t want to be married off to a pack who didn’t know or understand me. After that, I decided to open up Cupid’s Call.”
Hollis takes a breath, quiet for a moment, and I think about how we both left home at a young age due to circumstances we wanted to escape.
“I found out everything Turbis did to you,” my sister finally says, her voice sounding like broken glass instead of her usual sultry tones. “I tortured the fuck out of him until the door was kicked in and shorted my fun.”
“You’re really scary,” Tyde rasps. “I’m glad he’s dead. It’s what Caleb and Lars told me, but the scars are still there.”
I send a warning pulse through the bond, not wanting to talk about any of that now. There’s a lot of broken fragments in my soul, and I need the time to find out how they fit together now that I don’t have to run anymore.
“Actually, I have a question,” I say, fear sliding through me. “Do I need to worry about Nico and his brothers? They’re very loyal to each other, and family is everything. In some ways, they scared me even more when I’d seen them at family or business events.”
“ I can’t believe you grew up in the mafia and didn’t even realize it,” Hollis sighs.
“ I served Nico a slice of humble pie and homework. He has to shut down an auction house of my choosing or I will come for him and his family. Nico and his brothers don’t want that.
I’m the scarier one in this situation, Nova. ”
“I’d say so,” I whisper. My mind is racing, trying to figure out what I need to ask. “Did you plan to stay Turbis’ prisoner until you were certain I’d be free? This all feels so calculated. Except, that worries me because it means that you let them hurt you.”
“Well I did ,” she says honestly. “ I needed to know what they’d done to you, and how they got you out of our parents’ house. Turns out, Roberto Domino wanted to hurt our family. He used Louisa to infiltrate our home as a maid and she stole you with the help of others put in place to do that.”
“Wow,” I mutter. “I had no idea. It seems silly now in hindsight because Mr. Domino has mafia vibes. I never put it together though. I was too busy trying to survive in that house.”
“Well, Kane managed to put his two cents in while I was talking to Adira today. He said that he will gladly go and blow up your childhood home before the baby is born,” Hollis says.
I smile as I nod, shuddering from all the emotions I’m experiencing.
“These are the kind of gifts a girl could get used to,” I sniffle. “It’s a lot to take in. Caleb basically told me I was a terrible excuse for a mafia daughter and I needed to tighten up. I cry too often, feel too much.”
“He’s being a dick ,” she says. “ I’m too high to drive myself, so I’m going to have Malcolm drive me. His road rage will match my energy.”
“So that’s an everyday thing,” I muse. “He’s scary behind a wheel. I think at the end of the day that I feel like a mess. I don’t know when I’ll be able to stop being like this.”
“You think I care about a few tears?” Hollis asks.
“ Whatever you’re feeling, embrace it. I’ve buried a lot of tears because it was easier.
People call me the Ice Queen, Nova. I have this need to be everything for everyone else.
It’s not something I suggest doing since it’s a type of mask that’s difficult to take off.
Do you think that a baseball bat could be considered a weapon? ”
The change of subject makes me blink, but Tyde isn’t fazed as he replies, “It probably is in your hands, Hollis. Maybe disable some cameras before you walk into a business with a bat.”
“ Are you saying I’m an amateur?” she asks. “ I know everything about you, including your credit score and how many hours you work. Maybe you should schedule more than one day off a week from now on, Dr. Stewart.”
I look up at him as Tyde rolls his eyes. “I’m going to pretend that hacking isn’t a federal offense since you don’t give a shit anyway,” he grunts with a chuckle.
“ Zero shits,” she confirms. “ Take care of my sister, doctor, and Nova?”
“I’m here,” I murmur.
“ Don’t wait too long before you come back to Minneapolis. You have people that care about you that are impatient. Some of them happen to be serial killers and pregnant,” she teases before hanging up.
“You keep very interesting company,” Tyde teases me.
“It seems I do,” I say.
“Come show me how to detangle your hair so that I can be occupied while you return messages and calls,” he says. “It’ll keep me from getting bored and bothering you too.”
With an offer like that, who am I to deny him?
HOLLIS
“Can I talk you out of this?” Malcolm asks, parking in front of the bar.
Do you want to know why I know that Caleb opening the bar is bullshit? It’s four-thirty in the afternoon and the bar doesn’t open until at least six in the afternoon today. Fucking coward.
The bat is laying across my thighs as I sit in the back seat surrounded by pillows so I can sit comfortably. My body is still pretty fucked up, but the swelling has gone down in my fingers now and the splints can be removed for periods of time.
This means that I can wrap my hands around a bat and swing at my leisure. My feet are still sore, so I’m wearing flat boots along with leggings and an oversized knit sweater underneath a coat. There’s no one to see me.
I’ll be comfortable in my rage, thank you very much.
“Absolutely not,” I grunt, pushing the door open.
“Fuck,” he frowns, jumping out to walk around to help me out. With so much snow and the freezing temperatures, the last thing I need is to fall on black ice. “I’m too pretty to get any more gray hair, Hollis.”
“You’d still be pretty,” I tease him, allowing him to lift me out of the SUV.
“I need to get to the bottom of why Caleb and Lars are being dicks to my sister or she’s going to reject them, Malcolm.
I wouldn’t even blame her because the fact that he’s in there wiping down tables instead of having a conversation with her is?—”
“Cowardly,” Malcolm grunts. “I would tell you that you can’t fight all of her battles, but I know exactly who I’m talking to. You’ve been fighting for her from the fucking womb, Baby Girl.”
Nodding tightly, I’m glad to see that he gets me. Caleb and Lars chose the wrong omega to fuck over.
My long legs carry me up onto the sidewalk and up the stairs to the bar. We all have the keys to each other’s homes and businesses, so it isn’t difficult to unlock the door and invite myself in.
“Hey, dicknoodle!”
I close and lock the door behind me like a good little criminal before pulling off my coat and tossing it onto a table. My bat firmly in hand, I use it to push chairs off a high top.
“Hollis,” Caleb says, looking pained as he comes out of the back room. There’s a keg in his arms, which means he’s prepping for his staff coming in tonight. While that’s commendable, I’m still pissed off at him. “Am I your first stop?”
“I try not to scare the public,” I say with my lip curled. “What the fuck happened?”
“Nova is so…soft and sweet,” he says, putting down the keg before he straightens. “I don’t know how to relate to that, Holls. I feel like I’m going to break her. Tyde is kind of a dom in the bedroom, I never saw that coming.”
“That doesn’t seem like it’s related,” I say. “Do you like him?”
“I should only like Nova,” he grunts. “I don’t know how to be nice to her. Isn’t that fucked up? I have to be careful what to say so I don’t accidentally throw her into a post traumatic event, and that’s really difficult when I know fuck all about her.”
“So try harder!” I scream. “Caleb, I spoke to her and she’s the world's easiest person to speak to. Seriously, even when she didn’t want to respond to a question, the slightest pressure had her telling me what I needed to hear. Why do you insist on poking at her every pretend flaw?”
“Pretend?” he asks. “What do you mean?”
“Being sweet isn’t a flaw,” I growl. “Not growing up to be a killer isn’t one either. If you want to teach her how to protect herself, then fucking do it. Nova isn’t a blushing virgin?—”
“She’s not because the man she called her father raped her!
” Caleb roars back. Good, fucking yell at me, twatwaffle.
“She went to a clinic another time, and said that was a good experience. Honestly, she drops bits of trauma and her life into conversation that crush my soul and I don’t know how to handle it. ”
“You just do,” I say. “You know she’s been through hell and back. Why are you making her life worse? I hope it’s not on my behalf, because you know how I feel about her. It doesn’t matter what name she goes by, she’s mine first. Tyde is playing happy family with your omega.”
“I thought she was yours,” he says weakly.