I’d never thought Rex would breach this half of my life, but seeing him here, dressed in a tux, socializing with Manhattan’s underbelly—I never imagined he’d fit in.
Never imagined he'd try to.
Yet another way he was a perfect partner for me.
A thought occurred to me, and I asked, “Did you drive up?”
“Nah, I flew.”
“You?” My brows lifted. “Where did you store your bike?”
“A secured parking lot.”
Despite myself, I had to grin. “I’m just trying to imagine you on a shuttle bus to LAX.”
He grunted. “Only for you would I rideshare and park my bike.”
His lips were light, as were mine, but I knew he meant it. It was a throwaway comment, but he meant it.
Only for me…
I tilted my head forward as the band moved into a tune I didn’t recognize. It was slow and moody. I could almost imagine it was a blues song with how it whispered along my sorrow and agitated the edges.
“I need to tell you something,” I whispered.
“I’m listening.”
The words were on my lips—I love you.
I’ve never stopped loving you.
I’ve only ever wanted you.
You’re the reason I woke up some mornings.
I wish things had been different.
I want to go to sleep beside you and not dream of your uncle.
So many things that needed to be said.
Instead, I rasped, “I’m pregnant.”
His tension wasn’t immediate.
He didn’t stop the slow and steady sway of us as we danced to the sultry sounds echoing around the ballroom dance floor.
If anything, his hands moved, one coming to the bottom of my back. The heat soothing something inside me that I didn’t know was a torn and ragged mess.
It took away my nerves. It took away my anxiety.
This was Rex.
In times of trouble, he didn’t fall by the wayside.
I just had to have faith.
So I didn’t prod him for an answer.
I didn’t challenge him for a response.
I waited.
And I waited.
Then, he put me out of my misery: “I want to see.”
FORTY-SEVEN
NYX
DARKSIDE - OSHINS, HAEL
“What’s wrong?”
“Why do you think anything’s wrong?” I hedged.
Lodestar didn’t immediately answer, but I frowned as she pulled out a pack and started rearranging it.
I considered it a rucksack—not a bag—for a reason. While the metallic barrels and the bullets would have triggered questions in anyone else, they didn’t with me.
Not when she’d proven her loyalty to the club several times over.
Secrets—I knew how to keep them.
Still, I needed to make sure she wasn’t heading into a fight without backup.
“You going to war and not telling me?”
Her eyes glanced off mine as she shrugged. “Always good to be prepared.”
“That’s all this is?”
“Sure is,” she replied as she ran her fingers along the tips of some bullets that weren’t for a revolver or a handgun.
The gauge alone was questionable.
“If you say so,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck.
“You heard about your uncle?”
I frowned at her. “What about him?”
“That his body went missing from the morgue?”
I knew that bastard’s remains had washed up on the Hudson’s shore, and I was also aware that his corpse had gone missing.
Not that I told her that.
Secrets—I knew how to keep them.
I just said, “Someone else clearly had a grudge against the piece of shit. Not surprising. Maybe he molested someone else’s kids too.”
Her hum was disbelieving as she studied me, making me think she’d ask more questions, interrogate me some, but she didn’t, just grumbled, “Why are you here, Nyx? It ain’t to keep me company, is it? Trust me, I have more than enough of that in this household.”
“Maverick told me you’re rich.”
“I am.”
“So why do you stay here if it’s so fucking noisy?”
A high-pitched giggle echoed down the hall in answer, and a soft light, one that was pretty much creepy where Lodestar was concerned, appeared in her eyes.
“Oh.”
She smiled. “Yeah, oh. Her family’s here. I don’t want to break them up, and I don’t want to leave without her. Even though those fucking brats at the local school definitely need to be taught a lesson—”
“Let’s not set the villagers on us,” I warned. “I don’t need the normals driving up to the compound with pitchforks.”
Lodestar pursed her lips as she completely ignored what I’d just said—I could see the cogs churning as she dismissed my warning. “You here for parenting advice then? Because you really don’t want to be asking me. I’m pretty sure some social worker somewhere is trying to find Kat—”
Who the hell would go to her for parenting advice?
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “No, that’s not why I’m here. Does Rex know about you stealing Kat?”
“I think so. I think Maverick might have mentioned it to him at some point.”
“I should fucking hope he did. Which state?”
“Which state did I steal her from?”
“Yeah.”
“Colorado.” She smirked. “Or maybe it was Ohio. I forget.”
“You’re a fucking pain in my ass.”
“I won’t apologize for it either. We’ve all heard how you won’t let Giulia play with it—”
Anger flashed in my eyes, but she didn’t back down. “Fucking women. Never know when to keep your goddamn mouths shut.”
The smirk faded and morphed into a smug grin. “Why are you here, Nyx? If it isn’t for parental advice or a ‘how to’ on pegging, what could you possibly want from me?”
“Fuck knows,” I groused, storming away from the kitchen table and heading away from the exasperating bitch.
Before I left, she called out, “I know you made Kevin suffer, Nyx. I’m glad you did.”
Sliding a hand over my hair, I just grunted as I escaped Lily’s place and retreated to my bike.
Fucking Kevin.
Some nights, when I couldn’t sleep, I thought about the backfiring shotgun shredding his face.
Some nights, it was the only thing that let me get any rest at all.
I hit the road, needing the peace from the journey to calm me down.
Something about Lodestar managed to piss me off more than anyone fucking else, and considering my brothers were all douchebags, that was saying something.
“Stupid to ask her for advice anyway,” I muttered under my breath, but with the wind blasting me, no one could hear.
Despite the chill of the evening, I was hot beneath my winter gear. My palms were even sweating, and there was an uncomfortable amount of perspiration dotting my back.
“I’m not doing anything wrong,” I told myself.
And I wasn’t.
This was just a meeting.