Griff nodded his approval, and the vote began. It was happening so fast; it felt like we were on a freight train hurtling towards destruction.
Marcus voted yay, and got the voting started. I watched in horror as nearly every member voted with Marcus.
Scott was out.
Griff was in.
The gavel came down, and the decision was reached.
Loyalties had been discarded.
Trust had been broken.
Family had been screwed over.
And I knew Storm would never be the same.
Epilogue
My Sacrifice ~ Creed
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Nash ~ 3 months later
I took the three steps up to the door with hesitation. And, I hesitated again before knocking. Coming here today was essential, but I still felt trepidation.
Gabriella opened the door. She didn’t smile, but her face revealed her relief at seeing me. “Nash.” She didn’t say anything else, and I knew it was up to me to find the closure I was searching for.
“I’ve come to tell you I’m moving on. The shit that happened will always stay with me, but I can’t hold on to my anger about it any longer.” The words wrestled their way out of me. They had to be said, and I had to follow through, but I still struggled to even look at her. I wondered how the hell I would ever manage to let my anger go. And then, I remembered Velvet, and my anxiety settled to a manageable level.
“Thank you for coming,” she said.
“I didn’t come for you; I came for me, Gabriella. I’ve finally realised I had no control over what you did that day. All these years, I’ve held onto you, and let you project your feelings onto me. I’m done. And I’m finally letting you go. I’ll deal with my shit, and you deal with yours. Don’t text me or ring me anymore.”
Surprise, and then anger crossed her face. “You came here to say that to me? We need to talk about Aaron; about what happened.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing more for us to say to each other. And what I actually came to say to you was goodbye.”
“No! You don’t get to decide that,” she ranted, her anger taking over.
“I do get to decide that. And I have decided that.” I paused, before saying, “Goodbye, Gabriella.”
Without giving her a chance to say anything else, I turned and made the short walk back to Velvet’s car. She was watching me through the window, a concerned look on her face. “You okay?” she asked as soon as I was back in the car.
I gave her a tight smile. “Let’s just say, I’m getting there. This shit is never gonna be easy though.” I blew out a long breath. “You need to drive before she comes down here,” I said. I knew Gabriella, and I knew her temper. It was as quick to flare up as mine, and she would come down to give me a piece of her mind; I was sure of it.
Velvet nodded, and did as I’d said. We drove in silence for awhile. I stared out the window, my mind drifting. The last couple of months had been fucking hard. Between dealing with my shit, and then club shit, I was exhausted. Mentally at least. And yet, there was light in amongst all that.
I turned to Velvet. “Thanks for coming today.”
She glanced at me quickly before looking back to the road. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, baby.”
She was my light; the sweet in my life.
I reached out to brush my hand over her cheek. “I love you, sweet thing.”
It was the first time I’d told her, and I didn’t know how she would handle it. I shouldn’t have been concerned.
Turning again, she smiled at me.
And then she gave me everything when she said, “I love you too, Nash.”
To My Readers
Thank you for reading Revive. I hope you enjoyed Nash & Velvet. While I was writing this book I was a little concerned that Nash wouldn’t live up to your expectations - that he wouldn’t quite be who you thought he was. Nash has always been the fun, flirty, sexy biker in the Storm men. I always knew what his backstory was, but when I got into writing it, he was even more broken than I thought. And angry. The way he fought his feelings for Velvet really brought out the asshole in him, and that’s when I started to get concerned. However, he is who he is, and I stayed true to that.
Writing this story turned out to be a very personal experience for me in that it touched on aspects of my own journey in life. I wrote some parts in tears because they stirred up emotions & feelings about stuff I’ve been through and am going through currently. But, through that, I realised just how much writing the Storm MC series has, and is changing my life. And, for that, I really need to thank you for reading my books and supporting me.
Thank you!
Nina xx
(I don’t know who wrote this quote to give them credit.)
Acknowledgements
“A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.”
I need to thank a lot of people so if you’re reading this, settle in ;)