Chapter 26

"Long time, Pidge," Zane drawled.

The woman on the couch with her knees bent, feet tucked on the cushion, glass of wine in her hand, smiled.

She hadn't made a single move to get up or put her wine down when we entered.

And Christ, Zane was right; it was like looking at Nebraska in twenty years. The sight was far from bad. Anna was in her fifties and a knockout. Her daughter's smile was better, or maybe it was only when she was smiling at me with her eyes lit after I said or did something she liked. Anna's grin was cocky, chalked full attitude. Something else mother had passed down to her daughter.

"Well if it isn't my old pal, Viper."

"You're losing your touch, woman," Zane noted and dipped his chin to indicate her lounging on the couch instead of moving to her gun on the coffee table in front of her.

"Saw Badger at the coffee shop yesterday morning. Figured you come knocking."

I glanced over at Badger who was staring at Anna but seemed to be looking straight through her. Totally devoid of any expression. The dude was huge—a tall, built, wall of muscle. He'd be hard to miss but still, if he didn't want to be seen, he wouldn't be. Which meant he wanted Anna to know he was there.

"And if I was coming in here to shoot you?" Zane pushed.

Anna shrugged.

"Then it was my time and what better way to go out than by the hand of the infamous Viper. Besides, you wouldn't shoot an old friend, would you?"

"Of course I would."

Her smile widened. This one looked genuine, like she found Zane amusing.

"Don't be a dick."

Dick.

Jesus.

Like mother, like daughter.

Anna dragged her gaze around the room, pausing on me. Those pool-blue eyes sized me up. I could see Zane falling for that—those soft eyes, pretty face, the desire to protect that beauty.

"All this for little me?" she quipped.

Theo, Smith, Cash, Jonas and I were spread out around the living room. None of us had holstered our weapons. Add in Zane and Badger and the show of force was mighty. If we'd wanted to take her out, she'd be lounging on the couch in a pool of blood. And we wouldn't have had to enter the house to make that happen. The curtains were open. She hadn't been hiding, and neither did we when we walked in the front door after Badger reported she was alone.

Why make shit more difficult when you could turn a handle and walk right in?

"Get up, Pidge, we got shit to do," Zane informed her.

"What kind of shit would that be?"

"The kind that means after long last, you're meeting with your daughter."

All the color drained from Anna's face. Gone was the bravado and attitude. She might've been a good actress. Back in the day she might've been able to turn on the charm and play the damsel in distress to screw Zane, but no one was that good. No one could fake that kind of fear.

"Zane—"

"It's done. It's over. It's time, Anna. You gotta daughter who's mourned you for twenty years. That ends for her today."

Anna's gaze came directly to me. Eyes pleading. Panic evident.

"You don't want to do this," Anna said, shaking her head.

"Do what?"

"You need to protect her from me."

Acid leaked into my gut as her threat registered.

"You obviously don't know your daughter or you wouldn't make that threat. She'll chew you up and spit you out before I could lift a finger. Now get your ass up and let's go."

"You don't understand—"

"What I understand is, I promised my woman I'd be bringing her mother in so she could see for herself you're alive. What you should also know—I promised to do that even if I had to cuff you and tape your mouth shut. She has some things she'd like to say to you that I suspect don't require a response, so that tape will remain in place until Viper or Badger decides what to do with you."

"Trust me, she's better off not knowing," Anna whispered.

"Woman, I don't trust you. But Nebraska trusts me so what'll it be? Cuffs and tape or are you gonna come with us and give my woman what she needs?"

I didn't miss the flinch when I said Nebraska's name.

"I had a man love me like that once."

"Yeah, you had a kid who loved you like that, too. Yet you still left them."

Anna surged to her feet, wine sloshing over the bowl, before she side-armed the glass and it shattered on the floor. Not a person in the room moved with her outburst.

"Don't you stand there and pass judgment on me, asshole." Anna's face twisted up in pain and anger. "You cannot imagine what it took for me to leave them. Both of them, but especially my daughter. You cannot for one fucking second understand the pain. The guilt I've lived with. I prayed for death. Wished for it. Without them, without her, I had nothing. I am nothing. You want to give her what she needs, you'll keep me far away from her so she can live the rest of her life without being tarnished by me. She'll forgive Charlie. He's a good man. They're a family. They don't need me fucking that up."

There was no denying Anna's pain suffocated the room; it was stifling, the magnitude of it. I felt for her—felt each of her words hit me square in the chest, felt her guilt like it was my own. But her pain and suffering weren't my problem—Nebraska's was.

"You sure about that?" I asked.

"Positive."

She didn't sound positive. She sounded broken.

"She's so much like you it's uncanny. Gives a new spin on nature versus nurture. Or maybe she had enough time with you to get both. You're fucking terrified, and instead of saying that, you're hiding behind attitude and defiance. She tried that with me, too. Called her on it and put a stop to that shit. So check it, Anna, this is how this is going to go. You're coming with us to meet your daughter. When you get there you're gonna drop Pigeon and be Anna. And when you sit across from my girl you're gonna remember she's Nebraska, not Dove, and you're gonna do that remembering she loves you. You leaving tore her apart and as much as it fucks me to admit I can't do something for her, you're the only one who can piece that back together. So you're doing it or you wishing for death all those years will become a reality. You feel me?"

Anna's gaze sliced to Zane. The anger slid out, leaving guilt and shame behind.

"He's just like you."

I wasn't sure if that was an accusation, an insult, or a statement. I also didn't give a fuck. I wanted this to be over so I could get Anna to Nebraska. I wanted that to happen quickly so I could get to work helping my woman deal with the aftermath of another hit.

I was done with this shit. Not only Anna and Charlie. I was done with Maddon hanging out there while we waited for him to strike. I wanted this over for Nebraska so she could move on and I could get busy convincing her Greece was no longer an option and Maryland was where she wanted to be.

"They all are," Zane returned. "You think I'd hire some fuckwit to have my back?"

"I'll go if you promise—"

"Lady, you're in no position to ask for jackshit," Smith spoke up.

"I think he'll make this one," Anna contradicted. "Promise you'll fix whatever I break."

She was right, I'd make that promise. But not for her, for her daughter.

I didn't tell her that.

"Let's go."

With a graceful sweep, she tagged her Sig off the table and shoved it into the back of her jeans. Zane met her at the front door. She tipped her head back and studied him for a moment.

"I never apologized," she murmured.

"Nope."

"If I did that now would it buy me your word you won't shoot me in the back?"

"You know me better than that, Pidge. On both fronts—empty apologies mean shit to me and I have enough respect to look you in the eyes when I shoot you."

"And that's why I don't let him out of the office," Layla groused. "You can't go around shooting people in the face, boss."

"Says who?"

"Says the United States justice system."

"Never heard of it."

Zane and Layla flanked Anna down the walkway to the curb. The rest of the team filed out, leaving me to take up the rear with Badger a few steps behind me. I was man enough to admit this position gave me a shiver. I didn't know the man; he was a monster, and by all accounts not a man you wanted to tangle with. So, yeah, Badger behind me—I wasn't a fan.

"You got this?" I heard him rumble.

"Yep."

"Good, then I'm gone."

I looked over my shoulder to see him peeling off through the grass. I watched as he disappeared around the corner of the house.

And just like that, Badger was vapor.

I was questioning my sanity, watching Nebraska fidget in the elevator.

"Hand," I demanded.

Nebraska glanced at my offering before she lifted her hand and placed it in mine.

"I won't leave your side."

"I know."

She knew.

No pause. No prevarication.

"You're in control, baby. Don't forget that."

"I know."

"You can leave whenever you want. We'll come back, grab our shit, and go home."

She jerked my hand and squeezed.

"Honey, I know."

Honey.

Christ. She'd said it before, both full of sarcasm and when she was being sweet. But right then it hit different.

"You seem calm," I noted.

Too calm. She was seeing her not-so-dead mother for the first time in two decades. She'd already had a rough morning and locked herself inside her head.

"That's because I am."

"Nebraska—"

"Are you going to leave my side?"

"Fuck no."

"Then there you go. Why I'm calm."

Jesus, fuck me.

I yanked her hand, pulled her to my chest, slid my other hand from her neck up to her cheek, and tilted her head back so I could catch her eyes.

Christ, so fucking pretty.

No question, I was falling, and fast.

I know.

It was just that right then I wasn't sure there was much further to fall.

And she should know that.

With a brush of my lips, followed by a touch of my tongue, her lips parted with a mewl. A sweet invitation made sweeter when she pressed closer and swept her tongue against mine. With bad timing, the elevator stopped and the door opened.

When we broke apart Cash was standing there grinning like an idiot.

So it wasn't bad timing, it was the worst timing.

My friend opened his mouth but Nebraska got there first.

"I recently learned you're impervious to name-calling. As much fun as I think it would be to test that, I'm in a hurry. So if you make a wisecrack I'll be forced to use physical violence."

"KK has a big mouth," he grunted.

"No, she was sharing with a sister the best way to stop you from being annoying."

Sister?

How long were we gone?

Cash's gaze snapped to mine, his eyes dancing with humor, which was never a good thing. He declared, "With her in tight with KK, you're fucked."

He wasn't wrong. And if I was lucky I'd never get unfucked.

"You mind letting us out of the elevator so we can get this over with?"

Cash stepped to the side, humor fading, brotherhood seeping in.

"I'll be right outside the door. If you need me, holler."

Hand-in-hand, we followed Cash down the basement corridor. He stopped at the end in front of the room we'd put Anna in. An interrogation room might not have been the coziest place for a mother-daughter reunion but there was zero chance Anna was making it upstairs into the office.

"Ready?" I asked.

My gorgeous girl looked up at me, blew out a breath, and nodded.

I opened the door, entered first, keeping Nebraska behind me.

I didn't need to see Nebraska to know when it happened. I didn't need to hear the swift intake of oxygen that whistled past her teeth. I didn't need to feel her hand in mine squeeze so tightly I courted broken bones, to know the exact moment when she saw her mother.

The air charged, the static crackled, the room sizzled.

I slowly shifted to look at Nebraska.

Grief and pain and longing, stark on her face.

Both women were frozen, suspended in a place that I would never fully understand. I was teetering on the edge of regret for allowing this to happen so soon. I should've taken time with Nebraska upstairs, prepared her, made sure she was where she needed to be before taking her to Anna. Instead, I was so hellbent on keeping my promise I hadn't stop to think of the repercussions.

"I'm…I'm…" Anna broke the silence. "I'm so sorry."

Nebraska startled.

Anna unraveled.

"I should've taken you with me. When your father found me, I should've packed you up and ran. But I was terrified he'd find me and you'd be with me. The day I called Charlie and told him what I was going to do, I knew I'd regret it for the rest of my life. I knew there'd be no going back. He begged me not to do it. He promised he'd take care of it. But I was so scared, so sure that if Dmitri found me he'd take you, I couldn't chance it. I had to keep you safe. I had to! Charlie loved us. Even before you went to live with him he loved you like crazy, loved you because you were mine. I knew he'd never let anything happen to you. I knew you were safer with me gone."

Anna paused, looked to her feet, and shook her head. Nebraska leaned closer, tucked herself under my arm, and wrapped an arm around my stomach. When Anna's eyes lifted they locked on her daughter. With another shake of her head she finished.

"I was too weak to see past my fear. Too weak to believe Charlie would make us safe and keep us together. I was terrified of losing you to Dmitri so I lost you a different way. A way I could control. If I couldn't have you I needed to know you were safe and loved and taken care of and not with a monster. I don't regret loving you enough to walk away to protect you. But I will never forgive myself for being so weak I didn't stay and fight for you."

Nebraska pressed closer, her cheek firm against my chest, her arms wrapped tightly, holding on for dear life. I did the only thing I could do and stood strong, giving her what she needed while she fought a battle I couldn't fight for her. I wanted to. I wanted to shuffle her out of the room, get her to safety, but that option was not available to me.

"Why didn't you come back?" Nebraska's question was nothing more than a whisper.

But Anna heard.

"I did. So many times. So weak I couldn't stay away even though I knew every time I got close I was bringing danger with me. Watching you graduate high school and not be the one you ran to and hugged after you got your diploma killed."

The brokenness in Anna's tone was testament to the truth behind her words. She sounded wounded.

"Seeing you graduate college, so beautiful, so happy, tossing your cap into the air, laughing with your friends after, and not being the one who you were smiling at was worse than a thousand knives to my heart. But I didn't earn that, Charlie did. I was an outsider watching my daughter, like a crazed stalker catching glimpses of you when I could. Getting close enough to hear your voice, close enough to touch you, but too terrified to show myself."

"What?"

"I'm weak, Nebraska. I should've taken you with me or I should've taken out Dmitri sooner. But he was in too deep, his death would've been avenged. They wouldn't have stopped until they found me. They would've taken you and I couldn't ever let that happen."

The they was the Russian Mob. And Anna wasn't wrong. They would've hunted down Dmitri's killer and they wouldn't have stopped until they found her. If Nebraska was with Anna, they'd either kill her or take her, the second of those options worse. A beautiful young girl… I couldn't bring myself to even think of the horror that would've become Nebraska's life without feeling murderous.

But something struck me.

"Sooner?" I interrupted to ask.

"With Maddon making his plays I knew he'd go to Dmitri. I couldn't let that happen."

Fuck me.

Fuck me.

Fuck me.

"Are you telling me we're gonna have the Bratva breathin' down our necks?" I growled.

Nebraska might no longer be young but she was gorgeous and the daughter of someone who they would consider an enemy. We could build a fortress around her and fortify it with an army and still have trouble keeping those motherfuckers from getting Nebraska.

"No. I made a deal."

She made a deal.

What the fuck!

"For the love of Christ tell me you're not standing in this office with my woman telling me you made a fucking deal with the Russian fucking Mob. In other words, putting her life in danger."

Anna's demeanor changed. The room cooled, the air wasn't quite so thick even though Nebraska was still burrowed close.

Are you going to leave my side?

Then there you go. Why I'm calm.

She hadn't lied. With me at her side she was calm.

The vibe in the room was all Anna.

The shock and longing—Nebraska.

The ugly regret and guilt—Anna.

"I know I didn't do one thing to guide you to it, and God knows I didn't earn the right to say it, but that doesn't mean I'm any less happy that you found it."

"Found what?" Nebraska asked.

"Your strength. Him. Being brave enough to give your trust to the man who holds your heart. To lean on him. To believe in him. To be strong even when you're terrified. So I didn't earn it, but baby girl, that doesn't mean I'm not all kinds of happy you have a man who's willing to do anything to protect you."

I wasn't sure I was at the point I cared that Anna obviously approved of me being at Nebraska side. However, I was pleased as fuck she gave her daughter something straight up good. But more, I was happy Nebraska got that from her mother. If nothing else, she'd always know her mother admired her strength.

So it sucked I had to break the moment, but the threat of an impending attack took precedence.

"What kind of deal did you make?"

"The kind that gave a very powerful man information he wanted in exchange for cutting a soldier loose."

"There is no such information when it comes to the Bratva. Bond is bond to them. Nothing breaks that. Period. The end."

"Bonds break quick when you watch a porno starring your enforcer and your wife."

Yep.

That would do it.

"You're positive there will be no blowback?"

"Absolutely not, seeing as I wasn't the one who put a bullet in him. Unfortunately, that honor went to Dmitri's boss, though he was kind enough to let me watch."

Suddenly it dawned on me that we were speaking about Nebraska's biological father and her back-from-the-dead mother killing him—she didn't pull the trigger but the man died by her actions.

"Baby?"

"I'm fine."

Shit on a shingle.

"Is that a fine as in you're okay knowing your father's dead or is that a fine as in I need to take you home and talk this shit out."

Nebraska pulled her cheek off my shoulder, tipped her head back, and gave me a small grin.

"My father's alive, honey. Zenith was never my father. And the world is a better place with him no longer in it."

She looked like she was telling the truth.

"You sure?"

Her grin became a smile.

"Positive. Can I have a little while longer with my mom or do we need to get back upstairs?"

I wasn't sure why she was asking me when she was in control.

But still I answered, "Anything you need."

"Anything I need," she whispered.

I heard Anna's sob rend the air but I didn't stop staring at Nebraska, and that was because she didn't stop staring at me.

I was right, I'd hit rock bottom.

There was no further to fall.