Unbroken -Part Two - A Second Chance at Love Romance: The Collective - Season 1, Episode 6

by Riley Edwards

  Austin stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed, with his eyes never leaving April. I knew that he was still staying at the house. First, because April begged him not to leave, she was afraid to be alone. Now, I think it was as much for Austin’s benefit as it was April’s. I was worried about Austin. It was in his eyes, they looked wild and full of sorrow. I wish he’d open up to Reid. But he hadn’t.

  My legs were all but shaking in my seat, I was so excited.

  “You’re gonna wear a mark on the floor board you don’t stop that bouncing,” Reid laughed.

  “I’m excited,” I explained.

  “Yeah, I can see that.”

  We pulled up in front of a nice building, Motor Quill, proudly displayed in the front window. Reid parked, rounded the hood, and opened the door for me.

  “Yo,” Reid called out when we entered the shop.

  “Reid. Twice in one week.” A man stood from a stool and started towards us. “This must be Ava.”

  I was thankful that Reid had me tucked to his side, with his arm around my middle or I might’ve stumbled back.

  Holy wow. I didn’t know who this man was, but he was hot, as in, movie star hot. Reid might’ve been the sexiest man I had ever laid eyes on, but this guy… he was a close second. I wasn’t sure if he belonged on some TV show that centered around hot badass bikers, or if he should be on the cover of men’s fitness magazine.

  He was big; tattoos covered his arms, all bright colors that seemed to come to life right in front of your eyes. The closer he got the more detail I could see, and my eyes honed in on his muscular forearm. He had a tattoo of a bloody ear, dripping blood, into an object I couldn’t make out. You would think the ear would be grotesque, but it wasn’t. The outline and the detail looked to have been done with great care. It seemed to have pride of place on his arm, I’m sure there was a special meaning behind it.

  “Hey, man, thanks for doing this on such short notice,” Reid said to the man.

  Now only feet away from us, I gave him one more look from top to toe. Yeah, he was definitely hot.

  “Hey, sweetheart, you done checkin’ out Ivory yet? I’d like to introduce you, and preferably not have to kick my friend’s ass because my woman’s eyes are buggin’ out of her head.”

  I closed my eyes in horror, shit, I was totally caught. That’s when I heard it, a deep rumble of laughter coming from both men. I wasn’t sure what was more embarrassing, that they were laughing at me or that I’d been caught. I figured it was a good thing that Reid was laughing at me.

  “It’s all good, babe. I’m used to it. Women just can’t help themselves around me.” Ivory’s voice was full of laughter.

  My eyes popped back open to see Ivory laughing. Reid, however, was no longer laughing. “Friend or not, you might wanna not flirt with my woman,” Reid told Ivory.

  “Flirting? Man, if you think that is flirting, friend, you have been doing it wrong. This is flirting…”

  Reid let out a low guttural growl that made Ivory bust out into another round of laughter.

  “Dude, that was just too easy.” Ivory was shaking his head, smiling at Reid, before he turned to me. “Hi Ava. I’m Ivory, nice to meet you.”

  “You too, Ivory. Reid speaks very highly of you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Something changed in Ivory. It happened so fast I couldn’t place it. It played across his face for just a moment before he masked it.

  “Highly, huh? Then he’s yankin’ your chain.” Ivory smiled at me again. “I drew up some pieces for you to take a look at. Different scripts for you to choose from.” Suddenly he was all business.

  “Okay,” I mumbled scared I had offended him.

  A sudden movement over Ivory’s shoulder caught my attention. Holy shit, I knew that fedora. The man walked fully into the entryway where we were standing, sure as shit, it was the whistler.

  “I…I…I-vory. Did y…y…you o…o…order the d.. d…door g…g…gasket for the a…a…autoclave?” the whistler stuttered out.

  “Yeah, Kevin, the gasket will be here tomorrow,” Ivory answered him.

  I glanced up at Reid, his eyes focused on the whistler. When Kevin turned to walk away, Reid looked back at Ivory.

  “Who’s that?” Reid asked.

  “Kevin? That’s my brother. You’ve met him before, haven’t you?”

  “Not here. Didn’t know that was your brother, man. I have seen him before. He frequents Ava’s café, Del Mars,” Reid explained.

  Ivory let out another belt of laughter, “Best fucking pumpkin pie in San Fran. I know all about Del Mars.”

  That felt nice that someone thought my café had the best of something. Even if it was just my pumpkin pie. What a small world.

  “What happened to his face?” Reid questioned Ivory further.

  “Nothing, man. Sometimes he’s got a short fuse. Got into a little altercation.”

  Obviously not wanting to elaborate on what altercation meant Ivory turned and started to walk back to his workstation.

  All thoughts of the fedora-wearing whistler, now known as Kevin, went from my mind, as the bouncy excitement came rushing back.

  I was getting my first tattoo.

  Everything was perfect until it wasn’t.

  Chapter Fifteen

  SURPRISE

  Reid

  I had no fucking clue that the pie eating guy that came into the café was Ivory’s brother. I tried to think back if he’d ever been in Motor Quill while I was here getting tat’ted. I was coming up blank. I would certainly remember Kevin. Something about the man was a little off. Mac had been curious about him too, but only because he is curious about anyone who spends a lot of time in Ava’s café.

  Ava and Ivory were going over the pieces Ivory had drawn up. The scripts he used were outstanding.

  “Which one?” Ava asked, looking at them all spread out over Ivory’s workstation.

  “Sweetheart, it is your body. And in my opinion you can’t go wrong,” I answered her.

  And she couldn’t. Each one was feminine, with swirly font. Ava had chosen to get the tattoo on her forearm, just like Rick. All the men in my crew had this tattoo, all in various locations.

  “This one,” Ava exclaimed proudly as she pointed to one of the pages.

  Ivory got Ava situated, wiping her forearm down with alcohol. I could hear them talking, but my mind was still on Kevin. Soon, I heard the gentle thrumming of the tattoo gun. Surprised that Ava hadn’t even flinched when Ivory started.

  “It’s not too bad,” she said.

  Ivory was just about half way done when the front door chime went off. I looked over at the door and watched a pretty young woman walk in. She was gripping a little girl’s hand, almost dragging her along to keep up with her fast stride.

  I vaguely heard Ivory slow the needle and come to a stop. I continued to study the woman. Memories came rushing back.

  Valerie.

  It was the night of her twenty-first birthday. I was guarding some up and coming new band, Shadow & Flame. They were opening for the headliners, some Abel… or something. I can’t remember the details. It wasn’t something I’d normally did, but a friend asked me for help. So, I’d spent the night playing babysitter. That was the first time I had met Rhianna Rains and her band.

  Valerie was trying to get backstage. She didn’t have a pass and offered to blow me if I’d let her through. No, I’m not that big of a dick that I’d let some girl blow me to get backstage, but I did end up taking her home that night. Where she did indeed blow me, right before I fucked her.

  She was still pretty. Her brown hair shorter than it had been, she looked a little older now. Not in a bad way, she just looked tired. Shit, she had to be somewhere around twenty-six maybe seven.

  As soon as she saw me, she skidded to a halt, and her eyes widened. Oh fuck. She better not cause a scene with my woman. We had one night together over six years ago. I was honest about what I wanted, and she was more than happy to take what I was of
fering. She didn’t ask for my last name, or my number.

  Now that she was closer, she looked frazzled and in a rush. She quickly averted her eyes from mine and stared at Ivory.

  “Hi, um, I’m sorry to interrupt, Ivory. I was just stopping by to give you this,” Valerie said to Ivory.

  I didn’t hear anything else. I caught a good look at the little girl shyly standing by Valerie. The little girl locked eyes with me, and all sorts of warning bells were going off.

  We continued to look at each other, my green eyes staring, into an identical pair. Hers were even complete with the darker green outline. I knew those eyes. I saw those same eyes every time I looked in a mirror.

  Oh fuck. Oh fuck. She looked to be about six. Her hair was a little browner than her mother’s, more like my color.

  “I…I…Ivory.” I heard the strangled stutter.

  I looked up to see Kevin walk back into the main room. I followed Kevin’s eyes as they went from Ivory over to Valerie.

  Valerie jerked back and tossed Kevin a dirty look.

  I must’ve missed the whole conversation between Ivory and Valerie because the next thing I heard was. “Come on, Melody, we have to leave.” And Valerie was pulling the little girl out the door.

  “I’ll be right back.” I jumped up, not waiting for Ava or Ivory to answer.

  By the time I had made it outside, Valerie was buckling the little girl in the backseat. I waited until she slammed the door closed before I spoke.

  “She mine?” I asked.

  Valerie jumped before she turned around. She didn’t need to answer me verbally. The answer was written all over her face.

  “Val, I asked you a Goddamn question. Is she mine,” I repeated.

  “Yes, Logan she is,” Valerie confirmed.

  Oh, fuck!

  “You didn’t think it was pertinent for me to know that you were carrying my kid?” I spit out.

  “I tried.”

  “Obviously not hard enough. Seeing as you had my kid, and I’m just now finding out about it.”

  I was being a dick. I knew I was, but fuck, I just found out I had a daughter. My fucking daughter had been floating around San Fran for the last six years, and I never knew.

  “What did you expect me to do, Logan? Call the fucking FBI to find my baby daddy? I didn’t know your last name. I didn’t know your number, and if you remember, we went back to my place, so I didn’t even know where you lived. And I did try, asshole. I called the venue, tracked down who was in charge of Shadow & Flame security, but they wouldn’t give me any information on a Logan. They thought I was some groupie trying to get your information,” she fired back at me.

  “Fuck. I’m sorry I’m being an asshole,” I apologized, “I’m a bit in shock, Valerie. I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do or say here. I have a thousand questions running through my head, but I can’t sort them enough to ask. Her name is Melody?”

  “Yes, Melody Susan,” Valerie answered.

  My daughter’s name is Melody.

  “How old is she?”

  “Five. She’ll be six at the end of summer.”

  “I want to know her, Valerie.”

  “We’re leaving, Logan. That’s why I’m here. I was saying goodbye to Ivory.”

  “Leaving?” I questioned.

  “We’re leaving San Fran. There is too much going on. And after what Kevin did, I’m done. I have to leave.”

  “What the fuck did Kevin do? Did he hurt Melody?” I roared.

  I was going to fucking kill that guy if he hurt my daughter. I didn’t care if I didn’t know she existed until five minutes ago. I knew now. And if that bastard laid a finger on my daughter he was dead.

  “No, he didn’t hurt Melody.”

  “What he’d do?” I questioned. “Does it have something to do with the marks on his face? The altercation he got into?”

  Valerie’s face paled, and she started to tremble.

  “I don’t wanna talk about it. I’m just not safe here anymore,” she whispered.

  “I can make you safe. You’re not taking my daughter, Valerie. I just found out I have a kid after almost six years. You’re not taking her from me again.”

  I watched as Valerie worried her lip and thought about my offer.

  “Promise you won’t tell Ivory or Kevin?” I nodded my head, and she continued. “I’ll stay. But only a few days until we can work something out, Logan. I still have to leave. But, you’re right, you deserve to know your daughter, and she deserves to know you.”

  Thank God, she agreed to stay a few days. I’d be able to convince her to stay permanently once I had a chance to talk to her. I just had to figure out what had her so scared.

  “My kid in danger?” I asked.

  “Not at the moment. That’s why I need to leave before she is.”

  Mother fucker.

  “Where are you living? Same place?” Not that I remembered where that was so it was actually stupid to bring it up.

  “No, I have an apartment over by the Java beach café.”

  I knew where that was. Decent hood, not great, but not a shit hole.

  “Here.” I handed her my phone. “Call yourself, so you’ll have my number.”

  She took my phone, and once her phone rang, she handed my phone back to me.

  “We’re the first building after the Café on Judah Street, apartment 3160. I’ll wait for your call.”

  I glanced in the backseat, where Melody was happily playing on a tablet with earbuds in.

  “She’s beautiful, Val.”

  “She is. She looks just like you.”

  “Fuck. Okay. I’ll text you tonight,” I told her.

  “I’m sorry, Logan. I didn’t know your last name. I promise I tried to find you.”

  “I know, babe. It’s all good. Reid. My name is Logan Reid.”

  “Nice to meet you, Logan Reid.” Valerie laughed out.

  She was a pretty girl, even prettier when she smiled. Not quite as beautiful as Ava, but pretty nonetheless.

  Shit Ava.

  How the fuck was I going to explain this to Ava?

  “I’ll call you tonight. Be safe. And if you need anything, you call me. If you hear something funny, you call me. You get scared for any fucking reason, you call me.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  She rounded her car and slid in the driver seat. I watched as she drove away. Taking my daughter with her.

  Holy fuck, my daughter.

  When I walked back into the shop, Ivory was finishing up Ava’s tat. I’m not sure how much of that they heard, but by the looks, on their faces, they had seen a lot.

  Damn.

  “What was that about?” Ivory asked.

  “Nothing,” I clipped. “You done already?”

  “Don’t look like nothing to me.” Ivory went on ignoring my question. “You know Valerie?”

  “Yep. Val and I go way back.”

  “That so? She tell you why she stopped by?” Ivory inquired.

  “Nope. Just shootin’ the shit, catchin’ up.”

  Ivory wasn’t buying any of that shit, but he did stop pressing me.

  “Yeah, we’re done.”

  He held out Ava’s arm for me to inspect before he covered it with plastic wrap.

  “Turned out great, man, thanks again for doin’ it.”

  And it did. It looked awesome. Ivory did great work.

  Ivory rattled off the aftercare instructions to Ava while I scanned the room looking for Kevin. What the fuck was going on.

  Ava tugged on my shirt causing me to look down at her. “You ready?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Sorry, sweetheart.” I dropped a kiss on her forehead and followed Ivory to the entrance. I handed him a wad of cash, thanking him again.

  “See you soon, Ivory. Take care.”

  “You too, Reid.”

  I was distracted all the way to the car. I couldn’t stop thinking about Valerie and Melody, and where Ivory fit into the mix. Was Valerie his woma
n? Had he been daddy to my daughter? Fuck this was a Goddamn mess. I had to hurry and text Mac. I needed his help.

  “Who was that?” Ava started in as soon as the car door shut.

  “We need to talk,” I told her.

  “I gathered that. Who is Valerie?” she asked again.

  “Fuck, Ava, we need to have a conversation, but I don’t think the car is the best place to talk about this.”

  “Reid, you’re scaring me. Is everything okay?”

  I didn’t know if there was a right way or a wrong way to do this. What was the protocol when you were about to tell your woman you just found out you had a kid?

  “No, everything is not okay. But it will be. You sure you want to do this now in the car?”

  Maybe I should wait until we were home, where I could lock her in the bedroom if she tried to run.

  “I want to know now,” she answered.

  “I need you to promise me you’ll listen to the whole story, and you won’t run.”

  “I won’t run.”

  “Fuck. Okay, I met Valerie years ago at a concert. I was working security for Rhianna’s band. Valerie wanted backstage. Shit. This was a long time ago, Ava. You need to know that. I won’t give you details, all you need to know is that she decided not to go backstage, but went home with me. It was one night. No numbers exchanged, no last names, just one night.” I explained.

  I chanced a look at Ava, she did not look happy. But then what woman would look happy about hearing about a woman her man had fucked. Didn’t matter how many years ago it was.

  “I haven’t seen or heard from her since that night…”

  “Oh. My. God,” Ava whispered and covered her mouth.

  “It was about six years ago,” I rushed out.

  “The little girl?” Ava paused. “Is she…”

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Holy crap, Reid. I don’t know what to say. Why didn’t she tell you?” Ava asked.

  “No last names, no numbers. She said she did try and track me down, but had nothing to go on,” I explained.

  “Do you believe her?”

  “Yes. She really didn’t know anything about me. As much as this makes me sound like a douche, we didn’t do much talking, and I didn’t make a habit of giving out personal…”