Hellion (Southern Rebels MC)

The paperwork stared at me accusingly. “Yeah,” I finally said, pushing the report to the side. “This can wait.”

She stroked Nico’s head, waking him up. “Let’s go home.”

***

“I’m coming,” I shouted as the knocking turned to banging, and let out a curse as I tripped over something in the dark hall. “Who the hell comes over at the crack of dawn?” I grumbled as I opened the door. “Somebody better be dead.”

“They are,” a dry voice replied and I straightened up, suddenly wide awake.

“Mayor.”

“Noah,” he acknowledged, his gaze cutting behind me. “Miss Mitchell,” he added respectfully and I could almost feel Cadence’s confusion. “I wanted to express my regret,” the Mayor stopped, thinking and no doubt considering how disliked my uncle had been, before saying, “Well, I wanted to offer my condolences on your uncle’s passing, so unexpectedly like he did.” He squinted at me. “It was unexpected?”

I cleared my throat. “Yes.”

The Mayor nodded. “Mmmhmm, that’s good.” He seemed to realize how that sounded. “I don’t mean good for your uncle.” He paused then muttered under his breath, “Aw, hell.” He scratched his cheek. “I didn’t have time to get my secretary to type something up for me.” He waved his hand. “Did you shoot him, son?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Great,” he said, relieved, digging in his pocket. He pulled out a badge. “Here you go. Congratulations.” I accepted the badge, my thumb rubbing over the lettering. He nodded at it. “Good luck.” He scurried down the steps as I slowly shut the door.

Cadence wrapped her arms around my waist, squeezing gently. “You okay?”

I stood there for a long moment, holding the badge so tightly, the letters imprinted on my palm. “No,” I said hollowly. She tugged me to the couch, forcing me to sit down before straddling me. Her fingers massaged my scalp, each stroke easing the tension coiled inside of me, until finally my head dropped against her shoulder and she raked her fingers through my hair, scratching gently.

“Better?”

I nodded, breathing in the scent of her skin, firmly believing she was magical.

“Why did he call me Miss Mitchell?”

I winced against her shoulder, my arms coming around her as I offered, “Mistaken identity?”

She shook her head. “He seemed pretty sure.” She leaned back, staring at me suspiciously. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with Johnny, would it?”

I didn’t want to tell her, but I also wasn’t going to lie. “It might,” I ventured and she let out the biggest sigh. “In all fairness, he thought he was being polite.”

“To who? Me or Johnny?” She accused, already grasping how the politics in this town worked. “It’s Morgan,” she said forcefully. “It’s not Hart or Mitchell.” She pointed at me. “It won’t be Breaux either.”

“I’m cool with that,” I answered honestly. “But can you tell me why?”

She blinked hard and I could see her eyes had grown glossy. “It’s my mom. It’s my mom. The one who sacrificed everything to keep me safe. The one who saw every new place as an adventure and taught me to roll with the punches.” She wiped her eyes. “I didn’t know her any other way. Just the identity she built for us. I don’t want to lose that. Does any of this make any sense?” She stared at me desperately and I nodded, catching one of the tears that had managed to escape.

“I do. And if you want I’ll proudly be Mr. Noah Morgan.”

That startled a laugh from her and she took my face in her hands. “We don’t need to go that far, but I appreciate the thought.” She gave me a stern look. “Especially since you haven’t even asked me to marry you.”

“I thought that was me asking you,” I exclaimed and she rolled her eyes, leaning forward to kiss me. My hand slide underneath her top as her tongue slipped between my lips and my hips tilted up, settling her deeper on my lap.

“Hanky panky! No hanky panky,” Nico screeched, flying above our heads. “Hanky panky, hanky panky. Gonna call Pappy.”

Cadence leaned back with a sigh, her lips puffy, and told Nico, “Bad Nico.”

He shook his head, feathers ruffling. “Good boy.”

“Who’s Pappy?” I questioned and Cadence frowned.

“Leroy.” She gave Nico an irritated look. “I knew it was a mistake to let him stay with Leroy yesterday afternoon.”

My head fell back against the couch, and my shoulders started to shake.

“Noah?” I heard her concern as she touched my chest and then laughter rolled out of me. “Really?”

I shook my head, managing to say, “I’m not even mad,” as I continued to laugh. She slid off my lap, tucking her body next to mine, her eyes making a lie of her frown. She took the badge from my hand, inspecting it.

“Chief of Police,” she read and my laughter died. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re exactly what this town needs,” she murmured and the pressure in my chest eased. “Your grandfather would be proud.”