Motorcycle Girl: Book Two

Chapter 2: Annalise

The pic on the side/top is of Beast. It's one of my dream cars lol

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When I finally arrive home that night, around nine fifteen, two hours past the time I was supposed to get out of work, my mood could not be worse. The air is ice cold and it hasn't stopped flurrying all day. It's not necessarily sticking, but it is melting and then freezing on the ground, which means multiple patches of ice. I look at the cars in the driveway. Gabe's Toyota Camry is here, Harper's Nissan Rogue is here, Mason's Nissan Altima is here, and lastly, Beast is here, sitting intimidatingly in the driveway behind my Honda Civic.

I sigh, thankful Odeletta is here. I run my hands through my icy hair and walk in the door between the living room in the kitchen. To my right is the stairs to the basement. I walk up the two steps to the door and open it, slipping into the warm house. Everyone is in the kitchen and it sounds like they're arguing. I throw my head back and let out a slow sigh, praying they didn't hear me come in.

"Nate!" Gabe calls. I sigh slowly and walk into the kitchen. They're in the dining room instead, sitting around the table. I walk in there, tired.

"What?" I ask.

"Why are you home so late?" Harper asks.

"Because people have problems." I mutter. "And I have too much paperwork. And there's traffic, and problems, okay? People have problems."

"Rough day?" She guesses.

"You have no idea." I sigh.

Odeletta walks over to me and pulls me down for a slow, loving kiss.

When she pulls away, she gives me a small smile and wraps her little arms around my waist. I wrap mine around her shoulders and pull her to my chest, closing my eyes and letting out a small sigh.

I swear it's almost a full thirty seconds before I release her.

"What's going on?" I ask when we part.

"We were just talking about the holidays." Odeletta says.

We've all lived together for two years. The last year of college, Harper and Gabe fell in love but didn't date because of the distance. We all decided to move in together after we graduated from college and got this place and they started dating right away. We're one big family now, so we usually all go to Ohio together for Thanksgiving.

"What about them?" I ask, tired.

"I am going to France." She says.

My eyes lock on her.

"What?" I ask. She sighs.

"My parents are going to France with Aunt Rosalie...um." She hesitates. "Something happened, Nathan. I have to go with them."

"What happened?" I ask. She just shakes her head.

"We know you don't want to part with her for the holidays." Mason says carefully. "So we were thinking we could talk the family into going to France..."

"I mean, plane tickets are expensive, and-"

"My parents will fly us." Odeletta says.

"What happened?" I ask again. "Odette, what's going on?"

She shifts her stance, uncomfortable under my gaze.

"You know how my Uncle Liam um...died?"

Murdered. He was murdered when we was ten. Aunt Rosalie's husband was murdered by some guy who works for the president and he covered it up. He framed them for stealing money from the government. She's never really talked about her uncle before.