20. Troubled Waters.
Chapter 20
Troubled Waters.
Christian
D isappointment washes over me when I pull up to the cabin to find it empty. I was looking forward to holding Amelia. She’s the only person who can dissipate this tension inside me.
Pulling out my phone, I shoot off a quick message.
Christian
Where are you?
Angel
At your Grams. Are you back?
Christian
Yeah, just now. Sit tight. I’m coming to you.
Angel
Okay! I can’t wait to see. Miss you!
Christian
Miss you too.
I toss my truck in reverse and speed down the driveway. I don’t turn around until I hit the road. It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get to the homestead from here, and that’s twenty minutes too long.
My need for Amelia is crippling. Even though I was only gone one night, it felt like an eternity. Now that she lives with me, I have no clue how I lived apart from her for so long.
I break countless traffic laws as I speed through the back roads. My only saving grace is that I don’t run into any other cars on my way there. One of the many perks of living in the middle of nowhere is no one else lives there either, and I never have to worry about cops. There’s not enough going on out here for them to patrol the roads.
I make it to the homestead in record time and run inside. I’m immediately hit by the sound of female laughter. Heading to the kitchen, I stop in the doorway to assess the situation.
Amelia is sitting at the table with Grams and the other women in this family. They’re all here—Sophia, Charlotte, Lina, and Clara. Even Rayne, Garret’s secret ten-year-old daughter that we all found out about recently, is here.
Glancing around, I don’t see any of my brothers.
“Christian!” Amelia jumps up and rushes to me. When she wraps her arms around me, I sag. All the tension I’ve held inside me over the past twenty-four hours vanishes.
“Fuck, I needed this,” I whisper in her ear. I hold her so tight, I start to worry I might hurt her. When I loosen my hold, she squeezes me tighter. She needed this closeness just as much as I did.
“You okay?” she whispers back.
“Yeah, just exhausted.” I don’t want to release her, but I’m acutely aware of the number of eyes on me. Something horrible happened to one of our own and they want the answers that I have. “Where are my brothers?”
“They all went out to Posey’s,” Sophia says. “I think Liam was hoping to find Edge. We invited Lia over for a girl’s night in. Didn’t think she needed to be alone.”
“Everybody’s been worried.” Lia squeezes my hand and leads me to an empty seat at the table. “There have been rumors, but no one really knows what happened.”
“There are always rumors.” I grumble.
“Oh, let those assholes talk,” Grams says. She gets up and heads over to the refrigerator. When she returns, she hands me a beer. “Are Hannah and Cameron okay?”
I nod and then take the beer from her. I take a long pull and relax even more in the chair. It feels so good to sit, relax, and simply be for a few minutes. “Thanks, Grams.”
She pats my shoulder and spins around. “I’ll make you something to eat. You look hungry.”
“You don’t have to do that. I ate earlier.” I insist.
She waves me off. “Probably nothing good. We’ve got leftovers. This will only take a moment.”
She’s pulling dishes out of the refrigerator and piling food on a plate before I can argue otherwise. This is how Grams always is. She’s not happy unless she can feed everyone. Cooking and feeding people are love languages for her.
Amelia must sense my desire to object because she rests her hand so my shoulders and leans close to my ear. “You know this makes her happy. Just eat.”
“Yeah, I know.” I take another drink of my beer before I pull Amelia into my lap and hold her close. She wraps her arms around my neck and rests her head on my shoulder.
I hear a few aws coming from the other women at the table and try not to wince. This level of affection from me is rare.
“Charlie was released from the hospital this morning.” Charlotte, Garret’s girlfriend says. She’s a hair stylist and works at the only salon in Beaver. It’s gossip central. If something happens in this town, she’s usually the first to hear. “I also heard the cops took him in for questioning. He said Hannah attacked him. He wants her arrested.”
“Does he know who took her to safety?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “There are rumors about your involvement, but no one knows for sure what happened. There’s also talk that she’s secretly involved with the Unholy Ghosts, and she ran away with Edge. No one’s seen him since yesterday either, so you can imagine. It’s all ridiculous gossip. I guess that’s what small towns do when they don’t know anything. They make it up.”
“They can make up all they want,” I say, feeling even more relieved. Edge’s work is important and the last thing we need is for the people of this community to find out about it.
“Thank you for helping her,” Lina says. She’s usually just as quiet as I am and a little rough around the edges. She’s the opposite of my brother Chase in almost every way, but they make a great couple. “I’ve always liked Hannah and suspected Charlie beat her. I’m glad you got her out of there.”
“Who said I helped her?” I grumble and hide my face in Amelia’s hair. My family shouldn’t know what really happened either. It’s safer that way.
Sophia snorts. “We know what you did. And we’re glad you did it.”
“Don’t worry.” Charlotte reaches across the table and rests her hand on my arm. It’s a weird feeling. No one ever touches me, yet she didn’t hesitate. “We won’t say anything. Your secret is safe with us.”
“Liam told you?” I ask.
The kitchen falls silent, and that’s all the answer I need. Liam has probably been a wreck since I left him at Charlie’s house. I guess I would be too if I suddenly discovered I had a twelve-year-old son with the woman I was still in love with.
I don’t even think I want to know how that came to be. She married Charlie before she got pregnant. At least that’s what everyone has assumed all these years. Liam and Hannah broke up right after high school. Shortly after that, she started dating Charlie. Their relationship came between Charlie and Liam’s friendship and put a wedge between two best friends.
“Yeah, he’s pretty torn up about it,” Clara says. When I look over at her, the sadness in her eyes hits me hard. She’s practically family and knows Liam’s history with Hannah just as well as the rest of us. “Is Cameron really his son?’
I shrug because at no point did Hannah actually use those words.
“Oh, come on.” Amelia lightly slaps me on my chest. “You saw him.”
I let out a deep breath and rub my forehead. “I saw him. There are strong resemblances, yes.”
“Strong resemblances? He’s the spitting image of Liam.” Amelia insists. “You can’t deny that.”
“I don’t know what to think,” I say through gritted teeth. I’m trying not to raise my voice, but it’s hard.
“Did Hannah tell you anything?” Lina asks.
I shake my head. “She wasn’t really in a position to talk. Charlie did a number on her. But—”
Before I can finish, the front door slams open and Liam’s voice booms through the house. “Where is he?”
I close my eyes and pat Amelia’s thigh. “You better get off me. This is going to get ugly.”
Instead of listening to me, she tightens her grip around my neck. She didn’t see the rage in Liam’s eyes last night when I took Hannah away. He’s going to want answers, and he’ll likely start with a fist in my face.
“Please, babe.” I kiss the side of her head and tug at her arms. “Give him this. He needs it.”
“But he’ll hurt you.” The look in her eyes is begging me not to do this.
“I know, and it’s okay. I’d do the same thing if it were you.” I hold her worried gaze and her eyes shift to understanding. At her request, I didn’t beat the shit out of Badger the last time, but she knows if Badger ever touches her again, he’s a dead man.
Reluctantly, she releases me and slides off my lap. As soon as she’s safely out of the way, Liam grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me out of the chair. He slams me against the wall.
“Where is she?” He yells. The anger and determination in his eyes are nothing less than I expected.
“She’s safe,” I say. He tightens his grip on me to the point it hurts, but I don’t fight back.
“Not good enough.” He growls. He places his arm over my neck and presses hard. It cuts off my air supply.
“Liam, stop.” Chase grabs Liam’s arm and pulls him back. He’s able to relieve the pressure so I can breathe again but doesn’t get Liam off me.
“That’s all … I can gi … give you.” I manage between breaths. Liam is stronger than I realized. Which means this is going to hurt worse than I expected.
He releases me, spins around, and shoves his hands into his hair. Then he crouches on bent knees and lets out a long, low groan. He’s frustrated and worried. I get it. I’d be too, but I can’t jeopardize Hannah’s safety or the safety of all the other women Edge has helped.
If Charlie is set free—which I expect he will be—he won’t stop until he finds her. Same as Liam. If Liam finds her, then Charlie will be on his heels.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could give you more.” I mean every word of what I say. I feel for my brother, and I’d do the same thing if I were in his shoes. Hell, I’d probably do worse.
He pushes to his feet and stares at me. For a moment, I think he’s calming down. But then he clenches his hands into fists, hauls one of them back, and punches me in the jaw. It happens so fast. I have no time to react.
Though I don’t think I would have stopped him even if I could have. He needs this, and I’m going to give it to him.
He gets two more punches in before my brothers grab hold of him and pull him back. I fall against the wall behind me and slide to a seated position. Damn, my brother can hit hard.
I rub my jaw and wipe a stream of blood from my chin. He knocked my lower lip into my teeth, splitting it.
“Feel better?” I ask.
“Fuck you!” Liam yells as he struggles to break free from my brothers. Warren and Garret have a hold of his arms and fight to hold him back. “Let me go.”
“Not on your life,” Garret grumbles. “He’s not the enemy.”
“But he knows where she is.” Liam’s voice sounds desperate and wild. He gets one arm free and lunges forward. Garret wraps both his arms around his midsection and tugs him backwards while Warren presses against his chest. “Let me at him!”
Amelia steps between us, blocking Liam from getting to me.
“Lia, move!” I yell.
“You will not touch him,” she says. Her voice is firm and commanding. “He’s not the one that hurt her. He saved her.”
“Lia, it’s okay,” I say. “He needs this.”
She whips her head around and glares at me. “Men are so stupid. Hurting each other does not fix anything, and it certainly won’t save the women in your lives.”
I shrug and stare at her. “Maybe not, but it sure as hell makes us feel better.”
Her eyes soften, and she knows I’m not talking about Liam right now. I’m referring to myself and my need to beat the shit out of Badger. I’ve been denied that so far, but if he ever touches her again, nothing will stop me from planting my fist in his face. Several times.
Some of the fight dissipates from Liam and he sags against Garret. “Please,” he begs, “tell me where she is.”
Amelia turns back to him. “Why? So you can hunt her down and lead Charlie right to her?” She says exactly what I was thinking a moment ago. “Then what? Are you going to watch him kill her? ’Cause that’s what he’ll do. Men like him never give up.”
“That’s what I keep saying.” I mumble under my breath. Badger won’t stop until he owns her or hurts her worse than he already has, but she won’t listen to me. She insists she can handle him. It’s not her that I’m worried about.
“Quiet.” She orders. “This isn’t about you.”
I lift my hands in surrender. Chase leans down and whispers. “What was all that about?”
I shake my head and wave him off. Not only is this not the time to bring up my hatred for Badger, it’s also not my story to tell. When Amelia is ready to speak out about it, she will.
When I look back at Liam, his anger is replaced with nothing but pain. Tears well up in the corner of his eyes as he falls to his knees. “Tell me she’s okay.”
I lean forward and squeeze his shoulder. “She’s okay. He hurt her pretty badly, but she will heal.”
He nods, and a tear breaks free and runs down his cheek. “What about Cameron?” He looks at me with so many questions in his eyes. Questions I don’t have the answers to. “He’s mine, isn’t he?”
“She never confirmed that,” I say truthfully.
“Yeah, but you saw him. He’s a Mutter.” Liam pushes the issue. He’s not wrong. And if I was placing a bet, I’d put every penny I have in my bank account at that paternity test, proving that the boy is Liam’s son.
“I’d say that’s a safe bet.” I admit.
“Fuck.” Liam drops his head, and his shoulders shake like he’s crying.
Fuck is right. Seeing my oldest brother fall apart has me doing something I’ve never done.
I pull Liam toward me and wrap him in a hug. Several gasps come from the women. I doubt anybody in this kitchen has ever seen me hug one of my brothers like this.
“He’s a good kid,” I whisper. “Protective and strong. He’s a fighter. Knocked Charlie out to save his mom.”
“He never should have had to do that,” Liam says. He pulls away and falls back on his ass. “If I’d been a better man, Hannah never would have married that asshole.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
He shakes his head. “No, it is. I pushed her away all those years ago. This is on me.”
“Well, I think I’ve heard enough of this bullshit,” Grams says. “You two get your asses up off the floor. I’ll get the whiskey. I think we all need a drink after all that.”