AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Standing in the kitchen, him in his leather vest, he said it was a cut, and jeans and me in one of his RNMC t-shirts and my shorts, Mako poured us both coffees. After I took my first few sips and felt the caffeine invigorate my brain, I was ready for the rest of the conversation. “Mako?” He hummed his answer.“What happens now? Grey is expecting to find my body in the next day or so. What happens when he doesn’t? I mean, I can contact the lawyer and sign over the money Poppy left me, but I don’t think he’ll be happy about that. Neither will Gavin nor his mother.”
“Hmm. Gates looked up some stuff I wanted to send to my email. I think you need to read it before church. I think it may answer all your questions.” He pulled out his phone and opened his email. He tapped something and a huge grin spread across his face. “Perfect.”
I smirked. “What’s perfect? You got naked omega pictures on there?” I giggled again. Oh goddess, I felt like a teen in high school. Then my face fell. I only knew what teens in high school felt like from books and shows I’d watched.
“What were you thinking, baby? I’d never have naked omegas on my phone. Not even you, cuz I’d have to kill any bastard that saw you naked. That’s mine… only mine.” Yup, I was a goner. I loved it when my alpha got possessive and growled.
I shook my head again, and this time, I schooled my face. “I was just thinking that you make me feel like a high schooler in love for the first time. Giddy with possibilities. Then I remembered I didn’t know what that really felt like. I’ve never been to high school.” I sighed.
“Well, I can tell you that whatever you think high school should be, it isn’t. Bear can tell you all about our high school experience. It. Was. Not. Great.” He lay his phone on the table face up and slid it across to me. “Read what Gates sent us.” Reaching for my cup, he paused. “Refill?” I nodded my head and picked up the phone and read.
After reading the documents and email from Gates more than a few times, I was still confused. “Mako? What does all this exactly mean?” I handed him back his phone.
“Well, if Gates is right and I’ve never known him to be wrong about anything, once we confirm our fated mate claim with the blood test, there’s nothing your family can do. They can’t touch me, or you and they’ll have ZERO claim on anything your Poppy left to you. They can’t stop anything. If they try, the federal government steps in and they all get to spend time in a federal prison.” He leaned back in his chair, a smug look of satisfaction on his face.
“But… that says if you claim I’m you fated and they challenge it and the blood test says we’re not, you die.” Fear rolled through my body, and I started shaking.
I was lifted out of the chair and deposited in Mako’s lap before I could take more than a couple of breaths. “Do you think it’s wrong? That we’re not fated mates?” He smoothed his hand over my hair.
“Well, of course. I KNOW we’re fated. I feel it in my bones, but it’s such a risk. What if Grey finds out and pays off a doctor or something? I can’t lose you, Mako!” I winced at the whine my voice had taken on.
Handing his phone back to me “Look at the email Gates sent me after that.” I read the mail and smiled. “See, Doc has privileges at the hospital and the lab. He can do the test this morning and we’ll have the papers by tomorrow afternoon. Long before Hogg comes looking for you.” His grin grew wider. “I ain’t letting you go, baby, ever.”
I hugged his neck tightly and whispered in his ear, “You better never.” He laughed… hard.
“Wanna go see if Owen is out and about? I know Bear and Teach wanna see you too. You can meet the rest of the guys before church.” I climbed off his lap and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the front door. Yes, I wanted to show his friends that he was a mated man now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Theo
Before the door wascompletely closed, Mako had his arms around my waist from behind, pulling me into his chest. “You OK baby?” his words were barely above a whisper against my neck.
I lay my head back against his chest and closed my eyes, simply absorbing his heat. “Yeah, I’m gonna be alright. It’s just a lot, ya know?”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s gonna be over soon.” His grip tightened into a hug. I just nodded my head and squeezed my eyes tighter to stay off the tears welling in my eyes. I stayed quiet because my voice would have given away the fragile state I was in. “Baby, you remember I can feel your emotions, right?” I guess I forgot, because that’s when the sobs started. I turned my body and pressed my face into his chest and let his t-shirt absorb my tears. Mako just wrapped his arms around me tightly and let me cry while he stroked his hand over my hair.
Once my emotions settled, he sat in his chair behind the desk and pulled me into his lap. “I can pull up a chair next to you and we can read through this stuff.” I tried to get up, and he held tight.
“Nope. I’m gonna need you right here. I have a feeling that we’re gonna need to lean on one another for this. You for support and me to control my anger. Without you to ground me, I’m liable to get on my bike and bust heads. Neither of us needs that right now.” I had to agree, so I stayed where I was.
I lay my hand on the folder, pulling it to us. “Myron collected a lot of information. How long was he at this?” The folder was close to an inch and a half thick, with papers sticking out all around. I even noticed the edges of photos scattered throughout.
Mako opened the folder and started flipping the pages. “Within a couple months of leaving Mossdale’s employ. He wanted to find something useful for when he figured out a way to get you free.” I watched in awe as my mate slipped into his MC leader role. I could see why there were some who feared him, not that I ever would, but he radiated absolute authority.
For the only time in my life, I was glad that the Mossdales didn’t skimp with my education. To anyone looking on, it would seem that I was having a difficult time reading the material and deciphering the pictures. Mako understood it wasn’t the case. The longer I stayed on a page or stared at a picture, he felt my emotions ebb and swell. I came across a police report regarding a woman who had been beaten and assaulted repeatedly, yet there was no DNA in the database to match an assailant. My breathing patterns changed when I looked at the pictures. There were photos of the same woman getting out of both Grey and Gavin’s vehicles just days before her attack. I recalled seeing her at the gate of the drive more than once from my window. Mako felt my emotions and slipped his hand under my shirt andrubbed tiny circles on my hip, grounding me, letting me know I was safe.
Spread among the photos and reports, there were financial records and a few pages of correspondence between Grey and a few attorneys. Within those pages, I found the things I knew existed, but had hoped weren’t there. Some dated back to well before Poppy passed. I skimmed over the ‘Per our telephone conversation’ and‘I have enclosed the information you requested’ headings were titles like ‘Consequences of disillusion of Adoption’, ‘Average turnaround time for a death certificate’ and ‘Issuance of a death certificate in lieu of a body in a missing persons case’. All those were dated after Poppys’ death and reading of the will. Scattered among those were requests for information regarding divorce, child support, inheritance laws and community property division when one party was a woman. I didn’t notice that I put all these letters in a single pile alone on the side of the desk, away from the other papers.
Mako glanced at my ‘special’ pile. He reached over and began flipping through the pages. “Baby, did you understand what you’ve done here?” he broke out in a smile.
“Umm, no, not really. This is just all the stuff he asked his lawyer that would show his motives for financial gain. I thought it wouldn’t be too important because I knew about attorney client privilege.” I picked up the pile and began reading again. As I set them down, Mako picked them up and began separating them into piles. When we finished, there were 8 or 9 piles spread across the desk. Mako waved his hand over the piles again and looked at me, waiting.
“Do you see it Theo?” There was something he saw I didn’t.
I stared at the piles over and over. The only thing that jumped out at me were the logos at the top of the pages. 9 different law offices. “Why 9 different law offices? That’s a lot of moneyon lawyers.” I knew Grey to be cheap but hiring that many law offices made little sense to me.
“No baby, look deeper. There’s more than 9 offices. There’s closer to 40. They’re in 9 different CITIES around Washington. All these letters. What story do they tell?” I could feel his excitement growing through the mate bond, and it was confusing.
