Heartless Savage (Angels Halo MC Next Gen Book 6) Read online

  Heartless Savage

  Terri Anne Browning

  Copyright © Terri Anne Browning/Anna Henson 2021

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Terri Anne Browning, except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976.

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  Heartless Savage

  Angel’s Halo MC Next Gen

  Book 7

  Written by Terri Anne Browning

  All Rights Reserved ©Terri Anne Browning 2021

  Cover Design Sara Eirew Photography

  Edited by Lisa Hollett of Silently Correcting Your Grammar

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  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Heartless Savage is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book can be reproduced in any form by electronic or mechanical means, including storage or retrieval systems, without the express permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Contents

  Playlist

  1. Ryan

  2. Ryan

  3. Ryan

  4. Ryan

  5. Ryan

  6. Ryan

  7. Ryan

  8. Ryan

  9. Nova

  10. Nova

  11. Ryan

  12. Nova

  13. Nova

  14. Nova

  15. Nova

  16. Nova

  17. Ryan

  18. Nova

  19. Ryan

  20. Ryan

  21. Nova

  22. Ryan

  23. Nova

  24. Ryan

  25. Nova

  26. Nova

  27. Ryan

  28. Nova

  29. Ryan

  30. Nova

  31. Ryan

  32. Nova

  33. Ryan

  34. Nova

  35. Ryan

  36. Nova

  37. Nova

  38. Ryan

  39. Nova

  40. Ryan

  41. Ryan

  42. Nova

  43. Nova

  44. Ryan

  45. Nova

  46. Nova

  47. Nova

  48. Ryan

  49. Ryan

  50. Nova

  51. Ryan

  52. Nova

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  Playlist

  “Queen” by Loren Grey

  “Breathe Again” by Pop Evil

  “Warrior” by Beth Crowley

  “Break” by Sara Skinner

  “sadder badder cooler” by Tove Lo

  “Warrior” by LEDGER (ft. John Cooper)

  “Castle” by Halsey

  “Tell Me You Love Me” by Demi Lovato

  “Not Dead Yet” by LEDGER

  “Lose Somebody” by Kygo & OneRepublic

  “Drowning” by Radio Company

  “Break In” by Halestorm (ft. Amy Lee)

  “If You Love Her” by Forest Blakk

  “Gangsta” by Kehlani

  “Far From Heaven” by Evanescence

  1

  Ryan

  Ryan Age 8 : Nova Age 3

  “Good morning, l’venok,” Mom greeted as she sat at the table where I was reading while eating breakfast. “Did you sleep well?”

  I lifted my gaze from the book to give her a grim smile. The truth was, I hadn’t slept well, but I didn’t want to tell her. The nightmares had kept me up most of the night, but instead of crying and going to climb in bed with her and Papa, I’d been brave. It had still been dark outside when I’d decided sleep just wasn’t worth the monster who hurt me in my dreams, so I’d grabbed my new book and used the light on my iPad to read.

  Her blue eyes skimmed over my face lovingly but filled with concern when I didn’t answer. I wouldn’t ever lie to her, but I didn’t want to tell her that the nightmares were getting worse, and I was hoping she wouldn’t ask what was wrong.

  Thankfully, Ciana came bouncing into the dining room, her dark-red hair pulled into a pretty braid that went down her back as she flopped into her usual chair across from mine. Her brown eyes were full of excitement, and as usual, she was full of annoying chatter as she reached for a slice of toast.

  “My cousins are coming to visit today!” she announced, distracting Mom. “They live all the way in California, and Papa said they will stay with us for their vacation.” She smeared a huge glob of strawberry jam over her toast. “They even have kids we can play with, Ryan. Isn’t that exciting?”

  “Yeah, exciting,” I agreed, turning my attention back to my book.

  I could practically hear her eyes rolling at my obvious non-excitement. I didn’t want strangers in our house. It made me nervous, and I thought it might be the reason my dreams had been so bad lately. Zia Scarlett and Mom were the only other women in the house, and I knew they wouldn’t hurt me. But I didn’t know Zio Ciro’s cousin.

  What if she was mean?

  “Will you at least play with us later?” Ciana asked after taking a small bite of her messy toast. Mom offered her a napkin, which she used to wipe the jam from her mouth and then thanked her as Mom passed her a small glass of juice.

  “Maybe.” I wasn’t about to make her any promises. I’d learned my lesson where my cousin was concerned. If I gave her a promise, she made sure I kept it or she would make my life miserable. I loved her, but she sure could be annoying at times.

  “I know your brain is really big, Ryan, and you would rather read your boring books than play with me. You act more grown-up than the adults sometimes. But could you be normal for like two minutes and play with me and my cousins today?” I could hear her pouting before I even looked up from my book again. She was sitting back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest, and her bottom lip was pushed out. Her brown eyes were bright while she blinked at me like she was trying not to cry.

  Groaning, I used my favorite bookmark to hold my page and closed the book. “Fine. I’ll play with you later, but only for a little while. I might go swimming with you. But you have to let me read until they get here.”

  “Deal!” she squealed, clapping her hands together just as her elder brother and sister walked into the room.

  Zayne and Zariah were twins and older than us, but her younger brothers, Vito and Benito, were twins too. I thought since Ciana was the only one of her siblings who didn’t have a twin, that was why she always pestered me. She was only a few months older than me—something she liked to hold over my head at times—but since we were the same age, she told random people I was her twin.

  “I’m spending the day in the pool,” Zariah announced as she placed her napkin in her lap. “Ciana, do you want to paint each other’s nails later? I want to paint little sunshines on our toes so they match.”

  “Sure! But only after I play with our cousins.”

  “Oh yeah,” Zariah said, her brow pinched as she looked over at her brother. “Do not be mean to them. I want them to like us.”

  “Me?” Zayne grunted, offended. “Look in the mirror when you say that, Zar. You’re the mean one.”

  “Am not,” she muttered. “You’re the one who makes Sofia cry when she comes over.”

  “I made her cry once,” he defended himself. “And only because she was being a little brat.”

&nb
sp; Mom sat back, watching them as she sipped her coffee, a smile teasing at her lips. Seeing her like that always made my heart happy, and I pushed away the lingering fear from my dreams. I finished breakfast then took my book to my room to read until I had to play with Ciana and her cousins from California.

  2

  Ryan

  By midafternoon, there was a quick, hard tap on my door, and I lifted my head from my book to see Papa walk into the room. He was wearing a suit and his hair was all disheveled, making it hard for me to know if he was in a bad mood and had been running his fingers through it or if Mom had been kissing him. When I noticed the smear of lipstick on his jaw, I knew it was because of Mom and tried not to make a face.

  “Take a break. figlio. Let’s have a late lunch.” I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t hungry, but his eyes narrowed, telling me without words not to argue.

  “Okay, Papa. I’ll wash my hands and meet you downstairs,” I assured him. He waited until I closed my book and started for my bathroom before retreating.

  After closing my bedroom door behind me, I slowly made my way downstairs. As I did, I heard voices I didn’t recognize coming from the family room and tried not to let my muscles stiffen. I hated when they did that. It made my whole body sore for hours when they got all tense.

  “How was your flight?” Zia Scarlett asked as I forced my feet to carry me closer.

  “It was so much better than when we flew commercial the last time we came to New York,” one of the voices I didn’t recognize answered. I had to admit that her voice sounded nice. It was soft, kind of like Mom’s when she read to me at night. “With Nova’s immune system still compromised, it was a godsend not having to put her through all the germs of the airport and layovers. Thank you for sending the jet.”

  “Absolutely.” Mom was quick to speak. “Anytime you decide you want to visit, even if it’s only for a day or two, don’t hesitate to tell us. We have two, so one of them will always be available.”

  I stopped outside the family room entrance and slowly peeked inside, my heart beating so hard I felt like I might vomit. I didn’t like feeling like this. The fear of being around women I didn’t know. It was embarrassing. Everyone in my family knew I got like this, but at least no one made fun of me.

  Mom and Zia Scarlett were sitting on one of the sofas, glasses of lemonade in their hands. Across from them, a pretty woman I didn’t know was sitting on one of the chairs. Her dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Her blue eyes were bright and reminded me of Zariah’s when she laughed.

  But it was the little girl on her lap that had that sick feeling in my stomach disappearing, and I moved into the room without even thinking. She was super tiny, her green eyes seeming to shine from a face so beautiful I felt something in my chest squeeze. Her blond hair was pulled into two pigtails on either side of her head, the ends slightly curled and glossy, like pure sunshine. The pink shorts and matching shirt she wore had tiny hearts on them that her little fingers traced over absently.

  “Ryan.” Mom’s voice was warm, trying to draw my gaze to her, but I had to fight myself to look away from the little angel who was staring straight at me. When I met Mom’s gaze, she had a huge grin on her face. “Come meet Felicity and her daughter, Nova.”

  I glanced back at the woman and swallowed the knot of nervousness that had returned and tried to choke me, but I only skimmed over her for a second before my eyes were back on the little girl. “Hi,” I muttered quietly.

  “Hello, Ryan,” the woman returned in a gentle tone. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sweetheart.”

  The little girl squirmed, and her mom set her on her feet. As soon as she was free, she ran straight up to me. “Hi,” she greeted in the sweetest voice I’d ever heard, grabbing my hand.

  “Nova, do we grab people?”

  “No, Mommy,” she said, dropping my hand, her bottom lip pouting. “Sorry.”

  The sight of that pout did something strange to my chest. It was worse than when Ciana did it. Knowing Nova was unhappy…hurt. I took hold of her hand gently. As soon as I touched her, the pout disappeared, and I was rewarded with a smile that was just as sweet as her voice.

  She was so small she barely reached my belly button, but there was something about her that made her appear larger than life as I smiled down at her.

  Behind me, I heard Papa talking to Zio Ciro, and then a male voice I didn’t recognize called out, “Garret, if you’re not going to behave, then you will go to bed early tonight, son.”

  “Big deal,” I heard a kid mutter.

  Tearing my eyes off the angel in front of me, I glanced over my shoulder just as footsteps reached my ears. I needed to know who was coming in case I had to protect Nova. A boy who was a little taller than me came into the room. With his green eyes and blond hair, I knew he must be Nova’s brother, but when his gaze landed on her, he gave an annoyed roll of his eyes before they narrowed on me and the way I was holding his sister’s hand.

  I tightened my grip on her fingers, not enough to hurt her, but enough to let her know I wasn’t ever going to let her go. She was just a baby, three years old, if what Ciana had mentioned was true. She was itty-bitty and needed protecting. And even if I had to protect her from her own brother, I would. She was too precious to let anything or anyone ever hurt her.

  “They’re here! They’re here!” I heard Ciana yelling as the clatter of her shoes on the floor echoed down the hall as she ran. Seconds later, she skidded to a stop in the doorway, her brown eyes scanning the room and taking everyone in.

  “Ciana, where are your manners?” Zia Scarlett admonished. “Are you supposed to enter a room like that, young lady?”

  “Sorry, Momma,” she said breathlessly. She walked farther into the room, her gaze jumping between the blond boy and Nova, who held on to my hand even tighter now. “Hi,” she greeted the boy first. “I’m your cousin Ciana.”

  The boy rolled his eyes, and when he opened his mouth to speak, I expected him to say something mean. I was prepared for him to make Ciana cry, and I shifted, knowing I would have to punch him if that happened. She might annoy me at least once a day, but I couldn’t let anyone hurt her feelings.

  “Garret,” his mom snapped, the softness in her tone gone. The steel in that voice made my stomach turn again, but it had Garret standing up straighter as he gave Ciana a tight smile.

  “Hi,” he gritted out. “I’m Garret.”

  Ciana beamed at him. “Oh, I know your name. Do you want to play? I’ve set up board games, and Zayne helped me blow up all kinds of new pool toys. Or we could play on the Xbox or the PlayStation.” She was rambling, her words pushed together almost to the point it was hard to understand some of what she was saying as she spoke too quickly.

  Garret’s smile became a little more genuine as he watched her. “Um, yeah, sure. I have an Xbox at home. What games do you have that we can play?”

  She danced around happily. “Yay! Come with me, and I’ll show you.” She grabbed his arm and was ready to pull him out of the room when she caught sight of Nova again. “Oh…um, I didn’t know you would be so tiny, Nova. I…” She bit her lip and turned to face her mom, her eyes and voice accusing. “Momma, I thought you said Nova was the same age as Vito and Bennie.”

  “She is, Ciana,” Zia Scarlett assured her patiently. “But Nova was born a little too early, and that has caused her to be a bit smaller than other children her age. She was in the hospital for a very long time.”

  My stomach began to hurt all over again as I looked down at Nova. I didn’t understand what it meant to be born too early, but I did know that being in the hospital for any reason wasn’t a good thing. Instinctively, I tugged her closer, wanting to hold her.

  “Is she…sick?” Ciana asked quietly, her eyes filling with tears once again.

  “No, sweetie,” Nova’s mom, Felicity, was quick to tell her. “She’s fine now. She just had to grow a little more before she could come home. But she doesn’t have a very strong immune system
right now. So we try not to let her around a lot of people who might be sick so that she doesn’t catch their illness.”

  “Oh.” Ciana’s tears disappeared. “I promise I’m not sick and neither are my brothers or sister. Neither is Ryan. Right, Ryan?” She practically growled the question in my direction, her eyes shooting flames at me in a silent command to answer.

  “I’m not sick,” I replied dutifully, but only because I didn’t want them to take Nova away.

  “I don’t have anything Nova could really play with, though,” Ciana said, her tone turning sad once again. Her emotions were all over the place, and it was giving me a headache. “I was expecting her to be bigger, like Vito and Bennie. Not tiny like a baby.”

  “I’m not a baby!” Nova yelled, offended. “I’m a big girl.”

  Ciana’s face scrunched up, like she wanted to argue but didn’t want to make her cousin angry.

  “She means you’re short, Nova,” Garret told her with a laugh. “All her toys and games are for tall people. Not shrimps like you.”

  Nova released my hand and strolled over to her brother. She walked so calmly up to him that when she kicked him in the leg hard enough to make him shout in pain, we were all surprised. Well, everyone except for their mom.