Heartless Savage (Angels Halo MC Next Gen 7)

Pasting on my best smile, I accepted hugs from all my family members—both blood and honorary—as the bar began filling up. I made sure to stay in a large group at all times, knowing if I were alone with my own thoughts for even a minute, the walls I’d put up to protect myself today would crumble and crash around me.

Music had been turned on, just a little background noise that played through the speakers and filled any silences that might occur. But too many people were already gathered for that to happen, and soon the sound of all the chatter drowned out the music altogether.

Samara stayed right beside me for the first hour, but at one point, she got pulled away by Bennie and Vito for something, leaving me alone with Delaney, Ciana, Tavia, and Lexa. With the exception of Ciana, the other three women were in varying stages of pregnancy, with Lexa being the furthest along and Tavia only a few weeks behind her due date. Delaney’s baby bump was just starting to form, but from the way Max kept looking at her, anyone would think she was about to push that baby out at any moment.

It was adorable, the way he couldn’t stand to be more than a few feet away from her at any given time. There were moments I looked at him and saw a fierce, almost terrifying expression on my cousin’s face, but then he would look over at his wife, and every emotion except for his love for her would drain from him. As if just by existing, his treasure made his life worth something.

That was what I wanted, I realized. What I’d always hoped to have—with Ryan.

Being faced with the reality that I’d been living in a fantasy, imagining what I felt for my best friend could ever be more than that, hurt more than I’d anticipated.

Having always been able to read my emotions, Ryan kept his distance, but I could feel his eyes on me. Every move I made, his gaze shifted with me. And just as he could read my emotions, I could read his, as if part of him were hot-wired inside me and I could detect his shift in moods. If I frowned, I felt him tense. If I smiled, I felt him relax a little. But he stayed away, knowing I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.

It was only a matter of time, though. I knew I couldn’t avoid him the entire party. He’d flown all this way, when it was more than apparent he hadn’t really wanted to, just for my birthday. I couldn’t be rude and not at least thank him for coming.

Elias came up beside me, an all-too welcome distraction as he pushed a cup of punch into my hands before dropping his arm around my shoulders. “Great party, little beauty,” he said, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “But how about opening the presents already? I think you’ll like what I got you.”

“Yeah?” I said with a grin, tipping my head back to look up at him. But at barely five feet tall, I had to look up at everyone.

“Yeah,” he teased, tapping me on the nose. “Come on, I’ll show you.” Taking my hand, he pulled me away from the group I’d been chatting with and over to the huge table where the presents had been placed.

He picked up one of the smaller boxes and handed it to me, but as I took it, everyone in the room seemed to move in around us, more than happy to have me start opening their gifts as well.

I shook the brightly wrapped box, my eyes narrowing when I didn’t hear anything. “Hmm,” I muttered, smirking up at him. From the box shape alone, I knew it was some kind of jewelry.

He picked me up and placed me in a chair that Max pushed over to us with his foot. “Open it already,” Elias commanded.

His blue eyes looked so earnest I couldn’t make him wait another second, and I quickly started ripping the paper off. Uncovering the narrow black jewelry box inside, I carefully opened it. Only to gasp at the sight of the necklace inside.

Elias lifted the small platinum compass pendant hanging from the matching chain out of the box. “I know we won’t have you for much longer, little beauty, but I wanted you to have something that will always help you find your way home.”

Tears stung my eyes, breaking through the defenses I’d tried so hard to keep in place all afternoon.

“I agree, treasure,” Max grumbled from beside me. “Elias always tries to make the rest of us look bad when it comes to presents.”

Elias winked down at me before smirking at the couple. “You’re just jealous that I’m better at shopping for pretty girls than you.”

“Says the guy who didn’t know what to get me for my birthday when I turned eighteen,” River commented, bounc

ing her son in her arms with a laugh.

“I could have bought you any number of things back then, sweetheart. But they all would have gotten me nice and dead because Maverick would have killed me for giving them to his girl.” He lifted his chin at her husband, who gave a nod in agreement, Maverick’s arm going around her possessively.

I moved my hair out of the way so Elias could fasten the necklace around my neck, but the entire time, I could feel Ryan’s eyes like lasers on the top of my head. There was this pull, urging me to look up, to meet his gaze, but I fought against it, knowing if I gave in, there would be no way of hiding my feelings any longer.

Touching the little pendant, I gave Elias a wobbly smile. “Thank you,” I was able to choke out. “You don’t know how much I needed this right now.”

His blue eyes darkened. “I’m always here if you need me, little beauty.”

A savage sound came from somewhere in the crowd, but I didn’t need to look to know whom it had come from. The entire room was suddenly charged with Ryan’s emotions, making me tense even as confusion clouded my head.

What the hell was his problem?

“Us next, us next!” Ian and Isaac shouted as they ran over to the table and grabbed the gift bag their dad had been carrying earlier. “Open ours now, Nova,” Ian instructed.

Laughing, I dropped to my knees on the floor with them and started pulling out the tissue paper. But before I could get to the present beneath, Gianna and Lilliana ran over to join us, followed by Lexa’s son, Finn, and Tavia’s daughter, Rai. For the next twenty minutes, the six of them helped me open one gift after another. I got more enjoyment out of their excitement over the gifts than the actual presents themselves.

“Okay, one more and then cake!” Dad announced as he stepped on the pile of torn wrapping and tissue paper that the little kids had been playing with. He offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet since I’d been sitting on the floor with Rocco in my lap, letting him crinkle some of the paper.