Page 43 of Jett

“It’s one of my investment properties.”

I walk farther into the living room, staring out at the apartments facing us. I can see everything: other people’s living rooms, bedrooms, and—oh, a very naked gay couple having sex against the windows across the compound. “It’s so close to the clubhouse. Why aren’t you living here?”

“Because it’s yours.”

I whirl around to see his face. “What?”

“Furniture should be arriving tomorrow. Not much was salvageable from your apartment but Grim and Kick went there and met with the landlord. He was a dick, and he’d already sold off your furniture to cover the rent, so they broke his nose.”

I cover my mouth. “Oh my God.”

“Anyway, there wasn’t much to save after the Russians riffled through it. Kick’s got a couple of boxes of your shit in his room at the clubhouse. We’ll bring them over tomorrow.”

Oh God. All of the mementos and albums from my marriage gone, my previous life just erased by careless men seeking vengeance.

“Jett, I can’t accept this. I ... I don’t know what to say, but this is ... it’s too much.”

“Relax. The place is just sitting here unused. It’s about time you moved out of the clubhouse anyway. Now that lockdown is over, and the Russians are ...” He shoves his hands in the pocket of his jeans and glances at the window behind me. “I know living with a bunch of dirty bikers is no place for a woman like you.”

I shake my head and step closer, pressing my palm to the ropey muscles of his forearm. “I’d be out on the street if it weren’t for you.”

“I’d never let that happen.”

“Still.” I take a deep breath. “I can’t accept this—”

“You can and you will.”

I raise a questioning brow and the corner of his lips tip up in a half-smile.

“It makes zero sense having it sit here empty.”

He’s not going to let this go. If I know one thing about Jett, it’s that he’s used to getting what he wants. I exhale slowly and turn to glance at the apartment, trying to imagine my new life here.Is it wrong that I see that life with him? It’s all Icansee as I walk through the spacious kitchen, the living room, and head downstairs to the second floor where the bedrooms are. “The bathroom alone is bigger than my last apartment. I can’t afford this.”

“It’s not costing you a cent, darlin’.”

“Jett, I ...”

“Christ, woman, for once will you just let someone take care of you?”

His words catch me off guard. It’s suddenly hard to swallow around the lump in my throat. My nostrils flair and I fight back tears. “I’m not used to being the one who’s taken care of.”

“Well, get used to it.”

I shake my head at him and give a small smile. “I’ll get right on that, Prez.”

Jett’s dark chuckle reverberates through the bathroom. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Angel.” He slips his arm around my shoulder and escorts me upstairs. “Let’s get you back to the clubhouse. You’re gonna need your rest if you’ve got Grim, Crazy, and Kick to babysit tomorrow.”

“You won’t be here?” I try to keep the disappointment from my voice, but I fail miserably.

“Club business with Tank. I’ll swing by later to see how you’re settling in.”

***

JETT WASN’T KIDDINGabout babysitting the boys. Lucky for me, Ivy, Indie, and Charmaine are all on hand to whip them into line alongside me. Jett had left Ivy his credit card so we could order pizzas to keep everyone fed, and my new fridge had already been stocked with groceries and food. I feel like a charity case, but I’m still so grateful. I’m grateful for a family who went shopping to stock my pantry, who would drop everything to help me move, and who showed up at my new apartment with my car fully repaired and paid for, when my own kin abandoned me years earlier. But most of all, I’m grateful for Jett. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be. Although, at this rate I’m going to be working at that clubhouse until I’m one hundred years old just to pay him back for all he’s done for me.

Josh’s face flashes before me, and I swallow the lump in my throat. Back when my husband was young and healthy, we moved into our first apartment together and christened every inch of that one bedroom. I’ve moved twice since then. Once into the town house we spent our marriage in, and the second time was the shitty apartment I took in Redfern because it was all I could afford after spending our life savings on his medical care and the room in the nursing home. But I’ve never had support around me like this.

I sniff back the tears which are threatening to fall.

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