by E. C. Land
I knew Bethany didn’t want to agree to meet with a specialist. She’d already come to terms with it in her head, but for some reason, I don’t believe it to be true. The entire situation smells like bullshit and I refuse to believe it until I hear for myself.
After Jamie died, I’d been pissed at the doctors who’d taken care of her. Blaming them for not being able to save her. Didn’t matter to me they were both specialists. I ended up researching every one of the doctors in the area that dealt with cancer and pregnancies. I’d even gone as far as to go speak to a highly recommended Oncologist and Ob-Gyn doctor in another area. Once I’d spoken to them, I knew Doctor Taylors and Meyers were the best Jamie could have had.
That’s why I’m holding Bethany’s hand as we sit across from Doctor Taylors in her office.
Bethany had just finished explaining everything. The more she explained, the more Doctor Taylors’ brow creased. My gut tells me I’m not gonna like what we’re about to hear and I need to brace myself. Not for me, but for Bethany.
“Okay, Bethany, here’s what I’d like to do. I want to get some lab work done. From what you’ve said so far, I honestly don’t believe it. I deal with these types of situations all the time and from what I’ve found when I requested your files after you two called to schedule an appointment, there isn’t a Doctor Leary in this area who is qualified to say whether or not you have viable eggs,” Doctor Taylors informs us as she places her pen down.
“How can that be? I went to a doctor’s office in . . .” Bethany trails off for a moment, shaking her head. “I’m so stupid,” she says, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You’re not stupid, Bethany,” Doctor Taylors says calmly.
“Fairy girl, it’ll be okay,” I murmur soothingly as I release her hand to wrap my arm around her shoulders. Good thing about this office being so small, I’m able to keep Bethany close enough I can do this.
Suddenly, Bethany shakes her head and jumps up out of the chair, knocking it over as she rushes out of the office. Speechless, I nod to Doctor Taylors as I take off after my woman. I knew something wasn’t right, but who the hell would be so fucked up as to tell a woman she can’t have children? Especially when there are so many women out there who struggle with this very thing.
Shaking my head, I rush after Bethany, spotting her already on the other side of the road heading for the parking lot. Before I can take a step off the sidewalk, a blacked-out van screeches to a halt directly in front of me.
“Bethany,” I yell out her name as I run in her direction.
Fear and rage consume me all at once. I knew what they were trying to do. The driver of the van lifts his arm out of the driver’s window, points a gun at me, and fires. I ignored the pain— my only thought was getting to Bethany. Her screams of terror fill the air.
The driver fires another round, causing my body to jerk. My steps falter and I fall to my knees right next to the van before the motherfucker slams his foot on the gas and takes off.
Everything seems to move at hyper-speed as I collapse, faceplanting the concrete. Commotion surrounds me and I can’t lift my head. My head feels heavy as everything becomes a blur.
“Sir, just stay with me, will get you the help you need,” a voice says as someone touches me.
I’m trying to hold on. I have too much to live for but damn it’s hard.
Orders are heard from all around.
“He’s coding” is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.
Darkness surrounds me as I look around. A small light flutters toward me.
What the hell is that?
“I swear, you are always getting yourself into trouble,” says a feminine voice I hadn’t heard in so many years. Spinning around, I come face to face with my Jamie.
She looks just the same as the day I last saw her. Beautiful as ever.
“This has got to be a dream or I’m fuckin’ dead,” I mutter, staring at her wide-eyed.
“Neither, Mr. Broody. Well, technically, you’re not dead just yet. And I’m here to tell you, mister, you better continue to hang on. Fight, because it’s not your time yet. Our daughter needs you and so does Bethany. She’s an amazing woman who has been through enough pain and doesn’t need anymore,” Jamie says, her beautiful smile lighting up the way it always did.
“I don’t want to leave either of them. Melody is as beautiful as you have always been and has your spirit,” I murmur, stepping close enough to touch Jamie. Lifting a hand to touch her cheek, there’s nothing.
“I’m not really here. It’s why you can’t touch me,” she murmurs.
“I wish I were able to,” I say.
“I know, but it can’t happen. I love you, Chaz, and Melody. Bethany too. She’s perfect for you and I know she loves our daughter,” Jamie smiles.
“I love you too, Pixie,” I rasp, my throat clogged with emotions.
“I know you do but it’s time you finally let me go completely. Your life isn’t over. Fight for what you want. Keep those you love close and know that I’ll always be watching over you all,” she says. Pushing up on her toes, Jamie presses a kiss to my lips, but as with the touch, I feel nothing.
As she pulls away from me smiling, she begins to fade. My body jolts as if it were being electrocuted.
“Fight, Chaz, fight. You need to fight for your girls,” I hear someone say from a distance before everything goes silent.
Chapter 23
Bethany
Can this day get any worse?
No, I don’t think it can. First, I realized that I’d been played a fool. By learning the supposed doctor who told me I couldn’t have a child wasn’t even a doctor, humiliation began to take over. Suffocating me, I needed air before I blacked out from a panic attack. I rush out of there only to be snatched into some van by men wearing masks.
I’d heard Chaz yell my name and the gunshots. Terror fills me at the thought of him being shot. At this point I could care less about what happens to me, it’s Melody. She needs her daddy.
Now, here I am, sitting cuffed to a pipe in a basement. The men who kidnapped me had driven for what felt like hours before they finally stopped. Yanking me out of the back of the van they dragged me kicking and screaming into this warehouse. I didn’t get to see either of their faces due to the masks they’d worn. I hadn’t even recognized their voices either.
They’d left me alone for the most part since we got here, I don’t know if that is a good thing or not. I do know this whole ordeal has my stomach twisted into knots.
There’s only one person who would be stupid enough to try something like this.
Jacob.
Glancing around my surroundings I can’t see much from where I am. The jerks who brought me here put me on the farthest point they could. Boxes block my view from seeing around them.
I couldn’t even yell out to them if I wanted to. Not with the tape they put over my mouth after they locked my wrists together.
The sound of a door slamming causes me to nearly jump out of my skin.
“Where is she, you dumbasses?” an unfamiliar voice calls out.
“She’s in the back-corner boss,” one of the two goons answers.
“Good. She better hope she’s worth the bullshit you two have caused shooting the motherfucker in the fuckin’ daylight of all things. If you two were not family I’d put a bullet in your heads right here, right now,” the guy one of the goons called boss snaps.
The clicking of his shoes grows louder the closer he gets as he makes his way toward me. My eyes widen at the man who rounds the boxes to stand before me.
The man who stands before me could only be compared to that guy on the show Game of Thrones. The one who they called The Mountain. This guy’s shoulders are huge and damn if it weren’t for the sneer on his face, he’d be gorgeous as well.
Even with the way he’s looking at me, he would be hot, but he scares the hell out of me right now.
“You have been one hard woman to get our hands on,”
he says, the corner of his lip curling up as he scans my body, muttering something under his breath about dumbasses and me on the floor. I couldn’t quite hear it all.
Unable to talk, I shake my head.
“Do you know why we have you?” he asks, moving closer to kneel in front of me.
I shake my head again as I try to keep my heart racing.
“Your ex-husband sold you to me to keep me from killing him.” Bile rises in my throat at his explanation as to why I’m here.
Closing my eyes, I tremble in fear. This shouldn’t be happening. Why did I have to meet Jacob? He’s brought nothing but trouble to my life since I met him.
“My name’s Leo.” I open my eyes as he tells me his name. When he lifts a hand to glide it over my cheek, I shrink back as far as I can. But it doesn’t stop Leo from touching me. “I’m just going to remove the tape so you can talk. If you scream, it won’t be pretty for you. Am I understood?” he asks as his fingers run along the edge of the tape.
Nodding my head, I suck in a shuttered breath.
“Good girl,” Leo mutters before slowly removing the tape from over my mouth. I’m surprised as to how gentle he was about it. “Now, if I remove the cuffs, are you going to try anything?”
“N-no,” I murmur, lowering my gaze so I don’t meet the intensity of his eyes.
“Best not. Otherwise, I’ll have to change my mind about what I intend to do with you,” Leo says patting the side of my face as he leans in.
Weird how this man went from being snarly to nice and calling me a good girl. I know everything about this man screams danger, but something about him is different. With him talking in a low tone, he doesn’t seem to be as scary, but I know better than to think he’s anything else.
“Do as I say and we’ll get along just fine, got it?” Leo all but growls, his face so close to mine now that when he speaks his lips brush mine.
A chill goes down my spine as my mind spins with all the different things that could happen.
Standing, Leo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key. Quickly, he unlocks the cuffs from my hands, but before I can pull away from him, he wraps his large hand around my wrist and tugs me up off the floor.
As I stand next to him, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so small as I barely come up to his chest. How the hell does this man find clothes that fit? Considering the man's wearing slacks and a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, I’m guessing he has them tailored to fit him or gets them custom made.
“We’re gonna go on a little trip and for that, I’m going to need you to go to sleep for a while,” Leo says as he lifts a syringe in his hand I hadn’t seen him pull out.
I try to pull out of his grip as he pulls the cap off the needle but it’s useless. The man is nothing but muscle and I don’t have anywhere near the strength to get away from him. Leo pulls me tight against him as he sinks the syringe into my neck.
“Sleep tight, gorgeous,” he murmurs, pulling the needle away and tossing it to the side. Lifting me into his arms, I have no choice but to lay my head against his chest as my vision blurs.
The last thing I notice before I pass out is Jacob's body tied to a chair, his eyes missing from the sockets and his head sloped to the side.
Chapter 24
Chaz
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The incessant noise wouldn’t stop, and it was causing my head to hurt. Groaning, I open my eyes only to close them again.
“Chaz?” Tanner calls my name as if he were seeing if I were awake or not.
Turning my head, I slowly open my eyes against the blinding light above me.
“Shit, hang on. Hunter, hit the light switch,” Tanner mutters as a chair scraps across the floor. A moment later the light dims, and I can see him without my eyes hurting. “About damn time you woke up. You’ve had us all fuckin’ scared as hell.”
“What happened to me?” I croak, using all my strength to grab the Styrofoam cup on the tray in front of Tanner. Just because I’m in the hospital doesn’t mean I’ll let them baby me.
Taking a sip of the water, I glance around the room to find all three of the guys in here looking grim. “Why the hell are you all looking at me like that?” I demand.
“Do you remember anything that happened to you?” Hunter asks, his brow creased.
Confused, I close my eyes, catching bits and pieces of something, though I’m not sure what it is.
A nightmare?
A memory?
Screams, gunfire, and pain ripping through my body. Tires squealing. The sensation of falling.
“I was shot,” I say, everything in my head more haze-filled than clear right now.
“What about Bethany?” Lex asks this time.
“Who?”
“Fuck,” Tanner yells, drawing my attention to him as the chair he’d been sitting in crashes to the floor.
The noise causes my head to pound even more as I see flickers of a memory that seems to be just out of reach.
“He’s lost his fuckin’ memory,” Hunter announces.
“No, I’m not about to let that shit be true,” Lex snarls, pulling his phone out. It’s a rare thing to see Lex this worked up and when he does it’s usually for a good reason.
Looking down at his phone, Lex steps over to the bed to show me the image of a beautiful woman. A woman I feel like I know. She’s gorgeous and looks like a fairy with her doe eyes and blond hair.
“Why are you showing me this woman? You know I swore off women when Jamie . . . ” I trail off as everything rushes back to me.
Lifting my hand, I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose.
I see visions of Bethany smiling up at me as I sink into her. One of her singing with me as I try to get her out of that shell of hers. My chest aches as I remember when I’d found her at her house hurt and then the ones from the parking lot. Her screams of terror as I yell her name. A gun going off, hitting me twice.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“Where’s who? Jamie?” Hunter asks.
“No, Bethany,” I snap, narrowing my eyes when I’m met by silences.
The door opening doesn't break the tension filling the room as Tombstone walks in the room holding my daughter’s hand.
What the fuck? What’s he doing here?
“Daddy,” she squeals when she sees me. Letting go of Tombstone's hand, she rushes over to the side of the bed. Hunter helps lift her up and gently places her on the bed next to me. “Daddy, you’re awake,” she says, looking up at me.
Lifting my arm, I wrap it around her. “Yeah, baby, I’m awake,” I murmur.
“You were asleep for a long time. I was starting to get scared, but Grandpa Tombstone told me you’d wake up when you weren’t tired anymore. I’m sorry I made you so tired.” My heart tightens at her words.
How long was I out of it that she’d blame herself?
“You don’t need to be sorry, Melody. I wasn’t sleeping because of you making me tired,” I say, giving her a light squeeze.
“Okay, Daddy, but where’s Bethany? She left and I wanted her to be my mommy. She has to come home. Did you two get in a fight?” Fuck, my kid doesn’t miss a damn thing and has a way of sucker-punching you with her words.
“Melody, baby, I don’t know where she is right now, but I promise you, I’ll find her,” I murmur, placing a kiss on the top of my girl's head.
Glancing over her head, I see Tombstone standing there. “When did you get here?”
“Almost three weeks ago,” he grumbles.
Three weeks.
Fuck, I haven’t been awake for three weeks and Bethany’s been missing for the same amount of time.
No wonder Melody was scared.
Clearing the lump from my throat, I shake my head. “Have you found her?”
An eerie silence fills the room. Looking from each of the men standing around me dread takes hold.
“What am I missing?” I demand.
“Melody, how ‘bout you and I go get some i
ce cream?” Lex suggests and I’m thankful for him offering.
“Yay! Ice cream! Can we get the chocolate-vanilla swirl one? Those are the best,” she declares, causing all of us to chuckle.
Only pain radiates through my body when I do.
I’m sure they should have already called the nurse in here, especially since I just woke up after a fuckin’ three-week nap.
I still can’t believe this shit.
Lex picks Melody up and carries her out of the room telling her she can have whatever she wants. As long as she remembered to eat her veggies when it’s time for dinner.
The moment the door closed behind them, I put my hands to the bed and moved myself to sit in a better position ignoring the pain as I did so.
“Someone gonna answer my question?” I mutter through clenched teeth.
“Gadget was able to track the van they used to a warehouse down near the docks. Twister called one of the Devil’s Riot MC’s associates. According to the location of that particular warehouse, it belongs to Tarsion LLC. Only there is no Tarsion LLC. It’s simply a cover for a group nobody wants to fuck with,” Tombstone states.
“Who are we talking about here?” I ask as fury seeps in as I listen.
“Leo De Luca,” Tombstone says right as a knock on the door resounds around the room before Connors peeks her head in.
When she sees I’m sitting up and awake, her eyes narrow. “What did I tell you all? You should have told me the moment he woke up,” Connors snaps as she steps into the room.
“Sorry, Doc, we forgot,” Tanner murmurs.
“Uh-huh and I’m Batman,” Connors says, glaring at Tanner. “Remember, I’m married to two who are more of a pain in the ass than you all. Don’t even think you can pull the wool over my eyes.”
“Won’t happen again,” Hunter says this time.
“That’s right, it won’t because you don’t want to see what will happen. You think my men are scary, you haven’t seen me when I’m pissed,” she mutters as she walks around the bed to check the machine watching my vitals.