Chapter 23 #2
“I’m explaining consequences.” I step even closer even though the proximity makes my skin crawl. “And before you think I'm bluffing, ask yourself why a woman who just handed you a million dollars in cash seems so unconcerned about what you might do with that information.”
I watch the thought process. The realisation. The fear.
“I have resources you can't imagine. Connections you don't understand.” My voice is ice. “And I protect what's mine.”
He swallows.
I straighten, smooth my jacket. Back to business. “Enjoy the money. Forget you ever had a son.”
I turn and walk out, head high, steps steady.
It's only when I reach the car that my hands start shaking.
“I HATE U, I LOVE U (FEAT. OLIVIA O’brIEN)” BY GNASH, OLIVIA O’brIEN
STEELE
I watch Blossom's hands as she holds a sleeping Noah, stroking over his face and hair again and again. They're shaking slightly.
The woman who just threatened a man in his own home is barely holding it together.
“Is that the first time you've done that?” Nox asks quietly from beside her. “Threatened someone?”
“No.” Her voice is steady, but I can hear the strain underneath.
My jaw tightens. How many times will she do this? Walk into danger alone, and bring children back from people who don’t deserve them?
“The other times—” Anatole starts.
“Mia's mother didn't need threatening. She was high when I showed up with the money, barely coherent. I had her sign, took Mia, and never looked back.”
“And Liam’s father?” I blurt, having turned around to face her and her hazel eyes meet mine, a world of sorrow and fear in them. She doesn’t answer.
“Blossom?” Nox prompts, and she still holds my gaze.
“Held a gun to my head the whole time.”
Fuck!
“Jesus, Bloom,” Ant hisses, and she shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“I’m a rich white woman with connections and generational wealth. That makes me dangerous to people who have something to hide. I've learned to weaponize my privilege.”
I’m silent when I finally turn back to face the front, my mind a fucking mess.
Liam.
The name hits me hard in the chest. The white supremacist's son. Two hundred thousand fucking dollars that funded hate, harm and persecution.
But watching her tonight — the cold calculation, the fierce protection, the way she didn't hesitate to break every law for Noah.
This is who she is. Who she's always been.
She paid those Nazis because leaving Liam there wasn't an option for her. Just like not paying Noah's parents wasn't an option. Just like not threatening Mr. Marshall wasn't an option.
She does what needs to be done. Uses every weapon she has.
And she carries the weight of it after.
Doesn’t make it right. Doesn’t make the harm any less. Still is a choice she made.
I think of what I'd do to protect Justin. And the answer sits in my gut like a stone I can't shift, because I don't like what it tells me. Don't like what it means for how I feel about what she did.
I glance back again. She's holding Noah like he might disappear if she lets go. Her eyes are closed, tears tracking down her cheeks.
I look away.
She risked everything tonight. Broke every law. Threatened a man. All for a kid the system failed.
Just like she paid Nazis to save Liam. Just like she walked into danger for Mia.
More truths that battle each other.
And the Liam money? It still fucking bothers me. Probably always will.
Tina is waiting on the porch with the rest of the kids, regardless of the fact it’s way past everyone’s bedtime. I watch them hopping with excitement as we pull up and Ant parks.
“Noah, darling?” Blossom says softly, her voice thick with emotion. He stirs, blinking his eyes open, though one of them opens less than the other, no doubt from a punch from his piece of shit dad. “We’re home.”
I open the door, going to the back and opening Blossom’s door before she gets to it. Our eyes meet briefly before she darts her gaze away and something in my chest hurts. “Thank you, Steele.”
“Noah’s back! Noah’s home!” All the kids shout before I can think of something to say to her, and they’re surrounding the poor kid with questions and hugs, pushing me back.
Tina bustles through the group, her face soft and her eyes glistening as looks at him, top to bottom. She pauses when she gets to his face, her jaw ticking ever so slightly at the puffy eye. “Let’s get you some hot chocolate and some food, love.”
He nods, smiling wide as she ushers him and the others back to the house.
I look over at Blossom, still by the open car door, and spot the fine tremble in her limbs.
I go to step towards her, wanting to hold her and assure myself she’s okay regardless of what happened on the drive to get Noah, but Nox is there, pulling her into his arms. She melts, and my stomach twists, wondering if she’d still melt in mine. If I still want her to.
“You okay, Bloom?” Ant asks as he comes around the front of the car, stepping up to her side and I’m left looking on, not sure where or if I fit in anymore.
“I broke so many laws tonight.” Her voice is unsteady, a little flat and my teeth grind hearing it.
“Yeah, and you saved a kid. Again, Flower,” Nox tells her, and Ant moves so I can see her face, see how pale it is in the dark. How dark circles ring her eyes.
“If anyone finds out—”
“They won’t,” I rumble, and her dull gaze flits to mine.
Fuck. It hurts looking at her feeling like there is something unspoken between us now.
Something that’s created a distance I fucking loathe.
But I can’t just forget what she did, even if Nox was right and it was a shitty choice in an even worse situation.
And knowing that the man held a gun to her head…
“And if they do somehow find out, we were all there so you won’t face anything alone, Bloom.” Ant interrupts my spiral.
I watch her throat bob as she swallows, looking at each of us, her eyes landing on me last and staying there.
“Thank you.” It’s a whisper, but I feel it to my very soul.
Shit, my mind is in knots, my stomach too right now.
“Always.” The word is pulled from me before I’ve thought about saying anything. And I realize that despite my swirling thoughts, and the time and space I need to process tonight and its revelations, I will always be there for her.