"Never alone"

I've never seen Nova so stiff before. She's been in my office organizing paperwork for the past two hours. She's barely said a word since we walked in here.

"Sweetheart, can we talk?" Nova nods without looking from the computer screen. "You've really got me worried here. Can you look at me, please?"

Nova lifts her head up and I can tell she's been crying. It breaks my heart to see. "Hey, I told you everything will be okay. We can get through this together. Can you tell me why your mom is here?"

Nova lifts her shoulders and then they slump back down. "When my dad got sick. My mom just stopped caring. She didn't help much and when it got really bad she left."

What a bitch. How can you leave someone when they are hanging on for dear life. "After she left my dad got sad. I thought that made him even worse. He was sick, sad and I can tell he was angry but he never told me so."

"I can understand why. She left him alone. The both of you. He needed all the help he could get. But in the end he had you and I know that had to have meant something to him." I sit next to Nova and stoke my hand down her back.

"We had some bad days where he didn't talk to me or the nurses. In the end he just gave up and knew she wasn't coming back. Sometimes he would call out for her and my heart just broke in half." Jesus Christ. This is awful.

"Anyways, the sicker he got the more I had to work. To pay off bills and his medication." I pulled her into me and let her just tell me her story.

"After he passed away my mom came around again. Saying that she knew he had money saved and she wanted it. The thing is she was right. He had money before he was sick. But it was gone." She shivers in my hold and I grab a blanket off the back of my chair.

"I'm so sorry that happened to the both of you. Neither of you deserved that. I've never met your father but he sounded like he was an amazing man." She nods in my hold.

"After a while she kept forcing herself in my life. I was working at a cafe in town and she would come to my job and yell at me. I got fired because she wouldn't stay away." She lost her father and her job and her mother was no help at all.

"I took what I had saved and moved here. I was lucky that no one wanted this building. The rent is cheap so I could afford to buy what I needed." She's right. The shop sat empty for years.

"Now she's here and I don't know what to do." I lift her head to look at me. Tears slowly fell down her face. I wipe them away. She won't be in this alone. She won't be alone ever again.

"We will fix this together. I wont let her harass you. You already have someone on you at all times if I'm not around so I'm not too worried right now." I'll have to let everyone know to keep their eyes open for her mom.

"I'm sorry she made you feel uncomfortable Madz. I swear I didn't tell her where I was. I don't know how she found me." I don't either but my men will figure it out.

"We will keep you as safe as we can. I'll always have someone with you. You know Axel has been asking about you since yesterday. He misses you. I should be mad but that boy needed you." That makes her laugh.

"I needed him as well but not as much as I need you." My heart stops. "I love you so much, Madz." We get into a tangle of kisses and when we're done we lean into each other.

"Do you want to leave? You don't have to do any of this." She shakes her head.

"No, this is keeping my mind off of things. I also get to spend time with you. I'm okay for now. I am getting hungry though. I could use some tacos." This woman can eat and I love it.

"Okay, I'll place an order and we'll get some lunch. I'll see if any of the guys want anything. I'll be right back." I kiss her nose and walk out the door.

When I get to the bay I notice Jose and Chad are working on an older Cadillac. They don't even notice me walking in. "Hey guys. Want anything from El Jefe for lunch?"

Chad jumps from his spot hitting his head on the hood of the car. Jose just laughs at him calling him a 'dumbass'. Chad just takes his hat off and rubs his head.

"You need to relax dude." Jose says. "Thanks for asking Madz. I was just about to ask my girl to bring me something. Can you order me pozole with some tamales?"

"Whatever you want it's on me. Chad, want anything?" He is still rubbing the spot on his head that he hit. What a wimp.

"Just some chicken nachos would be nice. I appreciate it, Madz." I pull out my phone and place an order. It should be ready in forty minutes with drop off.

I pop back into my office and see Nova is laying on the couch asleep. She's had a morning so I slip out and get back to work on the car I was working on.

After about 45 minutes I get an alert on my phone that someone is at the front desk. I go check and see it's the delivery driver. I give him a tip and with that he leaves.

I pass out Jose and Chad's food leaving them some of the chips and salsa that the restaurant sent. I set up the food I ordered for Nova and me and went to wake her up.

"Nova, wake up. Lunch is here." I hear a grumble which makes me laugh. Usually she is ready for the mornings but I guess she's not a good napper. "Sweetheart, you didn't finish your food this morning. So you need to get up and eat now please."

Nova shuffles around on the couch till she's facing me. Face all puffy from crying. Her little nose is red too. "Madz, did you order me anything good?" I smirk.

"Yes, I ordered you something good. Now up you go." I pull the blanket off of her and she gets up and stretches. "You can lay back down after you eat something."

"No, it's fine. I almost have all the paperwork uploaded to your account. I want to finish it for you. I just got a little sleepy." I've noticed that stress does wear her out faster. I need to take care of this mother issue soon.

We get into the kitchen with the others. I pull out Nova's seat. She smiles at me and sits down. After pushing her in I go to sit on my chair. Nova talks to Chad and Jose. Asking about their lives and how they like working with me.

After small talk and delicious food we all clean up our mess and head back to work. "It was nice chatting with you Nova." Jose says.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you. Let's talk again another time." Chad says as he's walking away and back into the bay. Nova comes behind me and hugs me.

"I'm going to get back to work and then I need to head back home and get ready for tomorrow. Does that work for you?" I turn around but she still holds onto me.

"That works fine for me. Axel has been on my ass waiting for you to come back to the shop. He said he's been baking to get a gold star from you." Nova smiles at me and every time she does my heart flutters.

"I bet he has. Hopefully he is a little better than last time. His cookies were hockey pucks." Nova loses it in a fit of giggles. "He was so sad but I told him I didn't want to break my teeth on them."

Sounds like something he would do. He didn't cook very well either at the club. It was unseasoned chicken and soggy frozen French fries. We all never said anything because we could all cook our own food but his was shit.

"How much more do you have left? Do you need any help from me?" She shakes her head. "Okay I'll let you finish up with what you are doing and I'll finish up in the bay. Yell out if you need anything."

I give Nova a kiss and walk her over to the desk. Then I head back into the bay to finish this fuel pump I've been working on.