Revive (Storm MC #3) (25 page)

I eyed Griff and J.  “You two come up with anything?”

“Nothing,” Griff said, quietly.  He’d been acting strange all week, and even today he was off.  I made a mental note to talk to him when I get a chance; to make sure he was alright.

“I called some of the boys in Adelaide to see if they knew anything.  Not one fucker seems to have a fucking clue,” J said, clearly frustrated.

Kick listened to everyone, and then informed us, “You were right about Marcus wanting back in on the drugs.  Our supplier told us that Marcus approached him yesterday.  He told the supplier he’s got some loose ends in the club to tie up, and then he’ll be good to go.”

Not what any of us wanted to hear. 

“Thanks for that info, Kick,” Scott said.  I noticed the stress that was clear on his face.  This was taking its toll on him, and he’d grown moodier than usual over the last week.

Kick made to leave.  He eyed me.  “Nash, I’m gonna head home now, brother.  Thanks for the bed.”

I slapped him on the back.  “It was good to see you, man.”

He jerked his chin at everyone, and then left us to discuss our plan going forward.

Blade was the first to speak.  “This isn’t going to be as easy as I first assumed.  I’ve got some of the best guys around working on this, and they’re not finding anything.  Marcus is smarter than I gave him credit for.”

Scott nodded.  “Yeah, I’m realising the same thing.  I’d really like to know who the fuck this Blue guy is.  If Marcus is looking for him, there’s a damn good reason.”

Blade opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted when Madison barged into the house, followed closely by Harlow and Velvet.

J stood as soon as he saw Madison.  “What’s wrong, baby?”

She pushed her way through us, and pointed at Harlow.  “She’s sick, and we were close so I brought her here.”

Harlow was holding her hand over her mouth and bolted into the bathroom.  Scott followed her.

Velvet made her way to me, and I pulled her close, and asked, “What’s wrong with Harlow?”

“She started vomiting, no warning, just hung her head out of the car window, the poor thing.”

“So, girl’s day is off?”

She grinned at me.  “Maybe.  You got a better option for me?”

“Fuck, yes, I’ve got a better option for you, sweet thing.  I’m always full of better options.”

She whispered in my ear, “So long as it involves your favourite body part, I’m down.”

I slid my hand over her ass, pulling her even closer to me.  “Oh, you’ll be going down alright, darlin’.”

She moaned, softly.  No-one else in the room would have heard it, but I did.  And it hit me right in the dick.  I looked over at Griff.  “We finished here?” I asked.

He nodded.  “Yeah, not much more to discuss at this point.”

Thank fuck for that.  “I’m out of here then, brother.”

Velvet gave me a strange look. 

“What?” I asked.

“I need to check with Madison first, to make sure she’s okay with calling it off.”

“Well, hurry that the fuck up, baby,” I muttered.

I watched her ass sway as she made her way to Madison.  She had those tight fucking jeans on again today, and I couldn’t wait to get her home and get them off her. 

“What are you thinking?” she asked when she came back to me.

I smirked.  “I was just thinking I’d be doing you a service by taking those jeans off.”

She raised a brow.  “Oh, really?  And how’s that?”

“They’re so fuckin’ tight, so I’d be helping you breathe properly again.”

“What would I do without you, Nash Walker?  You’re just too good to me.”

Chuckling, I agreed, “I really am.  Now get your ass out to my bike so I can make good on my promise to help you breathe again.”

***

N
ash

I watched Velvet sleep later that night.  We’d ended up spending the rest of the day and night together.  I’d introduced her to more of my talents in her bed, the shower, and on her dining table.  She’d fallen asleep just before eleven pm, and I was left alone with my thoughts.  Not a good place to be; not tonight.

I’d tried to talk to Velvet tonight, but the words got trapped and I couldn’t force them out.  She’d known, too.  And the thing I fucking loved about her; she didn’t push the point.  It was like she instinctively knew that I needed the time and space to sort my shit out.  And with each day together, I knew I’d get there.  I had that much faith in us.

I brushed a soft kiss across her forehead before laying back on the bed.  I placed my hands behind my neck, and settled in for a long night.  There would be no sleep tonight; I was fairly sure of that.  All there would be were memories.  I did it every year; dredged up the memories that should have been the beginning of many more.  But we’d fucked it all up.  There were no more memories to be had.  And all that was left were the ghosts that haunted me.

Storm ~ Lifehouse

V
elvet

I rolled over and reached for Nash.  The bed was empty though.  Sitting up, I listened to see if I could hear him in the house.  Nothing.

My feet hit the ground a moment later, and I went in search of him.  He’d been off last night, and I was concerned.  I found him in the kitchen, leaning against the bench with a coffee in his hand.  He turned when he heard me, and I sucked in a breath at the sight of his face.

He looked ravaged.

I started to walk towards him, but he placed his coffee mug down and took a step away from me.  I stopped, not sure what was happening.  It was big though, whatever it was.

He spoke first.  “I’ve got some club stuff to take care of today, so I’ll be busy all day.”  His voice was off; ragged almost.

“Okay,” I said, carefully.

He didn’t move though, just stood watching me, warily.  I wanted to go to him, to comfort him.  But I knew he wouldn’t allow that so I didn’t move.  I waited for him, for his next move.

Taking a step in my direction, he said, “I don’t know when I’l be finished, so we shouldn’t make any plans for tonight.”  He took a breath before adding, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

That was like a slap in the face, but I knew deep down that he hadn’t meant it the way it came out.  I also knew he needed me to let him go.  I nodded.  “Okay.”

He blinked, like he hadn’t expected that to be so easy.  “Okay,” he said, and he left without a kiss goodbye.  I watched him go, my heart heavy.  The worst part was, I had no idea why.

***

A
couple of hours later, I was dressed and at a loose end.  Nash was on my mind; I couldn’t think about anything else.  I’d sent him a text message but he hadn’t replied.  There was something very wrong with him; I knew it in my gut.  And being the kind of woman I was, I couldn’t not check in on him so I grabbed my car keys, and made the short drive to the Storm clubhouse.

His bike was out the front, and I entered the clubhouse with a small amount of hesitation.  I didn’t want him to think I was checking up on him; there was a difference between checking up and checking in, and it was the latter I was doing.

The first thing I noticed was that the clubhouse was pretty empty.  Sunday morning; I guess most of the boys were having a quiet day at home.  The second thing I noticed, or rather, heard, was yelling coming from the bar area.  And it was Nash’s voice that I heard.  And, holy shit, I’d never heard him so mad.

I hurried in the direction of the yelling, coming to a halt only when I found him.  He was yelling at a woman, and his focus was so intently on her that he didn’t see me.  I could see both their faces from where I was standing, and she had tears streaming down hers.  Nash, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode.  He towered over her, and his voice thundered out abuse.  I struggled to make out what he was yelling; I was actually more concerned for the woman at this point.  He looked like he wanted to kill her.

Finally, I decided to step in, for her safety mostly.  “Nash,” I said as I moved toward him.

His head spun around to face me, and he stopped yelling.  But, it was like he didn’t even recognise me.  Wild eyes frantically searched my face, as if he was trying to place me. 

The woman took the opportunity to yell at Nash now that he’d stopped yelling at her.  “I lost him too, Nash; not just you.  I’ve struggled just as much as you - ”

He whipped his head back around to face her, and cut her off.  “I don’t give a fuck about you and what you lost.  If you hadn’t fucked your way through your friends, none of this would have happened,” he roared.

Gabriella.

Shit. 

She stunned me with what she yelled back at him.  “I wasn’t the only one who fucked up, Nash.  You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants either.”

Wow.  Hadn’t seen that coming.

Her words seemed to jar him.  And from his reaction, I knew what she’d said was true.  I could also tell he felt tremendous guilt about something; perhaps about cheating on her, I wasn’t sure. 

He pushed his hand through his hair.  It looked like he was doing battle in his mind about something.  And then, suddenly, he turned and punched the wall near where they were standing.

“Fuck!” he yelled, and punched the wall again.  The force of his punches put two huge holes in the wall, and I could see he was going to punch it again.

“Nash!” I yelled at him.

He twisted to look at me.  This time, I’d managed to get through to him; recognition crossed his face.  But he was in a wild state, and I didn’t think I had any hope of calming him.  Shit, I wished that Scott or one of the boys was here.  I pulled my phone out with the intent to call Scott, but Nash was on the move. 

He didn’t give Gabriella another moment’s attention, and he didn’t say anything to me.  Instead, he stalked out of the clubhouse, and to his bike.  I rushed after him, yelling out his name, but by the time I caught up with him, he was already on his bike.  He looked at me for a long moment before roaring off.

Shit.

I knew he needed me, but with no idea where he’d go, I was stuck.  My phone was still in my hand, and I figured it was definitely time to ask for Scott’s help.  I called him, but he didn’t answer.  I tried again a couple more times.  Still no luck.  Bloody hell, why wasn’t he answering his phone?

Gabriella hadn’t come outside, and although I felt like perhaps I should have gone to make sure she was okay, I wanted to find Nash more.  And I had an idea; his mother might know where he went.  So, I put his ex out of my mind and drove to Linda’s house, hoping like hell she was home.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled into her driveway, and was relieved when she answered her door.  The minute she saw me, she knew something was wrong and ushered me inside.   

“Is he okay?” she almost whispered.

“No.  He just had a huge argument with Gabriella at the clubhouse, and then he took off.  He’s in a very bad state, Linda, and I have no clue where he would have gone.  Do you?”

Her eyes filled with tears, and her hand covered her mouth for a moment.  “He’ll be at the cemetery.”

“What?”  I couldn’t fathom why she’d said that.

She reached out and squeezed my hand.  “You need to go to the Mount Gravatt Cemetery; that’s where he’ll be.” 

There was an urgency to her voice, and the way she said it made me believe she was right.  I decided not to stand there and ask questions.

“Okay,” I said, softly.

She didn’t say anything else; she simply nodded at me, trusting me to look after her son.  I felt the weight of that, and hoped I could give him what he needed.

Thank fuck it was a Sunday.  The traffic wasn’t too bad.  I did speed a little though, but fuck it, I had a good reason.  On my way there, my mobile started ringing.  Normally, I wouldn’t be bothered answering it, but I figured it might be Scott or even Nash, so I pulled over and answered it.

Nash
. 

“Nash, where are you?” I begged him to tell me.

There was no sound on the other end, except for his ragged breathing.  When he spoke, his strangled voice shredded my heart a little bit.  “Velvet... I need you,” he pleaded.

“I’m on my way, baby.  Where are you?”  I fought tears.  Nash was drowning in his pain, and all I wanted to do was put my arms around him, and hold him.

“The cemetery...”  He choked on his words, but I had the information I needed.

“Okay, I’ll be there in about ten minutes,” I promised.

He hung up without saying anything else, and I planted my foot on the pedal.

I found him fairly quickly when I arrived at the cemetery.  He was on his knees, hunched in front of a gravestone.  It was an overcast, cold day, and he cut a forlorn figure in the distance.  I hurried to where he was, out of breath by the time I got there.  He heard me just as I got to him, and he turned his head to look at me.

The look of pure agony on his face threatened to rip my heart apart.  The Nash hunched on the ground in front of me was not the Nash I knew.  And yet, he was.  This was the missing piece to Nash; the piece of the puzzle that had been missing for so long.  I’d grown to love this man, but I’d often struggled to connect the two sides to him that he showed me.

I knelt next to him.  I didn’t touch him, didn’t say anything.  It was up to him now to do what he needed to do.

His anguished voice sliced through me.  “He would have been thirteen this year.”

A sob escaped my lips.  Oh, God.  I hadn’t wanted it to be true, but it was.

“Aaron.  That was his name.”  His voice cracked, and he stopped talking.  His pained stare locked onto mine.  He needed me like never before.

I gently touched his arm.  “What happened, baby?”

His chest rose and fell unevenly, and he expelled a long breath before finally giving me the missing piece of his story.  “She cheated on me, over and fuckin’ over, but I wouldn’t have my son grow up without two parents so I tried to make it work.  Fuck, the shit I put up with from her; that bitch should never have been a mother.  Then, I fucked it all up myself.  I’d been drinking, and her best friend threw herself at me, and I thought ‘to hell with it’.  I wanted to make her fuckin’ hurt.”  His wild eyes searched mine, frantically.  “It was once.  I only did it once.  She found out, and went mental.  Said she was gonna leave me and take Aaron, and never let me see him again.  I was furious; no-one was taking my son from me.  But she managed to get him into the car and she left.  And that was the last time I saw my son.”