Nitro shakes his head. "Where is Nova?" he asks.
"Asleep in my room. What's going on?"
He looks to Wrath then turns back to me as I hit the bottom step. "Blades called. Her uncle, he’s in the garage, asking to speak to us."
My stomach sinks. The garage is connected to the compound, but you can't get to the clubhouse through the front of the shop, you can only get onto the grounds through a side door that is in the back of the building. My head spins around the main room, looking for Mason. "Where's Mase?" I ask, panicked.
"Relax, he's good. Georgia has him in the cinema room," Wrath tells me, placing a hand on my arm, trying to calm me down.
"Fuck. What the fuck are we going to do?" We hadn't talked about this, we haven't had a chance to discuss what our next plans are.
"We are going to go over there and act like we don't know anything. We’re just going to see what he wants," Nitro states.
"Is it not going to look a little suspicious if the three of us all head over there?" I ask. I can't think straight.
"No. He asked to speak to the people who pulled the kids form the car. So, we're going to go over there and see what he has to say," Nitro tells me calmly. "Brother, you're normally so cool, what's going on?" he asks.
I shake my head then look up toward the top of the stairs. I know she's not there, but I just needed to check.
"Ice," Prez prompts.
"Sorry, Prez, I just don't like the fact that he's so close to her, to them. I'm nervous," I admit.
Wrath slaps me on the back, pushing me to start walking. "She's safe in here, brother. They both are. The fucker will have to go through all of us to get to her," he states, as he strides off ahead.
"Yeah, but what about Blades?" I mumble.
Nitro stops and turns to me. "Blades understands that she's under our protection. He might not agree with it, but he won't do anything to compromise them. So whatever shit you're thinking, fucking forget it," he bites out before turning and following Wrath.
I'm last through the door, making sure that I give myself some time to get my head together. If I'm not thinking clearly then I'm putting people at risk. I see both Wrath and Nitro stop in the middle of the shop, Wrath doesn’t take his eyes off the front, but Nitro turns to his left and gives me a small nod, encouraging me to follow.
I take a deep breath and force myself through the door. The first thing I see is a tall man, not as tall as me but around six feet. He has light brown hair that is thinning on top. He's stood in the centre of the room, glaring at us, his thumbs tucked into his belt loops, his stance wide. He's wearing his police uniform—the posture, the uniform, it's all to try and intimidate us, all to try and force us to give him answers.
I stop on Prez's left side, folding my arms over my chest and widening my stance. I don't look at my brothers, but I know they will be standing the same, it's not something we practice, it's just something that happens.
"My brother here tells me you want to talk to us?" Nitro gestures to Blades before tilting his head in mine and Wrath’s direction.
He lets his eyes scan over each over us before taking a step toward us. We don't move, we don’t say anything. We wait for him to respond. I glance over to the side, Blades is leaning his side on the counter, his arm resting casually as he pretends to mess about with his phone. I don't know if he senses me looking but his eyes shoot to mine. He gives me a subtle head nod, letting me know that I don't need to worry. He's ready to pounce at any point should he need to.
The piece of shit clears his throat, and I turn back to see him step up to Nitro, outstretching his hand for him to shake it. Prez just looks down at it and then back up to him, raising an eyebrow.
Her uncle suddenly looks nervous, as his eyes flick to me and Wrath. "I, erm, I just wanted to thank the people who helped my niece and nephew." He clears his throat again.
I raise an eyebrow, and my eyes move to Blades as he stands up straighter.
"You don't need to thank us for helping someone," Nitro says coolly. "How are your niece and nephew?" he adds.
"Oh, erm…" he stutters. "Well, they are okay. They actually left the hospital the next day." He clears his throat, glancing behind him, checking where Blades is.
Wrath quickly looks over to me, and I shake my head, my blood boiling with rage. How the fuck does he know they are okay?
"That’s good," Nitro states. "I'm pleased that they are okay. Did they tell you what happened?" he pushes.
I watch her uncle clear his throat; he drops his eyes to the floor for a few seconds. When he looks back up at us, his mask is firmly in place. I do my best not to shake my head.
"Well, they seem to have disappeared…”
"How do you know they are okay if they disappeared?" Wrath snaps.
