Society Girls: Neveah (20 page)

I motion him over to the juice bar, before
continuing our talk. “How are you really doing with
everything?”

“I’m happy that he’s alive, but I’m also
angry, and sad, too.”

“That’s normal. At least, I think it is. I’m
no shrink, but I’d be feeling those things too,” I tell him as I
slide a juice across the counter to him.

“I don’t know if I can just let him back
into my life like it’s no big deal.”

“He doesn’t expect that. He never thought
he’d be able to be a part of your life again, so he’ll take
whatever you can give him,” I tell him, knowing it’s true because
Sadiq and I have talked about it.

“You’ve already done so much, but do you
think I could maybe talk to you every once in a while?”

“Definitely. Let me give you my number, and
we can hang while we’re here if you want.”

“That’d be great.”

It really would. I like Sully, and I know
he’s struggling with what went down with Sadiq. I can’t imagine my
dad dying, but coming back from the dead has to be just as bad, if
not worse. I’ll do whatever I can for him, and not just because I
hope to one day be his brother-in-law.

Neveah

I wake up in a room on the boat. I can tell
that we’re still on the water, because the boat is rocking a little
more than it would if we were docked somewhere. My arm is bandaged
up, and hurts like…well, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.
I try to stand up, but I’m still dizzy, so I end up slamming into
the wall. Before sitting back down.

The door opens immediately, and Jake pokes
his head in. “Hey, you’re up! That’s really good.”

“Where are we?”

“About ten miles from the compound.”

“Why didn’t we just go back?”

“Well, it would’ve been a little hard to
explain why we had a woman who had obviously been shot and was in a
party dress coming off the boat with us right after the compound
exploded.”

“Oh yeah. I didn’t have room for other
clothes anywhere,” I say, looking down at my torn dress.

“Matt thought you might forget that, so we
have clothes for you to change into.”

“I might need help.”

“I can imagine you will. I’ll get Matt.”

“I’m surprised he wasn’t down here.”

“He’s pretending to be a rich traveler up on
deck, along with everyone else. I’m down here because if shit goes
down with the Coast Guard, I have the most pull, and could maybe
talk them out of taking you.”

“I sometimes forget that your mom is the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

“Sometimes I wish she wasn’t,” he says with
a grin, “but other times I’m glad she is.”

I start to laugh, but that jars my arms and
I hiss out a curse. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Getting shot normally does. It was a
through and through, and Nate patched you up really well, but
you’ll want to have Kendrick look at it when we get back. I’ll have
Matt bring you some pain pills when he comes in.”

“Thanks, Jake. For everything.”

“Anytime, Nev. This is more fun than I’ve
had in months. The other guys feel the same way, too. Now that
we’ve settled down, we don’t do this kind of stuff too often
anymore.”

“Well then, I’m glad I could give you a
little adventure,” I tell him with a smile.

He winks, and then leaves me alone in the
room again. I make my way into the bathroom that’s attached to the
room while I wait for Matt. After taking care of everything I want
to do, including washing off my heavy make-up with one hand, I go
back into the main room. Matt is sitting on one of the chairs in
the lavish room, but he jumps up as I stagger out.

“I brought you some pain meds. Jake said you
need help getting changed?”

“Yeah. My arm is pretty useless at the
moment. Not sure how I’ll pass any of my weapons tests now.”

“You have time for that.”

“I guess. I wanted to do it next week, so I
could concentrate on other stuff. Things that aren’t as hard, but I
could use some extra time with,” I tell him as he unzips my dress
for me.

He holds up a bra awkwardly
for me, and we both look resigned. I definitely need the bra, but
I’ll never be able to do the front clasp on my own. I’ve
hero-worshipped Matt for years, but I haven’t had a crush on him
since I was twelve. He let me down easy, telling me about Reina,
but this is still a little embarrassing. Okay,
very
embarrassing.

“If I help get it over your bad arm, can you
turn away, and get the cups over…your breasts…and then, I can just
do the clasp?” he asks, looking as panicked as I feel.

“Yeah. I can totally do that. I’m sorry you
have to help me.”

“Don’t ever apologize. I’ll help you with
anything, any time. This is just a little uncomfortable. It’s like
seeing my little sister, or niece, in a bra.”

“You don’t have either, so I think you’re
safe.”

“Thank God for that.”

We both laugh, distracting us from what he
has to do. Once it’s done, he swings me back around so my back is
to him, and helps me put on a maxi dress that has loose sleeves and
is in a bold print on a light blue background. It’s not something
I’d pick for myself, but it covers my injury, and looks like
something a woman lounging on a yacht would wear.

“I still can’t believe you rented a yacht
for this.”

“Less suspicious. I look like a rich guy,
playing at fishing with my friends.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to fish for
real.”

“Oh, we
are
fishing for real. We’ve caught
some good stuff for a late dinner tonight.”

My stomach rumbles, reminding me that it’s
been hours since I ate. “I didn’t know you could even fish at
night, but that sounds wonderful.”

“It’s not as good as daytime fishing, but we
did alright. It won’t be long before it’s ready. We let Aiden gut
everything since he didn’t get to kill a human today, and now
Theo’s cooking it all up.”

“Who killed the man who shot me?” I ask,
remembering him fall to the ground.

“Nate. He’s the best sniper out of all of
us.”

“And Theo came into the water for me,
right?”

“Yep. Ex-Navy SEAL.”

“I can’t believe all of you helped me
without question. You, I can understand, because we’re…or we
were…family, but your friends didn’t need to be here.”

He tips my chin up to look in my eyes. “I
will always be family to you, Nev. Your father being alive doesn’t
change that. As for my friends? They’re here because I’m here, but
also because you are. They’re the best and most loyal guys I know.
You know Nate, and Aiden, and I can’t believe you don’t know they’d
do anything for you. Theo’s relatively new to our group, and we’re
missing Darcy—who doesn’t fish—but we’re all really tight. We’d do
anything for each other, and they’d do anything for you as well.
The other husbands and Kendrick hang out with us a lot, but this is
my inner circle, so to speak. They know how much you mean to me,
and also to their women, so they’ll do whatever has to be done for
you.”

“My friends—the recruits—would do the
same.”

“Good,” he says with a nod. “Reina will be
happy to know you’re so close.”

“We all stopped going to classes when she
thought about kicking Sierra out. I think she knows we’re
tight.”

“True, but it makes her feel like she’s
doing things right when she sees it.”

“How are you? Really?” I ask, knowing this
may not be the right time, or place, but I haven’t had the chance
to ask before now.

“I’m better than I thought I would be the
night I saw your father. Reina made me realize that although we
lost so much time together, maybe it was better for both of us. She
reminded me that although our love has endured the test of time,
that maybe when we were younger, we might not have known how to
handle a love so powerful. Now, we not only handle it, but we
embrace it and are stronger because of it. I know that if I hold
onto my anger, and pain, it will only work to destroy what I’ve
built with her.”

“Wow. That’s really romantic and
beautiful.”

“Yeah, well, it happens,” he says with a
shrug. “Reina brings out all the best in me—and helps me keep the
worst in check.”

“I want a love like that. Hell, I think
everyone in the universe wants a love like that.”

“You think Dylan might have a shot at giving
you that?”

“Yeah, I do. I need to talk to him about the
pictures, and let him tell me what we both need him to say.”

“Are we going to talk about what went down
at the compound?”

It’s my turn to shrug. “I blew it up.”

“With people inside.”

“Bad people who wanted to kill the man I
love, and probably countless others.”

“I’m not saying they didn’t deserve it, and
honestly, no one else on this boat would give a second thought to
doing what you did.”

“I didn’t have any second thoughts.”

“That doesn’t scare you? Because I gotta
tell you, Nev, I never thought I would see this day come. I wanted
you to be part of the Society, but I wasn’t sure you could.”

“I’m not scared, no. I prayed before I did
it, and once the painkillers you brought me kick in enough so I can
walk, I’ll pray again. I don’t feel remorse for what I did, so
asking for forgiveness doesn’t exactly feel right, but I’ll keep
praying every day. I strayed from the tenets of my faith, and I
know that by continuing on with the Society, I will do it again,
but I’ve come to realize that it’s sometimes more necessary to
remove evil from the world, than it is to worry about saving your
own soul.”

“I don’t believe that the soul of any woman
or man within the Society is at risk. Saving lives has to count for
something, even if violence is involved.”

“I’ll have to hope that you’re right. In the
meantime, I’ll keep praying.”

My stomach rumbles again, and he smiles at
me. “Let’s get some food in you before you try and gnaw on my
arm.”

“I’d go for your legs first—they have more
meat on them.”

“Good to know.”

I’m going to be okay, and so is Matt. Dylan
and the rest of my family are now safe from the men who wanted them
dead, and Matt has Reina, which is better for him than most
anything else in the world. I survived something I didn’t think I
would ever be able to do, and while I didn’t enjoy it the way Aiden
seems to, I really am at peace with what I did. Now it’s time to
move forward.

* * *

Dylan

I get the news that I’m safe while I’m
watching movies with Sully later that night. Ellie runs in, and
hugs me tight, telling me some kind of explosion happened at the
compound where the bad guys were meeting. I still don’t feel like
I’m out of the clear yet, but she seems sure that I am.

“What about any guys who might not have been
there?”

“Anyone not there was low-level and will be
scrambling to find someone new to work for. From the intel
Ainsley’s team had been able to get, we know they kept most of
their money, guns, and documents on that compound. Everything is
pretty much gone now, with the villagers scavenging through the
wreckage for anything they can take.”

“Why now? If so much of their resources were
there, why didn’t someone take them out before?”

“They pretty much owned that island. The
police were firmly in their pocket, and no one else who lived there
wanted to risk their life by going against them.”

“If no one could get to them before, how did
it happen now?”

“I don’t know, and really, does it matter?
You’re safe!”

“Are you sure you had nothing to do with
this?”

“I wish I could take
credit, and we
were
planning to mount an attack. It seems like someone else beat
us to it.”

“I hope I never meet them, because they’re
probably as cut-throat as the men who died, but I’m secretly
grateful.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Tonight? Finish watching movies with Sully.
Tomorrow? I’m going after Eric and his lies.”

“And Nev?”

“When she comes back, I’m going after her in
a very different way.”

“Good. You deserve a happy ending.”

I hug her again, kissing the top of her
head. Nev and I both deserve a happy ending, and I’m pretty sure
we’re going to get it.

Neveah

We never went back to the island, docking at
a bigger one pretty far away. The guys had grabbed my passport and
bags for me, so there was nothing to go back for. After the
compound was destroyed, no one should wonder why I would make a
hasty getaway. The plane ride home was equally uneventful, as was
the drive to Kendrick’s house.

Since none of us are ready to confess where
we were, and what I did just yet, Matt thought we should go to
Kendrick instead of having him come to us. He doesn’t look too
happy to see us when he opens his front door, and when we push our
way in, I see why.

Matisse is sitting on the floor in front of
his coffee table, which is covered in food containers, candles, and
various anatomy books. “Sorry to interrupt,” Aiden says with a
smirk. “We didn’t realize you were already playing doctor.”

“I’m helping her with her studies,” Kendrick
tells him, practically growling.

“Are you okay, Nev?” my friend asks me.

“I’ve been worse, but, I’ve also been
better. I’ll survive.”

“Now that we’ve all exchanged pleasantries,
can you tell me what you’re doing here, invading my home?”

The guys look between Matisse and me,
silently asking if I can trust her. I nod, and then answer him. “I
was shot last night. Nate patched me up, but the guys thought I
should see you to make sure I’m really okay.”