Page 24 of Karma
“You’re not her mother anymore,” Hailey says, thankful for her years of training to keep a brave face on kicks into gear.
“I’m more her mother than you’ll ever be,” she says with a smile. “I will get my daughter back. And when I do, I’ll make sure you never see her again.”
Felicity’s eyebrows lift as she snorts. “It’s not smart to threaten an old lady of a motorcycle club.”
“Well, you better hope I don’t decide to steal Gavin back, too. We’ll see how I feel when the time comes, but I might just make old lady status while Hailey gets kicked to the curb. The world is sometimes a crazy place.”
The waitress turns and walks away with a triumphant smirk on her face, and Hailey struggles to breathe. She can’t really do this… Can she?
Griffin’s Beach
Gavin
“Hey, where’s Nancy?” Gavin Short asks his girlfriend when she walks into the apartment alone. “Hailey? What’s wrong?”
Hailey looks up at him with tear-filled eyes. “Nancy’s with your mom.”
“What happened?” he asks and jumps up from the couch.
Hailey rarely ever cries, so whatever happened has to be big. Earth-shattering big. And the pain on her face has him conflicted. He wants to console her, but he also wants to murder whoever made her feel this way.
“I want to be Nancy’s mom.”
“Baby, you are.”
“No,” she says and shakes her head. “I want it official. I want to adopt her.”
Not that he has any issue with it, but he feels like this comes out of left field. “Hailey, what happened? Where is this coming from?”
“The waitress can’t take her back. She can’t take her away from me.”
“She signed her rights away. She can’t have Nancy. Hell, she doesn’t want her, remember?”
“She does now,” she says, and she bends over as the sobs take over. He reaches out to steady her, and she looks up at him with pleading eyes. “She wants to take her away. I can’t lose her, Gavin. I can’t.”
Pulling her into his arm, he holds her tightly. “You won’t. I promise.”
“I want to adopt her. She’s mine as far as I’m concerned, and even if something happens between us five or ten or thirty years down the road, I want to be in her life.”
He kisses her temple as she sobs against his chest. “You will. I promise, you’ll never have Nancy taken away from you.”
“She says she’ll take Nancy first, and then she’ll take you away, too.”
“Well, we both know that’s a fucking lie. She was convenient, but I never once cared about her.I love you. You’re the best mother toourdaughter.”
“I want to adopt her, Gavin,” she says and pulls back to look up with glossy eyes. “Please.”
Nodding, he cups her face. “I’ll talk with Lily. We’ll figure out what we need to do. But you’re not losing her. And you’re stuck with me, babe.”
Her lips crash onto his, and he lifts her up into his strong arms. He carries her into the bedroom, and he finds comfort in knowing exactly what she wants. Hailey Nichols has only ever been a mystery outside of the bedroom. Inside, he knows what she desires at all times.
In this case, she seeks comfort. Sensual and intimate. Something Gavin’s more than happy to offer, his chest filled with both happiness and pain.
Hailey’s fear of losing both of them hurts him because the last thing he ever wants is for her to worry. He adores how much she loves his daughter. He couldn’t do this without Hailey, and he was more than a little scared when Emme dropped Nancy off, saying she wasn’t coming back. He was terrified.
Hailey stepped up and saved him. The way she took on the role of mother, and sometimes father when he’s gone with the club,means more to him than he can ever express to her. There is no way he could’ve done it without her.
“Gavin,” she moans as he thrusts inside her, long and slow.
