Chapter 31

31

Piston

I breathe deeply, my arms tightening around my woman as banging on my front door wakes me. I blink, then blink again before looking down as Natalie stirs in my arms. I smile slightly, kissing her head, before I carefully slide from underneath her on the couch, pulling the throw over her body.

I then press the button on the remote, closing the blinds, before gently stroking Bluebell.

Banging echoes again, and I curse, silently promising to kill whoever is at my fucking front door. I grab my jeans and pull them on, doing them up, then grab my tee, and run down the stairs before whoever is banging wakes up my fucking wife. It’s the middle of the night, for fuck’s sake.

As soon as I open the door, I scowl when I make eye contact with Acid.

He winces, seeing my anger. “Fuck, I’m sorry Eli, I know Nat is probably tired, I uh just…fuck.” He runs a hand through his hair, then admits, “Aurora’s missing….”

I stumble back in shock, my eyes wide before guilt takes over.

I was supposed to go to her place to help her with her math. I fucking promised.

Acid shakes his head. “Don’t, don’t look like that. This isn’t your fault; we don’t know when she disappeared, only that her dad can’t reach her, and she’s not at the house.”

I grit my teeth, my jaw tense, and I look up the stairs.

“Yeah, brother, if you think you feel guilty, just think how she’ll feel. She’ll blame herself for fighting Desiree, who deserved it,” Acid mumbles.

Anger courses through me as the thought that maybe our father took Aurora hits hard.

Trying not to smack the fucking wall, I turn and storm into the kitchen, and leave a note for Nat, Acid following.

Acid needed help with club business. Meet me at Huntsmen Grub at nine with Coop.

I Love You, Diamond xx.

I place the note on the fridge, then leave the kitchen.

Acid grumbles, “You’re so fucking whipped,” but I ignore him.

He can’t joke, hoping to ease my anger; Aurora is like a sister to us, and I didn’t go to her place as planned.

If anything happens to her, I’ll never fucking forgive myself.

I drag my hand down my face as I open the diner door, Acid following behind me.

We’ve searched for fucking hours and couldn’t find Aurora.

No one has seen her. The last person who saw her was Axe, but he said she was happy, talking about the quarterback asking her out. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the Ring door cameras showed him leaving her house two hours after his arrival, then nothing, no activity, until the feed to her yard camera was cut.

Someone fucking took her….

When we get near the counter, Perrie rushes over to us and looks at me expectantly, ignoring Acid. She asks, “Any news?”

I shake my head, and her pretty eyes tear up. Acid takes a step forward, but she dodges him and goes to the counter.

“Fuck’s sake,” Acid mumbles, and I sigh and walk over to the open booth.

Acid sits opposite me, his eyes on Perrie. I ask, “Don’t you think it’s odd that Hannah went missing at the same time as Aurora?”

He shakes his head, “No, I don’t. Hannah never wanted Axe, and as much as the brothers believed she trapped him for his cut, then had an abortion as soon as she got it, knowing Steal wouldn’t allow him to take the cut back, I don’t believe it. She was miserable with him, Eli, and I believe she only told him about the pregnancy out of duty, not realizing how bad he was.”

I nod in agreement and murmur, “He has that look,” just as Perrie brings us coffee. “Thank you, sweetheart,” I say, and she gives me a small smile while Acid grabs her hand, making her tense.

“Can we talk, Tinker?” he asks, and she scoffs, pulling her hand back.

She snaps, “No. Why don’t you go talk to your baby momma instead?" then she storms off.

I chuckle, I can’t help it. “You’ve got your hands full with that one, brother. You never should have touched that bitch….”

He groans, dropping his head on the table, mumbling, “I was fucking drunk,” like that kind of excuse would fly with Perrie.

The door to the diner opens again, and I smile tiredly.

“Piston!” Cooper says excitedly and runs over to me.

I grin and give him a hug before he sits next to Acid, who fist bumps him, giving my brother a moment to forget our problems. My one and only walks over wearing a dark blue maxi dress and my property patch, her hair up in a messy bun.

She waves at Perrie, who pulls a funny face at her, making Nat giggle before she comes my way. Her eyes soften when she sees me, and her steps quicken. When close, I pull her down next to me, my arm instantly wrapping around her, my face going into the crook of her neck, breathing her in as I place my right hand on her stomach.

So far, everything seems to be going well, and as long as she takes it easy, then her pregnancy should go to full term.

“Any news?” she whispers, and I shake my head.

As soon as Nat woke and saw my note, she called. I was in my room at the clubhouse, knee-deep in footage, and I knew I had to tell her.

“We’ll find her baby, one way or another, we’ll find her. We’ve put feelers out, and her dad is coming home from duty,” I say, and she nods, placing her hand on top of mine over our baby. I kiss her neck before sitting up and looking at Coop.

I furrow my brows when I see him and Acid looking toward Perrie, and I ask, “What are you two planning?”

Cooper grins. “Well, Acid wants Perrie to talk to him, but he messed up, right?” Nat and I nod while Acid grins, and Cooper admits, “I’m going to go to the back and call for her to help, but when she comes, Acid will be there, and I’ll come back out here.”

I wipe my mouth to suppress my smile while Nat outright laughs and says, “Your funeral, Acid.”

He shrugs and high-fives the kid before standing. He walks to the back, making out like he’s going to the bathroom, but turns off down the hallway. Cooper claps his hands once and rubs them together, mumbling, “Acid get Perrie back, take one….”

I burst out in laughter as he salutes us and gets up, going down the hallway, while Nat mumbles, “This plan is so going to fail….”

I grin. “But, fuck, it’s going to be funny to watch, and I believe we need a little bit of funny right now.”

Natalie looks my way, her deep blue eyes teary, and she asks, “ He didn’t take her, did he?”

I soften, cupping her cheek, and I can’t lie. “I don’t know, baby. I have every feeler out there, but the fact Hannah is gone as well….”

She cuts in, “I don’t trust Axe. I’m sorry. I know he’s your blood cousin, but I don’t trust him. Hannah didn’t want him, Eli; she was miserable. Something isn’t right there, I’m telling you now, something just isn’t right….”

I nod, agreeing, “I know, and Steal has agreed to watch him closely….”

She nods, then presses her forehead to my chin and grips my tee before Cooper sits down out of breath, and we hear, “I mean it, Acid, open that damn door, or I swear the baby that whore is carrying will be your only one!”

Nat winces, and my eyes widen as Cooper states, “He locked the door.”

“Well, it looks like I’ll be planning his funeral soon,” I say, and Nat giggles.

“Are you okay now, Sissy?” Cooper asks, and I furrow my brows in confusion.

Why wouldn’t she be alright, or does he mean because of Aurora?

Natalie sighs. “I will be, Bud.” She looks at me and sees my confusion, then says, “Hey, Coop, why don’t you go ask Monica to make you a milkshake?”

His eyes brighten, and he scrambles to stand, making us laugh. Once he’s gone, I sigh and gently demand, “Explain, Diamond.”

She groans, keeping her eyes on her brother, and explains, “Billy was at Henry’s when I went to pick up Coop.” My eyes widen. She shrugs. “Her husband found a picture of me that I didn’t even know she had, and he questioned her. She apparently told him she gave me to Henry but left out the part where she left me outside on the flipping doorstep. The husband was with her, and Henry looked ready to kill her….”

I growl, “What happened?”

She scoffs. “Her husband was completely unaware of the tension and asked me to spend some time with them at their home, that he wanted to get to know his stepdaughter like Billy has gotten to know his kids, who apparently are not hers. I snapped. I told him what my birth mother did, what my step-monster did, and how my father treated me, and that the only reason I speak to Henry is because of Cooper.” She shrugs. “I took Cooper’s hand and headed to the truck which, by the way, I love driving….”

I give her a small smile, but she shakes her head, grips my cut, and demands, “Don’t! I’m not sad about it, Eli. I have my family. I have you, Acid, Perrie, Cass, Cooper, the whole clubhouse.” She leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips, and whispers, “We other things to be worried about; Aurora, Perrie and Acid, Cassidy and Steal, Aiden…the baby…. Those other people do not count; they do not even deserve a breath.”

I nod and kiss her as Cooper sits down with his chocolate shake before we hear a loud bang and cursing. Nat and I break apart as Perrie comes out from the back, her hair a mess, and heads our way.

Cooper freezes, but Perrie smiles at him and says, “Pancakes?”

I tilt my head while Cooper nods slowly, and Nat asks, “Uh Perrie, you good?”

Perrie gives her a big grin and says, “Peachy. I think Acid forgot who trained me….”

I furrow my brows before Acid hobbles out from behind the counter, holding his junk. Natalie covers her mouth, trying not to let her laughter.

His shirt is a mess, his lip is bleeding, and he’s hobbling—I laugh my ass off!

Slowly, he takes a seat next to Cooper, wincing as he side-eyes Perrie, who ignores him and raises a brow at us.

I clear my throat. “My usual, please, Perrie. Two large breakfasts, and pancakes with fruit….”

She nods, smiles, turns, and walks away, and Nat and I look at Acid with raised brows.

He grins, despite the state of him, and he admits, “We made out before she realized what she was doing, and kicked the shit outta me.” Natalie’s body shakes with her laughter, and Acid says, “She’s still mine….”

Laughter bubbles up while Acid sits there proud that Perrie beat him up, all while Cooper is drinking his milkshake like nothing happened.

Fuck, it’s going to be a long couple of months….

Natalie leans into my side, and I smile, pressing my lips to her forehead.

Aurora is missing, Aiden is still at large, and Perrie is ready to kill my brother, who has a crazy bitch on his ass. There’s so much going on, but with this girl by my side, I know everything will be okay.