Tess arrived in Philadelphia with Nitro by her side early the next morning. It had been a long trip, but she knew that going home was the right thing to do. She needed to be there to make sure that he was alright, but at the same time she wasn't looking forward to going home. Things had been rough when she’d left all those months ago and the relationship she had with her father was rocky at best, especially with relation to the MC that he ran. When he had told her point blank she would never be a biker and that his MC was sometimes more of a priority for him, she had left and found her way to Harlem.
As they drove through town on Nitro’s bike, Tess gripped his waist tighter. “You okay back there, sweetheart?” Nitro asked with concern
Tess nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah, it’s just been a while since I’ve been home, and I’m not really excited to be back. And I’m worried about Andrew.”
“Yeah, I get that. Doesn’t sound like it was so much of an ‘accident’, does it?”
“Definitely not. I want the name of that biker and I want you guys to go after him.” Tess was completely determined to get revenge on the man who had put her brother in the hospital.
“That's my girl… I knew there was never a question of whether or not you were a biker. We just had to show you that you already had this confidence in you.”
“Thank you for being here with me for this. Things with my father aren’t always the smoothest…”
“Well then, we’ll deal with it together. That's why I’m here.”
Tess couldn't resist leaning in to kiss him on the back of his neck while he drove them towards the MC compound. It was smaller than Paradise MC, with only a few apartment buildings and a park area with a big campfire with plenty of seating. There was a time track where they practiced their skills and of course the clubhouse where meetings and the cafeteria were held. Tess tried to push away memories from the past as Nitro parked his bike in a visitor’s spot and helped her hop off.
“Where would your father be? I figured we should come here first and then we’d get our stuff settled in the guest apartment, then go drive over to see Andrew at the hospital.” Nitro reached for her hand, and she was glad that he was taking charge so she didn’t have to think about what they needed to do next. Her mind was all over the place as it was.
“Yeah, that sounds good… I think he said to meet in the clubhouse but let me text him to make sure.” She took out her phone and texted her father. He replied immediately and she then led the way into the clubhouse towards the president’s office that in the past she’d always been told never to go to unless it was an extreme emergency. Though the fact that her brother was in a hospital bed probably qualified as enough of an emergency.
Richard Crenshaw opened the door and invited them into the office as soon as they knocked on the door. Tess was about to introduce Nitro to her father when the man pulled her in for a tight embrace, holding onto her for a few seconds longer than he had in her entire life. He looked older than his 63 years of age. Tess could tell that this had shaken her father more than he’d wanted to admit on the phone.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said emotionally, just holding her close before finally stepping back and looking over at Nitro. “Thank you for coming with her. I have heard a lot about you from both my daughter and my son… I’m grateful for all you’ve done for her.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Sir,” Nitro held out his hand to shake her father’s. “I wasn’t going to let Tess come all the way out here alone. We’re going to do everything we can to help figure out who did this to Andrew.”
“Oh, we know exactly who did this,” Richard said, holding his hand out to the two chairs at his desk across from his own chair. They got comfortable and Richard leaned forward against the desk. “Honey, William has been poking around the MC. He’s had a few men coming around asking about you and looking for you. Even after he found out where you were located, which I’m still trying to figure out how THAT happened, he came back and went after Andrew, harassing him with phone calls and showing up in town. They’ve been going back and forth for the past couple of weeks and Andrew refused to budge.”
“What does Will want?” Tess asked nervously, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“He wants you back. That much is pretty obvious by now. But there’s more…” He looked at her so intensely, it made her squirm in her seat.
“What aren’t you telling me, Dad?”
“He wants revenge. He wants to pay us back for taking you away from him.”
Tess winced and reached over to hold Nitro’s hand for support. Nitro nodded to her knowingly, which gave her the strength to say what she needed to say next. “Dad… You guys weren’t the only reason why I left Philadelphia. I left Philadelphia because I had been pregnant with Will’s child.”