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“This isn’t the same,” Dix growls.
“No? You mean how no one said one fucking word about you bringing cartel heat on the MC with your woman? This whole shit show started with the cartel. I am goddamn sure, as sure as I stand here, that Maggie is no longer involved with BTD.”
Dix takes a threatening step forward, but Shades stops him.
“Fuck this,” I growl as my phone rings. “Yeah,” I bark into the phone.
“Kane? This is your mother.” Her stiff, overly formal tone freezes me mid-step. It’s like stepping into a time machine. Everything else fades as I distance myself from my president and my brothers.
Kane. That name feels like it belongs to a stranger.
“Mom,” I say, the word unfamiliar and thick in my mouth.
“We’re worried, Kane. We saw the news about Angel Harbor. You still live there, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” I grind out through clenched teeth, the irritation still festering.
“My goodness,” she sighs. “Are you all right? We saw all the chaos over there.” She lets out another sigh, but it’s one I recognize well because it always precedes an order. “It’s time for you to stop this nonsense and come home.”
Fury bubbles up inside me, but I force it down. “I am home, Mom.”
The truth is that the MC is my home, and it’s also at a crossroads, but so am I in my personal life. Right now, I’m so angry it all seems like too much to handle, like maybe something has to give.
She scoffs. “That place is not your home. It’s where you ran off to when the real world became too much for you to handle, Kane.”
I grip my phone so hard it could shatter. “Now’s not the time, Mom. Sorry to disappoint you, but I am home.”
And just like that, my decision is made. The MC is my life, but so is Maggie. I have to find a way to have them both.
My mother sighs, then shifts her tone. “Kane, we want to see you. It’s been too long.”
“Okay,” I say. “I need to handle some things first, Mom. But I’ll make the trip to see you. Soon.” The promise feels hollow, like the ones I made when I pulled away from them and their influence, but this time, I mean it. “Promise.”
“Oh. Okay. Excellent. See you soon,” she says in a tone that tells me if I don’t keep my word, we’ll be having this conversation again. Soon.
The call ends, and I feel out of fucking sorts, like I’ve just been yanked between two different worlds. This time, it’s not anxiety. It’s my thoughts causing the storm brewing inside of me. I look back at my brothers, so happy with their women, and it gnaws at me.
I need some fresh air. And open roads.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Maggie
A loud bang rips through my thoughts, and I snap my head up to see the door slamming open, the force of it enough to send a shiver down my spine. Nova’s standing in the doorway, looking like a storm about to burst. His jaw’s clenching so tight I think it might snap, and he’s shaking his hands like he’s getting ready for a fight.
If this were Demon, I would’ve taken a few steps back, giving him space and preparing to duck out of the way of flying fists or furniture. But this ain’t Demon. This is Nova. And even though I see that anger in his eyes, I don’t step back. I don’t cower. My voice doesn’t even shake as I say his name. “Nova.”
He barges in, his eyes fixed on me, and then, with a backward kick, he shuts the door behind him. Something’s going down, and I can feel it in my bones. But whatever it is, I know I ain’t backing down.
Nova paces back and forth on the other side of the bed, the gears in his head spinning so loud they make me anxious. He stops, looks at me, and shakes his head before pacing again.
“You want to talk about it?” It’s a dumb question but seeing him like this unsettles me.
Nova stops again, narrows his gaze, and shakes his head in response, then he starts pacing again.
I watch him in wicked fascination, wondering what could make a man like him, so stable and steady, react this way. But he seems, I don’t know, conflicted, and that makes me feel uneasy. I don’t like it, and I don’t know why so I stand in front of him and put my hands to his chest. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Nova’s eyes narrow in my direction. His jaw clenches again when he leans forward, getting in my face in an effort to intimidate me. “I said I don’t want to talk.”
