“Please,” I whisper, my eyes begging him to stop, “I can’t listen to this now.”
“I just had to tell you before I go.”
The door opens and four police officers enter. Grim smiles at them. “Right on time,” he mutters bitterly.
“What have you done?” I hiss.
“Hudson Grimes?” asks one of the officers.
“Yep,” mutters Grim, standing.
“You need to come with us.”
“Grim?” I ask, wanting him to explain what the hell is going on.
His blue eyes burn into mine and he smiles as an officer pulls his hands behind his back and begins to read him his rights. “I’m coming back for you, Hadley. I love you, and you’re always gonna be my ol’ lady. Don’t forget that.”
“What are you arresting him for?” I demand to know.
The officer cuffs his hands. “Suspected assault.”
“I’m his solicitor,” I say, grabbing my bag.
“No,” says Grim, and I stop. “Not this time, baby. I got this.”
They lead him from the bar, and I watch helplessly as Mav steps inside. “What’s going on?” I demand.
“It’s what he wanted. He made a deal with Cambridge. I tried to talk him out of it.”
“Well, I’ll go and represent him. We’ll get him out of it.”
Mav shakes his head. “He doesn’t want you to. He chose this, so let him do it his way. You both need time apart.”
“I don’t need time apart, Mav. It doesn’t matter how long he stays away, I won’t forgive him.”
“I know that, I told him the same thing, but he’s a stubborn arse, always thinking he knows best.”
“He’s sending himself away for no reason because it isn’t going to work.”
“If you hate him so much, why do you look so devastated?” he asks with a sad smile. “Come home, Hadley. We miss you.”
I shake my head. “Not yet. I’m not ready.”
“You belong at the club. You’re safer there.”
I gather my bag and coat. “I just need time, Maverick. Plenty of time.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
HADLEY
16 months later . . .
I rest against the oak tree, watching Meli swing my giggling eight-month-old daughter around in circles. It’s hard to believe she’s eight months old already—the time seems to have flown by. From the minute I held Oakley in my arms after a long, painful labour, I knew I’d do anything to protect her. The feeling of love was so overwhelming that I couldn’t bear to keep Meli out of our lives a second longer. I wanted her to feel what I felt for the newest addition to our family, so I made the decision to forgive her. It wasn’t easy. Even now, there are times when I look at her and feel a small stab of pain. But she’s an amazing aunty and worships Oakley more than anyone.
“I gotta go,” shouts Mav, and Meli kisses Oakley on the head. I take my daughter and do the same, before walking towards Mav and handing her over. “Any message?” he asks, the way he always does.
I shake my head. I might have forgiven Meli, but I’m having a hard job doing the same for Grim. That’s why, every two weeks, Mav and Mum take Oakley to see him in prison. He shouldn’t miss being a part of her life because he’s an idiot, but I can’t bring myself to face him. And, as if the lies and secrets weren’t painful enough, I felt like he took the easy option by handing himself over to the cops and going away to prison. He was handed a three-year prison sentence. I didn’t need any more details. Knowing he was out of our lives for three years was enough.
I moved back into the club right before I gave birth. Mainly because Mum begged me. She hated being apart from me and laid the Mum guilt on thick.
Grim’s written to me every week. The same words. ‘To my ol’ lady, I love you. I’ll always love you. Forgive me.’ After six months, I didn’t bother to open them. Instead, I placed them in a shoebox under my bed. Mav must have told him because then he started writing letters to Oakley, knowing I’d open them. Those letters were harder to read. They were heartfelt and full of regret. Mum talked me into letting her take Oakley to visit him in prison when she turned eight weeks old. When he writes to her, he tells her how much he loves her and talks about the milestones he’s missing by being apart from her. He tells her how he’s reading books in the prison library about parenting because he wants to be the best dad to her, just like his dad was to him.
It hurts me to read them, but I do it for her each night instead of her bedtime story, and I know she’s too young to understand, but I guess he wants her to know why he missed these important years of her life. These letters leave no doubt how much he misses her and how he thinks about her every single day.
I asked Mav once if Grim was good with Oakley. He’d always been awkward around kids and made no secret of the fact he didn’t really like them. So, when Mav smiled wide and nodded, I was surprised. “He’s amazing with her, better than most dads I’ve watched. It’s like the rest of the world fades out and it’s just him and her in the room alone.”
I cried after I heard that. Mainly because I was happy Oakley had another person to love her exactly like I did. A small part of me worried he’d not bother with her and his insistence on seeing her every fortnight was part of a plan to win me over.
My phone rings, bringing me from my daydream. I wave as Mav drives out of the club parking lot, then I answer my phone. “Good morning,” says Harry.
“Good morning to you too.”
“I was wondering if you’d meet me for lunch today.”
I check my watch. “I guess I could squeeze you in,” I tease. “I have some work to catch up on, so is twelve okay?”
We settle on that, and I head inside to do some work. It’s Saturday, but since getting my promotion, I’ve been given almost double the caseload and I work every spare minute I get.
It’s eleven when Mav walks in followed by Mum. When I spot neither of them are holding Oakley in their arms, I stand, feeling a panic rushing through me. “Relax,” says Mav with a smile.
Mum mouths the word ‘sorry’ before the doorway is filled with Grim and Oakley. I stare. There are no words because my mouth is suddenly dry and my heart squeezes before beating wildly in my chest.
There’s a rush of brothers pouring through as word travels around the club that Grim is home, and I watch them greet him like he’s a returning hero. I feel a hand slip into mine. It’s Rylee, and she leads me from the room and into the kitchen.
“He’s out early?” I ask, lowering into a seat in shock.
“Mav didn’t tell me. I would have come straight to warn you if I knew.” She hands me a glass of water. “Are you okay?”
I nod slowly. “It was a shock, that’s all.”
“How did he get early release? He’s been in trouble more than once in there,” asks Rylee, thinking out loud.
“He has?”
“Fighting mainly,” she says, shrugging. I’d never asked about him because the less I spoke about him, the more I could pretend he was in my past.