Just as Hawk had said, there had been desperation in Flick’s voice when she’d called him to ask for her favor. A favor I hadn’t thought twice about fulfilling…and using to my advantage now.
Realization flashed in Flick’s eyes. “You wouldn’t,” she breathed.
“Ah, Flick. Have you really forgotten so much about me, baby? I’m a ruthless sonofabitch who will do anything to get my own way. Don’t give me what I want and I’ll find the first jerk with a camera and tell him all about how Emmie Armstrong got me a message asking me to kill her niece’s deadbeat father.”
Fire blazed out of those blue eyes I’d fallen in love with so many years ago. “Emmie had nothing to do with that and you know it. I put the hit out. You didn’t have to take the job.”
“But I did, baby. If it hadn’t been me, you would have had any number of…unsavory characters hunting you down and wanting payment for taking out that bastard. I couldn’t let that happen, Flick. I couldn’t put you in that kind of danger.”
“Such concern.” She pursed her lips together. “Too bad I know you’re full of shit. You don’t care what happens to me, Jet. You never did. So don’t play that game with me now. Just tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you, but you leave Emmie out of this. Or I swear I’ll make your life pure hell.”
“Hell ain’t so bad, Flick. I’ve been there for so long that I’m used to it.” I let go of her hand and crossed my arms over my chest. “The only thing I want is you. You’re going to come home with me. Tonight. So go get your stuff and let’s go.”
Her eyes widened. “No.”
“Yes. Now.”
“No. I’m not going back with you. I can’t, Jet. I don’t belong there anymore. I’ve started over, I’m happy here. Emmie and her family have given me a second chance at a life I didn’t think I could continue to live through. This job, this family—they saved me. I’m not just going to walk out on them.” I saw the tears before the first one even spilled down her cheek. The pain I heard in her voice and the sight of that one fucking tear gutted me like nothing else could. “I can’t, Jet. I just can’t.”
“Why?” I demanded, hurting for her—with her. “Why can’t you come home? Just tell me that, Flick. I need to know why you can’t, because I don’t understand.”
Two more tears fell, making her lashes wet and her eyes shine brighter in the glow of the streetlight. “Because there are too many bad memories. Everywhere I turn I’ll be reminded of what happened. Of why it happened.” She wiped angrily at the tears as they fell faster. “Besides, no one needs me there. Not you, or Raven. Not even my own mother. But I’m needed here, Jet. Emmie and Mia and Jagger? They need me.”
If I could bring Westcliffe back from the dead I would, just so I could kill him all over again. The night he’d attacked Flick he’d taken more from me than just my kid that had been growing safely in Flick’s belly. He had robbed me of Flick too, knowing that she was my only weakness. Knowing that she was the one thing I would have gladly destroyed the world to protect.
“You’re wrong, Flick,” I got out in a choked voice. “You’re so wrong, sweetheart. Raven needs you. She’s been a mess ever since you left. She needs you. I. Need. You.” Another disbelieving lift of her brows had me rushing on. “Maybe you don’t believe that right now, but I’m going to prove it to you, baby. So come home with me and give me the chance to do that. Please.”
I’d never begged anyone in my life until right then. But this was fucking important. I was trying to get my world back. If Flick wanted me on my knees I’d do it, if she would just give me the chance to show her what I’d been too much of a pussy to do in the past.
That I loved her.
“I can’t,” she said again. Her gaze lingered on me as we both stood there in a tense silence—me trying to figure out how to get her back, and her seeming to find the will to walk away. “Bye, Jet.”
She turned to leave.
Fuck this shit.
“I wasn’t kidding, Felicity,” I bit out and she froze. I didn’t want to use threats, but she wasn’t leaving me much choice. I would be the ruthless bastard she knew me to be if that was what it took to get what I wanted. “If you take one more step I’ll be shouting what I did to the world. I don’t give a fuck if it causes me to have to go back to prison. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. But are you? Will your boss? How quick do you think those Feds investigating that kid’s attempted kidnapping will jump at the chance to arrest a celebrity like Emmie Armstrong on the charges of murder-for-hire?”
I watched as her shoulders slumped and then she bowed her head. She stood like that for nearly a full minute before lifting her head and turning to face me. There was pure hatred in her eyes now. “You win, Jet. I’ll go with you.”
Chapter Four
Felicity
If I thought Jet Hannigan couldn’t ever break my heart any more than he already had, I’d been wrong. Maybe more wrong than I’d ever been. My heart was shattered and I was sure that for the first time in my life I completely, irrevocably hated him.
It wasn’t like I didn’t know how ruthless Jet was. He’d do anything to get things to fall into place like he wanted them to. I’d seen it my whole life. He’d been president of the Angel’s Halo MC too long, since getting his way was a given in that kind of powerful position. Maybe I didn’t know the how, or the what, or even the who, but I did know that Jet had connections that he’d used without so much as a flicker of conscious to make sure that what he needed done was accomplished. He was an outlaw, for fuck’s sake.
At first I’d thought he wouldn’t use what I’d asked of him against me, that he might still care about me—a little. Maybe not as the woman who had warmed his bed for so many months, maybe not even as the woman who had nearly given him a son. But at least as a friend, as someone he still respected—a little.
I should have known better, though.
Now as I quietly moved around the bus, deciding on what I could take with me, I was mentally cursing myself for thinking otherwise. I was blinded by a haze of red anger and heart-broken tears. I didn’t want to leave Emmie and the little family I’d found for myself, the woman who had become just as much a sister to me as I’d always thought of Raven being. But I knew I couldn’t chance Jet running his mouth to anyone who would listen to him and Emmie getting into trouble for something I’d done.
A tiny sigh had me glancing down into the crib where Jagger was sleeping peacefully. A small smile lifted at the corners of the adorable little baby’s lips, as if he were having good dreams, and my heart broke a little more. This little boy had been my true saving grace. Getting to care for him had healed the gaping wound that had still lingered after Westcliffe’s beating. Getting to hold him, feed him, read to him, and even bathe him every night had finally given me the peace to let go of the pain of not getting to hold my own little guy.
I wiped away my tears before stroking a finger down Jagger’s baby-soft cheek. He let out another little sigh and his grin grew bigger. “Bye, sweet guy.”
A sob threatened to escape me and I quickly swallowed it before moving back into the living room. I wiped away the last of my tears, not wanting to go back outside, where I’d left Jet, with the evidence of my pain on my face. It wasn’t like he would care anyway, but I didn’t want to show him how much he could still break me.
I left a note for Emmie on the kitchenette table and grabbed the small bag I’d packed. It only held a few changes of clothes and the things my heart ached to leave behind. I couldn’t take everything with me, not on the back of Jet’s bike. Maybe Emmie would send me the rest. Or I could come back.
Yeah, maybe I could come back. When Jet got bored with having me around, when I became nothing more than a passing thought to him again. It was sure to happen. It always did.
Stepping down off the bus, I gave a nod to the two men still standing by the door. Their eyes had been on the huge biker standing several feet away. As I started toward Jet, one of the guards caught my wri
st. Surprised, I looked up at the man. He was one of Seller’s men who had been added right after the first attack on Shane and Harper’s bus. I had talked to the guy several times and had even liked him. He hadn’t told me his name, but then again none of them really did that.
“Is this what you want to do, Miss Bolton?”
I felt the tension radiating off of Jet before I felt his heat. He stepped behind me, whether to intimidate me or the guard, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t risk a fight breaking out. It would wake Emmie and Nik and who knew who else from the buses parked nearby. “Yes, I’m sure. Take care of them for me.” I gave him a smile and carefully pulled my wrist free before turning to Jet.
His face was full of that scary menace that he used when one of his MC brothers had pissed him off. That look was deadly. I put a hand to Jet’s chest and his face softened slightly. His pale, olive-jade eyes lowered to my face and he took the bag that I’d packed. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” I murmured and he gently clasped my hand in his as he led me away from the buses.
Reaching his bike, the same one I remembered riding on the back of over the years, he strapped my bag to the back and then offered me a helmet. I flinched when I saw my name on the inside of it. Jet had given me this helmet when I was seventeen, before he’d put me on the back of his hog for the first time and driven me to school.
Putting the helmet on, I watched as Jet straddled the powerful piece of machinery and put his own helmet on. Once it was in place, he turned to me and offered his hand. I ignored the zing of electricity that zapped from my palm up my arm and straight to that deep, dark place that only this man had ever touched.
Climbing onto the back of Jet’s bike brought back so many memories that it took me a few seconds to get hold of my emotions before I wrapped my arms around his waist. Only then did he start the Harley. I felt the rumble of the bike all the way to my core and instinctively tightened my hold on Jet.
Damn it, why did this feel so good? I was pissed and hurting from having to leave my newfound family. This monstrous man and his sexy-as-hell bike shouldn’t have been able to turn me on so readily.
Jet’s hands covered mine for a moment, his thumb caressing over my knuckles before I felt him blow out a hard breath. He shook his head and seconds later we were on the road heading toward Creswell Springs.
The drive back to the home I’d left more than a year before took less than two hours and by the time he pulled to a stop in the Hannigan siblings’ driveway, my legs were killing me. It had been too long since I’d been on a bike and the ride had been torturous.
As I took my time climbing off the back of the bike, I noticed that most of the lights were off in the huge house. The light over the kitchen entrance was on and the living room light as well, but that was it.
My feet were finally firmly on the ground, but when I took the first step toward the house my body protested and I couldn’t hold back the agonized groan that left me. Jet’s strong arms caught me around the waist when I would have stumbled.
“Easy there, babe.”
I shot him a glare. “Leave me alone,” I snapped as I jerked away from his touch, not caring that it made my body throb in protest of the quick movement. I glanced around the driveway, wondering who would take me home. Jet should have just dropped me off at my mother’s place on the way over, but I guess he wanted me to see Raven first.
“Hawk’s home?” I recognized the other bikes and realized that all the Hannigan boys were home. “Who’s closing the bar tonight?”
“The bar’s closed this week,” he told me with a shrug. “The new plumbing is acting up and that stupid plumber Uncle Chaz hired on has to redo the pipes in the men’s room.”
“Oh,” was all I could say to that.
Dread filled my chest as I glanced back at the house. I wasn’t looking forward to facing them. Sure I’d wanted to talk to Raven earlier that night, had been so desperate to hear my best friend’s voice that I’d actually called her, but talking to her on the other side of a phone was a hell of a lot different than coming face to face with her.
Hawk was the one I dreaded seeing the most, though. He hadn’t been too happy the one time I’d called him. He’d known what me asking that of him could mean, that if his brother agreed to my favor Jet could be risking the rest of his life—his freedom. Hawk had been so good to me after I’d lost the baby. We’d gotten closer than we’d ever been in the past, but I wasn’t delusional enough to think he had forgiven me for putting Jet at risk like I had.
“Are you hungry?” Jet asked as he opened the back door and held it for me, letting me go into the kitchen first.
“No.” My stomach was a nervous mess. I couldn’t have eaten if I’d wanted to.
“You must be thirsty. I should’ve stopped to get you something.” It was like Jet was talking to himself rather than me. He shook his head and opened the fridge. Pulling out a bottle of water, he opened it and handed it to me. “Here, babe.”
I took the water and swallowed a small sip under his watchful eye before handing it back since he still held the lid. “Thanks,” I muttered.
“Come on. I’m sure the guys are waiting up for us.” He caught hold of my hand again and held it carefully in his much bigger one as he tugged me toward the living room.
I heard the television and then a soft giggle, followed by the unmistakable deep laugh of Hawk Hannigan. Two other deep chuckles joined in.
“I call bullshit,” Colt Hannigan grumbled.
“Me too,” Raven agreed. “This shit is fucked up. I hate these paranormal activity shows.”
“Scaredy-cat,” Raider teased. “Hey! Don’t waste the popcorn.”
I stopped when I saw them all sitting on the couch and watching television. It seemed so natural, the way they were all sitting around, eating popcorn and teasing each other. No one would have known that this was a rare thing for the Hannigan siblings. They had never done this kind of thing in the past, anyway.
Raven was snuggled up against Bash on one end of the couch, a bowl of popcorn on her lap that they were sharing. Colt sat beside his sister with Hawk on his other side and a sleepy-looking Gracie Morgan tucked against his chest. Raider was sitting on the floor in front of them, his own bowl of popcorn beside him and a beer in one hand.
Jet cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention for the first time. Four blond heads snapped up quickly followed by the darker head of Bash Reid and Gracie’s red one. My gaze went straight to Raven, whose eyes—that were so much like her brother’s—were bright with what could only be relief.
“You’re home,” she cried as she jumped off of Bash’s lap and threw her arms around me.
She landed against me with so much force that it nearly knocked the air out of me. My arms went around her of their own volition and held on to her as hard as she was holding on to me. The hug surprised me. This was not the girl I remembered, the one who had hated this kind of affection. Raven had hugged me a total of ten times in our entire lives, and that included the hug I was getting right then.
Pulling back, Raven grinned down at me. “I’m so glad you’re here, Flick. Things have been crazy without you.” Her eyes traveled over my face and then down my body, as if she were looking for injuries or something. “Are you okay? That crazy bitch didn’t hurt you too, did she?”
I quickly shook my head. “No. It was just Gabriella.”
Blond brows lifted. “The rocker chick?” I nodded. “How is she?”
“I’m not sure how she is right now. Last I heard she was in stable but critical condition.” I hadn’t heard much about how she was doing since Emmie had came back to the bus and promptly gone straight to sleep with Mia in her arms.
My heart ached thinking about Emmie and Mia and I wondered if she’d woken up and found my note yet.
“Stop hogging the girl, Rave.” Colt was standing beside us now, his eyes full of warm welcome as he pushed his sister aside and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s good to see you, Flick.
I’m glad you’re home.”
I clenched my eyes shut as stupid tears burned them and threatened to spill over. Not for the first time I wondered why I hadn’t been able to fall for the youngest Hannigan brother rather than the eldest.
Colt pulled back, his eyes assessing me. “How are you?”
“She’s fine,” Jet bit out at his brother.
Colt muttered something in the older Hannigan’s direction but my attention was pulled in another direction and I missed what was said. The scratching of nails on the stairs had my head snapping up and I turned to find Toby bouncing down the stairs, his ears flopping and his big head looking in all directions as he hurried toward me.
My heart stopped at the sight of my precious dog. I dropped to my knees as Toby grew closer and let his slobbery tongue kiss my cheek. He whined happily and I wrapped my arms around his huge body. “Hey there, big guy,” I breathed into his shiny coat. “I’ve missed you.”
“Bro, you should be worried that she seems happier to see the dog than you,” Raider muttered and I lifted my head from Toby’s neck to glare at him, but Raider’s laughing eyes were on Jet.
“Shut the fuck up, Raider,” I heard Jet snarl.
“Just sayin’, brother. Just sayin’.”
Giving Toby a scratch behind the ears and a firm pat on his back, I stood and finally let my gaze go to the couple still sitting on the couch. Gracie offered me a small smile but it was the hardness in Hawk’s eyes that had my jaw clenching. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me, though.
I wasn’t sorry I’d done what I had, and if given the chance I’d do it all over again. I’d done it to offer reassurance to someone I cared about. Not just for Emmie, but Lucy Thornton as well. She hadn’t had that haunted look in her eyes in months now, ever since her parents had set her down and told her that her biological father had been killed in a prison fight. Layla had confided in me that her daughter was sleeping better at night now. It was that reason alone that I would never be sorry about asking Jet to kill Vince Grady.