He twisted to look at me. This time, I’d managed to get through to him; recognition crossed his face. But he was in a wild state, and I didn’t think I had any hope of calming him. Shit, I wished that Scott or one of the boys was here. I pulled my phone out with the intent to call Scott, but Nash was on the move.
He didn’t give Gabriella another moment’s attention, and he didn’t say anything to me. Instead, he stalked out of the clubhouse, and to his bike. I rushed after him, yelling out his name, but by the time I caught up with him, he was already on his bike. He looked at me for a long moment before roaring off.
Shit.
I knew he needed me, but with no idea where he’d go, I was stuck. My phone was still in my hand, and I figured it was definitely time to ask for Scott’s help. I called him, but he didn’t answer. I tried again a couple more times. Still no luck. Bloody hell, why wasn’t he answering his phone?
Gabriella hadn’t come outside, and although I felt like perhaps I should have gone to make sure she was okay, I wanted to find Nash more. And I had an idea; his mother might know where he went. So, I put his ex out of my mind and drove to Linda’s house, hoping like hell she was home.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled into her driveway, and was relieved when she answered her door. The minute she saw me, she knew something was wrong and ushered me inside.
“Is he okay?” she almost whispered.
“No. He just had a huge argument with Gabriella at the clubhouse, and then he took off. He’s in a very bad state, Linda, and I have no clue where he would have gone. Do you?”
Her eyes filled with tears, and her hand covered her mouth for a moment. “He’ll be at the cemetery.”
“What?” I couldn’t fathom why she’d said that.
She reached out and squeezed my hand. “You need to go to the Mount Gravatt Cemetery; that’s where he’ll be.”
There was an urgency to her voice, and the way she said it made me believe she was right. I decided not to stand there and ask questions.
“Okay,” I said, softly.
She didn’t say anything else; she simply nodded at me, trusting me to look after her son. I felt the weight of that, and hoped I could give him what he needed.
Thank fuck it was a Sunday. The traffic wasn’t too bad. I did speed a little though, but fuck it, I had a good reason. On my way there, my mobile started ringing. Normally, I wouldn’t be bothered answering it, but I figured it might be Scott or even Nash, so I pulled over and answered it.
Nash.
“Nash, where are you?” I begged him to tell me.
There was no sound on the other end, except for his ragged breathing. When he spoke, his strangled voice shredded my heart a little bit. “Velvet... I need you,” he pleaded.
“I’m on my way, baby. Where are you?” I fought tears. Nash was drowning in his pain, and all I wanted to do was put my arms around him, and hold him.
“The cemetery...” He choked on his words, but I had the information I needed.
“Okay, I’ll be there in about ten minutes,” I promised.
He hung up without saying anything else, and I planted my foot on the pedal.
I found him fairly quickly when I arrived at the cemetery. He was on his knees, hunched in front of a gravestone. It was an overcast, cold day, and he cut a forlorn figure in the distance. I hurried to where he was, out of breath by the time I got there. He heard me just as I got to him, and he turned his head to look at me.
The look of pure agony on his face threatened to rip my heart apart. The Nash hunched on the ground in front of me was not the Nash I knew. And yet, he was. This was the missing piece to Nash; the piece of the puzzle that had been missing for so long. I’d grown to love this man, but I’d often struggled to connect the two sides to him that he showed me.
I knelt next to him. I didn’t touch him, didn’t say anything. It was up to him now to do what he needed to do.
His anguished voice sliced through me. “He would have been thirteen this year.”
A sob escaped my lips. Oh, God. I hadn’t wanted it to be true, but it was.
“Aaron. That was his name.” His voice cracked, and he stopped talking. His pained stare locked onto mine. He needed me like never before.
I gently touched his arm. “What happened, baby?”