Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Stormy
Holding Atlas’s hand, we walk into a common room. The giant Hermes is sitting there, along with another guy. He’s a bit older, with strawberry-blond hair and a long scruff along his jaw.
“That’s Thanatos.” Atlas points. “You remember Hermes?”
“I do.” I nod at Hermes and wave at Thanatos.
“Okay, you have until tomorrow to get this figured out,” Cronus says as he walks into the room.
“She said she would do it,” Atlas tells him, and I just stand there, looking around for Maisy.
“Where is Maisy?” I finally ask.
“She’s sleeping,” Cronus says, and all I can do is nod. “She can’t be a part of this conversation. If you agree to marry Titan, we can tell you how we plan to save you.”
“How?” I ask, not sure about this, but I’m willing to listen. I haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to stay or take off at the first chance I get.
“Has Titan told you what he does?”
“When he came to the hospital to see me, he said he worked for a government agency. Maisy said his badge identified him as an officer with the National Security Agency. She called him Officer Ulrich.” I turn to Atlas and smile.
“You didn’t have amnesia, did you?” he asks, and I pull my lip between my teeth.
“Maisy and I thought it would be a good idea to protect me. She didn’t know until later that I really did know who I was.”
“Maisy has a hacker friend working with her named Fury. Did he contact you?”
I shake my head and only give them a partial truth. I’m not going to blow Fury’s identity. He’s helped us so much already.
“We contact him. We haven’t spoken to him since we exchanged trucks. We were going to contact him this evening before we left town.”
“We’ve been working on a case involving a wealthy man who purchases women for his billionaire and influential friends. His name is Andrus Ahriman,” Atlas says beside me, and I can’t help but tremble.
I jump up and move away from him, panic filling my lungs instead of air. It can’t be. They’re investigating the man who tortured and raped me. The man who will forever be the monster in my life.
“No.” I shake my head. “No.” Tears run down my face, and I feel Gurgi’s big body before Atlas wraps his arms around me.
“Breathe, baby. I got you. You’re safe. Gurgi and I will protect you,” Atlas says softly, and for the first time since he said the name, I take a full breath. “I got you,” he repeats, and I curl into him.
“He’s the man.”
“I know,” Atlas says against the top of my head.
“By any chance, did he mention other names around you? Take you to other locations?” Cronus asks, leaning forward in his chair, his big arms braced on his long legs. His dark brown eyes are fixed on me.
My body continues to shake as the memories flash through my mind. “The small room. That’s all I was ever in unless they were hurting me. Then there were other rooms on the boat. I never left that boat in all the months. He kept me there.”
“Fuck,” someone says, but I don’t know who.
“Did he have men come to the boat with him?”
“No. No one was allowed to see me or be with me. His guards could look and touch, but they couldn’t rape me.”
“Shoot. Diego said there was a politician in his pocket.”
The chills stop, and I pull away from Atlas to face Cronus. “He told me all the time that he was untouchable. That he had friends so high up in the government he’d never be prosecuted. He said he knew my family and would kill them, even though my brother is a State Trooper.”
“He’s not anymore,” Atlas says, and I turn to look at him, confused.
“He retired to focus on finding you. He was mad that the Troopers gave up on looking for you.”
A bitter laugh escapes me. “Yeah, I know they stopped looking. Something about the governor pressuring them to stop. Andrus did that.”
“Motherfucker.”
This time, I look, and it’s Thanatos who cussed.
“You can say that again. I’ll never be free of him.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. We do work for the government, but we’re also independent. They can’t stop us. We will seek justice by any means necessary. We need to uncover as many names as we can to take this ring down.”
“How can you help me if you’re the government. He says he pays handsomely to make sure he’s never questioned.”
“You’ll marry Atlas first. That will give you protection, and it will also let us lock your file so no one can pry into our case. After that, Atlas can give you the full truth. Okay?”
I decide I should try to trust these men. But the first time something doesn’t feel right, I’ll take off. I don’t tell them that. I just nod and turn to see Atlas down on one knee beside me.
“Will you marry me?” he asks in a deep voice, and my throat tightens.
“Yes.” I choke on the word, my emotions still raw from the panic attack, but also because I know, deep down, that I care for this man. He’s sacrificing so much to be with me.
He slips a ring onto my finger, and I stare at the stone in shock. I thought this was just a farce, but the ring feels real.
“I’ve had that since about a month after I saw you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t going to stop until I found you, and I knew you were meant to be mine.”
He doesn’t give me words of love, but I’ll take what he’s offering.
Titan
The next day, we drive to the Strip and one of the many chapels Cronus arranged for us to use.
Officially, Stormy’s file will disappear once she marries me.
Even her brother won’t be able to find any reports on her.
She’ll become a dark operative, just like I am.
But unofficially, she’ll be able to live her life freely with me, wherever she wants, even back in Alaska.
She’ll have all new identification, and she’ll finally be safe.
One thing, though, she’ll never leave my side again. If I have to handcuff her to me, I will. I know I love her. I’m just not sure she’s ready to hear those words from my lips yet. I’m sure she still thinks I’m only doing this to protect her.
I look at myself in the long mirror in the men’s dressing room. I hope she’ll be okay with this look. I sent her to shop with Maisy and several guards while I worked out the final details with Cronus.
Cronus was extra grumpy today. I don’t know what crawled up his ass to make him this way. I do know that when Maisy and Stormy left, Maisy had tears in her eyes.
I’m wearing black jeans, a nice pair I just bought, with my chain and heavy leather belt. On top, a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up my forearms. I’ve pulled all my hair back into a man bun at the back of my head.
Stormy told me she’s never been a “plan your wedding” kind of girl, but I want this to be perfect for her. I can’t wait to see what she settled on. As long as she meets me at the top of that aisle, I don’t care—as long as she’s not naked. No man is allowed to see her like that.
A knock sounds at the door, and I open it. Part of me wants it to be my brother, but I know that’s not possible. I’m shocked when I see him standing there with River and my nephew behind him.
“Cronus said you needed me,” Klay says, and I pull him into my arms.
For as long as I can remember, we’ve been there for each other. I wasn’t present when he first married River, though I know that happened at gunpoint. But when they renewed their vows, I was there.
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
“So, who’s the lucky lady?” he asks, and that’s when the realization truly hits me. No one can know yet, not until her file is wiped. But Cronus gave me this one consideration.
“You’ll see.” It’s all I can say. I don’t know how to tell them.
“Ready?” Cronus asks, and I nod. “Tell them everything afterward. Family should know some of it. But he deserves the truth.” Cronus nods at Klay, who raises his tattooed, pierced brow at me.
When Klay got out of the military, he joined the ATF and lived the MC life to its fullest.
River steps in and hugs me before she and Klay make their way to their seats. Cronus and I follow and move to the front of the chapel, stopping in front of a man dressed in a suit. That was the one thing Stormy demanded. She didn’t want an Elvis or an alien to marry us.
The doors at the back open, and Maisy stands there in a sheer lilac dress that reveals the mini skirt underneath.
Cronus shifts next to me, and she smiles before walking down the aisle.
Then I see my bride. She glances around the room, and when she spots River and Klay, she starts trembling.
She’s had enough plastic surgery that at first, they don’t recognize her.
But when she gets close and River realizes it’s her, River pushes my nephew into her husband’s arms and stops Stormy in the aisle.
“Oh my God,” River sobs. “Is it really you?”
Stormy nods. “You saved me.”
They hug for so long that I have to walk up behind them and carefully extricate my girl.
“Come on. We can talk afterward,” I say, and Stormy looks up at me with glossy eyes, making me fall deeper for her.
Her hair is no longer in dreads but falls in loose blond waves to her shoulders.
She’s wearing a long, filmy gown in purple, lilac, and cream floral patterns, with a small train.
The halter style shows off her cleavage in full display.
I can’t wait to get her back to our apartment, where I can make love to her again and again.
As the clock strikes its final stroke to midnight, we say our vows.
“Do you take Atlas to be your husband?” the officiant asks her, and she looks up at me with a smile.
“I do.” She doesn’t hesitate at all.
“I do,” I say before he can finish the question, and everyone chuckles.
When we get to the kiss-the-bride part, I decide she deserves the truth.
I lean forward and take her into my arms. She wraps herself around me, and I whisper so only she can hear, “I’ve loved you for longer than I should have. I’m never letting you go.” I kiss her long and deep, our tongues entwining as mine dominates hers, and she moans into my mouth.
Someone shouts for us to get a room, and I pull back. She looks up at me and smiles, but she hasn’t said the words back yet. This is what I was worried about.
She rises onto her toes and pulls my face toward hers. “I love you too. I wanted to tell you in that hospital room it was me, but I couldn’t. I didn’t trust anyone until you.”
“I’ll always protect you,” I promise.
She nods, and we all return to the safety of the warehouse. Stormy, River, and Maisy head off together to change and talk, and I stand there, watching them go.