AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nod, laughing at his shocked face.
“Holy shit! I’m an uncle,” Punk crows. “This is fucking awesome. I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“Punk, no! It’s too early,” Josephine warns.
“What the hell?! I can’t say anything? This blows.”
“We still need to see her doctor, but we’ll make you part of the announcement,” I placate.
Punk pouts and folds his tatted arms over his chest. “How long do I have to wait?”
“We have our appointment next week,” Jo says. “But I’d like to wait ‘till we’re through the first trimester. Too much can happen early in a pregnancy.”
Punk scratches his shaved head, his eyes looking skyward as he tries to figure out the math.
“Thirteen weeks,” I offer.
“Thirteen weeks?! I have to wait ‘till you’re a baker’s dozen deep? Oh, come on, Jo!”
“You will zip your lips, or I’ll have Hades rip them off. Do I make myself clear, Junior?”
Punk grumbles but helps me with our luggage. Hades snarls at Punk and me as we all walk into headquarters, and his demeanor doesn’t soften once we enter our home. Hades refuses to let anyone else come near her aside from the women and Jo’s parents. Thankfully, no one can make sense of why Hades is acting so territorial with Josephine. We shrug, pretending to be as clueless as everyone else, saying it’s probably because he missed her.
We exchange hugs and kisses, everyone happy to be back together again. Josephine is busy going through her phone and showing everyone the pictures from our trip and handing out gifts we brought back for everyone. I make eye contact with her across the room. She holds my stare and gives me a small smile, knowing what I silently request. She juts her chin at me, telling me to go. Seconds later, I knock on my best friend’s door.
Gauge welcomes me into his suite. I quickly take in his haggard appearance. Gauge is one of the cleaner cut guys out of our crew. It’s clear he’s not taking care of himself, probably too worried about Opal.
“We need to keep it down,” Gauge says. “Opal hasn’t been sleeping well, and she’s finally fallen asleep.”
I rub the back of my neck. “You want to go talk somewhere else?”
Gauge looks over his shoulder where Opal sleeps on their bed. He sighs and shakes his head. “I won’t leave her, not for a second. Please, don’t ask me to.”
This is a side of my brother I’ve never seen before. I’ve known he’s been in love with Opal since he’s met her, but showing his vulnerability is not his norm. Opal’s predator showing up hasn’t just shaken Opal, but Gauge too.
“No problem, bro.” We have a seat in the living area of the suite. I wait patiently for Gauge to talk.
“He approached her at the fucking mailbox, and I wasn’t with her,” Gauge growls, leaning his head against the back of the couch. “I shoulda been there, man. I was in my office trying to catch up with some potential clients. She fucking fainted as soon as she saw him. Had Eagle not been with her, I have no doubt he’d have taken her.”
Gauge hangs his head, releasing a shuddering sigh, the sigh of a man defeated. “Since then, she has been nearly unresponsive—catatonic like. She won’t leave the suite for anything. The few times she’s been responsive, I’ve asked her for his name, but she shuts down. I don’t know how to help her when she’s too scared to utter his name.”
It’s not usual for assault survivors to stay silent, even when they’re safe. Fear has a way of holding us back. Gauge tried convincing her to give up his identity before this incident, but she feared it meant she’d have to confront him. Opal doesn’t grasp that we’d never allow her to face her abuser unless she wanted to; we’d handle him in our way.
“How the hell did he find her?”
Gauge curses in a low tone. “Chase believes it’s when she got in contact with her old high school to get copies of her transcripts—she needed them to finish her GED. The school may have contacted her mother.”
Frustrated, I run my hands through my hair. You can put all the safety measures in place to protect the ones you love, but sometimes minute details can slip past. Opal had wanted to finish her education, and a slip of paper with her grades being sent to her current location was all it took for him to track her down.
“Don’t worry about anything. You take care of your girl, and we’ll take care of the rest. We’re all worried about her. Jo made a suggestion, and I think it’s a good one, about Opal tagging along for one of her sessions with Brandon, see if Opal is open to therapy.”
“Yeah, I think it would help,” Gauge says with relief.
I take a deep breath. “Counseling is beneficial for everyone. Josephine and I agree it’s in my best interest to see Brandon about dealing with my anger issues.”
Gauge does a double-take. “Come again? You’re going to do therapy?”
“Yeah. I need to handle my temper more constructively.”
