Hook
HOOK
N ova had been acting strange for the majority of the party, and couldn’t put his finger on it. He knew the revelations around Brent had her rattled, but she seemed eerily calm now.
“I ate way too much pink frosting,” Santa complained quietly while June snoozed on the couch with her head in his lap.
“I can’t thank you guys enough,” Nova said again as she picked up paper plates smeared with said pink frosting. “I can’t believe how much stuff you guys got her. You do realize she is just a kid and can’t really use half that stuff for at least five years.”
Nova continued to clean even though they’d all told her not to. was getting a little miffed with her. Nova was acting like a maid. knew she wouldn’t stop until every crumb was gone, every dish was clean, and all traces of the party were a memory.
He always knew when she’d had a bad day because his apartment would be clean as a whistle when he showed up to watch June.
Nova was having a very bad day.
wanted to take her by the throat and make love to her over and over again until she was having nothing but good days to the point their apartment became a health hazard.
Nova finally came back from the kitchen and scooped June into her arms. “I’m going to put her to bed. Is it okay if we just sleep here tonight? I’m beat.”
“Yeah, babe.” stood. “Well, fellows, that’s my cue.”
“No, don’t let us end your night. It looks like the adult party’s just getting started.” She gave him a kiss and turned to go.
“I’ll get you settled in then.” couldn’t explain it, but it felt like a goodbye, and he didn’t like the distance in her kiss.
They tucked June in together.
sat on the small couch in his room and watched Nova watch June.
“Is it weird that she looks older just from the time she woke up this morning? Is that how birthdays are going to seem from now on?” She sniffled and caressed her daughter’s cheek.
took a mental snapshot of the moment. They were his, and he needed to come clean about who he really was.
“Nova, I need to tell you some things about me. Things you won’t like, and I’ll understand if you don’t want me around your daughter or you anymore. It’ll kill me, but I’ll stay away. Just don’t let me scare you away from the club. They’ll protect you both at all costs, no matter what.”
She stood and came to stand in front of him. pulled her down onto his lap. It was a small room, so the couch wasn’t very far away from sleeping ears, but it would do. He had to tell her now, or he would chicken out. As it was, she might not forgive him.
“Whatever it is, , I would never look at you differently, nor would I take June out of your life.” She was staring into his eyes so intently, but it didn’t make him uncomfortable as he’d expected. For the first time, he wanted someone to see him, see the truth in all its ugliness. She deserved it.
“Well, that’s good to hear because there’s a lot.” He tried for a moment of humor. “Since I claimed you both at church today.”
“Claimed us?”
“Yeah. You’re my ol’ lady, and June’s my daughter as far as the club’s concerned.”
Nova’s smile was sweet and settled his soul. Her reaction was unexpected, considering that earlier she was freaking out about her choices being stolen.
“That’s not so bad. I do kinda like you.” She nipped his lip until he opened for her. Letting her take charge, she invaded his mouth. liked it when she took control on occasion. As long as he didn’t let it go too far, he didn’t panic.
When she ended the kiss, he quipped. “Like me?” he teased. “I thought you said you lo?—”
She placed her finger over his mouth before he could finish. He wanted to hear it again, craved it.
“Moving on.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I sense that’s not all?”
His body stiffened at the reminder.
“You’re right,” he mumbled around her finger. When she dropped her hand, he just continued to stare into her deep-brown eyes. There was genuine affection there. wanted to get lost in them and never find his way back.
She cupped his cheeks. “What are you waiting for?”
“I just want to soak up the way you’re looking at me right now for a little bit longer.” Silently, he added, because you may never look at me that way again.
Nodding, she didn’t say another word, allowing him the time he needed. Fuck, she was perfect for him. If she stuck around after this, he would never give her a reason to leave.
Finally, he knew it was time to continue.
“I told you about what happened after we ran away from the home and that woman who took me in. What I didn’t tell you is that she treated us like she was our mother, while training us to service her clients better.”
squeezed his eyes closed.
As much as he hated to sever the visual connection with Nova and hide like he said he wouldn’t, he had to. If he didn’t, he would throw up.
“She made me have sex with her more than other people. And she got jealous when someone else asked for me again or told her how much they enjoyed it. She would make me retrain with her.” He swallowed back the bile.
“Retrain, while she stayed in the role of my mother. It was sick and twisted and…” He broke off, sobbing.
Instead of scrambling off his lap and taking her daughter as far away from him as possible, she shifted to wrap her entire being around him. Framing his hips with her knees, she held him tight without making a sound as he sobbed out years of pain. When he was all cried out, she still didn’t speak or let go.
“It’s why I freaked out when June told me some of the things that asshole said, and then you with the tracker…”
Nova pulled back just enough to look him in the eye.
“You didn’t freak out about it, . You brought it to the club for help. Hell, you were calmer than I was, and I appreciate it. I appreciate you. Just as you are. Nothing you’ve said makes me see you any differently than I did before.”
Nova would never understand how much that last sentence meant to him. And thank God she didn’t. If he had anything to say about it, she never would understand.
“That’s not all. Some of the things June said, the way she said them, makes me think there’s a possibility that Brent might be Casey.” The thought of Casey touching Nova, of being June’s father, made him physically ill, but all the pieces fit.
“, look at me.”
“I am.”
“No, Jeremy, you’re not. You’re looking through me right now into the past. See me in the now.”
shook his head and refocused. She was right, he wasn’t seeing her beautiful chocolate eyes or the love shining from them.
He nodded, and she smiled sadly.
“Didn’t you say Casey was older than you by about four years or so?”
“Yeah, something like that. When we ran away, we lost track of holidays. Birthdays aren’t as important when you don’t know where you’re gonna sleep or where your next meal will come from.”
“I’m guessing that would make him close to forty?”
nodded.
“Right, well, Brent just turned thirty. So, see, not Casey.”
breathed a sigh of relief, but it turned to one of anguish. If Casey wasn’t Brent, that meant he was still out there somewhere preying on others. That would be two more murders that would blacken his soul instead of one. Could he come back from that?
Hell, he never thought he’d come back from killing the first time, but Nova showed up at the bar, and June had given him a dandelion, and they did just that. Brought him back. He doubted there were enough magical feathers in the world to bring him back again, but none of that mattered. The two people he loved most in the world would be safe, and that was worth anything, even his fetid soul.
“There’s one more thing I need to tell you, and then I’ll leave you to sleep.” He hoped like hell she hated him once he said it. Things would be so much easier if she did. Pushing them away now would hurt so much more than he could even fathom.
“The woman who took us, sold us and raped us. I was fucking her how she liked, how she instructed me to do it, and I slit her throat and watched her die before I got dressed and ran from that house and never looked back.”
The look of shock that took over her features was expected. The pity was not. set her off him and stood. “Don’t fucking pity that woman. She was a vile creature who got what she deserved.” He whisper-yelled so as not to disturb June.
“I don’t pity her,” Nova denied.
“Then that’s for me?” He pointed to her eyes. “Don’t you dare pity me. I couldn’t live if I thought you pitied me.” His voice turned pleading.
“I don’t, . Not like that. I feel sorry for the child who died that day.”
“What?” He was truly confused.
Nova stepped toward him, placing her palm against his heart.
“You, Jeremy. The little boy you were, who had to do something like that to survive. The child that was no more after having to protect himself because no one else was protecting him like they should have.”
She placed a sweet kiss on his lips before cupping his cheek with her other hand. “I don’t pity the man who stands before me. The man who grew from the death of a child who never should’ve experienced what he did. A man who is fierce in his loyalty and generous with his heart despite where he started. A man who took on a fathering role to a kid he barely knew and enlisted his entire club to protect her. A man that little girl loves to the moon and back.”
reveled in the circular current of her love. He could practically feel it flowing out of his cheek where she cupped his face, through her, then back into his heart where her other hand rested.
Closing his eyes, he absorbed all he could. Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed, especially since he planned to find Brent and end him. Casey or not, the man needed to die. Then he’d find Casey and end him. He’d kill every fucker out there to protect what was his.
“And her mother? How does she feel about me?”
Asking was a double-edged sword; he might not get the answer he wanted, but he might. She could declare her love again, only to have it sour when she had to live with the aftermath of what he did. However, he decided he would take one night as a loving family with everything out in the open, rather than none at all.
“Her mother feels the same as her daughter…to the moon and back.”
groaned.
He’d longed for the words. Nova had been the only person to ever speak them to him without it being a manipulation tactic or something vile.
“Please.” He gripped her face and brought them nose to nose. “I need the words, Nova. I need to hear them again.”
“I love you, Jeremy Waters.”
Fuck, five words never sounded so amazing before. He couldn’t put words to the euphoria he was feeling. It was the most amazing feeling. Even better than when she’d said it after sex. Although he’d never tell her that.
It sounded different—they weren’t naked and riding high on endorphins. It wasn’t because he’d brought her pleasure. It was because she fucking loved him.
Him.
“Are you really going to leave me hanging again?”
“No, babe. I’m not. I’m just enjoying the feeling of it, that’s all.”
He kissed her. It was deep and connecting, but he tried like hell to not make it sexual. After all, June was in the bed so he would control his body. That was something he had learned from the mess of his past that he didn’t block out.
Nova ended the kiss.
“Ahem. Still waiting.”
laughed at her feigned look of impatience and outrage.
“Nova Grace Harper?—”
“How do you know my middle name?”
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow. “You want answers, or do you want me to say it?”
“Hmmph, say it, but only if you mean it.”
“Nova Grace Harper, with every beat of my battered heart and fractured soul. With every breath in my body, I fucking love you, not just to the moon and back, but to the moon and every star in the sky and planet in the solar system and then back. And the same goes for June.”
“I love you both to the moon and back, too,” a sleepy voice declared.
Their heads snapped around so fast it was damn near audible. Nova was the first to recover. “Hey, Bug, how long have you been awake?”
held his breath, waiting for June to answer Nova’s question. The thought that his Flower may have been subjected to the disgusting topics they’d spoken of scared the shit out of him more than anything else.
“Long enough to hear you love Jeremy, Mom, and he loves us. But can we celebrate that tomorrow, I’m—” A big yawn interrupted her.
“Sure thing, Flower.” strode to the bed, leaned over, then kissed her cheek.
When he turned to go, Nova groused. “Not even eight a whole day, and I’m Mom now instead of Mommy.” smiled at Nova’s pouty face.
“We can all sleep together,” June sleepily suggested. looked at Nova. She smiled and nodded.
Rummaging through the dresser, he found a pair of sweats and a plain tee and took them to the bathroom.
When he came out, the light was off, and Nova was in the middle of the bed, wrapped around June. climbed in behind her and held his family.
His family.
never expected a family outside of the club. Drifting off to sleep, he dreamed a dream he hadn’t had in years. It focused on a white picket fence surrounding a home filled with love and laughter.
Nova was stirring in his arms, so he kissed her neck. “Sleep, babe. I got you.”
“I need to pee, . You have to let me go but hold fast to June.” He loosened his arms, and she slipped out. A tiny body took her place, and he held on tight. Even half asleep, he could tell it was June. Her hair smelled like strawberries.
Lips gently caressed his cheek. “I love you so much, .”
“Love you too.” He mumbled before the depths of sleep reclaimed him.
There were no nightmares to wake him.
Barbara’s voice, which had haunted his sleep for years, was quiet.
The choking rose scent of her bedroom was replaced with strawberries and…cake. Ah, he smiled in his sleep. June didn’t bathe before bed and must still have frosting on her cheek. The thought started to rouse him.
If she didn’t bathe last night, she didn’t brush her teeth either. He needed to get up, get her clean and dressed so Nova could sleep in. She deserved it. She’d been working long hours and stressing about life way too much.
They were officially a family now, and he would take care of them. He would be a good dad and husband. Even though he didn’t have an example of the former, he did the latter. Since Zombie and Heidi got hitched, he saw his first functional relationship up close. What he didn’t know, he could learn.
“Wake up, sweetie, it’s time to get ready for the day,” he said without opening his eyes.
June rolled away from him, grumbling.
“Come on, Flower.” He sat up and stretched. June had been tucked in the crook of his arm, so Nova must’ve shifted to the other side when she got up in the middle of the night.
Turning to kiss Nova good morning, he froze. She wasn’t there. He didn’t panic. She was probably in the bathroom.
“Up and at ’em.” He tickled June, and she woke, vacillating between grumpy and giggling. “Go on in the bathroom and get cleaned up with your mom. I’ll grab your bag.” Nova had stashed a bag for June at the clubhouse that first time she’d been at the clubhouse.
June headed into the bathroom, and he headed to the closet.
Setting the bag outside the door, he knocked. “Nova, June’s bag is right outside the door. I’m going down the hall for coffee. Meet me out there when y’all are ready.”
“Thanks, Jeremy,” June answered back. “Mom’s not in here.”
She’s not?
A little panic seeped into him, but he blew it off. He refused to borrow trouble. She was probably in the kitchen already.
“Okay, Flower. Meet me in the kitchen for breakfast when you’re done. Don’t forget to wash behind your ears.” He chuckled and could hear her groan on the other side of the door.
headed downstairs. Nova wasn’t anywhere to be found. Not straying from his morning ritual, he poured a cup of coffee and stepped outside to have a few minutes of quiet to start his day.
That’s when he panicked.
Nova’s car wasn’t there.
Why would she leave? There was no reason for her to be gone. She wasn’t on shift until this evening, and she had everything she needed at the clubhouse.
headed back inside and saw June heading for the kitchen. Shit, he had a breakfast to make. Following her in, Devin was pulling some stuff from the fridge. “Hey, June, wanna help me make eggs?”
While Devin and June scrambled eggs, he toasted bread. But his mind was picking up bits and pieces from last night. Trying to work out where Nova was.
It had been odd phrasing when she went to the bathroom last night. At the time, he was half-asleep, but paired with her disappearance today, it was starting to come together.
She’d left.
Not just him, but June.
Why would she do that? It didn’t make sense. June was her world. could totally accept her leaving him—he was a fucking mess—but not her daughter. Nova loved her fiercely. No way would she willingly leave her.
“Eat your eggs, sweetheart. I’ve gotta make a call, okay?”
“Everything okay, ?” Devin asked. gave a barely perceptible shake of his head, but Devin got the message.
“Hey, June. You want to spend the morning with me? I need some help with a super-secret craft project.” Devin made the offer sound too good for June to pass up, and she nodded enthusiastically and shoveled eggs in faster.
kissed the top of her head, then stepped into the common area and dialed up Virus. “Where are you at?” he asked before Virus even said hello.
“I’m walking in the tow door.”
“Good.”
ended the call and met him in the tow office as he opened the front door.
“I need to see the security cameras for last night.”
“What’s up?” Zombie asked from his left.
was so laser-focused, he hadn’t noticed him sitting behind the counter with his feet up or Outlaw standing across from him.
“Nova’s gone. Not sure when or why.”
Zombie snapped at Virus, who’d already pulled his laptop from the bag. Setting it on the counter, he typed away.
“One forty-two, she drove out of the gate. Doesn’t look like anyone is coercing her.”
“She didn’t have June with her, did she?” Outlaw asked, but it wasn’t so much of a question rather than a statement.
“She’s in the kitchen eating eggs with Devin. How did you know?”
Outlaw didn’t answer.
“Veep?” Zombie asked.
“I can’t go into details, but I have reason to believe that she may have put herself in some kind of danger.”
stormed toward him, but Virus stepped between them. “You don’t wanna take a shot at our vice, .”
“The hell I don’t.”
It was only the look in Outlaw’s eyes that calmed him a fraction. The man was clearly conflicted.
“You know how this works. I walk a fine line to keep from getting disbarred so I can help the club. All I can say is she had questions, and some of those lead me to believe she may have entered the type of situation I would advise against.”
“Oh, shit.” Virus was still between and Outlaw when he said that.
“Oh, shit, what, Virus?” Zombie asked. Who, from the sound of his voice, was right behind now.
“I may have an idea of what situation she got into.”
“Care to enlighten us before has a coronary?”
“I…gave her Brent’s number.”
didn’t think, he just swung, connecting with Virus’s jaw. Outlaw and Zombie both rushed him and dragged him back into the club area. Virus followed with his computer in one hand and his other on his swelling jaw.
“Get yourself under fucking control, or I’ll lock you in the hole until you fucking do.”
Zombie not only never lost his temper, he never put a patch there, and didn’t want to be the first. He employed every technique he’d ever even read about to calm the fuck down. It barely worked, but he could speak without yelling at least.
“Sorry, Prez.”
“Me too,” Virus added. “You said she should have it. That you just didn’t think, so when she asked, I thought it was her right.”
“You’re good, Virus, she did have the right,” Prez reassured him. “However, you should’ve let us know she had the info, and maybe all this could’ve come out before she ran off to, I have to assume, confront the ex.”
“Do we have a starting point, besides calling the ex ourselves? Where would she go? Who would she call for help?”
“There’s only one couple she knows outside of work or the club. I’ll give them a call and see if they’ve heard from her.” started scrolling his contacts. He connected the call and hit speaker.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Carl. It’s . Have you seen Nova?”
“Not since the last time she picked up June. Why, she in trouble?”
“No, nothing like that. I was just wondering.”
“We’re just starting our day, the joys of getting old, huh?” Carl laughed, then fell into a coughing fit. “I’m going to put on my slippers and take a peek next door, and I’ll call you back.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it.”
ended the call.
“I’m going to try to hack her phone and get a location, but it’ll take me a hot minute.”
June came out of the kitchen with Devin.
“Hey, Dev, why don’t you take June and watch a movie?”
couldn’t resist scooping June up and giving her a loud kiss on the cheek as she passed. Holding his daughter gave him the same sense of belonging that Nova did. He couldn’t lose either of them.
Time felt like molasses waiting for Virus to speak.
“Got it. She is at her place. Considering she might not be alone, call Carl back and tell him to hold tight. No use putting anyone else in danger.”
Carl’s number just rang and rang.
“I have a feeling that ship has already sailed, brother.”
“Let’s go,” Zombie ordered.
“I’ll make the calls,” Outlaw declared with his phone already to his ear.
Zombie, , and Virus headed out.