Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
I got to my feet and threw open the door, hurrying toward the front of the club. I was frantic as I searched for her.
“Auntie,” I murmured, interrupting my aunt Molly’s conversation. “I need your help.”
“What’s wrong, Rum?” she asked, reaching for me. Her hand on my shoulder wasn’t comforting, though. It felt like a shackle. I needed to find Nova.
“Nova’s hurt,” I told her baldly. “Can you come look at her?”
“I saw that shiner she had,” she replied with a grimace. “She said she tripped or something.”
“She didn’t trip,” I muttered, shaking my head. I was still searching the room, but she wasn’t there. She must’ve already gone outside. “She’s got huge bruises. One on her back and another on her thigh.”
“What?” Aunt Molly sputtered.
“I’ll find her,” I said, pulling away. “I’ll bring her to you, okay?”
I left her without another word, but I heard her behind me, following me outside. From the step right outside the door, I searched the crowd for Nova but didn’t see her anywhere.
“Olive,” I called, hurrying across the yard. “Have you seen No?”
Olive shook her head.
“She just left,” Meg said, glaring at me. “She and Bird. What did you say to her? She was fine until you went chasing her across the yard.”
“She left?”
“Yeah,” Meg said, raising her eyebrows as she nodded. “She barely even said goodbye.”
I looked over the crowd again, hoping Meg was wrong.
“Rumi,” my mom called from behind me, her hand wrapping around my bicep. “Sweetheart, come here for a sec.”
“I can’t, Ma,” I muttered, barely glancing at her. “I need to find Nova.”
“Rumi,” she said again, her voice a little more firm. “Come with me.”
“Mom—” Before the word was even out of my mouth, I saw the look on her face and stiffened.
“Come here,” she said, her voice almost gentle. She towed me across the yard to where my aunties and Brenna were standing in a little huddle, talking quietly.
“I need to go find Nova,” I said dumbly as they all looked up at me. “I’m sorry, Ma. Can this wait?”
“Honey, your dad is on his way to Nova now,” she replied, her hand still gripping my bicep. “Okay?”
“Not okay,” I replied in confusion. “What do you mean? She’s hurt, Mom. And she won’t tell me who did it, but I’m going to fucking find out—”
“We know,” Brenna said, taking a single step toward me. “We know who hurt her. The boys are going to take care of it. They’re on their way now.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked in confusion, looking around at their concerned faces. “I’ll take care of it. It’s Nova. It should be me.”
“Honey,” my mom breathed.
“It was Samson,” Brenna said, her eyes still staring into mine.
That didn’t make any sense. It was completely out of the realm of reality. Samson loved Nova. She was his little princess. Samson would never lay his hands on Nova. Never.
“Something’s been going on with him, and we don’t know what,” Brenna said, her voice still infuriatingly calm. “But we’ve been watching.”
“You’ve been watching?” I spat incredulously.
“We didn’t know he was going to hurt anyone.”
“What the fuck?” I yelled, looking around the group as I backed up a step. “Where is he?”
“Rumi, you need to calm down,” my mom ordered, setting her hand on my back. “Calm down, son.”
“Where the fuck is he?”
“He left right after Nova and Bird,” my auntie Rose said, her voice softer and more sympathetic than I’d ever heard it before.
“Fuck!” My heart started racing and my palms felt sweaty and I didn’t know what to do for a solid two seconds. I just stood there, frozen, while my gaze raced over the yard and the forecourt.
“As soon as we realized Samson left, the boys that were here followed him,” Brenna called out as I jogged toward my bike.
“Rum,” my brother called, running toward me. His hair was a mess and his shirt was inside out.
“I’m not waiting on you,” I told him shortly, climbing on my bike.
“Dad was right behind them,” he assured me, yelling over his shoulder as he ran for his truck. “I’ll be right behind you.”
The ride from the clubhouse to Nova’s trailer was the longest eight minutes of my life. I couldn’t stop running our conversation over and over in my head. I’d begged and pleaded with her to tell me who had hurt her, and when she finally had, I’d assumed she was lying.
Chapter 18
Nova
I wasn’t sure how the conversation started. There’s a chance that I will never remember, and I think that’s probably a good thing. Why would I ever want to know who lit the fuse that changed my entire life forever? Was it me? Was it Pop? Could I have changed the trajectory of the twenty-four hours after or had it been out of my hands from the beginning?