Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Havoc

A n hour later, long after Nevaeh passed out in my lap, we finally decide to call it a night.

As Crane and Kruger stand up to leave, G walks through the door, heading toward us.

His eyes turn gentle when they spot Nevaeh. “She okay?”

“Yeah. Once the shock wore off, she fell asleep. Amity?”

“Same.”

As G takes a seat, Kruger and Crane look at me, silently asking if I want them to stay.

“Might as well hear what G has to say.”

They retake their seats and wait for G to start. “Byte says there has been nothing that stood out on his end today, until about an hour ago when Khan and Driller walked into the clubhouse as if they didn’t just bail on everyone.”

“The timing can’t be a coincidence.” Crane shakes his head.

“Well, it couldn’t have been them personally. They wouldn’t have had time to shoot up the RV and make it back. But that doesn’t mean that Khan didn’t put someone else up to it.”

“I asked Byte about that. He said their only sniper is Hachette, and he’s on a run to the Tainted Saints MC.”

“And what business do they have with them? We might not be affiliated with them, but they’ve always kept to themselves.”

“I didn’t ask, but I can find out. Maybe the fact that we have no ties to them makes Khan think we won’t check the intel.”

“That would be a stupid mistake to make. But if the Tainted Saints are in some alliance with them, I have to assume they’ll lie for him. I’ll call Bishop, the president, in the morning and feel him out. Could be he’s under the impression that Khan speaks for me, and I’d like to debase him of that notion.”

“You meet Bishop before?”

“A couple of times. Once at Sturgis and once as a courtesy when they set up shop just outside our territory. The guy didn’t give much away, but he didn’t set off any red flags.”

“So we have Hachette as our prime suspect, doing Khan’s bidding. Anyone else it might be?” Hannibal, who has been mostly quiet since the attack, asks.

“I’ve been monitoring Nevaeh’s social media presence since her real identity was revealed,” G jumps in, making me tense.

“You think it could be a crazed fan?”

“I told you before that trolls are something everyone with an online presence has to deal with. People in the public eye, like Nevaeh, however, have it ten times worse. But the thing about trolls is that they’re only powerful behind their keyboards. That’s usually the case, anyway. But every walk of life has a crazy or two in it, and there are two that I’m watching right now that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, mostly because they are posting on Nevaeh’s personal page, not Celeste’s.”

“Do you know who they are?”

“No, they have usernames, and their accounts are locked down tight, so it might be worth involving the police. But as it stands right now, there have been no direct threats made, just a lot of backward and forward comments about what they want to do to Nevaeh if they see her and how they’re mad she tricked them.”

“It’s a big leap to make nasty comments behind a screen then to come here and start shooting at the clubhouse. Besides, how would they even know where she is?”

G looks at me, and I wince.

“Oh-oh, what did you do?” Crane sighs.

I open my mouth to explain myself but close it again when I realize I don’t want to admit that I was a jealous asshole.

G doesn’t have the same issue, though. “Havoc here decided to make a social media account. Mostly it’s pics of him doing whatever the fuck he does, shirtless.” He rolls his eyes at me. “The rest are photos of him and Nevaeh looking all loved up. He, of course, follows Nevaeh, not Celeste and tags her in them all.” He roll his eyes.

I groan realizing my mistake. “It never dawned on me to follow Celeste Sky because I don’t think of her as that.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. People already know Nevaeh is Celeste and clearly she isn’t bothered as she hasn’t commented back. Unless she hasn’t noticed. Either way, in plenty, you’re wearing your cut, which marks you as president and shows the club name. Wouldn’t take much sleuthing to track us down.”

“Shit, this is my fault.”

“No, I won’t rule it out as a possibility, but it doesn’t quite fit. For starters, none of her fans knew about the RV. Both Amity and Nevaeh are very careful about what they post. Anything too personal, like family or where they are living, has always been under wraps. Even on their personal accounts. This feels a lot like it was done by someone with a least a little information about Nevaeh. Information that could only really have come from someone observing the club. If it were someone from here they’d know nobody was really living in the RV anymore.”

I relax a touch thankful that we don’t have a traitor in house again.

Nevaeh stirs in my lap, so I hold tighter.

“Take her up to bed. I’m heading back now to join Amity. Nothing we can do tonight.”

I nod and agree, saying goodnight to everyone as I lift Nevaeh and hold her to my chest. I think over what G said. Though I’m not convinced it’s a crazed fan who shot up the trailer, I can’t deny that my jealousy might have naively painted a target on her back.

Hearing arguing, I turn when I get to the top of the stairs just as the noise cuts off. I see Midas pin Legs to the wall and start kissing her. Leaving them to figure out their own shit, I take Nevaeh to our room and lay her on the bed so I can strip off. Once I’m done, I gently undress her before climbing in beside her.

I tug the covers up over us and roll her into my arms so her face is on my chest. Something settles in me with her touch, just like it always does. Tonight could have been so much fucking worse. But somehow, despite it all, everyone is safe. And Nevaeh is in my arms, exactly where she’s supposed to be.

Rapid knocking on the door wakes me the next morning. When I glance over and see the alarm clock, I realize it’s actually closer to lunchtime than dawn. I guess that happens when I toss and turn all fucking night worrying some motherfucker is going to come steal my girl out from under me. My dreams were filled with blood and death, so much so that I swear I can still smell the coppery tang of it in the air.

“Havoc, we’ve got an issue.” Circus’s voice rings out.

I slip out from Nevaeh’s hold as she stirs and hurry to the door, not giving a fuck about my nakedness.

I yank the door open. “What is it?”

“Cops at the gate and some dude claiming to be Tinkerbell’s father.”

“Shit. Give us five to get dressed, and we’ll be down.”

“Alright, I’ll stall them for now.”

“Don’t let them in. If they don’t have a warrant, they can wait where they are.”

“I look like I was born yesterday?”

I glare at him until he sighs and nods.

“I’m on it.”

I close the door as he leaves and turn back to the bed. Nevaeh looks at me with wide eyes, the sheet pulled up to her chin like some kind of protective barrier. I hate it because it hides her luscious tits. Even though my dick stirs, I know he’ll have to wait.

“Did Circus just say my father is here? Here, like at the clubhouse, here?”

“That’s what the guy said. Whether he is or not, I don’t know. Get dressed, cupcake. Let’s go find out what’s going on.”

She jumps up, her movements jerky and uncoordinated. Her thoughts are undoubtedly on her father and not getting dressed. I stalk over to her and gently grip her arms.

“Take a deep breath for me, cupcake.”

She takes a shaky one before blowing it out.

“Good girl. I know this has thrown you, but I need you to keep it together for a minute and tell me what to expect. You’ve always been pretty close-lipped about your dad. At first, I thought it was the MC you had an issue with. Maybe you were ashamed, but I know that’s not it now. Is it me?”

She shocks the shit out of both of us when she slaps me across the face. It’s not a hard slap, but the shock of it renders us both mute for a moment.

“Don’t you ever say that again. If I should be ashamed of anyone, it’s me. I mean, what the hell do I have to offer you when my own father can’t even love me? I’m ashamed that you’re going to see where I come from. I hate that you’re going to hear the vile words he’ll spew at me. I don’t want to look at the brothers because I know I’ll see pity in their eyes. I’m embarrassed, okay? I was embarrassed that I stayed for as long as I did and tried so hard to get him to love me. I?—”

I yank her to me, wrap my arms around her, and press her face against my chest. Her tears make my skin slick, but I don’t move. I don’t tell her to calm down or offer her false platitudes. Something tells me this has been brewing for a long time, and I just accidentally kicked the hornet’s nest.

Once she’s calmed down a little, I pull back and tip her head up so she can look at me. Her skin is flushed, her eyes puffy and red, and her cheeks streaked with tears, yet she has never looked more beautiful than she does right now.

She always puts on a brave face, and don’t get me wrong—she is brave. But I’ve seen the glimpse she has kept hidden from me, especially over the last week. The moments of vulnerability she’s too scared to show me in case I use them against her. As much as I wanted to force her to talk to me, I knew my usual bulldozer routine could do some permanent damage, so I waited for her to come to me.

I just didn’t realize it would all come to a head like this.

“There is nothing unlovable about you, Nevaeh. I fell head over dick the second I slid inside you. I didn’t know what you looked like, didn’t know what you sounded like beyond those sexy little moans of yours, but I knew what you felt like. You felt like mine. Like I’d paid my penance, and you were my reward. Every time I learned something new about you, I fell in love all over again. But even without me…even if you’d never walked into my life, you had Amity. She doesn’t love many people. I know that. But you, you own a piece of her heart that she will never take back. You saw what she was like downstairs when she realized you might be a target. She nearly lost her damned mind, and that’s because the thought of losing you would break something inside her. You are not unlovable. You’re unforgettable, and that’s what your father’s problem is. He wants to forget because then the pain will fade away. “

“He doesn’t want to forget. He wants to live in the past. I wish he’d forget. Then, we might finally be able to move on. My sister’s death, though, has left him in some messed-up time loop.”

“He wants to forget you, Nevaeh,” I tell her softly. “Because you’re a direct reminder of all his failings. He wants a do-over so he can get everything right this time, but you’re not playing by his rules. You’re not the puppet he hoped you would be. And even if you were, I still don’t think it would be enough. He’s looking for perfection in broken places.”

She sighs, and I can tell she’s still not convinced that the problem isn’t her. I let her go so we could both get dressed, but I kept my eyes on her. She’s quiet, but she looks steady once more.

Once she’s done, she looks at me and blows out a steadying breath. “I’m ready.”

“No matter what happens today, nothing will change how I feel about you. Nothing he can say or do will ever make me walk away from you. I’m afraid, cupcake, that you’re stuck with me.”

“That might just be the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

I kiss her gently before taking her hand and leading her downstairs. Mac and Toot are there waiting. A few others are milling around, mostly minding their own business, but I see them look at Nevaeh, checking her over to make sure she’s okay. It makes me feel proud to be the president of this club. I don’t think I realized just how fucked-up my old club was until I came here and saw what a functioning family was supposed to look like.

“We’ll walk you down. G and Circus are keeping an eye on things. I sent Dice and Hoops to get some sleep. They’ve been on duty all night,” Mac tells me. I nod and give Nevaeh’s hand a squeeze.

“You should probably know…Amity is there too.”

“Ah, crap,” Nevaeh curses, making Toot snort.

“Don’t worry, she’s holding her own,” Mac reassures her.

“Oh, it’s not Amity I’m worried about. She’s protective of me. If my father talks crap about me, and he will, Amity will lose her mind. She has bit her tongue for a long time to keep the peace, but she will only let so much slide.”

“I told you she loves you,” I murmur, making her look up at me and roll her eyes, but I don’t miss the small smile on her lips.

By the time we get to the warehouse holding the bikes, we can hear raised voices. I feel Nevaeh tense again. I rub my thumb over the back of her hand in a soothing gesture. “This is why you’ve been quiet all week, isn’t it?”

“I called him when my identity was leaked. I told him the truth about everything. It didn’t go well.”

She pulls back her shoulders and lifts her head proudly, her game face on for all to see. “I’m done letting him make me feel small just to make himself feel better. I’m ready to tell him a few home truths, face to face. It’s time.”

“Okay, cupcake. Let’s do this. You take the lead, and I’ll have your back.”