Road to Absolution (4 page)

Present Day…

“
H
EY, CASS,” DANI said as soon as I
answered the phone.

“Well, hi there,
teacher of the year,” I responded.

Danielle Carver
had been Maverick’s kindergarten teacher this past year, and she and I had
begun a quick friendship which was one of the first I’d formed since leaving
home. For whatever reason, I trusted Dani immediately. Rare for me, but Dani
had championed Maverick, including spending extra time with him to help
challenge him with harder work. Dani’s husband, Booker, was an officer in the
Dogs of Fire Motorcycle Club out of Portland, and not only was he gorgeous, he
was wholly devoted to Dani and I was hoping I’d meet someone like him one day.

Dani giggled.
“It’s easy to look good when my kids are perfect.”

I smiled at Mav
who was drawing at the kitchen table. “Mine’s pretty close… at least right
now.”

“Are you guys
going to make it tonight?”

“Are you sure
it’s okay if I bring him?”

“Absolutely.
Lily will be there, as will a bunch of other kids. Every member will be there
tonight, so they picked up the biggest pig I’ve ever seen.”

I lowered my
voice. “So, you’re telling me there will be more hotties like Booker and Hawk?”

Dani giggled.
“Yes. Absolutely.”

I grinned. “Then
I’m definitely there.”

“Awesome. Do you
want Hawk and Payton to pick you up? They live in Felida and Payton offered.”

“No, that’s
okay. I’m fine with driving. It means I can leave if Mav’s tired.”

“Sounds good.
I’ll send you Payton’s cell in case you change your mind,” Dani said.
“Tonight’s going to be really fun, Cass. I promise.”

“I’m
surprisingly looking forward to it… even with this sudden intense desire to
back out.”

Dani chuckled.
“There is absolutely no pressure. We won’t leave your side if you don’t want us
to. Austin and Hawk will run interference too.”

“Thanks.” I
relaxed a bit, not realizing until then that I’d been nervous. “It’s been a
really long time, you know?”

“Well, it’s time
to get back on the horse then.”

“Ha!” I
retorted.

“I’ll see you in
a few hours.”

I smiled.
“Sounds good. ’Bye.”

“’Bye,” Dani
said, and hung up.

I glanced around
my little apartment and shook my head. How different my life was compared to
how I had envisioned once upon a time. I had a really good job with a large
insurance company, which afforded Maverick and me the ability to rent a clean
but small two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver, Washington. We were finally
starting to break through the years of struggle when I wouldn’t have made it
without my parents’ help.

Once my dad had
come to terms with my pregnancy, he became the best grandfather on the planet.
Carter had left the day after I’d told him and I never heard from him again. If
my parents heard any updates, they kept them from me, knowing I would have been
unable to deal.

An unexpected
friendship with Carter’s older brother, Jaxon, had been a surprise, and he was
actually the one who helped me get settled in Vancouver. He was an FBI agent
and lived in Portland, so was close if I needed him. I rarely did and he kept
his distance, but he’d check in every now and then.

I had lost all
contact with Aidan around the same time as Carter left and I have no idea if
either of them knew where I was or if they even cared. I guess for now, my
sadness was replaced most days with a sort of fog that at least meant I wasn’t
overwhelmed with thoughts of what could have been.

“Mav, baby,
we’re going to a party tonight, so let’s get you showered.”

“Aw, Mom, do I
have to?” he whined.

“Yeah, buddy,
you have to. I don’t want people thinking I don’t know how to keep you clean
and fed.”

“Can I just tell
them I’m a homeless kid you found on the street?”

I nearly choked
on my intake of breath. Sometimes, he’d come out with these one-liners that
were far too funny and mature for a five-year-old. “Holy moly, kiddo, you need
to warn Mom when you’re going to make me laugh like that.”

He smiled. “Does
that mean I can skip the shower?”

“Nice try, but
no.”

He grumbled
again.

“Miss Harris, I mean,
Mrs. Carver will be there, so you want to look your best, right?”

His face
brightened. “Yeah! She’s awesome.”

“I know. I’ll
shower first, then you can while I put on my face.”

Maverick
wrinkled his nose. “Your face is already on.”

I giggled. “It’s
a figure of speech.”

He shrugged and
went back to his drawing. He loved art. He always had. I suppose I shouldn’t
have been surprised, considering I’m technically artistic, but I was never able
to draw like that… I didn’t have the patience to sit in one place for long
enough.

We arrived at
the
Dogs of Fire
compound just after seven. I was very lucky to have a
kid who was go-with-the-flow, considering I had more of a need for structure,
but he was just happy all the time. I couldn’t imagine my life without him, I
just wished sometimes he could have been Carter’s rather than Pierre’s.

Dani met us at
the front door and scooped Maverick into a big hug. “How’s my favorite student?
I’m gonna miss you next year.”

“I’ll visit,
Mrs. Carver,” he said.

“I can’t wait.
Do you want to come see what they’re doing in the kids area? I think there’s a
video game battle happening.”

“Can I, Mom?” he
asked, his face bright with hope.

“Of course, bud.
Let’s go.”

We made our way
through the kitchen and to an area at the back with a huge kids’ area and a
couple of older teenage girls who were on babysitting duty. They seemed pretty
solid and they were interacting with the kids, so I relaxed knowing Mav was in
good hands.

“Ever since
Payton and I forced our way in, there’s always plenty of wine,” Dani said as
she pulled a bottle from the wine rack on the kitchen counter.

“Yeah, they’ve
classed up the joint.” An older woman with a lot of makeup and teased
bleach-blonde hair grinned. “I’m Susie. Prez’s old lady.”

I shook her hand
and smiled. “I’m Cassidy. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, hon.”

“What can we do
to help?” Dani asked.

“Nothing. Pig’s
on the spit and we got more food comin’, so we’re good for now,” Susie said.
“I’ll let you know when we’re ready to eat. You can help then.”

“Sounds good.”
Dani handed me a glass of wine and led me back into a large common room quickly
filling with people. The space was chock full of sofas, overstuffed chairs, a
pool table, large flat-screen television, several smaller tables that older
kids gathered around for board games, and three outdoor picnic tables.

“There you are.
I’ve been lookin’ everywhere for you,” Booker said, and leaned down to kiss
Dani.

She giggled,
breaking the kiss and slipping her hand into his back pocket. “Liar. You knew
exactly where I was the entire time. You remember Cassidy, right?”

Austin “Booker”
Carver took his eyes off his wife for a few seconds to smile and give me a chin
lift. “Hey, Cassidy.”

“Hi, Booker.
Good to see you again.”

We stood and
chatted for a little while, pausing to greet Payton and Hawk who arrived half
an hour later. Lily was excited to get back and see her friends, so we took her
back and she fell right in with Maverick. I had a moment of intense pain when I
watched them, heads together, as Maverick showed her how to use one of the
video game controllers. This was about the same time I met Carver and,
cockroach aside, he was just as patient with me as Mav was with Lily.

I laid my hand
on my stomach and took a few calming breaths, before putting a bright, if not
somewhat forced, smile on my face and followed Payton back out to the common
room. I wondered if I’d ever stop loving him.

When nature
called, I headed to the bathroom and once I was done, I washed my hands and
pulled open the door. I nearly ran into a couple making out heavily in the
hallway, and couldn’t stop a tiny gasp as I steadied myself. “Sorry. Excuse
me.”

“No problem,
babe,” a deep voice said, but when the man turned to look at me, all time stood
still.

I swallowed as I
looked into the face of one Carter Michael Quinn. His hand up some woman’s
shirt, hers was down his pants, but they righted themselves as I gawked at
them.

His face still
just as gorgeous as I remembered, but his hair was quite a bit longer, some of
it falling over his forehead as he shook his head. He wore dark jeans that sat
low on his hips, motorcycle boots with buckles on the side, and a tight
long-sleeved, black tee, with a leather vest over the top. The back of the vest
proudly displayed the
Dogs of Fire
logo. He was just as tall as he’d
always been, but he was now much, much wider. He’d obviously spent a great deal
of the last few years working out, and his arms were bigger than my head, so it
was apparently working.

He jumped away
from the woman as though he’d just been caught cheating and his face contorted
into rage. “What the
fuck
are you doing here?” he bellowed.

I was so shocked
by the force with which he was speaking to me, I burst into tears. He had never
raised his voice at me, not even when he was mad, and to have him yell at me so
angrily was a total shock to the system.

“I…I…have to
go,” I hiccupped, and turned to make a run for it. I didn’t even get one step
away before I was dragged to face him again.

“I asked you a
fuckin’ question, Cassidy. What the
fuck
are you doing here?”

“Ace, baby.” The
woman we’d both seemed to have forgotten about pushed away from the wall.

“Take a hike,
Lisa,” Carter said, his eyes never leaving me.

“But…”

“Babe, fuck
off.”

I drew in a deep
breath and bit my lip. He had never spoken to anyone like that before, and to
see her expression go from disappointment to irritation, indicated to me that
perhaps this was a first for her as well.

“Fuck you, Ace.”

“Maybe later,”
he retorted, still staring at me, his beefy hand wrapped around my bicep.

She huffed and
stomped down the hallway, leaving us to our reunion.

“Holy shit.”

I turned to see
Aidan Quinn walking towards us. “You’re here too?”

He glanced at
Carter and then back at me. “Where the hell have you been, Cass?”

“I…ah…around.” I
looked up at Carter again. “Can you let me go, please? I should leave.”

“You’re not
goin’ anywhere. What the fuck are you doin’ here, Cass?” Carter repeated.

“I was invited.”

“Cassidy?” Dani
called as she rushed to join us. “Are you okay?”

“Get your
fuckin’ hands off her, Ace,” Booker warned.

“Stay the fuck
out of this, Book.” Carter still continued to stare at me. “Answer the
question, Cassidy.”

“You know him?”
Dani asked.

I nodded. “I
used to.”

“Fuck!” Carter
bellowed.

Aidan just
laughed.

“I should go
home,” I said again.

“No fuckin’
way,” he ground out. “You’re comin’ with me.”

Booker stepped
closer. “Ace.”

“I swear to
fuckin’
Christ
, Booker, you interfere, and you and I are gonna have a
problem.”

“Then you’ll
have a problem with me too, Ace,” Hawk said as he made his way towards us,
Payton following her face showing concern.

“Are you fuckin’
shittin’ me?” Carter bellowed again.

“Can you please
stop yelling, Carter?” I whispered, still trying to bring my emotions under
control. “You’re giving me a headache, not to mention scaring the hell out of
me.”