AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There are more pictures as they grow through middle school into high school, prom pictures and graduation. I stare at Nitro’s prom picture for an abnormally long time. He was good-looking even back then, but the girl at his side gets daggers from me.
I shake my head. This is ridiculous. I can’t even stand the man; it doesn’t matter that he’s fine as hell. Doesn’t matter that he’s gorgeous, and his swagger is so sexy from how he walks to how he talks, down to his confident, arrogant mannerisms.
I flip away from the page, knowing I’m doing too much. The next few pages are about their graduation and what appear to be copies of letters of acceptance from different schools.
“What the hell happened?” I mumble.
How did Ryan become a cop instead of a chef and Nitro, a gun-toting motorcycle club member of a one-percenter club instead of a businessman?
Technically, he is a businessman, but where did the MC fit into this? How did he become a criminal?
I ponder those things and wonder how his parents feel about his choices. Are they happy with his change of life plan or Ryan’s? And why hadn’t Ryan’s parents come to see him in the hospital? Why all the secrecy about Ryan having family and leading people to believe he had none?
I shake my head, knowing that I won’t get the answers to those questions unless I ask Nitro, and I have no plans to get that deep into the man. Unfortunately, the questions are nagging me, and I want to know more. I want to know him.
I flick the page, and my heart rate increases rapidly as I grow warm and my belly twists in knots.
“Oh, my God.” I clap my hand over my mouth and continue reading the news clipping inside the plastic sleeve.
Tears fill my eyes as I recall Nitro’s words, “Lady, you don’t know shit about me. Don’t pretend to think you do,” and“I’m sorry for your losses, but you don’t know me, lady.”
Foolish of me to assume that because he is what he is, he doesn’t understand pain and loss. According to this news article, he and Ryan lost their parents just a month after they graduated. No wonder their lives spiraled in different directions than they’d planned. With no one there to guide them, they had to figure shit out for themselves.
That’s no easy feat. After losing my mother, we had our father, but he was so sunk in the mire of depression it wasn’t easy for him to handle the three of us girls and three sons, two of whom he lost anyway.
I continue reading and learn that their parents’ murders were never solved. Is that why they both went on the paths they chose? Seeking answers for their parents’ murders and getting justice the only way they knew how.
They didn’t agree with the route the other one had chosen, which is how they’d gone in separate directions. Though I had no idea Ryan had a brother, I can tell they greatly love one another. I could see how broken Nitro was the night he first visited Ryan and every time since. Despite our personal clash, he’s marked by sorrow and fear whenever he looks at his brother.
On the other hand, Ryan believes in Nitro and his ability to right the wrongs, even though they may be handled differently than he would. His eyes were apologetic every time he looked at Nitro, and I wondered about that too.
What would their parents think about the men they’d become?
For the second time, I found myself in the wrong. I’d erroneously judged Nitro, made false accusations, and ripped into his ass without giving him the benefit of the doubt. Not once had I allowed him to explain himself, and I didn’t bother asking him.
I feel like shit, but I’m not so full of myself that I can’t find it within me to apologize.
I keep one eye on the TV and the other on the clock as the night wears on. I wonder where he’s at and what he’s doing. Is he with one of thoseAngels?
I get up, roaming around the loft, looking for pictures of a woman, but I find nothing. In fact, there are no pictures except those in the photo album, and I think about how sad that is.
My home has pictures of my family, extended family, and friends. I can’t imagine not having anything depicting all the wonderful memories I’ve created with them over the years.
I would expect to find a picture of him and his “brothers” in the motorcycle club, but there’s nothing. I get up, walk to the French doors, and open them, stepping out onto the fire escape.
I look out over the city and think how lucky he is to have a space like this. I know owning a property like this costs an arm and a leg. What type of money does this MC make? Shaking my head, I clear my mind of those thoughts because I don’t want to know or confirm how he makes money.
I have my own ideas, but that doesn’t make them fact. I’d rather focus only on the gun center downstairs that he owns.
I glimpse down the street and spot five motorcycles, but no one is on them. My eyes roam up, and down the street before I spot three guys wearing the same cut Nitro wears. I can’t find the other two, only three.
One’s taking a smoke, the other is pacing back and forth on his phone but looking at the building, and the third seems to be staring directly at me.
I step back inside and close and lock the doors behind me. He looked scary as hell.
Zeus woofs and walks over to his bowl, and starts eating. I think I need a shower, and hopefully, I can get some sleep.
After searching through his drawers and closet for a couple of minutes, I walk away with a t-shirt, washcloth, and towel.
