Chapter Thirty
The couple strolling through the park was not at all what Amanda had expected. First off, the man was enormous. Quite possibly the biggest man she’d ever seen. He had to be at least six feet five inches and his muscles seemed to go on forever. She was particularly drawn to the size of his meaty hands. They could do some serious damage. A shudder raced through her as she recalled exactly what those fists had done to Nick’s face.
In contrast to the behemoth, his ol’ lady was a petite beauty with midnight black hair. One of her small hands was engulfed in her man’s large one as they wandered through the park. Strange to see someone Amanda associated with pain and destruction being so gentle with a woman so much smaller than him. The couple was too far away for her to even begin to catch any of their conversation, but the tender way they looked at each other revealed how in love they were.
“Holy shit,” Nick said from beside her. “They had a fuckin’ kid.”
Sure enough, the woman’s free hand pushed a stroller as they walked along. Amanda smiled and some of the tension coiled in her gut loosened. “Looks like something good came out of everything that happened.”
Nick grunted. He probably didn’t see it that way.
“You okay?” she asked.
He scratched at day-old stubble dotted along his chin, his eyes fixed on Jester and Emily. “I’m good. How do you want to play this?”
“Well I was thinking I’d go over and talk to them, feel them out, see if they might be willing to speak with you. If it seems like they’ll go for it, I’ll wave you over.”
Nick snorted. “You do realize, babe, that Jester’s likely to tear my head off if I get within ten feet of his ol’ lady and their kid.”
“Hmm.” Amanda slipped her hand in his and gave a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t think so. But we’ll find out I guess. I’m not going to have you come near them if I think there will be any danger to you.”
Nick curled a hand around her neck and turned her until their mouths were a breath apart. “You don’t need to protect me from him.”
“Can’t help it.” She shrugged and brushed her nose against his. “You see, I kinda like you and would prefer it if you didn’t get your face smashed in again.” The tone was lighthearted, but now that they were here and she saw the size of the man who nearly killed Nick, worry had her stomach tightening once again.
“Yeah?” He chuckled against her mouth. “You kinda like me, huh?”
“Yep.” Really, she loved him, but this was neither the time nor the place for that kind of confession.
“I’m not letting you meet with them by yourself. This is mine to fix,” he said then gave her a quick, hard kiss.
“Look.” Nick pointed across the park. Emily sat on a bench rolling the stroller back and forth with her foot while Jester pointed across the street then jogged toward a coffee shop. Nick had known where Jester lived, and like a couple of stalkers, they’d followed the pair from their house into town. Nick thought they might have better luck in a public place. Jester would be a bit less likely to kill him on sight. “Let’s go now. We’ll have a few minutes alone with her. I’d rather him not be there at first.”
“Okay, okay.” She took a deep breath. “I’m ready.” There was a mission to complete now. Nerves had to be shoved aside.
Hand in hand, they took off across the park at a rapid clip with Nick’s muttered, “Fuck, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” trailing along with them.
“Excuse me, Emily?” she said as she approached the park bench. Though it was only ten in the morning, the scorching sun already warmed her to the point of uncomfortable. “May we speak with you for a moment?”
Emily, who had been staring at their baby with a goofy expression whipped around to stare at her and Nick. Her reactions were instantaneous and severe.
“Oh my God. Yo-you’re alive.” She wore a horrified expression as she leapt to her feet and started pushing the stroller away. “Please stay away,” she called over her shoulder. “Please just leave and don’t hurt us. Jester will be back any second.”
“Wait!” Amanda dropped Nick’s hand and chased after a rapidly retreating Emily. “Don’t run. Please. He’s not here to hurt you. I promise. He wants to apologize.”
Emily halted and faced Amanda with an incredulous stare. A harsh laugh escaped her. “Apologize? He wants to apologize? Do you have any idea what he did to me and my brother?” A tear escaped her eye and guilt hit Amanda strong and hard.
Was she wrong to make Emily relive the horrifying time she went through? Was it purely selfish of her to want Nick absolved of this sin, at least to some degree? No. She fully believed this could be cathartic and cleansing for Emily and Jester, as well as Nick. They were in too far now to back down.
Nick stepped up beside her and raised his hands in a position of surrender. “She knows. And she’s right, I’m not here to harm you or your child.” He gestured toward Amanda with his head. “This is Amanda. She’s my ol’ lady.”
Ol’ lady? Huh? She didn’t bother asking what it meant. Emily seemed to understand the significance. Her eyes widened and her gaze shifted between Amanda and Nick. She still stood in front of the stroller as though prepared to defend her child with her body if necessary.
“You’re not wearing your cut,” Emily whispered.
Nick kept at least fifteen feet of distance between himself and Emily and when he spoke, he used a low, almost soothing tone. Amanda had no clue if his non-threatening posture was helping, but Emily hadn’t bolted yet.
He nodded. “I’m not with the Grimm Brothers anymore.”
Emily’s eyes widened as she shifted her gaze to Amanda, who nodded in confirmation.
“I’m not even living in Arizona anymore and I don’t go by Snake. I’m using my given name, Nick. What I did to you was unforgivable,” he continued. “And I’m not here to ask for your forgiveness, but I want you to know that what I did to you and your brother is the one thing in my life I truly regret. I’ve done a lot of shit and I don’t expect to get a pass for any of it—hell, I’m not sorry for most of it. You know how club life is. But I’m sorry for one thing. And that’s the trauma and pain I put you through.”
“Holy shit.” Emily whispered. “I, um, shit, I’m not sure I should believe you. This is just the type of thing you’d set up as some kind of sick trap.” She kept shifting her focus to the coffee shop where Jester was as though he would appear if she wanted it bad enough.
Amanda swallowed down the sick feeling that rose from her gut. She and Emily knew two different men and her heart ached for the scared women. But what Nick—no Snake—had done to her would not happen at Nick’s hand. Amanda had to stand up for him. Had to make Emily see he was no threat and never would be.
Amanda cleared her throat and Emily shifted her attention off Nick. “I know he blackmailed you. Threatened your brother’s life and almost killed him. I know when everything blew up in his face he kidnapped you and that you were hurt both physically and psychologically. I know that Jester rescued you and came close to killing Nick, uh Snake. And then I know that his own club betrayed him, shot him multiple times, dumped him down a ravine, and left him to die.”
Emily gasped. Tears were openly streaming down her face now. Amanda was under no illusion that talk of Nick’s injuries was the reason for her crying, but memories of what she went through.
Amanda’s eyes filled as well. “I-I also know that he somehow survived. And that he worked so hard to heal and recover. He’s a g-good man now.” Her voice hitched and she lost the battle to not cry.
“Babe, don’t.” Nick stepped toward her and slid one arm around her waist while keeping the other raised and in Emily’s sight. Amanda turned into him, burrowing her face against his chest.
“I’m not who I was back then, thanks mostly to Amanda. After today, I’ll never set foot in this town again. You don’t have to say anything, and like I said, I don’t expect forgiveness. I just want you to know I feel true remorse and your family will never have to worry about any kind of threat from me or the Grimm Brothers. I’d like the opportunity to say the same to Jester, but wanted to speak with you first.”
Amanda pulled away from Nick and took a step closer to Emily. She saw it as a positive sign that Emily was still listening to them. There they stood, two women in love with men on opposite sides of the fence. Men with the ability to harm yet also love.
“This,” she said waving a hand between the three of them. “This was my idea. He’s been given a second chance at living and wants to have a quiet life, with me. I wanted to give him the opportunity to unburden his soul. And I’m sorry if this is painful for you, or if it was a horrible idea, but I still think we needed to try.”
Emily sighed and rocked the stroller back and forth. She cast her gaze in the direction of the coffee shop then wiped her tear-stained face with the back of her hand. “Jester will be back any second and he’s likely to not take this well at first. Let me speak to him before you say anything. Last thing we need is some biker brawl in broad daylight.”
“Thank you,” Nick said. “It’s more than I deserve.”
“Yeah, well, if you’ve changed as much on the inside as you have on the outside…” She shrugged then stood on her toes and peered over Amanda’s shoulder. “Hey, do you know that person? There’s someone headed right toward us and she looks sick or something.”
“Huh?” Amanda spun and her jaw dropped. About twenty feet away, Kat staggered toward them, her steps unsteady. At some point in the month since Amanda had last seen her friend, she’d dyed her hair an almost blue-black. Giant hoop earrings she’d have made fun of in the past hung from her ears, and…was that a tattoo peeking out of the neckline of her tank top? “Kat? What are you doing here?”
Kat halted when she was ten feet from Amanda. Her spiky hair stuck out in a hundred directions as though it hadn’t been taken care of. Her eyes were wide, wild, and glassy. A thin sheen of sweat coated her face. If she didn’t know better, Amanda would swear Kat was on some kind of drugs. Heck, maybe she didn’t know better. This Kat was a stranger to her.
“Kat? Honey, what are you doing here?”
Kat stared at her and Amanda shivered. Her eyes grew flat, lifeless. “I’ve been with a club in New Mexico on and off for the past few months. Research at first. Then…” She frowned and shrugged, fidgeting where she stood. “I came here with a biker. There’s some boxing match at a club here or something.” She shrugged. “We came for that. And the party. I saw you. In your truck. I couldn’t believe it.” She laughed, a harsh and bitter sound of disbelief.
Amanda swallowed and glanced at Emily who wore a confused expression and stood in front of the stroller, shielding her child from Kat’s view. Nick stood statue-still and stared at Kat with a deep scowl.
Something was very wrong with her friend. She looked horrible, sick like Emily said. “Kat, are you okay?”
She shook her head. “You don’t know, Mandy. You just don’t know.”
With her heart lodged in her throat, Amanda could only shake her head. She didn’t know. She had no clue what Kat had endured recently. It couldn’t be good by the look of her.
“Kat.” Nick’s soft tone cut through Amanda’s fear. “Why don’t you let us take you back home. We can get you some help.”
Kat looked at him and her eyes grew wild. “What? Leave one psycho biker just to go with another? Not happening, Snake. Oh, I know who you are,” she said as Amanda gasped and Nick let out a warning growl. “I know it all, Snake, and soon everyone will know.”
Oh shit.