Page 45 of Nave
I’d lived in a bubble for the past several years where all the bills were paid, and the fridge was filled, and I didn’t have to think about it.
Granted, I hated being kept.
But I forgot how many little things you had to think about. Hell, I didn’t even know what anything cost anymore. Let alone what kind of job I could possibly get that wouldn’t leave some kind of digital footprint for Ben to follow to where I was.
“I see the gears turning,” Nave said, making his way over toward me, taking my hands, and pulling me down onto the loveseat.
It was such a small couch that our bodies touched from hip to knee.
“There’s a lot to think about.”
“Eventually, yes. Right now, not so much. All you have to do is try to unwind after all those years in that hellhole. Sleep better. Eat what you want. Don’t shower for a day. Let the floors get dirty. Take walks. Play with animals. It’s been less than a week, babe. And you can’t even count the days when you were driving here. Give yourself time to decompress.”
“That’s a sweet sentiment. But there are things that need to be figured out. It’s not just about me anymore.”
“I get that. But you can take a week, right? Just a week to decompress. I think it would be good for the baby, right? After all the stress?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, exhaling hard. “You’re right.”
“But?” he prompted, sensing it hanging in the air between us.
“But, on the topic of the baby, what am I going to do? I’m going to need prenatal care. I’m going to need to deliver the baby. And all those things would put me—and us—on the books somewhere.”
“Hm.”
“Hm?”
“I might have an answer to that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I know a team of doctors and nurses. Granted, they usually handle more trauma shit—knife and gunshot wounds, broken bones. But they would have all had training. And they’re used to not putting things on the books.”
“Really? That would… I mean, if I could afford that, it would be amazing.”
“It wouldn’t cost anything.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Eh. The woman who created this organization, one of my aunts, she has a soft spot for women who come from abusive situations. She won’t charge. I mean, we have to mentallyprepare for the idea that if there are any complications, a hospital might become necessary. We can deal with whatever happens after. You don’t have to worry about that part. That’s my territory.”
It was the first time he’d mentioned the whole… outlaw biker thing.
I wouldn’t pretend to understand bike clubs.
But I knew that whatever Nave had been involved with back in the day had been very illegal. And a bunch of rough-and-tumble men probably weren’t all living and working together on a knitting project.
Men like them did illegal things.
And to do illegal things, sometimes you had to be willing to be violent to protect your empire.
“If that all works out, that’s amazing. But I will still need to figure out how to make a living.”
“There’s plenty of time to figure that out. Start thinking about what you like to do. There’s a way to monetize everything. And I can either get you a fake ID kit, or I can find a way to have the money funneled to you in a way that can’t be traced. This is the point where I get to be really mysterious and sexy and sayI know people.”
He was right.
That was mysterious.
