Rubble (Riders of Apollo #7)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Juniper Channing

I can't help but freeze alongside everyone else in the room as the front door opens and closes. We all relax when Eva walks in, typing away on her phone. She looks beautiful in a deep red dress that hugs her curves and stops at her knees, she's wearing Louboutins, and her hair is perfectly styled.

I can't help but look at Mac - everyone else seems to have the same thought - and he is both in awe at Eva and pissed that everyone is staring at him. He flips the bird as Saviour and Riley head over to greet her. "Hello, girls." She kisses both of their cheeks before approaching Reign. "Hmm, you're bigger than I thought you were. Still, I couldn't find you before I left and I promised to treat you and Boulder the same... I think it's ridiculous but it's part of being a parent I suppose." She reaches out a hand and he takes it awkwardly, he winces too under the pressure of her grip and she smiles sweetly with flames in her eyes. "If you hurt my daughter, I will castrate and behead you, giving your severed head to her as a gift. You understand?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"Good." Eva concedes and spins around to look for me. "There you are, sweetie." She takes the long way around the room to avoid stepping over a load of horny males to reach my side. "This is everything I managed to secure for you, your parents were pretty tight about it but I think I got them to a good deal."

I take the brown envelope from her hesitantly, I'm grateful for Asa's gentle touch on my thigh as I shake in anticipation. I pull out my birth certificate, my passport, a few of my baby pictures before I pull out a cheque, and my jaw drops. "This is a lot of money." I sound breathless as I flick my eyes between the piece of paper in my hands and Eva's soft eyes.

"That is your inheritance from your grandparents, the money you made modelling from your mother, every penny you made doing work for your father, and some of it is even from your trust fund that they stole from you when you were nineteen. The rest is a number I made up based on their neglect and abuse towards you, we settled on five million but then your father pissed me off so I added an extra million. I'm sorry I couldn't get anything else out him, I had already tarnished his reputation. Learn from my mistakes, darling, always go for the money first."

I stand up and pull her into a hug, thanking her over and over again. "It was my pleasure, also there is a car out front for you... Maserati, I believe. Your oldest brother sacrificed it when I caught him sleeping with the heir to Goering's Company."

I pull away from the hug with a dropped jaw, "You don't mean Fred, do you?"

"Is that the boy's name?"

"I always wondered why they were so close when we were kids." She laughs gorgeously and I find myself amazed in a different way. Do you know when you meet the people you think are blessed by God? Yeah, she's one of them.

"Here are your keys, I suggest taking it slow with that thing. It has some horses. Now, Bear," She turns from me and I retake my place in Asa's lap, still shaking in surprise. He takes the envelope from me and kisses my hands gently. I love him so freaking much.

I smile at him and bump my nose on his before turning around to look at Eva and Bear. I can still see Mac from the corner of my eye and he's basically drooling on the back of the armchair he's leaning against. How adorable. "The French mercenaries have been called off by the Channings." Bear sighs in relief, "but they have now taken another job, still very much aimed at you. A bounty has been dropped on your head, close to three million at the moment but it continues to increase."

"And you think the French mercenaries will take up this bounty?"

"They are holed up in the town, I figure once they find out how much money they'll get for you they'll come. They're not stupid. I imagine they'll choose long range, one of them was a sniper in le Milieu. The others are basic foot soldiers and they are pretty well trained as Riley will concur."

"How many are there?" Mac finally manages to speak up, his eyes still wide and his cheeks a little pink when all the attention turns back to him.

"Last I heard there were eight. They are not your biggest threat though, the bounty was dropped online, meaning people from across the country will be moving in on your territory to kill you." Lexie goes so pale that I think she might pass out but Bear hardly looks phased, I know it's part of his leader's façade but I don't get how he is so good at it.

"What do you suggest we do?" He asks through gritted teeth.

"There's not much we can do. We can just kill them when they arrive before they kill you."

"And if they get lucky?"

"Ah yes, the likelihood of that happening I imagine is too high. As you wish, I shall see if there is something I can do. I'm going to pay a visit to another friend... I suggest you all stay armed and aware. Kevlar would probably be a good choice to make too and the children far away from Bear for now. That is all I can offer for now."

"Thank you, Evangeline." She smiles before leaving again and the entire building starts moving as the kids are taken to Breaker's house with three men alongside Breaker and Cassidy themselves. Lexie refuses to leave Bear's side and Nova remains with him despite the threat of her life. "Princess, I don't want you anywhere near me." Bear begs the pink-haired sweetheart, who just smiles in return.

"Dad, I'm the best fighter you have. I won't let you die because of your stubbornness, besides you can't spend long periods of time without me anyway so stop being so self-righteous and let me help."

Asa lifts me off of his lap and heads over to Bear with my hand tightly in his grip. "We'll hole up at June's house but call me back in if you need me." Bear shakes his free hand and I smile at them in reassurance, knowing there's nothing I can say to make this easier for the presidential family.

I follow Asa out with a soft sigh, everything has gone to shit so quickly and I don't know what to do. There's not much I can do, I'm just an outsider who is only here because of my relationships with two of their members. "You don't have to come with me." I try and make sure he knows that if he wants to stay and protect his family, he should.

He leans against my car with a sigh. "They're your family, Asa, you should stay and help them."

"I'm not leaving you, June." I tilt my head in confusion. This club is everything to him, I don't understand why he would ever choose me over them. I'm not even the one in danger, Bear is.

"I'm not in danger, you don't need to worry about me. I'll be okay."

"I will never stop worrying about you, June!" His outburst startles me and I look up at him with wide eyes. "I worry about you when you're at work, what if you dropped one of those massive trays on you? What if you burned yourself or cut yourself or fell over? I worry about you when you're at home, what if you got robbed or attacked or hurt? Hell, I even worry about you when you're right next to me. Whether you're cold or hot or in pain or tired. I'm always worried, June, always so please don't tell me not to be. It's fundamentally impossible."

I open my mouth in an attempt to answer that but I can't find words, no words. I think I lost a few brain cells somewhere in the last hour or so because I've never felt this stupid before. He cups my face gently and stares down at me. "I'm not leaving you, okay?" His breath is warm against my lips and I take him in a soft kiss, trying to convey everything I'm feeling to him without words because apparently, I've forgotten my Ivy League education.

"I love you, Asa." I want to smack myself in the face so hard for saying that out loud. It was meant to be in my head because I doubt he feels the same way so early in our relationship. I mean it's been about three months now but that doesn't seem long enough. Even after listening to the other Old Ladies' stories that told me they all fell in love in a matter of days let alone months.

"I love you, too, Juniper." My jaw drops at that. Okay, so maybe I was wrong but I'm still not convinced that I'm not dreaming this whole encounter. Maybe Dr. Carmichael hit me hard enough to put me in a coma and I'm still in the midst of it all, coming up with all sorts of fun things. He laughs then, his grin brighter than the sun as he closes my jaw for me. "Say it again." He begs, his eyes melting into childish glee.

"I love you, Asa."