Ride or Die (Rejects Paradise 4)

I quickly get myself dressed, and within seconds, the van pulls off the side of the road and we bail out, leaving everything behind and making our steps from here on out untraceable.

The second my ass drops into the backseat, the car is already moving. I look up front to find Sebastian and Eli looking back at me with wide grins across their faces. “Fuck yeah,” Eli cheers as Sebastian races down the road, determined to put as much space between us and the prison before they figure out where they fucked up and put out a statewide manhunt.

“Where are we going?” Sebastian asks, glancing up at me through his rearview mirror.

I grin. “One stop, Bellevue Springs and then it’s back to business.”

Knowing exactly what I’m referring to, Sebastian hits the fucking gas and within an hour and a half, I’m standing at the big ass door that’s brought me so much grief, love, and pain in the past.

The boys hang back at the bottom of the stairs, giving me this moment, and after banging my fists against the heavy fucker, I stand back and wait.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

My heart races. She has no fucking idea that we planned this escape, and now that her life has moved on and she’s doing her thing, I don’t want to bring her back down, but there’s no way in hell that I’m about to let her find out by seeing my face splashed across every news outlet in the country.

The door finally opens, and as I take in her face, I’m fucking blown away. She’d be twenty-four now, and she’s just as perfect as she was when I met her as a kid.

Her mouth instantly drops and she stares at me wide-eyed before gaping over my shoulder at the boys. “What the actual fuck?” she breathes before finally believing what she's seeing and throwing herself out the door.

Ocean crashes into me, and I hold her tight for a long, drawn-out moment but knowing that I’m on a timer, I pull back and make it quick.

“I couldn’t go into hiding without seeing you first,” I explain.

“But … what?”

I laugh. “We kinda planned a prison escape,” I explain. “Figured that I’d done enough time.”

“You’re an idiot,” she tells me before looking down at the boys and calling out. “You’re all fucking idiots. You’re going to get caught, you know that, right?”

I shake my head. “Nah, I’m too good for that.”

“Who’s at the door, Mommy?” comes a sweet little voice from just inside the door.

Ocean glances back and holds out her hand, and the tiniest little princess walks straight into her side. “Hey, my sweet girl,” she says, curling her arm around her baby and holding her close to her side. “You know all those stories I tell you about your Uncle Nic? Well, this is him,” she explains, making my heart swell as I look down at the girl who wears a much younger version of her mother’s smile. Ocean looks back at me. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to introduce you to my daughter,” she tells me. “Nic, meet my baby girl, little Storm.”

My mouth drops and I instantly drop down onto one knee before the little girl, loving the way she looks at me with such love already. Her mother's stories must have made me out to be some kind of hero. “Hi there, I’m—”

Storm crashes into me, throwing her little arms around my neck as Ocean watches on with tears in her eyes. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this. I can’t help but glance back at the boys, who all cringe. They have some serious explaining to do, but that’s not what’s important right now.

I pick up the little girl and hold her in my arms as I look back at Ocean. “How are you?”

“Good,” she tells me, holding up her hand and showing off the magnificent ring that would be visible from space. “We’re getting married in a few months, but I’m guessing that you won’t be able to attend?”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry, girl, but you have no fucking idea how happy I am for you.”

Little Storm gasps, her eyes wide and for a moment, I wonder if I’ve hurt her until she bursts into laughter. “Uncle Nic said a bad word.”

My eyes bug out. “Oh, shit. I did.”

“And you just did it again,” Ocean laughs.

The sweet baby girl falls back into her mother’s arms, and I take a step back. “What have you been up to? Did you go to college like you always wanted?”

“I sure did,” she tells me. “I graduated just last year and finally got to take over the foundation. We’ve saved nearly a thousand kids from online predators and monsters since starting six years ago. I mean, you have no idea how many kids go to bed each night without a roof over their heads, but we’re slowly helping them, and the more children that we return to their parents, the better.”