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I nod, agreeing. I don’t know about a lot of this and what I do know, I’ve picked up from Les. I know they deal with this shit on a daily basis and that sucks. They shouldn’t have to. “Where’s Ghost and Caden?” I ask.
Alexey and Dmitri look quickly at each other, then Alexey looks at me. “There’s been some new developments.”
“Like?” I prompt. He explains what happened on their trip to get Nolan and meeting Shadow. My eyes widen when I realize Ghost was hiding something else from Caden, and then my heart sinks, knowing Caden must be crushed. “Is Caden okay?”
Alexey kisses my forehead. “I’m not sure. He took off as soon as we got back into town, and Ghost went looking for him. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”
I pull my phone from my pocket and excuse myself from the room. I walk around the corner and dial his number.
“Hello, Firefly,” he answers on the second ring.
“Hi. Are you okay?”
He sighs. “How many more times can I forgive him for lying to me or hiding shit?”
“Where are you? You can come get me. We’ll talk.”
“Um,” he pauses, and it makes me frown before he sighs again. “I’ll be there in ten.” The line goes dead, and I stare at my phone, debating on calling Ghost. I don’t want to take sides, especially since I’m now involved with Ghost too, but I hate to see Caden hurting like this.
Ten minutes later, Caden messages and tells me he’s outside. I thank Nikolay for coming to our rescue and kiss Alexey, Dmitri, and Banger goodbye. “Make sure you call one of us. You don’t stay alone,” Dmitri reminds me.
“Yeah, yeah,” I gripe, walking to the front door. I might act like I don’t want to have a babysitter, but I love having at least one of them around.
When I walk outside, Caden’s Mustang is idling in front of the porch, and he’s leaning against the side of it, waiting to open my door. I peck his lips when I get there, and he wraps me in his arms, burying his face in my neck.
“I missed you today,” he mumbles against my neck.
I hug his waist. “I missed you too.”
“I want to take you somewhere,” he says when he pulls back, pops open my door, and helps me inside. He shuts the door and strides to his side. He gets in and pulls around the circle in the driveway, headed back toward the gate.
He grabs my hand when he’s on the main road, leaving our folded hands on my thigh. I have so many questions, but he has such a resigned look on his face that I hold them in. He drives us into downtown Abbs Valley and parks in front of a church. “What’re we doing here?” I ask.
He stares out of his window at the church before finally turning to look at me. “I come here every Wednesday and Friday,” he answers. I’ve always wondered where he took off to, but I always assumed it was gang business, so I never asked.
He opens his door and walks over to my side to help me out; grabbing my hand in his, he walks us into the church. We sit at the back, and I’m more confused than ever. It’s definitely not like any church service I’ve ever been to.
“Would anyone like to get us started?” a girl asks from the front of the room with a soft smile.
Caden kisses the back of my hand, gets up from his chair, and walks to the front. She gives him a small hug before she moves to the side so he can stand in front of the microphone.
“My name’s Caden, and I’m an addict.” He looks at me when he says that, and I try to keep the shock off my face. I had no idea. “It’s been two years since my last hit.”
People clap politely, and I do too, proud as hell of him. I can’t stop the tears from rolling down my face when I see Ghost standing at the door, out of sight, as Caden accepts his two years of sobriety chip. He slips back out before Caden can see him, and it makes my heart hurt so bad. I want to be mad at Ghost, but even though he knows Caden’s mad at him, he still showed up at such an important time in Caden’s life.
Caden bounces his way back to me, brandishing his chip. “I’m proud of you,” I whisper.
He wipes tears from my cheeks. “I thought you’d high tail it the other way, Firefly.”
“You’re stuck with me,” I say, hooking my arm through his.
He smiles. “I’m okay with that.”
I listen intently and clap every time someone comes up to tell their story. I have so much respect for someone that can get up there and admit their struggles to strangers and overcome something like addiction.
When the last person finishes, we go back outside to Caden’s car, and he pulls back onto the street, holding my hand again. I don’t know whether to tell him that Ghost was there or not.
He drives us to Lookout Point, turns the car off, and just stares out the windshield. I give him time to process whatever he’s thinking about, content to just be with him.
