by J Bree
The house is a fucking mess but hell if it isn’t fucking perfect for me.
I go to meet the realtor over there the same morning my bank card shows up and Poe insists on coming with me even though I’m freaking terrified at having someone finding out where I am.
Tomi hasn’t tried to contact me once.
It only proves to me that Diamond was right and now I’m on the club’s shit list, which is fine. It’s completely fine, I’ll survive it. People get their hearts broken all the damn time, so what if I maybe thought that I was falling for this guy? So what if he showed me that there are some men out there that understand boundaries and always respected my consent?
So what if I feel hollow inside now?
I take enough painkillers to take the edge off of the pain in my ribs and I take my time in making sure I look good. My lip has sealed up but the swelling and the bruising is officially at its worst and I need a lot of makeup to not look fucking hideous. I pull on jeans and then one of my dad's sweaters. It looks as though I’m trying to look edgy and vintage but really I just… I need him with me today.
If I can’t wear Tomi’s hoodie then you can be fucking sure I need my dad’s sweater.
I pick Poe up from the library, a little worried about her skipping school but she shrugs at me like it’s nothing.
“Lips called Thorn. I’ve got free rein for a few days to hang out with you.”
I cringe. “So Thorn knows about… all of this too? Isn’t he supposed to come arrest me or whatever?”
Poe tips her head back and cackles. “No, dumbass! I told you, he’s a cool cop. He was more pissed that he didn’t talk to you a little more, find out what was going on with you a bit sooner. Forget about it! Forget about dumbass boys, let’s buy a fucking house!”
She’s cute as hell about it and starts talking about school and Law being a dick since his dad came to visit. She also talks about Trink but at the look on my face she shuts that down fast.
I don’t want to think about Callaghans. None of them.
The realtor is unbelievably accommodating. She is the picture of politeness, talking to me like I’m some fucking superstar and I try not to freak out over it. I’m guessing she really needs the commission because any questions I have about the place she practically falls over herself to answer.
I fall in love with it instantly.
Poe… doesn’t.
She pokes around like she’s afraid of catching a disease. “I mean… it’s not the worst house I’ve ever stood in but fuck, that bar is low.”
I scoff at her. “The neighborhood is safe. It’s well below my price cap and I could fix it up in a big way with the difference.”
She nods. “It’s a bit small though. Are you going to have enough room here?”
I peg her with a look. “It’s bigger than my car, Poe. And I’m living here, alone, until I die. It’s fucking perfect.”
She nods again and shifts to look out the back door. “The deck is fucking perfect for drinks and if you get a fence up around the whole place you’d be even safer. Maybe get a dog too. The neighborhood is really good, quiet and close to the library and school. That shit is important.”
The realtor nods along like this is all fucking fascinating to her and I try not to giggle at her.
It’s not until I leave that I realize Lips has done a lot more than just arrange this viewing for me. No, the realtor is shitting herself over the entire thing because if I want the place, it’s mine. There’s paperwork for me to sign and the settlement is being taken care of for me but the moment I lift the pen away from the paper there’s a set of keys being pressed into my palm.
I wait until she’s driven off before I arch an eyebrow at Poe. “What the hell was that? I have the money for this place, I’m paying my own way.”
Poe rolls her eyes. “I know! Lips said she’ll sort it out with you later, she just wanted you somewhere safe like today, not in two months time. I kind of agree with her so like… humor me.”
I could argue with her. I could, but I won’t because I’m beyond fucking tired and the thought of dragging all of my shit here and sleeping in a house that’s mine? Fucking blissful, so instead I smile at her. “Thanks. Thanks for being here and for being my friend.”
She grins back at me. “Thanks for trying to die for me, that was real sweet of you.”
Poe insists on helping me move my trash bags of clothing into the house. It’s almost embarrassing but she does everything with a grin and a long stream of funny stories about everyone she’s ever met and… I think she’s relieved to have someone she can finally talk to about her sister.
She doesn’t talk about her brother.
Thank fucking God, because I’d probably drop dead if she did.
But I find out all about the infamous Wolf of Mounts Bay, about her family and the three, yes three, boys she’s dating.
“Oh my God, you look so fucking scandalized right now and I’m freaking dying over it. Look, at least you didn’t spend a week on a tour bus with them! I heard way too much, I swear I could fucking puke thinking about it.”
None of that registers except, “You went on tour with Vanth Falling? Are you fucking kidding me?”
She laughs and shrugs, putting the last bag down on the fucking disgusting carpet in the bedroom.
It needs to come up as soon as I can manage it.
“Only for like a week. We were in New Orleans, I got drunk with Blaise and then I got a tattoo. Don’t fucking tell anyone that, Thorn would shit himself if he knew. He’d start in on me about joining a gang and then I’d have to remind him that technically I was born into one.”
A gang tattoo.
Posey motherfucking Graves with a gang tattoo.
I can’t even think about it.
When she finally heads back to school to get picked up, I take stock of exactly what I need to buy to get this place looking like a home instead of a shit heap.
The list is long.
Something to sleep on is priority number one if I’m sleeping here tonight so I lock everything up and head out to find a furniture store. I pick out everything that I think I can fit into the Chevy and the guys there are nice enough to load it all up for me.
I duck into the hardware store and grab a whole heap of supplies to keep me busy for the next few days, little shit that I can figure out while I’m healing, and then I hit up the grocery store.
I feel a little jumpy over leaving the shit on the truck but I need food so I can stay locked up in my house for a few days.
I grab a cart so I’m not lugging things around and I start filling it up with things that don’t require a fridge or any sort of cooking. I mentally add a microwave to my list and, fuck, maybe some plates… pots, pans, cutlery, oh my God I forgot about how much shit a house really needs.
I’m so distracted that I don’t see Tomi until he speaks and scares my soul straight out of my body.
“What are you doing in here?”
I startle and look up to find Tomi glaring down at me like I’m the scum of the Earth. He hasn’t looked at me like I’m dirty in months and something breaks in my chest at the sight of it.
I knew it was too good to be true.
He didn’t want me, he wanted my body, and on the slim chance he really did want more, my lies broke whatever we did have. Fuck, it doesn’t matter that I had no choice.
“I’m just getting some groceries, I didn’t think this place was on your radar. It definitely isn’t somewhere I’ve seen you before.”
He frowns and stalks forward like he’s going to murder me right here in the grocery store and instinct kicks in. I flinch back into the shelves and knock some shit over as I duck my head.
Old habits never fucking die.
“Jesus fucking Christ, I’m not going to fucking hurt you. There’s a reason you haven’t seen me here, this isn’t a great area. What are you doing here, Angel?”
I take a deep breath and crouch down to fix the boxes of cereal up and
get my eyes away from him. I mean, turning my back on a man who wants me dead probably isn’t the best idea but my heart is still bleeding over him and looking at him hurts so much more than death.
“Diamond told me. When she called to fire me, she told me about what I’d done to the MC. I’m doing my best to stay away from… you.”
I see his lip curl from the corner of my eye and I can’t look at it at all.
“So you’re avoiding me on purpose? Running away?”
I swallow and grab the basket again, straightening up but keeping my eyes on the ground. “I’m trying not to get in your way. I’m trying to just keep my shit away from you. If you and the MC feel the need to… kill me for what I did then I guess that’s the end of the line for me. It’s fine.”
His knuckles pop at the pressure of his clenched fists. “Diamond told you I wanted you dead? That’s what’s happening here?”
I glance up at the security cameras. “Yeah. This probably isn’t the best place for it though.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket and, God, I forgot that I even had it still. It’s his phone, on his plan, and I ran away with it. I pull it out with a shaking hand and hold it out to him.
His eyes drop down to it and the glare gets even worse. “Put it away, Angel. You’re keeping it.”
He just stands there and stares at me until finally my arm drops and I slide the phone back into my pocket. “It’s late. I have classes in the morning. Poe knows where to find me if you need to kill me.”
I walk over to the cashier quickly, ringing my order up and paying for my food. I put the cart away but before I can grab the bags Tomi stalks over and grabs them off of me. I try not to shake so goddamn hard that my knees give out.
“Angel, listen to me. I’m getting you out to your car, then I’m following you home. I’ll get your shit unloaded and then I’m going to go sort this fucking problem out. No one is killing you. No one is fucking touching you, just get out to your truck so I can get you home safe.”
Chapter Thirty
Tomi
I have every trace of Angel wiped from the The Boulevard records in under an hour.
Thorn disappears the second he’s finished giving his little debrief and I try not to focus on the weight of everyone’s eyes on me. The chapel is loud the entire time I work, Rue talking through the entire fucking mess of the Demons rolling into Coldstone. Eventually they open the doors and let the rest of the brothers in to tell their side of this fucking mess.
I don’t fucking react to any of it until Axe takes his turn.
“They were there for Poe. Angel took her place, pretended so they’d take her instead. She heard Poe’s name and just fucking threw herself into the fucking fire.”
My eyes snap up away from my laptop.
I didn’t know that’s how it went down. Fuck, more shit is leading to Poe and if there’s a war starting she’s gonna be in the fucking middle of it.
I glance at Rue but his face is locked down hard. No one but me and Speck would even guess he’s probably raging inside his head right now.
Diesel grunts. “Doesn’t fucking matter. She lied to the club, lied about her age and coulda been the reason for another brother to be locked up.”
Speck groans and Hellion shoots him a look. He’s not even supposed to be in here, but extenuating circumstances and all that shit.
None of that shit matters to me.
“Diesel, lemme tell you this before you talk your way into a fucking bullet. I don’t give a fuck about her lying about her age. Question her again and you’ll lose more than your fucking patch.”
Hawk shifts to stare at me like he’s never seen me before but King nods at me like he approves so I guess I have the president's seal of approval. Not that I need it, I’d fucking gut Diesel whether they like it or not.
I’m more of an ask for forgiveness kind of guy.
Diesel opens his mouth and Axe cuts him off. “She’s a good fucking woman. I don’t know exactly what her deal is but, fuck, she’s done nothing but strip. I get she lied about her age but she keeps her mouth shut, her head down, and the second trouble came knocking she manned the fuck up and protected her family. That’s what Poe has become to her and this club swore an oath to protect that kid for Alby. Simple as that, shut your fucking mouth before running it gets you dead.”
The topic moves the hell away from my girl after that, thank fuck, because I’m struggling to keep my cool. I’m fucking angry about the whole thing but… I’m not angry at her.
I’m angry at whatever the fuck happened to her that had her living on the fucking streets. I need that file that Thorn handed over to King and I need it the fuck now. I might be heading out to kill some cunt tonight before I can sleep.
The meeting goes on and on for another hour before King finally sends everyone away.
I keep my ass planted in my chair.
Rue does too, his eyes on me like he’s getting ready to either back me up or put me down depending on how I react.
King looks between us both and then sighs at me. “You can have the fucking file but don’t make me regret handing it over. Go get some whiskey in your belly first.”
I shake my head and grab it from him, waiting until he leaves before I open it.
Then I slowly but surely lose my goddamn mind.
It’s pages and pages of abuse. Physical. Mental. Sexual. She’s run away from hell and she slept on the motherfucking streets to get away from her stepfather.
A cop.
He’s on trial for raping another little girl after Angel left him.
I close the file and then slide it across the table to Rue. I wouldn’t except I’m going to need backup when I go to find the fucking piece of shit and there’s no better backup than your blood with the same exact need for vengeance.
“I know a guy in Maryland. Lemme get the ball moving on this, we’ll get him. You just worry about getting her healed up and safe, brother.”
I give him a nod and get my ass moving. I take two steps out of the chapel to have a hand clamp over the back of my neck and my body yanked towards the Callaghan booth by Hawk.
I feel about five years old when he does it.
“Is there something you’ve forgotten to tell me?”
Christ. “I didn’t know I had to tell you everything that’s going on in my life.”
Hawk shoves me into the seat and jerks his head at Monroe to bring us both drinks. I really don’t want to sit here while Angel is hurt and alone but Hawk pegs me with a dark look when I try to get back up.
“One drink and you’ll tell me what the fuck has been going on so I have an answer when Keely asks me.”
So I have one drink and I tell my pops about the girl who ‘struck me. The girl I judged badly from day fucking one while she was trying to survive, coming straight outta hell into the big, cruel world of Coldstone.
I need a helluva lot more than one fucking drink.
But I leave as soon as the whiskey in my glass is finished and Hawk looks a little less pissed off. “Bring her home for family dinner on Sunday. No excuses, Keely is gonna get all fucking weepy over this and after this Demon bullshit she deserves some joy.”
No truer words have ever been spoken, my mom is a fucking saint for dealing with all of us assholes and I know just how happy this shit will make her so it’s as easy as breathing to agree to it.
I get back to my room to find the door open and Rue snarling at Poe but nothing fucking registers except that Angel is gone.
Fucking gone.
“Posey, where the fuck is she?”
She shrugs at me. “She’s safe. She’s making plans and getting her shit together.”
I grab her and yank her around, ignoring the snarl Rue lets out at me because he might be pissed but she’s still his little fucking flower. “What the fuck does that mean?”
She tips her head back so she can stare me down, unflinching in that way that she has. Hawk says it’s a Graves’ thing, those eyes of hers, and it
makes her look fucking fierce. “I ain’t telling you a goddamn thing. She’s my friend and she’s a good person, but something’s happened to spook her and you’ll only make shit worse if you go after her, guns blazing.”
How much worse could shit get?
My girl is running away again, only this time, I’m not going to fucking let her go.
I manage to stay calm, only because Angel took her phone with her and I have a GPS tracker on it so I know exactly where she is.
She drives for hours before checking into a hotel and I drive over there to drag her home but Poe’s words just keep fucking ringing in my ears.
I have time to feel her out before I drag her home with me.
So I get a hotel room too, and sleep in the room next to hers all night. Well, I don’t fucking sleep. I lay there in the bed and listen out for any little thing that might tell me what's going through her head right now or any signs of something bad happening. I feel like a pile of shit when she finally gets up the next morning and I’m careful about tailing her.
She buys a house.
It’s a shitty little thing but she buys it in cash, signs paperwork on the front lawn leaning against the Chevy and she looks so fucking happy, I’ve never seen her grin so wide.
I’m definitely fucking lovestruck and an idiot about it.
I follow her around Coldstone as she picks out furniture and paint supplies. I call Rue to come help me because there’s no fucking way I’m going to stay back and watch her lift that shit down herself with her busted fucking ribs and when he meets me outside the grocery store on the other side of town he scowls at me.
“You told her you’re here yet?”
I shake my head. “I’m going to now. You good?”
He shrugs and scowls up at the store again. “This place is about as far away from her new place as she could possibly fucking get.”
When I get in there and see her fucking terrified of me something fucking snaps in my brain and I almost rage the fuck out in the grocery store like an asshole, right up until she says who the fuck told her I wanted her dead.
