Chapter 24

24

HALO

Nothing can ever prepare you for something like this. I mean, I always knew the MC had its own element of danger. Legit or not, there's always some kind of club drama going on at some time or other. I just wasn't prepared for this; for Riot to get kidnapped without a trace.

What in the hell is going on?

I pace around my parents' living room as Dad makes some calls, not that he can do much because he isn't law enforcement or an MC, but if it makes him think he's helping, then I can't stop him. Mom looks stricken but I try to ignore her. I don't need her sympathy or her input right now. All that matters is making sure Riot is found alive.

"Would you like some more coffee?" Mom asks.

I shake my head. I'm waiting for the MC. They're on their way and they told me to stay put. Star is coming, too, and I need my people around me.

I don't fit here. Not anymore. I will always love my parents, even if I can't have a relationship with my mom, but I'll always want Riot and if that means the MC then so be it. It isn't their fault that this happened. They took Riot in when he was at rock bottom. Cash has been like a second father to him along with Charles. Speaking of which, I should probably go through Riot's phone and call him. Though, it's four o'clock in the morning, so it can wait until a more reasonable hour. It's not like we can do anything.

My phone rings and I jump.

I answer it, not knowing who the number is and then I hear, "Halo? It's Cash."

I breathe a sigh of relief, though I've no idea why.

"Hello, Cash."

"How you holdin' up?"

"As good as could be expected," I sigh.

"You know much about what's been goin' on in Chicago?"

"Not much," I admit. "Just what I saw on the news, and what little Riot told me."

I don't know if it's the sound of approval or disapproval, buthe makes a distinct noise in his throat. "We're tryin' to piece it together ourselves, but the details are sketchy. Everyone Riot knew from back then is dead, or involved with Bratva."

"Bratva?" I stammer. "The Russian mafia?"

"Ironically, they aren't the bad guys in all of this."

"Holy shit."

"I've got the address for the Airbnb and your parents. Rock and Jett are looking at security footage now, but I gotta ask if there could be anyone else involved from around your hometown? Someone who would want revenge?"

"Riot beat up the man my parents were trying to force me to marry," I whisper, stepping down the hall toward my old room. I don't want Mom overhearing any of this. "He came to New Orleans and bought an apartment in my complex. Riot got very jealous and then lashed out. But I honestly don't think he's involved. He may be an asshole, but he's also a coward. If this was him, he wouldn't be directly involved; he would've hired someone. Still, it seems a stretch, even for him, and he had no clue where we were staying."

"He had a motive," Cash mutters. "And these assholes who took him left you alone, that's telling."

I swallow hard, thinking about what could have been. I don't want to think about it.

"I guess, but as much as I dislike Ian, I can't see him kidnapping Riot."

It doesn't sit right, but that doesn't mean Ian is innocent.

"Sometimes the people we think we know turn out to be the villains in disguise."

Prickles run over my skin. I know that to be true. Cash doesn't know how much that statement sums up pretty much most of what my mom thinks about all of this. Still, she was shaken up when I called her and was so distressed she and Dad had to come collect me and Cookie from the Airbnb.

"I felt so hopeless," I say. "He went out there unarmed, thinking it was just a squirrel and he got hurt and kidnapped?" My voice piques and I fight back tears.

Where is he? What are they doing to him?

I close my eyes, sitting on the edge of my old bed. Everything is as I left it six months ago.

"None of this is your fault."

"I know, but I couldn't do anything to help him."

"That's where we come in."

"The police haven't said anything, they're collecting evidence," I sniffle.

I know how the MC feels about cops, but I don't care about that. I would do anything to get Riot back, and I thought maybe the police would put a call out and even barricades. That being said, we've no idea what kind of vehicle we're looking for. It's like a needle in a giant haystack.

"We don't need them," Cash assures me. "I have men who can run circles around the PD. If there's one person in this club who knows how to survive, it's Riot. Sit tight, okay, we're comin'."

"Okay." I have no idea what to do when he hangs up, but I let the phone fall to the bed. I curl onto it and I can't stop the tears. My poor Riot. Myles. The man I love more than anything in this world. He's suffering right now. He's in trouble. And I can't help him.

I can't fucking help.

I feel a nudge at my leg that's dangling off the bed and I glance down. Cookie is nosing me and I cry even harder. I know he doesn't like me crying because he whimpers every time I do. I slide off the bed and onto the floor, landing on my ass. Cookie circles and then climbs into my lap.

"It's going to be okay," I tell him. "All of it. We're going to get Daddy home, I promise."

I rest my head back on the bed and try to think. I don't know anything about Riot's past, so I can't do anything. Then, like a brainwave, I pull my phone out.

Ian. I can call Ian.

I flick through my phone. I don't remember deleting his number, but maybe I did. I bite my lip and then realize that I didn't. Thank God. I dial and it rings out. I decide to leave a message.

"Ian, it's me, Halo. Call me back when you get this, it's urgent. I need to talk to you." I hang up. It probably won't do any good, but if I'm being honest with myself, it makes the most sense. Ian did have a vendetta, and Riot did put him in the hospital. But these lengths seem so extreme, too extreme. If Ian did this just to hurt me, then he went the right way about it.

I hear a tap at my door. I glance up and I see my mom in the doorway. "I made some tea," she says, her voice low.

"Thanks, Mom."

For once, I see some emotion on her face as she comes closer. "For what it's worth I'm truly sorry this happened, I really am. But can't you see that it's because he's in a motorcycle?—"

I'm on my feet before I can even stop myself. "Don't!" I point in her face. "Don't ever speak that way about Myles, Mom or I swear to God this will be the last time you see me. You don't know anything about him?—"

"Neither do you!"

"I know he's good and kind. He's funny and loving. He cares for people and animals, he loves his family and wishes he still had his mom. You know what he told me before I went in to see Dad? That I should give you a break. That no matter what you'd done in the past, it was only out of love. That you love me so much that you only want what's best for me."

"Well, that's tru?—"

"I'm not done!" I snap. "I wanted to agree. I wanted to see your side, but all I could see was the truth; that you don't want my happiness at all. You just want to keep up with the Joneses, and Myles doesn't fit that mold, does he? He's a biker who will bring shame upon this family, not that it would even occur to you that he loves me. He protects me and would never ever hurt me."

"Honey, you're getting upset, just calm down…"

"What's going on here?" Dad storms in, his face annoyed as he takes in my Mom, well, glares at her like I've never seen him before. Then he comes toward me and takes me in his arms.

"It's time for some home truths," he says. "What we did was wrong, Genevieve. I tried to force our will onto our daughter because I thought we knew what was best for her. I thought being with Ian, despite not knowing those vile things he said to her until recently, would make her happy. That in time, she could grow to love him, but now I see that it was just another way for you to gain control."

My heart almost stops beating in my chest.

"Rowley, your heart!" Mom presses her hand to her chest, worry written all over her face.

"Dad, Mom's right, you need to calm down."

"How can I when my daughter could've been kidnapped, too?" he roars. "My beautiful baby girl who I loved and nurtured in these two hands could have been harmed tonight, even killed."

"And that's because of him ," Mom fires back. "If he weren't in a biker gang, then none of this would be happening."

"Really?" I shake my head. "Because I seem to remember Ian showing up at my apartment and I've no idea where he could've plucked the address from."

Dad stares at Mom. "You didn't?"

Mom straightens her back. She's in fight or flight mode now. "It was just a little push. That's all. I want Lourdes to have a good life; I don't want her to struggle like we have."

My dad scoffs. "Like we have? You haven't worked a day in your life, Genevieve, and I've given you everything I possibly could to make you happy, but it still wasn't good enough."

"Dad, you really need to calm down," I say, but he tightens his grip around me.

"I won't lose my daughter over this," he maintains. "I've ignored her like a child for the last six months and for what? To keep my wife happy? Look at all she's achieved and how happy she is. When she came into my room to see me earlier, I've never seen her look so joyful. So full of life. Like the weight of the world was off her shoulders the minute she saw me. I'm proud of her, and you should be too. Whatever mess this is with Myles, we'll get to the bottom of it."

Go Dad!

"But Rowley?—"

"Don't ‘but Rowley' me," Dad warns. "You're either with us in finding Myles, or you're against us. What'll it be? Because we have to find him. If he's the man our daughter loves, then we have to get him back and standing here arguing instead of uniting like a family isn't going to help matters."

A sob escapes my chest and Dad turns, kissing me on top of the head. "I'm sorry, Dad," I whimper. "I never meant to bring any of this here, to put any of you in danger."

"Now, now," he says. "If he's half the man you say he is, then I believe you, and like I said, we'll get to the bottom of it. I know everyone in this town all the way to New Orleans. Your biker friends aren't the only ones with connections."

I smile through my tears. "Thanks, Dad."

He turns back to Mom. "So, what'll it be, Gen?"

My mom's mouth opens, then closes. "I didn't want any of this." She waves a hand at us. "At first, it was about Lourdes being happy and what I wanted for her because I was never given those opportunities when I was her age." I stare at my mom being real for once. I never thought she had it in her. "I was brought up to be seen and not heard. I married you because my parents arranged it. It's what I know. It's all I know. But I don't want our daughter to be estranged, I never wanted that."

"So then you'll agree to let her live her life?"

"Rowley."

"Gen."

She takes a long outward breath. "As a mother, these things are never easy. Yes, I told Ian where you were living because I thought he deserved a second chance. He came to me and was so heartfelt about losing you. I had no idea it was all a lie or what he was truly like, I couldn't see past my own nose."

For the first time in my life, I feel sorry for her. "It's okay, Mom. There isn't anything that can't be forgiven. Even if you did try and buy my boyfriend off. Riot isn't like that. Please don't ever do that again or we will have a permanent problem," I whisper. "But I want you both to know that Riot, that's his biker name, he isn't a bad man. I know it seems like it because, let's face it, he just got kidnapped in the middle of the night, but he did things to protect people, and I need you to believe that."

"Honey, he put your life in danger," Mom says, her words heartfelt for the first time in years.

"Not on purpose. You have to believe me when I say that whoever did this has a vendetta that isn't warranted. The NOLA Rebels are a family, they stick together. They're nothing like what you're thinking."

"And what's that, exactly?" Mom shakes her head. "We see biker gangs all the time on the television."

"They're not a gang, for one; they're a club. A brotherhood. They ride motorcycles and all have legit jobs. Cash, the Prez of the club, took Riot in when he was out of the military." Okay, that's a stretch but it's not like I can tell them he was in jail once and used to be a sniper. That conversation can wait for another time. "All of the men and women of the club are like a big family. They all stick together and they don't run away when things get rough."

Yeah, that's a little dig at my family, me included. I ran away when I should've faced the issues head on. The fact my mom is now kinda willing to listen gives me hope.

"We know you'd never involve yourself with somebody untoward," Dad says. "And someone who wasn't truly worthy of you. We brought you up to know right from wrong. We need to start respecting and trusting your decisions."

My mom opens her mouth but closes it again swiftly. "I'm sorry," she mutters. "No matter what I've done, I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

I start to shake, remembering again the blood and Riot's flashlight on the ground.

"Shh, it's okay." Dad pulls me closer into his arms. "We will find out what the hell is going on, I promise."

I nod through my tears. The fact I've dragged my parents into this mess makes me even more hysterical.

A few moments later, the doorbell chimes. My phone on the floor vibrates with Star's number. They're here.

I'm relieved that my best friend is only moments away. I need her now. I can't do this without her. I know I was her rock during the whole Tilly situation, and she won't hesitate to do the same for me.

I think about my dad's words and how much that meant to me. That we can put the past behind us if we want to and move on. I want that so much.

"I'll get it," Mom says. She leaves the room as Dad lets me go, holding my shoulders.

"I need you to be strong, my little Lourdes," he says, a gleam in his eyes. I never realized how much alike we really are. "You need to pull yourself together so we can find the man you love, okay?"

I nod. "Okay, Dad. Th— thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, I'm just glad I got you back and that you're okay. Even though I know you won't really be okay until we find him."

"I love him, Dad."

He curls an arm around my shoulders as Cookie hovers at my feet, nervously looking up at me. I smile down at him, letting him know it's okay. He seems to sense who he has to growl at and who he doesn't. My mom is still on the outs with Cookie and that almost makes me laugh.

"I know, that's why you need to save those tears for when we find Myles. He'd want you to be strong." Dad knows nothing about my man, yet he says these words of comfort because he knows that I need to hear them. In some weird, roundabout way, maybe this all had to happen. Not the part where Riot got kidnapped, but the part where I came home.

We move toward the door and Dad hands me a tissue.

I see Star and my mom, followed by an array of MC cuts behind her, Nevada right by her side.

"Halo!" She's happy to see me, but I also see the furrowed brow as she rushes toward me, sweeping me into a big hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." I nod. "I'm fine. I just feel so helpless."

She stands back from me, looking at me from arm's length. Her eyes dart to my dad and they acknowledge one another. My parents have always liked Star, more so my dad because Mom thought she was too mouthy, but Dad has spoken and Mom needs to tow the line with the people in my life. Dad's always had a soft spot for Star because she speaks her mind.

"Star?"

She takes a breath. "Where's Antoine?"

I frown. "I've no idea?—"

"I left him a message," Dad says. "He didn't pick up."

Her eyes dart back to me. "Does he own a dodge?"

"Uh, no. He's a suit, he owns a sports car. Why?"

Her eyes meet my dad's again. "What's this about?" Dad's so authoritative, but I know that Star will appreciate it. She's still sour on both my parents after how I was treated, and I can sense how hard this is for her.

"They saw a van on the security footage; a dodge," she says.

"The security footage of where?" I stammer, not wanting to hear the answer.

A heavy silence hangs between us as the men still file in. One of their own is missing and it looks like they brought the entire goddamn club.

"The security for Antoine's place. A van pulled up with two guys in it, they exchanged words with Anton and then drove off. The same van pulled up outside the Airbnb only ten minutes later. The same guys, Hales."

My mom's hand flies up to her mouth and my dad just gapes at her.

I shake my head. "No, Antoine may be many things, but he'd never do this, he wouldn't. He couldn't. "

Star places her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Hales, I really am. But it seems he can , and he did . We need to find him if we're going to find Riot alive." She looks to my dad. "Where would we find him when he's not at home?"

I stare at her, disbelieving. Nothing in the world could've prepared me for that. It's like the wind has been knocked out of my sails.

My brother? My own brother?

"I know just the place," Dad says.

And my world tumbles just that little bit more.