She nods at him, then takes a small step closer to me. Deciding to take a risk, I reach down and take hold of her hand, and I'm relieved when she grips it back. Prez looks down and then back up to me and smiles, while Wrath clears his throat, hiding his laugh. Fuckers.
"Nova, I think you should talk to someone about the things you have been through," Wrath tells her. "I'm not saying you have to tell us everything, we'll ask you what we need to know, but for your benefit, you need to talk to someone. I know that you don't want to, and I know that you feel ashamed. You probably think that talking is a waste of time, but I promise you it’s not." She looks up at him, and I've never seen him make himself look small before, but as he steps closer to her, he seems to shrink in size, and I'mgrateful he's making an effort not to intimidate her.
"I won't tell you my woman’s story, because it’s not mine to share. But talk to Marissa and ask about her therapist. I'm sure she could help you work through things, I know she's been great for my woman." He smiles at her then takes a small step back.
Nova blinks up at him then looks to me. "I don't want to talk to anyone," she says, barely above a whisper. "Please don't make me."
"We're not making you, sweetheart," Nitro tells her. "We expect you to give us answers to some things, but we'll never ask you to go into detail about anything you've been through, not unless you wanted to talk to us about it. We're just suggesting that it might help. Bottling this shit up, in here"—he taps the side of her head—"ain’t good for anyone. The pain has to go somewhere. Just think about it, that’s all we’re saying."
"Okay. I'll think about it," she says, giving the guys a smile. "I'm guessing you guys have some questions now?"
"We have a few if you're okay to answer them for us?" Nitro asks.
"Okay. Could I maybe get some water first, please, and maybe a painkiller?"
"What’s wrong, baby?" I ask her, worried.
She smiles, shaking her head. "I'm okay, just getting a little bit of a headache," she tells me.
"Why don't we leave it until later?" Nitro says to her. But my girl shakes her head at him.
"No, that’s okay. Let's do it now. Because if we wait until later then I'm going to get stressed, and the longer we wait, the less I'm going to want to talk." She stares at Nitro, waiting for him to respond.
"If you're sure, let’s take this inside. Ice, take your girl into Church; I'll get her some water," he says, then walks away. Wrath winks at her and follows Prez back toward the building.
I step up in front of her, letting go of her hand and placing both my hands on the sides of her face. "Are you okay?" I ask her, a little worried.
She nods and gives me a smile. I follow the movement of her tongue as she licks her lips, then steps forward and reaches up. She places a small kiss on my lips.
"What was that for?" I ask.
"For caring," she says. "I've never really had anyone care for me, other than Mason and Riley." She goes quiet, biting the inside of her cheek. "Come on, let’s go, the guys will be waiting for us," she states before grabbing hold of my hand and pulling me toward the building.
Chapter Thirty-Five
As we enter Church, she stops dead, her hand tightening around mine when she sees Data and Tongue in the room too.
"It's okay, baby,” I whisper, turning back to her. "Data is here to go over a couple of things, and Tongue asked to be in here..." I stop mid-sentence as Tongue stands from his seat and walks toward the door to close it.
He turns to Nova but keeps distance between them. "I asked if I could be in here to support you. I will explain why in a while, but you can trust me."
They both stare at each other for at least a minute. I'm not sure what she sees but she suddenly relaxes, the tension leaving her body.
He smiles at her and then retakes his seat at the top end of the table. I give her hand a little squeeze then gently pull her around the other side of the table, pulling my seat out for her, while I take the seat next to Data.
"Nova, are you okay?" Nitro asks, sliding a bottle of water and two painkillers, toward her. She looks at them, giving him a smile and nods.
"Thank you," she says, clearing her throat and then taking a drink of water and swallowing down the tablets.
"It's a little unnerving having so many people who seem to want to help me, especially people that don't really know me. I'm not really comfortable sharing the specific details, but I will answer all of your questions." She looks around the room, her eyes stopping on my face for several seconds, scanning every inch of it, like she's committing it to memory before turning back to Nitro.
"I am grateful, let me make that clear. We would have died had you not pulled us out of the car, and I can't thank you enough for that. But I have to be honest, I don't know much about MCs, and I certainly don’t know much about yours, but I understand that some things you do might not be fully legal."
Nitro and Wrath sit forward in their seats, leaning closer to her, but to her credit, surprisingly, she doesn't flinch. "You know my uncle is a police officer. Helping me and Mason puts you and the club at risk. I know you've done so much for us already and I have no right to ask, but if you could just keep us hidden until Andrea gets here, I'd really appreciate it."
"What do you mean just keep you hidden until Andrea gets here?” Wrath asks her.
"I won't ask you to put the club at risk any more than that. If my uncle gets wind of me here, he will do everything in his power to ruin you, especially if you help me," she states, so matter of fact. There is no emotion from her, but it's like she expects us to just fucking walk away and leave her. Before I even have a chance to say anything, Nitro leans forward.
