I grin. “What hurt more, man? Your jaw or your pride?”
Spider snorts. “We both know I have a glass jaw, asshole. That’s the only reason why you aimed for it. Probably the reason your ass got away before I even knew what was going on.”
“Probably.” I nod, leaning against the counter. There’s no probably about it. I’m not stupid. Spider is the only one that equaled me in a fight, except for Jet, but he’s in prison.
“So, who’s been causing trouble?” Spider finally stops playing with the computer and grabs a bottle of water from the mini fridge.
“It isn’t anyone in the club...” I grimace “...yet. Hawk will probably go apeshit once he finds out though. I’m trying to keep it quiet as long as possible.”
“Let me guess. Frat boys?”
Felicity had come to me yesterday. She was hearing whispers on campus. The frat boys realized it was us that burned their house to the ground. They wanted revenge. Sure they could go to the cops, but there’s no way that they can prove which of us had set the fire. Instead, there’s talk of burning down something that the club treasures as much as the frat boys treasure their house. Felicity says there’s two possibilities.
The warehouse or the bar.
I couldn’t care less about the warehouse. That place is insured for twice what it’s worth, and if it goes up in flames we’ll just build it again. The bar? That’s a different story altogether. It’s insured, probably for more than it’s worth, but money won’t replace what’s lost if something happens to it. Raven’s great-grandfather had built that bar. It’s the club’s safe haven, our home away from home. No matter what’s going on in our lives outside the club, once one of us steps through those doors, nothing else matters. The bar’s sacred.
I tell Spider what Felicity said, watching as his eyes narrow dangerously. “I’ll do some recon.”
“Call me as soon as you find out something.”
Chapter 20
Raven
Things are starting to settle down at home. I don’t feel as if I’m being pulled in a hundred different directions. Lexa and I grow closer every day. I’m—albeit reluctantly—developing a friendship with Willa. Gracie has become a part of my everyday life.
Bash is wrapping himself tighter around my heart. I sleep in his arms every night, make love with him every night. Make love, not have sex or fuck. He makes slow, passionate love to me every night, and at times I find that I’m moved to tears because it’s so perfect.
Something isn’t perfect though.
I should have known something was wrong and realized sooner that she’s not in a good place. Swallowing hard, I crouch down in front of the big dog that’s sitting outside of my front door.
“Her note said to bring him here,” Marcie Bolton, Felicity’s mother tells me as she sits the huge bag of dog food down beside the scary looking dog. “She said that you would take better care of him than I would.”
I lift my hand and scratch the top of Toby’s head. The bullmastiff whines in pleasure, his big tongue coming out to lick my chin. I give him a small, sad smile. Jet had given Felicity the dog two years ago for her birthday when he was just a puppy. Between the two of us, Felicity and I have trained him well. He’s huge and terrifying. His dark, rich red coat gleams with health, his head broad and his face all wrinkled. Toby weighs at least a hundred and thirty pounds. He’s also the gentlest dog I have ever known.
Swallowing hard around the lump in my throat, I stand. “I’ll take him.” I whisper.
“I don’t know where she went …” Marcie breaks off, blowing cigarette smoke away from me because she knows I’ll punch her in the mouth if she blows it at me. “Her letter just said that she needed some time … away.”
I nod, blinking back tears that I don’t want anyone to see. “She hasn’t been the same since Jet went to jail.”
“It was before that, Raven. Losing the baby messed with her.”
The world around me freezes. “Baby?” I whisper.
Marcie nodded. “Westcliffe’s beating made her miscarry. She didn’t tell you?”
I don’t answer, can’t even if my life depended on it. Felicity had lost her baby. Was it Jet’s? Oh dear lord! Why didn’t she tell me?
Lexa’s small hands touch my bare leg, making me jerk in surprise. “A puppy! Hi, puppy.” She giggles when Toby licks her face, leaving a trail of drool over her beautiful face.
Clearing my throat, I pick Lexa up. “This is Toby. He’s going to stay with us for a …while.”
“Raven, who is it?” Bash walks toward us with his hair still tangled from our crazy night of lovemaking and a pair of sweatpants on. I woke up early this morning to start breakfast but had been interrupted by the ringing of the front door bell. When he sees Marcie standing on the other side of the door his eyes narrow. “What’s going on?”
My chin trembles and his arms wrap around me instantly. The feel of his warm, strong arms around me breaks the dam within me and I’m powerless to keep the sob inside a second longer. “Flick ran away.”
Felicity
San Quinton is California’s oldest prison. It’s the only prison that holds male prisoners on Death Row. It’s set on four hundred and thirty-two acres of waterfront real estate overlooking the north side of San Francisco Bay and is where Jet Hannigan is to spend his prison sentence.
I probably shouldn’t have come. He doesn’t want to see me and actually called me twice to tell me that I’m not allowed to come see him. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t want to see me. I need to see him. Once. Only one time before I leave everything behind.
For weeks now I’ve been planning on leaving, ever since I got the letter that offered me the job that I applied for back in January. I hadn’t been expecting to get the job and didn’t even know if I really wanted it until very recently. A background check was done and I was sure that would have been the end of the job altogether. No one wants someone like me—a girl that’s grown up in and around a MC around their children. But the offer’s been made with a contract that includes great benefits and crazy-good money.
I realize that I need this new start. I need to get away from everything that reminds me of what I’ve lost and what I’ll never have—what I never really had to begin with. My heart breaks more and more every day. My soul is withering away.
My heart, my soul won’t let me leave without seeing him one last time though.
You have to make an appointment to see an inmate at San Quintin. I made mine at the very last minute and am lucky to have gotten an appointment at all. Now I sit in the receiving room, anxious to get this over with so I can move on with my life. I’m terrified too. Terrified that I won’t be able to tell him goodbye …
“I told you not to come.”
I refuse to raise my head immediately at the sound of that strong, male voice. Instead I gather my courage and slowly lift my eyes to find him taking the seat across the table from me. Dammit, why does my heart have to skip a beat every time I see him?
His dirty blond hair is longer. I ache to run my fingers through it. He has a few days’ worth of beard on his face and his jade green eyes are dark with anger, and even though I’m sure I’m seeing only what I want to see, what I need. He’s gotten leaner but his muscles are more defined. Jet looks dangerous, and stupid me I’ve always been a sucker for that. I ache to touch him as I once thought I had the right to touch him. My body throbs with a need that will never be satisfied by him ever again.
“I won’t stay long,” I assure him, proud of myself for not showing him how torn up I am inside. I feel as if I’m cracking, ready to shatter from the inside out. “I just wanted to tell you goodbye.”
Jet’s entire body jerks. “What do you mean?” He growls. “I’m getting out of here in three months, Flick. Three months and I will be home, so don’t come in here and start spouting melodrama. That’s your mom’s MO, not yours.”
I clench my hands together under the table so he won’t see how they tremble. I’m neve
r going to let him see how he affects me again. “I won’t be in Creswell Springs when you get out. I’m leaving and I don’t plan on going back.” I lift a shoulder in a half shrug, like it doesn’t matter to me, like I’m not ripping myself apart by leaving everything I love behind. “I figured I owed you a face-to-face farewell though.”
His hands are linked together with handcuffs and a length of chain. They make a loud echoing noise throughout the room as he pounds his fists on the table. “No. I won’t let you go. You can’t fucking leave.”
“Why would you even want to stop me?” I demand, confused by his vehement reaction. “We had a short and crazy affair. It meant nothing to you. I meant nothing to you. If anything, I would have thought you would be happy to see me leave, Jet. Now you can go back to the way things were before I stupidly told you I loved you.”
“I don’t want things to go back to the way they were!” he yelled, looking wild. The guard that was standing five feet behind him took a step forward. “I don’t want the fucking club or anything else. I just want you to be waiting when I get home. So go home, Flick!”
“I can’t. I won’t.” I stand, ready to go before I break down and beg him to love me. “I have to move on with my life, and I can’t do that in Creswell Springs. I can’t do that anywhere near you. I’ve tried to stop loving you, and I’ve tried to hate you. I can’t do either. I only have two options left. Kill myself to get away from all of this pain … or leave it all behind.”
“Flick!” He jumps to his feet, making the guard behind him take another cautious step closer. “Don’t go. Don’t do this to me.”
“Bye, Jet,” I murmur. With one last look I take all of him in. One last look and I’ll go. Biting the inside of my cheek to keep from saying another word, I turn away.
“FLICK!” he roared my name behind me.
I don’t glance back.
--
The flight from San Francisco to LA isn’t very long. It’s the first time I’ve ever set foot on a plane. I’m terrified of heights, so it was far too long for my comfort. I could have driven the distance in several hours, but I have my reasons for not taking my Jeep.
I had to sell the Jeep to pay for my plane ticket. Plus I know that the club can track me through the Jeep. They have connections in every branch of law enforcement. I’ve cut up my credit cards, drained my bank account, and tossed my cell phone. I leave everything they can use to trace my location behind.
Once I get my two pieces of luggage, full of the only things I now own, I grab a cab and tell the driver the address. When I’d faxed the signed contract back to my new employer I told her I’d be arriving today. When she suggested she send a car for me, I declined, needing the extra time to myself to let go of everything I just walked away from.
I’m not surprised by the gate into the community or the big beefy guard that stops the cab driver as he pulls to a stop. I roll down my window and give the man my name. After a moment of consulting his clipboard, he nods and the gates open. I smile at the guard as the cab goes through. He reminds me of Uncle Jack in a way.
It takes ten more minutes before the driver stops in a driveway behind two large, black SUVs and one smaller red sports car. The driver opens the door for me before moving to the back of the cab to unload my luggage. I step out, my legs shaking. I’m about to walk into a new world. One that’s foreign, but one that I hope will be beautiful and healing for me.
Biting the inside of my cheek for what has to be the thousandth time, I comb my fingers through my freshly cut hair. I went straight from San Quintin to the closest salon. If I’m going to let everything go and move forward, I want to do so as a completely different person. My hair is short, spiky, and a vibrant cherry red. I love the new look, but I wonder if Raven would have too?
The cab driver gives me a small, friendly smile as I come around the back. I hand him the money I owe him along with a tip. “Thanks,” I mutter, taking hold of the two rolling cases.
I finally look at the house I’m going to call home for the close foreseeable future. I have never imagined living in a beach house in Malibu before, have never thought that I’d be using my Early Childhood degree on anything more than teaching kindergarten.
Now here I am about to start my first day as a nanny.
Slowly, I walk toward the front door. I press the doorbell and wait. My heart is racing as I suddenly wonder if I’m doing the right thing. I’ve left everything—everything—behind. The people that I love are probably frantic looking for me.
I swallow my anxiety. It’s okay. I still have time. The cab driver is only just now turning around. I turn, ready to wave him down. I’m going to go home. I want to go home.
No! No, I’m not going to go home. There’s nothing for me back there, nothing but a broken, empty shell of the girl I’d once been.
Thankfully the door opens and my anxiety quiets. I lift my eyes to find a man with messy hair and startling ice blue eyes staring down at me with a grin on his too sexy face. A Demon. The husband of my new boss. “Hi. I guess you’re the nanny Em hired.” He steps back welcoming me inside. “I’m Nik.”
More from Angel’s Halo coming end of 2014…
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Terri Anne Browning, Angel's Halo
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