Page 29 of Snagged By Hook

Her heart shattered into a million pieces right there on the twin bedspread. Her daughter was shouldering so much and was ready to meet an unknown fate all to protect her mother.

It didn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out what Brent intended for her child. The man had zero interest in her before. With all the things Hook had shared with her last night, making money took on a possible meaning she couldn’t even stomach.

After Nova ended their marriage, somewhere in the dark recesses of her mind she’d was finally able to admit that she’dbelieved Brent was evil. She didn’t know what kind or the extent of it, but what she was thinking now was never on her radar. Had she thought he’d planned something so vile, well, she would’ve killed him on the spot instead.

One night, Nova had come home, exhausted after working twenty hours straight, and heard him speaking to June dispassionately as if she were an unwanted pest rather than his daughter.

It was that overheard conversation by her tired brain that had her ending their marriage. That’s when the whole of their marriage and his relationship with his daughter came flooding in, and she said the word divorce. At the time, she wondered if it was just a knee-jerk response because she was overtired and emotional.

In the last months of their marriage, he’d been drunk more often than not. How glad she was now that he’d agreed and left before she had time to sleep on it and rethink things.

Nova would never get over the guilt of not seeing it sooner. Well, now she had a fuck ton more to atone for.

She was mortified. But she knew what she had to do. She’d take Hook and the RBMC up on their offer to find her ex. As soon as they located Brent, she’d make sure he would never threaten June again.

Nova composed herself and plastered on a smile.

“Don’t worry, Bug. Your daddy isn’t going to hurt anyone, and you never have to live with him or anyone else you don’t want to.”

Nova vowed she wouldn’t fail her daughter again. She couldn’t live with herself if she did.

She stood, slipping the tracker into the inside pocket of the bike shorts. She took her daughter’s hand in hers. “Let’s go make that French toast. Then we’ll meet Jeremy at the clubhouse for a surprise.”

The word surprise distracted June, as expected. Nova wanted to skip breakfast and run to Hook immediately. Instead, she’d settle for a few hours early.

Even though June’s birthday wasn’t for three days, they’d planned her birthday party for later today. She was going to be so surprised, and Nova refused to let Brent rob her daughter of the joy of her first surprise birthday party. Nova was going to absorb every minute of it just in case she didn’t get to see her daughter for ten to twenty years.

While cooking, her mind ran through all the things she needed to prepare for in the worst-case scenario after they found Brent.

There would be paperwork, custody arrangements, beneficiaries to change. She’d also do what she could to foster June and Jeremy’s relationship. Her daughter needed him to protect and love her.

Now and after.

HOOK

It wasn’t the first time Nova and June were the topic of discussion in church. They’d been the center of a lot of discussions since Nova had started working for them. Even more so once Hook had moved them into his place.

Today was the same, but different, and Hook was nervous.

He wouldn’t just be discussing them with his brothers again, but he’d be sharing more about himself.

He’d arrived at the clubhouse early to discuss some of it with his Prez before church. Their clubhouse was overwhelmed with pink and yellow streamers, while balloons dominated the common area. Even that sight failed to soothe his frazzled nerves.

Not for the first time, he looked at his watch, wishing it wasn’t too early for a shot. Sitting around the diamond plate steel table in the RBMC inner sanctum was normally his happy place. Today, he just wished it to be over.

He hoped to share the bare minimum needed to form a solid plan to keep his family safe and then celebrate June’s birthday. Yes, they were his family, no matter what.

Ideally, the day would end with him and Nova in bed, but not sleeping. Then tomorrow, his brothers would help him huntdown the man who fathered his Flower. After that, it would be like a fucking fairy tale or a romance book like Devin reads—either way worked for him.

The end, run the credits, whatever.

Deep down, Hook knew that wasn’t ever his lot in life, nor would it be, but a man could dream.

His Prez’s voice pulled him out of his head.

“With that, I’ll let Hook and Virus impart the finer points before we discuss a course of action.”

Hook knew it was coming, but he still wasn’t ready. Thank fuck Virus was.

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