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My eyes drifted from the dresser to the rest of the room. There was a twin bed in the middle of the wall to the right. It was a box spring and mattress on the floor, no frame. The only blanket on the bed was a threadbare blanket worn so thin in spots that it was nearly transparent. Probably the only thing saving Nova from freezing to death in the drafty monstrosity of a house was that we had mild winters in southern Georgia. It still slipped down into the thirties at night starting in December. She was lucky we found out where she was living before she had to endure that shit.
There was no closet to be found in the room, but I did notice a lamp on a table that was placed directly across the room from Nova’s bed. It didn’t take long to see that there was a camera hidden there. It was something we were going to need to keep to ourselves until we found out if he’d been filming her in the bedroom, too. Not that there was much doubt, but no need to panic the girl further. At least, not yet.
I moved to the dresser and flung drawer after drawer open, surprised that there was absolutely nothing inside. A quick spin around the room showed there was nowhere else to stash any of her shit. There was no way to hide anything under the bed, since the box spring was directly on the floor, but on the other side of the bed was another backpack, overfilled with textbooks. I snatched it out and went to haul it up on my shoulder when I heard a ripping sound.
“Damn, you didn’t have to stuff everything in that one bag.”
“I didn’t. Found it like this tucked up on the other side of the bed, out of sight.”
“Okay, where’s everything else?”
“There isn’t anything else,” I told my club brother as both of us spun around the tiny space once more looking for a possible stash spot.
“Nothing?” He opened the drawers, obviously not believing my initial assessment. “You think that sick fuck has been stealing her shit?”
I shook my head. “I’m starting to wonder if she has any shit to speak of.” I pointed to the pitiful blanket on the bed. “Doesn’t look like she has much at all.”
“Fuck me,” Kip muttered under his breath as he turned to leave. “I called a prospect.”
He wouldn’t say much while we were in the house, but I understood him to mean that we’d wait on the prospect to show up and then give him his orders to sit on the house and call as soon as he saw someone come back to the house. I glanced back once and felt something in my chest squeeze at the thought of my sweetness having to live like that.
Chapter 10
Nova
“Oh God! What if Ashlynn comes back and decides that she doesn’t want me to live in her house?” I asked the baby, who had no say and couldn’t answer me anyway.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” a gruff sounding man answered. When I glanced up, it was to see someone who resembled Kip, but with a lighter complexion, longer hair, and a silver mustache and beard that hid his smile. I could tell he was doing it because of the way the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkled.
“We haven’t officially met yet. I’m Tripp, Knox’s grandfather and President of the Savage Vipers MC.”
“Nova Williamson,” I said as I offered my free hand to him.
“Nova, you want to fill me in on why you’re going to live with my son in the first place?”
I managed to get my whole pathetic story out as the man sat there and listened with the patience of a saint.
“Where is your family?”
“I don’t have family anymore,” I told him.
“Sorry to hear that. Well, my son has taken you under his wing, that means you get club protection. Don’t worry for a minute about this pervert you’ve been renting a room from. He’ll be dealt with, and you won’t have to be subjected to that bullshit again.”
“I was serious about Ashlynn. What if she doesn’t want me there? She hasn’t exactly been very nice and welcoming to me just as a babysitter.”
“Let my son worry about that, okay? She won’t be a problem, and if she is, we’ll find you a place to stay. My brother-in-law has a house with a detached garage that has an apartment above it. My daughter used it before she went on a trip across country. If it’s open, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind putting you up there, but I don’t think that will be necessary.”
I swiped at a stupid tear that fell.
“Aw, come on now, none of that. Can’t be known as the asshole who makes women cry.”
I chuckled at the man, which was his intent in the first place. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”
“Thank you for taking such good care of my grandson. Don’t think we all haven’t noticed that you spend more time with the little man than his own mother does.” He gave me a knowing look and then sighed before leaning forward and wrapping a hand gently around Knoxville’s head.
“He’s growing so fast,” the man lamented. “Seems like just yesterday that I held Kip when he was this small.” Tripp shook his head. “Damn if time doesn’t fly like a motherfucker.”
There really wasn’t anything for me to say to that, so I remained quiet and watchful as the man stared at his grandson with a wistful expression that reminded me of the way Jeremy used to look at me when I was growing up. It was a wish that time could pause on that moment.
