Jake
Back at my apartment, I climbed out of my car, gritting my teeth and trying to hide the pain from my leg, which was growing more and more pronounced now that the adrenaline of finding out that Halley was kidnapped was wearing off. God, the thing hurt like a motherfucker. I needed to take a round of painkillers just so that I would be able to think straight about all of this. But in order to do that, I needed to get myself upstairs.
Halley came around the car and ducked under my arm to give me a little much-needed support. She peered anxiously up into my face. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You look pretty pale. Maybe I should bring you back to the hospital instead?”
“I'm fine,” I told her, hating that it came out in a growl and hoping she realized it was out of pain, rather than out of any sort of annoyance with her. She was being absolutely brilliant; it wasn't her fault that I'd pushed myself this hard when I was technically still supposed to be on bedrest.
I probably should have waited until I had recovered a little more before I had gone after Max, but I just hadn't been able to sleep knowing that the fucker was out there somewhere, trying to take control of the Devil's Route. Knowing that Frank's death was unavenged.
It seemed that now I had gotten my wish for Max to be wiped off the face of the earth but not without some sort of penalty. Because now, as if I didn't already owe Emilio one for not killing me. It would have been so easy, while I was there in the clubhouse during the raid, and I had to assume that I had only been saved by his grace. Now I owed him for setting Halley free as well, for not killing her when he had the chance.
Although as she'd surmised, she was worth more to my enemies alive than she would be if she were dead.
Halley got me on the elevator and brought me up to my apartment, helping to get me settled on the couch against, just as she had when I had first come back from the hospital. I sighed and relaxed back, letting my eyes slip shut. There was something I needed to admit to her.
“I didn't really realize how hard I'd fallen for you until I got that text,” I told her. “I mean, I knew I wanted to protect you and do right by you but I thought that was just because of Cole. I mean, not that I didn't like you as a person either, I just...” I trailed off, smiling sheepishly. “I don't really sound like a big, bad biker dude right now, do I?”
Halley laughed a little, but there was something else in the sound that I couldn't place. “No, you don't,” she told me.
When I opened my eyes, she was staring down at me in surprise, and she moved so that she could sit on the couch with me, reaching out a hand to lightly rest on my arm. “I really mean that,” I told her, suddenly sensing what her unease was due to. I shook my head. “By all rights, I probably shouldn't be falling for you, but you're a good person, Halley. Such a good person. You've raised a great kid, all by yourself, and you're still here to look after me even after my stupid actions got you kidnapped. I don't know what I could possibly have done to deserve someone like you in my life, but … well...”
“So, what does this mean?” Halley asked, sounding almost as though she was afraid to ask the question. “I mean, Cole and I still have to get out of here, right? It's not safe, and it won't be until you Emilio figure things out.” She laughed a little. “Anyway, my parents would flip out if I told them that you and I were even seeing one another, let alone...” She swallowed hard and shook her head.
“What are you saying?” I asked her, surprised at her reaction. “What about your parents?”
“They don't like you,” Halley said simply. “I probably shouldn't have told them that you were a biker, but I mean, they would have noticed it the first time they met you, based on your tattoos. Anyway, I told them years ago, when I found out that I was pregnant, because they wanted to know why I couldn't at least ask you for money for the baby, even if you wanted nothing to do with him. And I had to explain that you probably weren't the kind of guy that they wanted to have around their grandson.”
I winced, but that made sense. “But we could still ... build a life together, couldn't we?” I asked. “I'm sure they would come around eventually. I mean, we couldn't tell them about the kidnapping or anything like that. But—”
“I'm not going to lie to my parents,” Halley said, shaking her head. “That's the same as you turning your back on your brotherhood, on your motorcycle club. They're my family, Jake, and I'm not going to lie to them. I'm not going to...” She broke off, shaking her head. “I just can't.”
“That's fair,” I said, as much as I hated to admit it. I sighed and closed my eyes again.
“You should rest,” Halley said.
“Can you stay?” I asked, cracking my eye open to look at her. “I just … I want you to be here when I wake up. Or else I'm probably going to panic.”
Halley blinked at me. “Of course,” she said, squeezing my arm lightly. She sighed. “We're going to have to figure this out at some point soon, though, Jake.”
“I know,” I told her. “Trust me, I know. But like you said, right now, I need to rest. And if you're gone when I wake up, I'm probably going to panic, given the events of the day. So, unless you'd like to be on the receiving end of the phone call where I half-asleep try to find out where you are...”
“My parents will wonder,” Halley said, sounding uncertain. “And I should get back to Cole...”
“Tell them that you're running errands,” I suggested. “Please Halley. Anything. Just please. I don't want you to be gone when I wake up.” I must be more exhausted than I thought, if I was sounding that desperate. But Halley looked as though she understood.
“Why don't we move in to your bed, then?” she suggested quietly. “I mean, we snuggled on the couch last time, but it's a little too narrow to do that comfortably.”
I nodded and let her help me up to my feet and maneuver me into the other room.