One Week Later
ONE WEEK LATER
SILAS
Me: I’m headed home today, can’t wait to see you.
Natty:
Me: Don’t be mad…this was a good trip, I’ll explain why it was so good when I get there but my dad finally left US soil.
Natty:
Me: Caelum…what the fuck is going on?
Natty:
Me: I’ll see you soon.
I felt like a weight had lifted as I rode back to Pyle, and it disappeared entirely when the gates to the clubhouse opened and I eased inside.
I’d been gone for way too fucking long, but the outcome was worth it. I’d been slowly building the confidence of my father, that I was his willing soldier, there to do his bidding. For years I had built this image, did the most deplorable things, all so I could gain access to his plans.
I wanted to know where his extra homes were. His women. Where he kept his money.
The ability to exploit him was information too tempting to give up. At first it was difficult to keep up the pretense, and the urge to stop everything just so I could be with my wife was right on the surface…and then Christmas arrived, two years ago and my world seemed to unravel.
I knew Natty was upset.
Fuck, it tore me open to leave her alone. I knew it hurt but that year I’d surprised her by not just finding a love story for her but tattooing it to my skin. I wanted her to read what she meant to me and know that there wasn’t a moment when I was gone that I didn’t carry her with me.
But when I arrived, she’d been broken. Sobbing and crying and some part of me knew something had happened. I understood this type of carnage was from regret.
She hadn’t cheated, even I was sane enough to understand what she’d done was innocent enough, but fuck it ripped me open just the same. She even admitted if I had done the same to her, she wasn’t sure she could get past it because an emotional connection with someone ran so much deeper than a physical one.
I knew Alec cared for Natty. He always had, it was why when I first saw him flirting with her, I pushed him off the dock.
He took advantage of her, during a time of weakness, and instead of letting her cry alone in that bed, the motherfucker held her all night.
After that, I threw myself into finishing this with my father. I flipped on him and burned his shit to the ground as quickly as I could. Even that still took two years, but he was finally gone. He’d left the country and I could finally have some peace…maybe find a place to live with my wife, and actually enjoy a sunset or two with her.
I stopped and parked my bike in front of my mother’s house, seeing her car parked there.
My legs were sore, my back ached and all I wanted was to see Natty .
Right as I climbed the steps and pushed inside, my mother was there with a solemn expression.
I glanced from her, around the room, confused why she was acting like someone had died.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need you to come sit down,” she said calmly, like I was an animal she was trying to pull from the corner.
I dropped my gear, pushed a hand through my hair and sat down at her kitchen table.
“Where’s Natty?”
My mother’s eyes that were darker than mine searched my face. Her hand was on mine, and the affection had my stomach plummeting.
“Tell me.”
“She’s safe.” My mom cradled my hand, but I pulled it away. “I want to tell you everything, Son, but if I do then it could be dangerous for all of us.”
My chest felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton, and my organs were starting to fail.
I stood and kicked the chair backward.
My voice carried, with it cracking on the tail end. “Where is my wife?”
Mom winced at the volume.
I leaned closer, growling my ire. “Where?”
“She was traded to the Stone Riders one week ago. She’s living with them now.”
“What—” My chest heaved…too fast I realized belatedly as I bumped into the counter. “I don’t understand.”
Tears burned the backs of my eyes and my mother…fuck she was lying to me.
“Caelum!” I stormed down the hall, pushing our bedroom door open. The bed was the same, but our dresser was all messed up, half the drawers were open . Her drawers were open…and empty.
A small note on the bed caught my attention.
Silas,
I love you .
I’m yours, I will forever be yours.
-Caelum
“What the fuck is this?!” I roared angrily, storming back toward the kitchen.
Lance, my best friend had arrived and was now leaning against the counter, watching me. My mother had moved as well, glancing at me, then him.
“Just calm down, Silas,” Lance suggested coolly.
I narrowed my gaze at my mother. “Fuck that. Tell me why she was traded.”
“I can’t, Son. If I tell you why she was traded, then you’ll start a war. That war will start and end with Natty. The Stone Riders will more than happily sacrifice her if it means avoiding a war.”
“She is mine! She’s patched to me, she’s my fucking wife!”
By the way my mother was wincing, I knew this was the angriest she’d ever seen me. I felt a pressure in my head as tears gathered in my eyes.
They had Natty, which meant if I tried to go and remove her from their club, it would start a war and with the club loyal to Dirk, I had no one that would back me.
I glanced at my best friend who shook his head, as if he was working out what I was trying to.
“Tell me why she was traded. She was spoken for, no one had the right to do that except for me.”
My mother placed her hands on either side of my face.
“You must trust me, Son. I did the only thing that would have kept her safe.”
It all connected suddenly. “He did something to her, didn’t he?”
I was going to fucking kill Dirk. I moved, heading to the door when Lance tackled me to the ground.
“Get the fuck off me!”
“No, Brother. I’m sorry, but you can’t go after him. You don’t have the numbers yet. You have to be patient and kill him when the time is right, when the club will follow you. You have a new mission now. ”
I tried to shove him off, but he had me in some fancy martial arts head lock.
“Did he touch her?” My voice was raw from screaming.
How come she never told me. How long had it been going on? Why would the Stone Riders agree to take her?
“I can’t tell you any more than that, Son. You will kill him in time, but if you know the full scope, you’ll black out and try now. And you’ll kill yourself in the process. You need to live; you need to focus on taking him down, so she can come back to you. Until then, you must leave her be.”
This must be why she wasn’t answering my texts.
“What did you tell her?” I knew my mother had to have told her something. Fuck, I needed to know if she was okay.
“She knows you need space and time. Which is true. She accepted this trade willingly, Silas.”
Fuck Simon Stone.
Regardless of what was happening here, he didn’t have the right to accept a deal or broker one on her behalf. She wasn’t just my property patch; she was my wife. She belonged to me, not the club or anyone else.
“She’s been instructed not to mention your connection to her. The Roman is circulating right now; it could put her in danger.”
Shit, I knew that was true, but I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around the idea of losing her. No, I refused to lose her.
“You need to think this through, Silas. She needs time to adjust to the Stone Riders, they’re safe…they have a code they live by.”
I pushed up, throwing Lance off my back and began stalking toward my mother. I’d never hurt her, but I needed to understand what the fuck she had done.
“Simon promised me. I’ve gotten to know him, Silas, and I trust him. You know what he did for his own daughter.”
I tossed a chair out of our way. It crashed against the counter, shattering a few glasses. “That was for his flesh and blood, Natty isn’t his. No one will protect her the way I will protect her.”
“Silas, I protected her,” my mother argued, yelling just as loud. “I trust Simon, and you know I would never let Natty walk into danger. Not on my life, Son. ”
I did know that. My mother loved Natty. While she often tried to show her a firmer hand, I knew how deep her adoration ran for my wife.
“She’s mine to keep safe, not yours.”
My mother’s face fell flat, her eyes narrowing in a hard edge. “While that may be true, you left her unprotected, Son…and while I’m the one who advised you to do it, it doesn’t change the facts. There were situations that put her in danger, and after enough time, it was too careless to allow her to stay here.”
My mind whirled, viciously tossing images at me of what might have been done to my wife.
“Did Dirk do…” I couldn’t even bring myself to ask as my voice broke. Lance was at the entry of the kitchen now, rubbing his jaw where my elbow must have landed.
My mother shook her head. “I know you well enough that if I begin to give you specifics, you’ll do something without thinking. I won’t risk that. Just know this was the best course of action to keep her from danger.”
“Stop. Fuck.” My chest felt like it was caving in. “You’re talking about her like she’s a number on a chart. Or a statistic.”
I couldn’t breathe. She was gone.
If I were to go right now, the Stone Riders would kill me. I knew that much, and then what.
Tears began welling in my mother’s gaze as she watched me fall apart.
My mother crossed her arms, staring down at the floor. “I understand that you’re upset, but you need to focus on claiming this club from Dirk when the time is right.”
My lips trembled as I seethed, “I don’t fucking want this club.”
“But you will need it, and the power it offers you. Please understand why I did this. I did everything to keep her safe, Son. Everything.”
“How do I—” I needed to breathe, but my chest felt too tight. “I need to fix this.”
My mother was suddenly next to me, her face close to mine.
“The best thing you can do for her is let her live her life, honey. She is safe there. Simon is giving me updates nearly every day. She has her own room in the club with a kitchen and bathroom. She keeps to herself, but she’s safe. The men have been advised to stay away from her.”
“Her cell phone?”
Lance shifted behind me, and my mother watched his movement. She cleared her throat and pulled something from her pocket, and then Natty’s phone was in front of me. The red rubber case with yellow baby chicks printed all over nearly made me sob.
“So I have no way of reaching my wife?”
My mother’s hand soothed my back as a tear slid free.
“No honey. This is for the best. You’ll see, I promise.”