Page 35 of Van

“I know she is. He wants the baby. That’s the only rational thing I can come up with. He isn’t gonna hurt her or the baby,” he assures me.

“You don’t think so? You don’t think he’d hurt her? He fuckin’ hit her while she was pregnant, Mask! He doesn’t give a shit about hurtin’ her.”

“You need to stay calm, Van,” Free tells me. I take another drag of my cigarette and blow smoke into the air.

“I’m calm. I’m fuckin’ calm.”

“No, you’re about to snap.”

“How would you like me to act? Huh? Tell me exactly how I should be actin’ when the motherfucker took my girl!”

“We’ll get her back,” Mask tells me.

“You have to, Mask. You have to find her,” Nicole cries. I watch the tears as they stream down her cheeks, knowing Chy is her best friend. She’s worried, and she has every right to be.

“I’m gonna find her,” I tell her.

“She cares about you, Van. That has to mean something.”

“It does, Nic. It means a lot. I need you to keep it together,” I tell her. She nods her head, wiping her eyes with her hands.

“She needs her medicine,” she whispers softer now, causing my chest to clench. I hate this. I hate he’d do this to her right now. She has two more months. Two more fucking months of being pregnant, and that’s it.

“She’s gonna be fine. I don’t wanna hear shit, Nicole.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Well, don’t. Don’t fuckin’ say shit. She’s gonna be fine,” I snap at her when Pike’s hand lands on my shoulder. He squeezes it as I crack my neck from side to side.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers before I wave her off. I don’t want to hear her shit. I want to keep my shit together so I can focus.

“We need to find out where he’d take her. Where he might have her.”

“I don’t even know. The old apartment was rented out again, so he isn’t there,” she tells us.

“Where else would he go?” I ask more to myself than anyone else.

“He had to have rented somethin’ else. Mystic can get us that information.”

“Then call him,” I tell Mask. He nods his head and pulls his phone out before dialing. I listen to him have a conversation with Mystic, jotting something down on a piece of paper in front of him. When he finally hangs up, he drags his gaze to meet mine.

“He’s lookin’ into it. For now, he wants us to check warehouses and shit around here,” he tells me. I nod my head. I agree.

“I’ll do it.”

“Not alone, you won’t.”

“You said we have a meet with the other MC. Don’t you need to handle that?”

“You keepin’ her, Van?”

“Fuck yeah, I’m keepin’ her,” I tell him without thinking about it. I don’t need to think this shit over. I know what the fuck I feel, and I know what I need and want.

“Then we find her.”

“What about the meet?”

“I’ll handle it. You take some guys and go check around,” he says. I nod my head and shove out of the chair, heading for the door. I walk out and motion for a few of the guys to come to me when Free walks up next to me.

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