Phoenix
I don’t know how I managed to keep my bike upright as I followed Wave to his clubhouse. After almost 20 years, I finally found my Annabelle. Only, she wasn’t my Annabelle anymore. She was an older version of my Annabelle going by the name of Taylor Davis. And she had a son. A son that wasn’t my son. That thought had me grinding my teeth and tightening my grip on my handlebars.
My mind was flooded with questions I desperately needed answered. How could she have another child and leave two children behind? Was this kid Octavius’s son or did someone else father that child? How old was he? How in the hell did she end up under Wave’s watch? Oh, fuck me, was Wave that kid’s father?
By the time we pulled into what I assumed was Wave’s clubhouse, I had managed to get myself all worked up. I wanted to throttle Annabelle and kiss her at the same time. How could I feel so relieved to have finally found her while simultaneously being so damn angry with her? I didn’t have a strong handle on my emotions. Part of me wanted to head back to my hotel room and try this again the next day while the other part of me wanted to never let her out of my sight again. The latter part of me won that battle.
I followed Wave into his clubhouse. It appeared to be an old indoor storage building that he converted to house his brothers. It was pretty shabby looking from the outside, but the inside was a different story. The front doors opened into a large room with tables, sofas, a few pool tables, and a bar at the back of the room. “Welcome to the Knights of Neptune’s Clubhouse, Phoenix.”
“Thanks, man. Nice setup you got here.”
“Follow me. You look like you could use a drink,” he said over his shoulder as he made his way to the bar. He was wrong. I couldn’t use a drink; I needed a whole fucking bottle.
Wave cleared his throat and clapped his hands together one time. “Listen up, Knights. This here is a buddy of mine from back in my days as a Marine. He’s also the president of the Blackwings Motorcycle Club, so you’ll see him wearing his colors. You treat my friend with respect or you will be answering to me.” He chuckled and added, “If he doesn’t whoop your ass first. Now, everybody, give Phoenix a Knights’ welcome.” The men in the clubhouse hooted and hollered, raising their drinks in the air. The women clapped and cheered. I was not up for social hour. I was here for one thing and one thing only, Annabelle.
Wave handed me a shot of whiskey, which I immediately downed and shoved my glass back for a refill. “Listen, man, I don’t know her whole story and it isn’t any of my business, but I have to know, are you putting Taylor in any danger by being here?”
Taylor. I would never get used to that name. I shook my head. “Not at all. I’m pretty sure I know why she’s been hiding out here all these years and I can assure you, that reason is no longer an issue.” As far as everyone knew, Octavius was dead and gone, and I had the papers to prove it.
“All right. I know we’ve lost touch over the years, but I trust you, man. It’s just, Taylor has become a part of our family and we all look out for her. Not a one of the Knights would let anything happen to her,” he explained.
I couldn’t help the disdain in my tone. “She an Old Lady?”
Wave laughed. A full out belly laugh. “Are you serious? How well did you know her? That girl has never, and I mean never, had anything to do with any of the brothers. Hell, I’ve known her for 13 years and I’ve never seen her give any man a second glance. Over the years, she’s become a little sister to the guys.”
I managed to maintain my mask of indifference, but the relief I felt was almost too much to hide. “What about the kid?”
“Nathan? He’s a good boy. Loves his momma with everything he has. I don’t know what business you have with Taylor, but if anyone is going to give you trouble, it’s going to be Nathan, and that’s just because he’s going to try to protect her. It’s always been just the two of them. Hell, it took a long time before he warmed up to anyone other than Token and he was just a tiny little shit then.”
“How old is he?”
“Just turned 18 about a month ago,” he said.
I sucked in a sharp breath. He was just a year, maybe not even that, younger than Ember and Coal. That meant, without a doubt, he was really Nivan.
Nathan.
Nivan.
I slammed my fist down onto the bar. “Fuck!” Motherfucking son of a bitch.
Silence fell over the bar and all eyes turned to me. Wave clapped me on the shoulder. “Come on, man, let’s go to my office. Prospect, hand me that bottle. No, you fuckhead, the good shit.”
I followed Wave into his office and dropped into the first chair I spotted. He handed me the bottle and I took several long pulls before I came up for air. “Thanks, man. Listen, I need to talk to Anna— I mean Taylor?”
He leaned back against his desk and studied me. “Well, that’d be up to her, but I’m not so keen on it given your current state.”
I sighed. “Fuck, if it makes you feel better, you can stay, but I can’t not talk to her.” I sounded like a pussy, but I didn’t give a fuck at that very moment. She was the only one who could answer my questions and I was only going to make myself crazy the longer I waited to ask them.
“Okay. I’ll go get her for you.”
Wave returned with Annabelle in his wake. She walked into the office and leaned against a wall that happened to be the place in the room farthest from me. The tension in the room was damn near palpable and it was obvious something had shifted during the ride from her house to the clubhouse. She quietly said, “Wave said you wanted to talk to me.”
I half-laughed, half-scoffed. “Something like that. He feels like he should stay. You want him to hear all the shit we have to talk about? And let me just tell you now, I know most of what happened and there’s A LOT you don’t know.”
She shifted her weight from foot to foot and started fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “Um, I’m not sure…”
Enough of this bullshit. “Look, you know damn well I would never do anything to hurt you, but this conversation is going to be emotionally charged. There’s no other way it can go. There will be yelling and crying and who knows what else, but I swear I won’t touch you unless it’s to comfort you.”
She nodded. “Okay then. Do you want to go to the room I’m staying in for this?”
“I think that would be best.” I stood and waited for her to show me the way.
Wave caught her arm and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, patted his chest, and whispered something back. Any other time I would have been thrilled that she had someone who watched over her so closely, but it was currently pissing me off. Yeah, I would probably yell at her and get angry with her, but I had also missed her, longed for her, loved her for over 20 fucking years. I damn sure wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.
Finally, she started walking toward her room. I couldn’t help but admire her body as she all but glided down the hall. Her ass was fuller than it once was, but it looked good on her. The way her hips swayed was damn near hypnotic. Before I was ready to take my eyes off of her delectable ass, we arrived at her room.
She closed the door and turned to face me. I could see the apprehension written all over her. Shakily, she gestured to a chair in the corner of the room and slowly inched her way toward the bed.
“Wait,” I said sharply. “I want to see some of the Annabelle I have wanted to see for two decades. Go take those colored contacts out.”
She blinked at me. Then, blinked again. “O-okay, Phoenix.” She scurried to the bathroom. I dropped into the chair, completely stunned that she didn’t balk at my demand. I should have asked her, but those fucking green eyes were pissing me the fuck off. Those weren’t her eyes. I wanted to see the baby blues that only two other people in the world had, our children.
She came back into the room with her eyes downcast. When she took a seat on the bed, she kept her eyes on the floor. “Look at me, Annabelle,” I said softly.
She slowly raised her head and, finally, her eyes. It was like a punch to the gut. There she was.
My girl.
My love.
My Annabelle.
I stood and took two long strides to reach her. I cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to her feet. My other hand cupped her cheek as I brought my face closer to hers. “Annabelle,” I breathed, “I’ve missed you so damn much.” Then, I covered her mouth with mine. Home. I was finally fucking home.