My eyes burn as I try to hold back the tears, but I can't stop them. "Baby?" Max questions as he runs his thumb over my cheek, wiping away the tears that have fallen. "Are you okay? Are you not happy?"
I lean into him and place a small kiss on his lips. "I am. It's just been so long since we last saw her. I didn't realise how much I missed her." I take a couple of deep breaths, pulling myself together. "Thank you," I say, and take the last step. This time I grip his hand tighter and pull him toward her.
I stop a couple of feet in front of her, letting her and Mason have a few minutes together. He's chatting away to her, but I don't hear much of what he's saying. I'm too busy taking her in. I can't believe that she's here right now. She’s gotten older, she has wrinkles around her eyes and on her forehead. And she looks tired. Mason takes a step back from her and she looks right at me.
"Oh, Nova," she says. I burst into tears and throw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her middle as she tucks me into her. "I've missed you, sweet girl." I'm aware of movement around me and I catch a glimpse of people moving away from us out of the corner of my eye as I continue to sob into her chest.
We stand like that for a few minutes; Mason has had his fill and has taken a seat next to Georgia and is already shovelling spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth. Max hasn't left my side. I've been wrapped in Andrea's arms, but he's had his hand on my lower back the entire time, letting me know he's there.
The clearing of a throat has me pulling back slightly. "Guys, why don't we take this into Church." I turn to see Nitro in front of us. I glance to Max and then over to Mason. "The kid can come in too if he wants to," Nitro states, and I nod.
"Tongue." He yells for the tall quiet guy who comes over instantly. He doesn’t say anything, just gives a chin lift.
"We're heading to Church, get Prospect to sort drinks out and then bring Mase in, if he wants to," Nitro orders him. He simply nods and walks away.
There are more chairs in here than there had been the last time I was in here, and I'm guessing they are for Andrea and I. Max takes his seat and pulls me into the chair next to him. Andrea is directed to the seat next to Wrath. We all take our seats, but nobody speaks, we're just sitting in relative silence, waiting for Tongue and Prospect to come in.
As a variety of drinks are placed on the table, I grab a bottle of water, grateful that I'm finally getting that drink I've needed since I woke up. I down half of it before replacing the lid and putting the bottle back on the table. I watch Andrea as she grabs one of the other bottles of water. Her eyes are flicking between Max and I and his hand placed on my thigh, but she doesn't say anything.
Tongue closes the door as Prospect leaves and takes his seat. I glance up at him and furrow my brows. He smiles at me. "He wanted to stay with Georgia, said that he would let you talk. I did tell him no more ice cream though," he says, so deadpan.
I chuckle. "Thank you."
"Kid is too old for his age," Wrath grumbles, his eyes locked on Andrea. The stare he’s giving her pisses me off. He seems mad at her, and I don't know why, or why he thinks he has a right to be mad at her.
I drop my head a little, feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "He had to, we were told that we had to grow up because my uncle is a police officer. He said that we represent him and couldn't just behave like children all of the time."
"Son of a bitch," Andrea says under her breath. "Nova,” she calls out a little louder. "I am so sorry that I handed you over to them. I'm sorry that I didn't fight harder for you both. I should have known that your parents would never ask Roger and June to take care of you." Tears fall down her face. "I let you both down," she whispers.
I shake my head, and I'm about to tell her that none of this is her fault when Wrath snaps.
"You're fucking kidding, right? You're damn right you should have fought harder. You saw those kids for a few years after you handed them over, you can't tell me you never noticed that something wasn't right with the set up?"
"Wrath," I bite. "Don't talk to her like that. We were good at hiding the truth. You can't blame her for this." I feel Max give my leg a squeeze as he shuffles his chair closer to mine.
"Baby, I think he has a point."
Chapter Fifty-One
"Baby, I think he has a point," I say to her as gently as I can. She turns to look at me, anger dancing in her eyes. I need to tread carefully here. "Look—"
"Wait…" Andrea cuts me off. "Nova, the guys are right. I should have known something wasn’t right. And the truth is, I had my suspicions, but I couldn't prove anything. I had no evidence, all I had was a will that was allegedly signed by both of your parents, stating that your aunt and uncle were to be your guardians. I was then also made to sign a court agreement that I would not approach you or your brother without prior consent of your guardians and that I wasn't allowed to see you alone."
She takes a large drink of water before continuing. "The only reason I was allowed to see you was because you and Mason demanded it so much. But then the visits stopped a couple of years ago. I asked why, and he told me that you guys had said you didn't want to see me anymore."
I watch Nova as her eyebrows furrow and she shakes her head. "He told us that you didn't want to see us anymore, that you had met someone and were getting on with your life." The tears roll down her cheeks, and I don't know if she can stop them or if she even tried.
"Baby?" I question. "Are you okay? Talk to us."
"My heads spinning, there's just so much I don't understand. I don't get why he would stop us from seeing Andrea, I don't get what difference it made. We never told her anything, he made us promise to keep quiet and we did."She reaches for her bottle of water from the table and takes a few big gulps. "I need some air," she declares to the room. Pushing her seat away from the table, she stands and heads toward the door.
I get up out of my seat to follow her, but Tongue stands too. "I'll go with her,” he states and walks toward the door. I look directly at her in question, butshe gives me a small smile and a little nod. I feel my heart tighten as I watch her and Tongue leave the room. I trust him with her, and I feel like he may understand her situation more than anyone, despite the fact he's not told us anything. As the door closes, I retake my seat and then return my gaze back to Andrea.
"You said you thought something wasn't right but had no proof of anything, yet you still chose to leave them?" I question her, with a little more anger in my tone than I intended. None of the brothers stop me, they want answers too.
She lets out a small laugh. "I understand that you gentlemen have done your research, but you haven't done a very good job if you're asking me that." Her tone is clipped but calm as she leans back in her chair and folds her arms over her chest.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nitro almost mirror her stance, but he kicks his right leg up over his left one. He doesn't say anything, he just sits there, watching her for a minute. Herdemeanour has changed since Nova left the room, the guilt was radiating from her as she spoke to my woman, but the moment her and Tongue left, Andrea seemed poised, like she's ready for whatever we throw at her.
