“Oh, yes, I can’t believe I forgot that. It’s Vivianna, but we mostly call her Vivi for short.” My mother grabs onto Charlee’s hand as she’s speaking, and Charlee looks over at me for a split second.
“I have to say I was so sorry to hear about what happened to your mother. When Falcon told me, my heart hurt for all of you. It’s such a shame to lose the people we love, and it’s so hard.”
“Yeah, it is,” Charlee says, and my mom pats her hand.
“Now, I heard you and Kinetic are getting married. I want you to tell me all about it! Every little detail.”
“Well, I don’t have much to go off right now. We’re still trying to decide if we want a spring wedding or a summer one. We haven’t even decided on a date or any of that. Honestly, there’s so much to do, and it’s a bit overwhelming.” Charlee already seems in her head about it, and I can’t imagine what putting together a wedding is like. I’m sure I will one day, but I’ll let my other half do most of that. I only want input on the food and the beer. Otherwise, my lucky lady can make the rest of the decisions.
“Mom!” Vivi’s voice carries through the room, and Charlee glances over at her and Kinetic’s daughter.
“There she is. Do you want to meet her?” Charlee asks my mother.
“Of course, I would!” Mom replies, and the two women walk away like I wasn’t even here in the first place.
I glance over at the door for a split second, hoping Hermoine and Rajah get here soon. I know she has to get back into the swing of things, but when she’s not around me, I miss her. I miss her so badly.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hermoine
Normal.
It’s such a simple little word that holds a world of fucking meaning, especially now, and no matter how hard I reach for it, it seems I can never quite catch the damn thing. Maybe I’m expecting too much, too soon, but I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want to feel like I’m not still trapped in that fucking motel room. There are moments when I get lost in my thoughts, where I wonder if all of this is just a dream. Like maybe I’m still stuck in that hell, and any moment now, I’m going to wake up and realize that none of the past week has been real.
Especially when I think about what happened when Falcon came with me to The Java Zone a couple of days ago . . .
God, that kiss . . .
I don’t want to look into it too much or make it into something it wasn’t, but that’s easier said than done. I swear, every time I close my eyes, I see him staring down into my eyes just before he pressed his lips to mine, and if I let the memory go too far, I can still feel his lips pressed against mine and the way he held me tightly against his body. It was probably the single greatest kiss of my life which is a real feat when you consider everything I just went through. Honestly, since that kiss, I’ve been thinking that I may have underestimated my feelings for Falcon, chalking them up to a simple crush when, in reality, they are much deeper. Ever since he walked into that motel room and locked eyes with me, he’s made me feel safe when I had no right to and when I’m about to fall apart, he’s always right there to place a hand on my lower back or reassure me with a look.
He’s my rock.
It’s as simple and as complicated as that.
But it’s one more thing that is so far from my normal life that sometimes I can’t even remember what my days were like before Geno made his first appearance in my shop.
Today is my first official day back at The Java Zone, and while there are parts of being here that do feel normal, there is so much that reminds me that my life has been completely altered. Over the last week, I stopped by every day just to check in and make sure things were running smoothly, but I was never without at least one bodyguard and, most of the time, two. Even now, Rajah and Horseman are seated at a table right in the middle of the room, one watching the front of the room while the other surveys the back. Nama and Legs are also here, on Falcon’s orders, to help my girls and make sure I don’t overexert myself. Sage and Callie didn’t take much convincing at all from Nama to insist I spend most of my day seated in one of the booths closest to the register so I could oversee everything. But anytime I try to get up and work, I’m ordered back to my chair.
I appreciate their concern. Truly, I do, but I’ve never been all that good at sitting around and watching other people work when I know there are things that need to be done, so today hasn’t been easy for me.
Harold also stopped by this morning for his usual cheese Danish and a cup of coffee, and when he saw I was back, his face lit up. It was another little piece of my regular life slotting right back into place, but when he saw the still-healing bruises on my cheeks, it stopped him in his tracks. And just like that, I was back in that goddamn motel room. Lord knows I love that old man, but when he gently laid his wrinkled hand against my cheek with tears in his eyes and asked me what happened, I wished—for just a moment—that he hadn’t come in today. I’m not even sure what I told him, but I think I managed to fumble my way through an answer before Sage came over and distracted him so I could go lose my shit in the bathroom.
“You doing okay, Hermoine?”
I glance up at Rajah standing next to my table and nod. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Do you need anything? A refill, maybe?”
“No,” I assure him, pasting a smile on my face as I clutch my mug of tea in my hand. I started off the morning drinking coffee, but somewhere around lunchtime, I was shaking like a damn leaf and more anxious than ever, so I had to switch it up for my own sanity. Rajah studies me for a moment, assessing if I’m truly all right, before nodding and heading back over to the table where Horseman is sitting.
Once he’s gone, I glance back behind the counter to check up on the girls. Callie is taking the orders of the three customers in line while Legs and Nama make drinks and grab pastries out of the display case. Sage is on the other end of the counter, putting together sandwiches and bowls of soup for the folks that have ordered those, and they all seem to have everything under control, so I turn back to the window with a sigh.
In the past couple of days, I’ve been thinking about going over to see my mom and dad so I can finally get some answers. There’s a part of me, though, that would like to pretend all this never happened, but I’m not naïve enough to believe that Geno will just let me go. Not after all the effort, he put into abducting me in the first place. And if we’re going to put an end to all this, I know I need to get my mom’s side of the story. The roar of bikes fills the air, ripping me from my thoughts, and my heart climbs into my throat as I train my gaze on the parking lot.
Oh God, no.
My vision swims as panic claws at my throat, and I set my mug of tea down on the table to avoid spilling it before folding my trembling hands together and burying them in my lap. Images from my time in the motel flash through my mind, and I close my eyes, trying desperately to breathe through the onslaught. I remember the feeling of Geno’s men putting their hands on me, the pain that lanced through my body as Coe thrust inside me for the first time, and each and every blow that Geno delivered as he screamed at me to admit that he was my father.
“Oh, shit,” Rajah says, piercing the fog of my memories, and I open my eyes, fully expecting to see the Lucifer’s Heretics in my parking lot, but it’s empty. Sucking in a shaky breath, I scan the space in front of the shop. An older woman, one of my regulars, is lying on the ground outside the door, and I scowl when I notice the large patch of ice under her. Rajah and Horseman stand, and I watch as they rush out to her. But when they kneel at her side and start talking to her, my mind jumps back to my parents and getting some answers.