IT WAS LATE BEFORE I could get Matt to come to bed. I could tell he was tired, but he couldn’t keep his eyes shut for more than a few minutes before they snapped open again. Every time, his heart would start pounding under my ear, and I knew he was thinking about his brother.
Sitting up, I put my back against the headboard. “Come here,” I urged and patted my lap for him to lay his head there.
“I’m good, baby. Just come back down here and let me hold you.”
“Please?”
The room was dark except for the soft glow of the new television that was muted. His blue eyes scanned my face for a moment then he blew out a long sigh and placed his head in my lap. I shifted to get more comfortable, then started stroking my fingers through his hair with one hand and massaged the back of his neck with the other.
My mom had done this to me when I was younger and couldn’t sleep. Every time, no matter how crazy the thoughts racing through my head, it would knock me out. Matt resisted at first, trying to keep his shoulders tense as I used my nails to softly scrape over his scalp, but he couldn’t hide the contented sigh as it flew across my bare thighs.
I bent over him, kissing his cheek. “I love you.”
“Love you,” he growled, his eyes heavy.
Leaning back against the headboard again, I continued my stroking and massaging. Ten minutes later, I was rewarded with the sound of him snoring. A sad smile lifted at my lips, but I didn’t stop what I was doing, didn’t move to lie down beside him. For hours I kept it up, and when he jerked awake at one in the morning, I was still at it.
He pulled me down beside him, his strong arms going around me as he buried his face in my chest. I didn’t hear his sobs, but I felt his tears soaking through his T-shirt I had pulled on after my shower earlier. I held him close and started stroking my fingers through his hair again. We didn’t speak, because there were zero words that could help him through what he was feeling. Words were useless when your heart was that beat-up. They held no comfort, and no matter how sincere they might be, they were still empty. I knew what he needed, and that was to feel that someone he loved was still there for him. That I wasn’t going to leave him.
It was a long while before I felt him fall back to sleep. Sleep finally pulled me under sometime around dawn, when I felt Matt finally fall into a more restful sleep.
The next time I opened my eyes, bright sun was shining through the curtains. Matt was still sound asleep, but I could hear people moving around outside the bedroom door. Fighting back a yawn, I untangled myself and reached for Matt’s phone as I started to stand. It was 1:23 in the afternoon. I groaned as I walked into the bathroom to take care of pressing business.
After a quick shower, where I moaned and groaned the entire time because my feet were definitely feeling the pain from running barefoot the day before, I went back into the bedroom and pulled on the clothes I had borrowed from Raven the previous night. I slipped my feet into a pair of flip-flops that Flick had loaned me and then went to see if I could make myself useful.
I left Matt still sleeping as I walked to the kitchen. People weren’t nearly as catatonic as they had been the day before. They all still wore grim, pale faces, but only a few were crying or raging. But that didn’t mean they weren’t still out for blood. I could see in the MC brothers’ eyes that vengeance was top of their list for how they wanted the day to end.
In the kitchen, I found Raven with Flick and Aggie. Lexa was sitting in a chair pulled up to the island beside her mot
her, and Max was in his high chair, both of them eating spaghetti. The three women all looked my way as I came into the room.
“Morning, sweetie,” Aggie greeted with a tiny smile. “How’s our boy doing?”
“He’s been out cold for a few hours now,” I assured her.
“That’s good. Sleep heals all things. Even a broken heart, given enough time.”
“Got any coffee?” I asked hopefully.
Flick reached behind her for a nearly full pot of strong coffee. I found a mug and let her pour me a cup. After adding a few teaspoons of sugar, I took a deep, life-giving swallow and nearly moaned. “This is the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.”
Flick laughed softly. “It is just one of many tricks I learned while I was working for the Armstrong family. Their friend Jesse has a special recipe that I’ve perfected to my own specifications. His, you would need a spoon to eat. Mine will probably save me from getting stomach cancer, unlike his.”
“Well, it’s perfect, so don’t change anything.” I glanced at Raven. “What can I do to help out today?”
She pressed her lips together for a moment before grimacing. “I think you’re going to be too busy dealing with your rat bastard of a father to want to help me out today, Rory.”
I stiffened at the mention of my father. “I don’t give a flying frig about my father. I’m where I need to be. I made my choice yesterday. Derrick Michaels can take a long walk off a short pier into shark-infested waters for all I care.”
Raven’s lips twitched with amusement for a split second before she grimaced again. “Bates showed up this morning with your father. They tried to come in to get you, but the boys wouldn’t let them past the gate. They didn’t have a warrant, and you’re an adult, so they couldn’t legally force their way onto the property. But he’ll be back, Rory. You know him better than anyone, so you know he won’t give up.”
She was right. My father, the rat bastard that Raven had so aptly called him, was persistent as hell. I knew there was no way he was going to leave me—and the MC by proxy—alone until I at least talked to him. Until I told him to take his threats, and the money he thought he was using to hold me to him, and shove it up his ass. The only reason I hadn’t made my renewed relationship with Matt public outside the MC before now was because I was worried my father would still be able to arrest Matt and throw him in prison.
I was done playing around.
“You’re right. He won’t stop until I see him.” I took another swallow of my coffee before reluctantly pouring out the rest and rinsing the mug. “Can I borrow a car so I can go over to his office and talk to him?”
“Maybe you should wait for Matt to take you,” Flick suggested, a worried frown puckering her brow.