Chapter 49

Justice opened the door, his anger immediately spiking at the sight of Noah, Hudson, and Jovan in Holly’s apartment. “What the hell is going on here?”

He pushed through them and found Holly standing there with a gun leveled at the three males.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, and he turned back to the Saviors. Hudson’s nose bled down the front of his white, silk t-shirt as he tried to capture it with his hands.

The ‘new’ smell of the apartment tickled his senses, and he glanced down at the light grey carpet.

“Get something on that nose before you ruin her place,” he growled at Hudson. “And you have some explaining to do, Noah.”

Hudson moved into the kitchen, his gaze never leaving Holly, but a smile twitched on his lips.

“You left. We wondered where the hell you’d gone, what you were up to. We figured out Kade had helped you try to find Holly, so we put a trace on her. She bought some groceries last night with her credit card down at the store on the corner, so we had the neighborhood. The property manager cashed her check this morning, so we had an address. We’re looking for you.”

He sighed. He didn’t understand how all their technology worked, but at this point, it didn’t matter.

“What do you need me for?”

Noah sighed. “Justice, what have you told her?”

Justice turned to Holly and gave her a brief smile. Placing his hand on her shoulders, he spoke. “Can you give us a minute? Please?”

She shook her head, her blue eyes blazing with anger. “No. My apartment. If you want to talk, get the hell out.”

Justice nodded, loving her spunk and no bullshit attitude. “Please, Holly? I respect your position, but we need just a few minutes of privacy.”

As she searched his face, he longed to bring his lips to hers, to feel her tiny frame against him.

“Okay. I trust you here, Justice. I’ll run down the corner to the coffee shop, but when I get back, they better be gone.”

He nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

She tucked the gun in the back of her jeans and walked over to the couch, grabbing her sweatshirt. Pulling it over her head, she glared at all of them for a moment, then left.

Justice let his anger loose. “What the fuck is going on here?”

“What did you tell her?” Noah asked again.

He took a deep breath, deciding he was done being Noah’s underling. He would do what he wanted, when he wanted, with whomever he decided. “Everything. I told her everything.”

“Oh, for fuck sakes,” Hudson murmured.

“What happened to your face?” Justice asked.

“Holly did that,” Jovan chimed in. “Hudson just got schooled by that little female.”

Hudson chuckled. “Yeah, I did. I certainly didn’t see that one coming.”

“You told her everything? As in everything about us?” Noah asked incredulously.

Justice nodded. “Everything. She knows I’m not human, that you aren’t human.”

“She recognized me from that Area 2 thing a few years ago,” Jovan murmured.

“So the cat’s out of the bag,” Noah began, pacing the living room. “We have a human female who works for the government and knows for certain that aliens walk among the humans. In fact, she not only works for the government, but the section of the government that deals with the strange things that happen on Earth. The section of the government that tries to keep things like aliens secret from the general population.”

Noah ran his hand through his hair and glared at him. “And she just walked out of here. Hell, she could be calling the cavalry right now, and we could all end up in a facility like Area 2. Wouldn’t that be fun, boys?”

“That’s not going to happen,” Justice said through gritted teeth.

Noah rushed him and slammed him up against the wall. Justice pushed him off, then swept his leg under Noah’s and shoved him to the floor.

Noah retaliated with a kick to the stomach, then got to his feet as Justice tried to catch his breath. Justice lunged at him, driving him into the front door.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Hudson murmured, stepping between the two. “Jovan, you babysit Noah. I’ve got Justice.”

Hudson forced him back through the living room and into the bedroom, then slammed the door and stood in front of it.

“You need to calm down,” Hudson muttered. “This shit isn’t going to get us anywhere except a cell in the downtown jail, and I can guarantee you the Chief of Police is not going to be happy to see one of his go-to guys behind bars.”

Justice sat on the bed and put his head in his hands trying to control his anger.

“We’ve all worked really hard to walk the line of fitting in among the humans, but not letting on who we really are—especially Noah. He’s been our front guy for a long time, and for you to waltz in and get all hot and heavy with a military chick—one that once served security on the very place that imprisoned our people—you can understand his need to try to control it.”

Justice really tried to put himself in Noah’s shoes, but if an honorable male approached him and told him a human female wouldn’t betray their secrets, he wouldn’t treat said female the way Holly had been treated.

“It’s not just us anymore, Justice. There are kids, and kids on the way—their lives are at stake. We’ve got to remain tight now more than ever.”

He nodded, the faces of Killian and Megan coming to mind, as well as the swollen bellies of Annis and Abby. No, he didn’t want to put those innocents in danger, but Holly could be trusted, and he knew it in the very depths of his soul.

“She won’t betray us,” he mumbled.

“How do you know?”

He stood and met Hudson’s gaze. “Because that is my female. I love her, Hudson. I want to mate her, to start my own family.”

Hudson let out a long sigh. “You sure about that?”

He shrugged. “That’s what we were going to discuss when I came over. I told her a couple days ago I loved her after I told her who I was. She didn’t run away from me, she wasn’t afraid. She was hurt at the lies and deceit, but I know she cares about me.” He placed his hand over his heart. “I feel it right here when we’re together.”

“And you’re sure you love her?”

He nodded. “When I’m with her, I feel happy, and my worries disappear. The only thing that matters is her and her needs.”

“That sounds about right.”

Hudson paced the room and Justice sat back down on the bed.

“We need to tell Noah about this, make sure he understands your position. Right now, I think it would be best if you came back to the silo with us and—”

“No. I’m not going back there.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t live like that, sleeping next to others. I need my space. Besides that, Noah is the leader there, and I seem to have difficulty with that. I’m used to doing the leading, not taking orders.”

“Ah, I see.”

Hudson sat down next to him. “So, what’s your game plan?”

“I want to talk to Holly, to see where her head’s at. After that, I’ll have a better idea. If she won’t have me, maybe I’ll just go back to the bunker. I’m fairly safe there, or maybe I’ll travel. I don’t know. However, I’m certain I can’t go back to the silo.”

“Okay. I’ll let Noah know where you stand. He’s not going to be happy, but this is your circus.”

Justice chuckled. “Yes. Yes, it is.”

Hudson gingerly touched his nose.

“Is it broken?”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll have Bev take a look at it and have Cohen do a healing on me. You’ve got one tough female there, Justice.”

Pride swelled within him as he studied Hudson’s blood-stained shirt and the swollen nose. “You're correct on that one.”