Chapter 6 #2
“I don’t need you to handle him. I can do that myself. If he gets too intrusive, I’ll just call the police. My personal business is none of yours,” she says bitterly.
“It was your business. Now it’s my business too,” I state firmly because I’m not budging on this issue. “You signed an agreement that puts you under my protection.”
She comes to her feet. “I don’t need you to manage my life.”
“I’m not trying to control your life. I’m talking about a man who has been escalating for over three months.
A guy who’s been sitting in jail thinking about you for the last thirty days, and now he’s out.
This is the dude that Mac warned you had an impulse control problem.
How can you not see this as a serious threat, Nova? ”
“If I’d brought it up in the negotiation, you probably would have used it as leverage.”
“Leverage for fuckin’ what exactly? What have I leveraged you into? Explain it to me like I’m fuckin’ five.”
“I didn’t know what to think or who to trust,” she says finally. “I still don’t. I’ve only known you for coming up on two weeks. You can’t really know a person in that amount of time.”
“That’s fair,” I say. “But you knew enough to marry me, sign that agreement with me, and to wear my cut. That means you know enough to tell me if someone is leaving you threatening messages.”
“He’s not really threatening me,” she says quickly. “He’s being a nuisance.”
“I’m starting to wonder if you don’t want me involved because this is more consensual than Mac thinks. What kind of person would just blow off a potential stalking threat? Does that make rational sense to you?”
She goes still. “What did Mac say exactly? Does he know something that I don’t?”
“Enough.” I set my mug down on the desk. “You’re my wife, Nova.”
“On paper,” she points out quickly.
“Look, I’m not going to have my wife get abducted or murdered because she’s too stubborn to talk to me about being stalked. If that’s your attitude, we get unmarried on paper and then you can toddle off and handle this dude however you want all on your own. Is that what you want?”
She just stares at me without saying a word. I get the distinct feeling that maybe that is what she wants, but she needs this marriage in order to get her inheritance.
When she doesn’t speak, I do. “If someone is circling you, the responsibility of dealing with that falls to me. That’s what the cut you’re currently wearing means.”
She looks down at the property cut on her chest and then back at me. Only then does she grudgingly admit, “I should have told you.”
“Thanks for saying so, but this isn’t a conversation about assigning blame. It’s about deciding how to move forward in a more constructive way.”
“Fine. I’ll let you handle it. Are we done?” she asks brusquely.
“Almost. Show me the texts. I want to read those messages myself.”
Her jaw tightens and her head jerks to the side. “Why, Mica? You just get off on lording control over me, don’t you?”
This woman is pushing all my buttons this morning. “Why are you being resistant? Is this just more stubbornness or is there something else going on here that you’re not admitting to? This isn’t a control thing. I need to read what he wrote to get an idea of how much of a potential threat he poses.”
Nova just shakes her head in disbelief. Then she unlocks her phone and holds it out for me to take.
I read every single message he’s ever sent her, even their messages during the short time they were dating.
It hurts to see the exchanges where she’s being carefree and flirtatious with him.
I freeze when I get to an exchange where he’s talking about them having sex and she pushes back that she wants her first time to feel special.
I begin swiping rapidly, searching to see if they resolved that conversation.
My heart is pounding when I realize they didn’t.
She broke up with him for wanting to know where she was every minute of the day and because he kept pushing her for sex before she was ready.
I lower the phone, and when my eyes find her, she looks emotional. “You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”
“Laugh it up, asshole. Yeah, I’m a virgin and I’m going to stay that way while we’re together. It’s the reason I made sure the contract said I wasn’t obligated to have sex with you.”
“I wouldn’t have been a sex pest anyway. But that’s why you didn’t want me reading the texts, right?”
She glares at me. “It’s fine, I’m getting used to the idea that literally nothing in my life is private anymore.”
I bring the phone up and continue scrolling. “I’m sorry for pushing you out of your comfort zone on this issue, Nova. And I apologize for insinuating you weren’t being honest with me.”
She doesn’t respond, and it makes me feel even worse.
I keep scrolling. When I get to the gigantic thirty-day window of no texts, I realize this is the stint in jail that she mentioned.
On the thirty-first day, he’s back to texting her.
At first, he’s sweet, but when she refuses to meet with him, he gets nasty fast. He would be a good manipulator if he had any degree of patience, self-control, or ability to hold his mask in place for more than a few messages.
I’m glad Nova was able to see through his bullshit.
I hand the phone back. “You were smart to see how unhinged he was and get the hell out of there. And again, I’m sorry about being so pushy.
I think he might pose a real danger to you, so from now on, we won’t each be living at our own place.
We stick together until I deal with this asshole.
In fact, I’m going to work with you this morning. ”
She just shakes her head. “Can you afford to just take the day off? Don’t you have work of your own to do?”
“I have my laptop. I’ll sit in the office and work. If Devon shows up, let me handle him.”
“Mac already told him not to come back and threatened to call the police on him if he does.”
“You pointed out yourself that Devon Marsh doesn’t like to take no for an answer.
He knows where you work, that you come to work in the early morning, and that all the drivers leave to make deliveries, which means you’re there alone.
That he’s been to the yard also means he knows the layout.
He has all the pieces of information he needs to make you regret not taking his threat more seriously. ”
She stops dead in her tracks, and when our eyes meet, I know she finally gets it. “I honestly didn’t think about all that.”
“From now on, you don’t have to think about sick shit like how this deranged lunatic can get you alone. You’ve got me for that. I’ve been around enough sick fucks to know how they think. And I know just how to handle him if and when he shows up.”
“I’m guessing you want me on the back of your bike, right?”
Grateful to finally find some levity in her voice, I give her a tight smile. “Yeah, I prefer to have you at my side. If he were to come after us, my bike is faster and more maneuverable than whatever in the fuck he drives.”
“I don’t know what he drives now. He used to drive a Ram truck.”
“Oh fuckin’ course he did,” I mutter under my breath.
***
We head out together. I feel like we’ve cleared the air and settled something between us.
I’d be surprised if she pushed back about her asshole stalker again.
When she wraps her arms around my waist, I take off, careful to make sure no other vehicles even get close during the ride.
I can only hope Devon isn’t stupid enough to approach us on the road, but if he does, I’m fuckin’ ready for anything.
Vulture’s Trucking Company comes into view, and I see a few scattered vehicles and bikes in the parking lot. Mac is standing in front of his bike with his arms crossed in front of him. I could swear his expression turns to one of relief as we pull in.
Nova jumps off my bike and quickly unlocks the office door, shouldering it open with the ease of someone who’s done it for years. The rest of us follow her inside. She takes off the helmet I bought for her and sets it on her desk.
The men all fan out towards the back of the building, and I hear the truck motors turn over one at a time. They’re warming the vehicles up, which makes sense. I see a coffee pot, go over, and make a fresh pot as Nova hands out assignments.
An employee I don’t recognize walks through the door and looks around. The name on his uniform says Buck.
Nova shoots him an annoyed look. “You’re late, Buck.”
The younger man shuffles over, sheepish, and takes the manifest she gives him. “I want you with Charles. The two of you are making restaurant deliveries today. Show him the ropes. Rover’s Pub needs extra bread. We’ve got it in the warehouse from the Flake’s Bakery run yesterday. Grab it and run.”
“You got it, ma’am.”
The two of them take off, and Mac wanders over with an empty coffee cup just as the pot finishes dripping. I grab the pot and pour his cup up to the brim.
“Mornin’, Mac. Thanks for the heads up earlier.”
He gives me a curious look. “You’re welcome. I’m surprised you two aren’t on your honeymoon.”
I shrug. “Work before play. Ain’t none of us rich around here. We work for our money. Our money doesn’t work for us.”
Mac wheezes out a laugh. “Ain’t that the damn truth.”
Nova walks by and growls at Mac, “You’re on my shit list, old man.”
Mac just smiles at her fondly. “You sounded just like your granddad there for a second, Nova.”
“Why are you telling Mica all about my personal business?”
Mac deadpans back, “Cause he’s your fuckin’ husband, girl. Why do you think?”
“Best get on the Hatchet’s Meat run. I hear they butchered an extra head of cattle. You’ll probably be running your ass off today.”
“I have got to be the unluckiest bastard on the face of God’s green earth.”
“You oughta thank God you’ve got work. My old man used to say idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”
Mac drains his cup, sets it down, and slaps me on the shoulder. “I’m turning out to like you a lot more than I thought I would. You’re not half bad for a Rager.”
When he walks off, I shout after him, “Them’s fightin’ words.”
Folks around these parts call the Sons of Rage brothers Ragers as an insult, but it’s kind of grown on us over the years.