Wrench

15 - How could I have been so stupid?

Elie

I can’t speak. My throat is dry. My heart is beating in a way it never has before. Not only have I just found out that my mother isn’t dead, and she is, in fact, the woman I believed to be my aunt, but I also found out that Nova ratted me out!

Oh my God, how could I have been so stupid?

Did I honestly believe she wouldn’t look inside that envelope?

Yes, actually!

I don’t know how all that shi.t works, but I did my homework on it all.

Fuc.k, homework on how to hire an assassin?

How ridiculous does that sound?

However, I should have been smarter.

How did I expect it all to end when I gave all the information to Hammer’s sister-in-law?

Was I trying to get myself caught?

Maybe I was in some way. I don’t know. Perhaps I just wanted out of all the pain.

“Draven Vidal is Hammer’s older brother, and if he finds out what you tried to do, there will be nothing anyone can do to help you.”

Oh, fuc.k! I’m going to die. That’s all there is to it.

“What’s going to happen to me?” I’m still clutching Coral’s waist. I think that’s the only reason I’m still on my feet right now.

“You need to speak with Nova. Take back what you told her, and stress that you will never try something like this again.”

I nod at Stryker.

I know what will happen to me should I not retract what I tried to do. These men are not the kind of men you mess around with. They will kill me; there is no doubt about that, and nothing I or anyone else says will stop it from happening.

I don’t want to die knowing Wrench hates me, and he will hate me should he find out what I’ve done. All I can do is beg Nova to forget what she knows. Even though I’m pissed at the bitc.h for opening that envelope, I’m also very grateful that she did and managed to stop anything from happening to Hammer.

I wasn’t thinking straight. I wanted Hammer hurt because I thought my mother was dead because of him, and I was so hurt my mind flipped on me for a while there. I think I had some sort of breakdown. I am also fuckin.g stupid!

“Now, why don’t I tell you the truth about what happened with my sister? You’ll have a clearer perspective on things, and then you can go talk to Nova.”

I nod at my newly found mother. Maybe if I’d asked her what happened in the first place, I wouldn’t be in this damn mess right now.

“Don’t worry, baby. Everything will be just fine. Mommy will never let anything happen to you.”

I know that, and I love you so much already.

* * *

I’ve kept to myself over the past few days, apart from spending time with my mother and getting to know my baby brother, whom I freaking love like you wouldn’t believe. However, I haven’t seen Wrench at all. We’ve talked on the phone, but I haven’t told him about who Coral is to me yet. I don’t really want to have that conversation over the phone, but I will tell him soon.

I’m starting to hate myself. I miss Wrench all the time. I didn’t come here looking to fall for anyone. I came here to find my mother, then came the revenge plan.

But now?

Now I know the truth about everything that really happened to Cindy, all that not only my mother but Hammer suffered in her passing, how he made those who killed her pay for what they’d done; I can’t deny what my heart is telling me. Hammer is not to blame for what happened. I was wrong. I know that now.

Not only that, but I have also fallen in love with an outlaw biker. An outlaw biker whose mother took in my mother’s husband when he was nineteen and still, to this day, treats him like one of her own.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Wrench is never going to feel the way I feel. He likes fuckin.g me, and I’d be a liar if I said he didn’t. Hell, he makes it damn obvious. However, I also know he’s not the kind of man to claim a woman, so Coral told me. She told me the truth about Wrench. How he’s a good man but a whor.e of the worst kind, and she’d know being married to his “brother.”

My question to her was: if he’s such a whor.e and only spends one night with whatever woman he’s with at the time, what’s going on with him and me?

For the past month, he’s been with me and only me. I know this because I never had him down as a liar. Since that first night together, he and I haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other, and he’s always telling me that I belong to him.

I never took it seriously. God, I want to take it seriously now.

Coral told me that anything is possible; any man has the ability to change. So maybe I’ve changed Wrench, and he really does want to be with me, to claim me.

I guess I’ll never know if I don’t talk to Nova and sort this out. I haven’t been able to contact her before now because she disappeared for a few days. She’s back now, so nothing is stopping me.

Now that I’ve found my family, now that I’m about to speak to Nova about what I shouldn’t have asked of her in the first place, I know that I want to stay here. I want to be close to my family, and more than anything, I want to belong to Wrench.

I even video-called Sally last night and told her what I found out about my birth mother. She excitedly screamed down the phone and told me she understood how I could have gotten it wrong. It made me feel a little better that she did.

I let her see and speak to my beautiful mother, and Sally couldn’t believe how much we looked alike. She saw little Mark, who couldn’t bear not being the center of attention – they’ll have their work cut out with him – she commented that she could tell he was Coral’s son, my brother. However, she didn’t think he looked much like us because of his dark hair and brown eyes. I turned the camera around without making it evident to Stryker that I had. He wasn’t looking at us. When I turned the camera around, Sally laughed and said she could see who Mark looked like then.

He does look like his daddy so damn much it’s scary.

We ended the call with me promising to call her next week. The trouble is, I’m not sure I’ll even be alive next week.

It’s hot this evening, and I’m glad I didn’t wear jeans. Shorts and a tank, that’s all I’m wearing right now. However, as I walk through the clubhouse – because this is where Nova is – I wish I hadn’t dressed like this.

“Hey, gorgeous!” Roman yells with a wink from where he sits at the bar with some slutty looking blonde on his lap. I wave back with a smile.

Roman is Wrench’s cousin. He’s a lot older than Wrench, a hell of a lot older than me, even older than my mother, but he’s nice enough, in a man-whor.e kind of way. Just because he’s a man-whor.e, it doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, and he’s always nice to me. I know the reason why. It’s because he’s always known who I am.

Coral told me that Roman knew who I was the second he laid eyes on me. He didn’t say anything because it wasn’t his place to tell me who I really was, who my mother was. I appreciate that. We’ll tell people when we’re ready to.

I notice Nova near the back of the club, making her way toward the restroom. I rush after her. “Nova!” I call her name, and she turns and smiles at me. I notice her little girl holding her hand. “Hi, Ember.”

“Hi,” She giggles. God, she’s cute.

“I need to speak with you. It’s important.”

Nova holds her finger up to me. “Give me one minute. Ember needs to use the bathroom, but she’s going through a phase where she won’t go alone.”

I chuckle and let her leave.

She’s back within minutes, and I follow her to her father’s office, dropping Ember off with Nova’s mother on the way.

“Take a seat.”

I sit down on the small couch against the back wall of this bigger-than-I-imagined office. “Now, how can I help you this time?” There’s a little sarcasm in her tone. She takes a seat beside me, and I swallow hard.

Okay, I have nothing to be scared of; I just need to get it out there. “It’s about what I asked of you.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“I need you to not go ahead with it. I made a mistake, and I don’t want to go through with it.”

“And what if I told you it was too late?” My eyes bug out. She cannot be serious. “It’s been days since you asked me, Elie, and these things, once set in motion, cannot be undone.”

“Nova,” Christ, I feel sick. My stomach is by my feet! “I tried to speak to you sooner, but you weren’t around. Please tell me that you didn’t pass that information on. Please tell me...”

“I can’t tell you anything right now, Elie. I suggest you go home, and I’ll deal with this.”

“But...”

She grabs my hands and shakes her head. “I admire you for coming to me to stop this. Can I ask what made you change your mind?”

I take a deep breath and tell her I made a mistake. I tell her how I was wrong about my birth mother.

Hell, why shouldn’t I?

It’s not like she doesn’t know whom I wanted dealt with, and I’m surprised she’s even talking to me without ripping my head off. Hammer is her brother-in-law, after all.

However, Nova isn’t ripping my head off; she listens and tells me she’ll do everything possible. All I can do now is wait it out; she’ll get back to me with more news as soon as she has it. I can’t help but feel the heavy lead weight in my stomach. Something doesn’t feel right. Something is going to explode, and it’s all my fault.

I leave Nova and make my way through the clubhouse. My mind is swimming, and I just want to get back to the hotel. Coral has already asked me to move into her house, that she has a room for me. However, I don’t think I’m ready for that.

“Elie?” I turn my head and instantly smile as Wrench comes rushing over to me. I didn’t even know he was here, but he is the one person I need right now. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” I lie. I lean on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck. “I missed you so much.” I kiss his lips softly as his arms come around my waist. “I need you. Take me home.”

“Take you home, huh?”

“Yes,” I nod and lick my lips seductively. If this is the last time we will ever be together, and it might, I want it to count.

He groans, making me giggle. “Damn girl, you drive me insane.”

“Moi?” I laugh. “I did nothing.” Before he can answer, I smash my lips against his. I don’t care that the whole room is now looking at me; I groan into his mouth. His erectio.n is pressing into my stomach through his jeans. Fuc.k, he’s hard. “Take me home,” I tell him again. “I’m so wet for you, Wrench. I want you to fuc.k me hard.”

“Shi.t!” He hisses, grabs my hand, and drags me out of the clubhouse, and I laugh.

No matter what’s going on in my head or around me right now, I know Wrench can make me forget. Even if just for a little while. Because when he’s inside of me, nothing else matters. I need that right now. I need to forget that I could lose the man I have fallen for very soon if this shi.t storm I have created comes to ahead.

God, I hope Nova can stop this.