“You met my dad?” I asked. “What’d you think?”
“He’s pretty great,” Cherri said. “He was super helpful and really nice. He loves you a lot, Deon.”
It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach knowing that Cherri and Venom had the chance to meet.
“Did you get anywhere with Connor?” Felicity asked.
“Not far,” Nathan said. “Like Cherri said, Brayden sort of broke his back trying to sort out his connection to Connor, but it led to a totally cleaned out warehouse in North Postings.”
Both Felicity and I sat up a little straighter. “A place Connor had been before?” Felicity asked.
“Yeah, but he’d completely cleared it out, even tore the walls down, by the time we got there,” Cherri said.
I looked across at Felicity. “Would this be helpful to Nico?”
She nodded. “Definitely. If he knows a specific place, he could find the guy.”
“Who?” Kyle asked.
I looked straight at Nathan. “Felicity and Venom know a guy that has about as many connections as Connor does. We currently have him hot on Connor’s trail, and he’s getting close. Knowing an actual warehouse that Connor had used though. That’s golden information.”
“Can you write down the address for me?” Felicity asked. Nathan immediately pulled out his phone and started flicking through it. When he found the info, Felicity gave him her number and he sent the info over. She smiled up at me. “As soon as we’re done, I’ll go tell Nico.”
That was when it hit me. These were my friends and the brother I was so desperate to get back to. They’d managed to stay out of Connor’s clutches up to that point, and even if they hadn’t, adding me to the mix wasn’t going to make them any more of a target—they already had Nathan.
“Done,” I said quietly, then looked at Felicity. Cherri was in my lap, and I knew I couldn’t be separated from her again. Nathan was there, and I was excited to be back around him again. “I’ll be going back with them, won’t I?”
Felicity nodded. “I’ve been talking to them about everything. How safe they’ve managed to stay and the fact that they’re taking Connor head on, and I think that would be best. You’ve been wanting to go back to Cherri and Nathan this entire time, now you finally get to.” For some reason, that left a knot in the pit of my stomach. Cherri must have noticed it, because she started to rub my back and rested her head on top of mine. Tears slowly rose to Felicity’s eyes and I had to bite back my own emotion. “Dammit, Deon. I cried in the bathroom about this for like twenty minutes this morning just so I’d be okay. Don’t look so sad, it’s heartbreaking.”
“I am sad though,” I said. Concrete was snoozing in Felicity’s lap despite the loudness in the room, and Felicity looked so normal in her spot on the couch. “I liked this life too.”
“Getting shot aside?” Felicity asked.
“What?” Cherri and Nathan yelped at the same time.
Felicity looked at them both and then groaned at me. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay. I’ll explain all of that to them later.” I tapped Cherri’s leg and she climbed out of the chair so that I could stand up. Felicity moved Concrete’s head out of her lap and stood up as well and we walked to meet each other in the middle of the room. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. “I’ve loved being here with you for the past few months.”
Felicity sniffed against my chest. “I’ve loved having you. Promise me you’ll visit soon.”
“Oh I’ll be back. We’ve still got a man to break out,” I joked.
Felicity finally pulled herself away, her eyes drenched, and said, “I’ll go back your stuff,” before fluttering out of the room. Ordinarily, I’d fight her on something like that, but I knew she’d need a minute.
“You okay?” Cherri asked, wrapping her arms around me from the back.
I rubbed her arms, loving that she was that close again. “I will be. Felicity’s become like a mom to me. I’m gonna miss her.” I walked over and knelt in front of Concrete and rubbed his ears. “I’m going to miss you too, you big oaf.”
Concrete slobbered a lick up my face, and I scratched his favorite spot behind his ear. “These two are my family now and their lives have been just as affected by Connor as ours have.”
“How so?” Nathan said.
“Like I said, I’ve got a lot to explain to you, but not here. If we don’t leave soon, I may never leave.”
The rest of The Royal Court went ahead of us, leaving only Cherri, me, and Nathan behind. Felicity eventually brought down the bags of things I’d amassed since living with her—all the things I only had because she loved me like a mother and bought them for me.
“Your weights,” she said weakly.
I shook my head. “Keep them here for when I visit.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
We embraced once more, that time for much longer. When I pulled away I smiled down at her. “I love you, mom.”
She laughed. “I love you too. Be safe in Postings. You’re still wanted, remember that.”
“I’ve already made certain arrangements,” Nathan said.
Felicity exchanged glances between Nathan and Cherri. “You two take care of my boy.”
Cherri nodded. “We will. We promise.”
25
Deon
Most of the ride back to Postings, I slept in the backseat. Every few minutes, I’d come to and hear Cherri and Nathan talking as if they had always been best friends and nothing had come between them. Nathan was less snotty than he was when I spoke to him last, and Cherri was much more of a spitfire. There were times in the drive that I felt like I wanted to ‘wake up’ and join in, but it was actually nice to see the woman I loved and my brother getting along so well, especially considering all of the reasons they had to not. From what they talked about, it sounded as if The Royal Court had quite the journey of introspection and had changed dramatically for the experience.
Glad I wasn’t the only one.
Eventually, we made it back to Postings, and Nathan drove us back to his family’s estate. The last time I’d been there, I was brazenly flirting with Cherri in the back gazebo despite knowing she was dating Nathan at the time. Something about the energy of the place simply felt different. There were several cars parked out front, and when we walked in, all the members of the Royal Court were hanging around, Sicily included.
“Hey!” Colette said when we walked in. “Welcome home!” She fanned her arms out and stood in the entryway where we couldn’t walk past her.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Cherri asked.
“Oh nothing,” Colette responded. “Just welcoming you back.”
“We’re done!” Avery’s voice called from the living room.
Colette dropped her act. “Oh, thank god. Come on!”
She turned around and led towards the living room. I saw colorful balloons and a welcome home banner. There was a cake sitting on the table that also said “Happy Birthday,” and I tilted my head. “Whose birthday is it?”