“Fine. I'll see her. Just calm down; you're getting worked up.”
“I know.” She tucks her dark hair behind her right ear. Maria still looks so glamours, motherhood didn't change that. Being married to a biker didn't change that. Good. One thing I was worried about was Jett changing the woman Maria is. “It's just that Jett would never raise a hand to me. Hammer would never raise a hand to a woman, no one in the MC would, and I know you wouldn't either. When Brooke told me what happened, that Marnie has suffered for five years with that pig of a man, I looked at my little girl, and I envisioned her being older with a man like Paul.”
“Don't think like that. No man will ever lay a hand on her, Maria. I'd kill the son of a bitch if her father didn't first.”
“I know. I know. It's just, I'm pregnant, Dray.” Again? Damn.
I can't say that I'm not happy for her, I am. She's married to a man who adores her and their daughter. My sister is safe and cared for, she's in love, and that's all I care about.
“I'm almost three months, I'm hormonal, and I want you to know that I love you.” She sniffs. Here we go again. She was like this when she found out about Jessica — crying a lot, emotional about everything.
“I love you, too, angel. I am so happy for you, Maria.” She smiles. “You're a wonderful mother. I am so proud of you.”
“It's because of you. You raised me to be a good girl with morals. I have Jessica because you allowed me to keep her. I'm married to the man I love because you believed it was the right thing to do. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have my little girl and this little bundle on the way.” She places her hand on her flat stomach, and for the first time in my life, I'm sat here wondering what it would be like to be a father.
“You have these wonderful gifts because of you, Maria. Because you,” I smile and take her hand across the table. “Are the most amazing woman I've ever known. You're just like mom.” I wink at her. “Now, about Marine.”
* * *
I'm sitting at a private booth in my restaurant waiting for Marnie. Maria told me that Marine needed to see me today. Apparently, whatever she needs to talk to me about cannot wait until tomorrow.
I sip my Scotch and tip my head, letting Jonny know to let Marnie through. Just the sight of her walking towards me dressed in that pretty peach, sheer dress with the silk underneath, long sleeves, and sitting perfectly on her knees, even those silver sandals, has my heart beating faster. Her long blonde hair is tied up in a ponytail. She's wearing sunglasses, to hide the black eyes, no doubt.
She slides into the booth opposite me, placing her purse beside her. “Marnie,” I smirk. She's wearing the same perfume she was wearing that night. It drove me crazy then, and it's driving me crazy now.
I shouldn't want to throw her on the table and feast on her, but I can't help the thoughts rushing through my head. She's like a damn drug to me. I've never taken drugs in my life, but if I had to, she'd be mine.
“Draven,” Her tone is clipped. Obviously, she knows who I am now, but it hasn't made her look at me like I'm someone to be feared, even though I am. I like that about her. “You're probably wondering why I'm here. I want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened that night.”
“You're sorry?” She's fucking sorry? She regrets what happened between us!
“Not about the fact we slept together umpteen times. I will never be sorry for that,” I smile. Of course, she wouldn't. “I meant for the way I left the following morning. I had to get home.”
“Your husband?” She nods. “Marnie, take off the glasses.” Her shoulders sag with a sigh, but she takes them off. Son-of-a-fucking-bitch! He really did a number on her face. “He did that to you, didn't he?”
“I didn't come here to talk about what my ex-husband did and didn't do to me.” Ex-husband? “Well, technically, we're still married, but I left him. He'll be my ex-husband as soon as I can sort the divorce. Anyway,” She shakes her head. “I'm getting off the subject. Paul and I have never had children. He can't have them. You are the only person I have slept with in over six months.”
Her husband doesn't even sleep with her? Is he blind? This girl is fucking everything a woman should be.
“The man cheats on me all the time,” She shrugs in answer to my unasked question. “I don't think I'm his type. Anyway, I'm pregnant, and you're the father.”
Okay, what?
I think my mouth is hanging open a little too wide. Did Marnie say that she's pregnant and its mine? Is she fucking insane?!
“Draven?”
“You expect me to believe this shit?” Her face drops, her eyes are wide. “You really think some other bitch hasn't tried to pull this crap before?” They have. Women will try anything to get to the boss. That's why I'm careful, and I was careful with Marine!
“I am not a bitch!”
“No?” I lean forward in my seat, my arms on the table. “Your husband beats the shit out of you, so you come here and tell me that you're having my kid? What did you think would happen? That I'd tell you that you've given me the best thing in the world, the thing I want the most? Did you think I'd tell you that you're my girl now? That I'll never let anything happen to you, that I'd get my men to drag your piece of shit husband here so I can break his fingers, threaten him to stay away from you or I'll kill him? Grow up!” I hiss at her, but she doesn't flinch, she looks me dead in the eye. This girl is strong and so fucking beautiful. Also, a damn liar! “This ain't the movies, bitch!”
“Call me a bitch again, and I'll cut your dick off!” Damn, she's fucking hot! No one talks to me like that and gets away with it. No one would dare for fear I'd end them, but why do I find her too damn intriguing to stop her? “I know this isn't the movies, jackass. I didn't come here expecting anything from you. I don't even want anything from you, but I thought my baby had the right to know its father, and you are the father, Draven. However, I don't need you, and this baby doesn't need you. I can manage on my own.”
“That kid you're carrying isn't mine, and you know it! We used protection!”
“Not the first time we didn't. You pinned me against the wall, got carried away and didn't wrap up.” Damn, fuck, she's right! “I didn't stop you letting your little swimmers off inside of me, and that's on me, and I'll deal with it.”
She gets to her feet, her purse on her shoulder. “For the record, Don Draven Vidal, I am not a liar. I didn't need to come here and tell you anything. I could've kept this from you, never letting you know that you're going to be a father. No one in their right mind would want you as a father to their child! However, this baby means everything to me, even with you as the father, and I believed I was doing what was right for it.” She slips her sunglasses on to her face and sighs. “I'm sorry I bothered you, I never will again. I'd appreciate it if you didn't bother me either.”
She stomps off, leaving me gobsmacked and rock fucking hard! Goddamn, I have to have her. If the kid is mine, then so is she.
I lean back in my seat and smirk to myself. DNA will put to rest any doubts I might have. However, if her husband can't have kids, and I'm the only man she's been with behind his back, then I think the evidence is pretty conclusive.
“Tony,”
“Boss?”
I turn to Tony and smirk. “Keep an eye on her. If anyone comes near her, you tell me, especially that cunt ex of hers. She's important; she may just be carrying precious cargo.”
He raises an eyebrow and smiles.
Me? A father? The biggest test of my life could be upon me, one I cannot and will not fail at.
Chapter Three
Marnie
Who'd have thought pregnancy would be this expensive?
Doctors visits are the most expensive. I'm not going to be able to afford everything I need without taking on a second job. Because there's no way on this earth I will let my sister and her husband pay for the things I need, this baby is my responsibility, not my sister's.
I need the second job because the job I managed to get at the pet stor
e in town doesn't pay enough. It wasn't easy to find that job, never mind a second one. Brooke said she'd ask Draven if there was any work going at his restaurant. I soon shot that down. There is no way on earth; I want to go anywhere near that man after the way he spoke to me. I did thank her though. It was kind of her to try.
After a couple of days, I managed to find a job waitressing in a restaurant not too far from Brooke's house, so I won't have far to drive. I don't know who's looking down on me right now, but two jobs are not easy to come by in this town.
Of course, Brooke is not happy about the second job thing; she doesn't think it's wise for me to work so many hours in my condition. However, if I want a home of my own, I need to save money. It's crazy to think of how much I need to buy for this child. Although, I'm not going to buy anything until I have my own place set up.
I've found a little apartment on the other side of town. It's tiny but big enough for the baby and me. I just need the bond and the first and last months rent — three thousand dollars, which isn't too bad for this area. I also need enough money for furniture and things for the baby. Then I need to keep my old banger of a car running. In truth, I need thousands of dollars that I'm not likely to get any time soon. It all seems so hopeless right now. How on this earth, am I meant to get the kind of money I need?
Draven wants nothing to do with me, with the baby. Bastard called me a bitch and a liar. I could demand child support, but where would that get me? Killed, more than likely. Fuck him. I don't need him for anything. I didn't even want anything from him; I just wanted my baby to know its father. There are plenty of kids in this world who are raised by their mother's, never knowing their father's, and they grow up just fine. My child will be just fine without a father. I'll make sure of it.
I won't lie, though, working two jobs is exhausting. I start at the pet store in town at 8: AM, and don't finish until 5: PM. I have an hour for lunch in between, but that's all. I then have an hour to get home and change before my shift at the restaurant, which starts at 6: PM. I then work until 11: PM.
By the time I get home, shower, and change, it's well after midnight. My whole body aches, not to mention my feet hurt continuously. Sometimes to the point, my ankles feel like they're going to snap. I have no idea how long I'm going to be able to work like this, but I know I can't stop until I have enough for what I need. I doubt very much that's going to happen, but I have to try. Every little bit I can put away, including the tips I get at the restaurant, helps.
“Can you bring us a bottle of white please?” I nod with a smile to the young man trying to impress his date. The young woman looks bored out of her mind. She keeps playing with the tight curls of her hair at the nape of her neck, and her dark skin shines in the dim light above her head. Her figure is that of a supermodel, and I envy her. She's beautiful and then some.
Bringing them back the bottle of wine, I notice a man staring at me through the corner of my eye, and I almost drop the bottle on the floor, while my stomach drops to my feet.
Paul.
He's sitting at a table in my section by the window watching me. What the hell does he want? He hasn't once tried to contact me in the weeks I've been gone. What could he possibly want from me now?
Could he have received the divorce papers already? Shepard, the President of the Snakes Henchmen MC, organized it all for me. He said the MC would pay for the lawyer and I had nothing to worry about. Something about it didn't seem right to me. A divorce isn't that easy to get in Tennessee, especially if Paul contests it. Shepard told me that he has friends in high places, and I'm not to stress myself out over something he can sort very easily.
How can I not stress over it?
Regardless, I swore I'd pay him back, but Shepard told me he wouldn't hear of it. He's a good man, but I don't like letting other's pay my way. That's why I'm trying to put as much by as I can in order to pay him back as well as everything else.
I'm kidding myself that I'll ever be out of his debt. I can work my fingers to the bone for the next ten years, and I still wouldn't have everything I need. I suppose I could apply for a credit card, but again, I'd never, be out of debt with the damn thing. I've never had one of my own because while I was married to Paul, he paid for everything.
I'm trying to avoid Paul by keeping busy, but it's not going to work when he hasn't taken his eyes off me yet. The bruises to my face may have all but disappeared, but I still feel the effects of his beating whenever I apply eye makeup. The trouble is, I know he's not going to go away until I've spoken to him. I can't even leave through the back door because I know him, he'll follow me, and shit will get ugly. I can't afford to lose this job, so what other choice do I have?
“I want to talk to you.” He says in his fake all too sweet voice the second I walk by him.
I close my eyes for a second and breathe deeply. “I'm working, Paul. I don't have time for this.”
“I'll wait for you to finish.”
And he does, he sits there for three hours watching me work, right up until my shift ends. I'm not going to be able to avoid him, so I may as well get it over with.
I might not have been in love with Paul when we were forced to get married, but I did try to make our marriage work. We had some okay times, times where he didn't hate the sight of m, I can't say that we didn't. However, as soon as he got a promotion at work, he became an even bigger monster.
Paul is an accountant, and he's always striving to be better. There's nothing wrong in that, but when the stress of work causes you to beat your wife worse than before, then something is very wrong indeed.
The man didn't even have sex with me half the time. He was always tired, always some excuse as to why he couldn't. Not that I wanted to have sex with him, I was quite happy to go without. However, it doesn't make a woman feel very good when her husband tells her that she's so very unattractive, and he can't get hard because of it. When he did have sex with me, he got his and left me feeling very unfulfilled. Maybe that had something to do with the fact I was never very wet or turned on for him, or perhaps it had a lot to do with the fact he didn't care even to try.
Of course, I knew about his other women, that's the real reason he didn't want to touch me. There was always some bitch that was thinner than me, prettier than me, didn't talk back like me. Paul constantly belittled me about my weight. I've never been overweight, but I've never been stick thin either. I like to eat, what's wrong with that?
When Draven showed me a little attention at Brooke's wedding, I was beyond pent up from lack of a man's touch. From a man showing me any kind of attention, and Draven made me feel so fucking beautiful.
Was I so wrong in taking comfort from a man who actually wanted me?
Not that he wants me now. A man like Draven Vidal uses women and then tosses them aside. I never expected him to fall in love with me or anything, but I thought he was a better man than what he proved to be. He's vile, mean and nasty, and I hope I never have to see him again. He doesn't want this baby, then fine!
I thought I was being smart by sneaking out the back to avoid Paul. It's a little after 11: PM, I'm exhausted, and all I want is to get home and sleep. I should've known Paul would be waiting next to my car. I didn't even realize he'd left the restaurant, but there he is leaning back against my car as if he owns it.
“Thought you could sneak away without talking to me, huh?”
“What do you want, Paul? I'm tired. I need to get home.”
“That's why I'm here, to take you home. I think three weeks is plenty of time for you to have sorted out your head.”
“My head?” Mental case! “You were the one who beat the hell out of me, Paul. You were the one who...”
“Who what?” He takes a step towards me. I'm not scared of him as such, but he does give me the creeps. “Aren't you the one knocked up by some random you met?” How the hell does he know? I haven't told many people, and those who do know would never tell this man. I swallow hard. “How do you think that made me feel, huh?”<
br />
“I don't know, Paul, but don't make out like you're a saint. You've slept with so many behind my back that I lost count! I didn't get pregnant to hurt you, though,” I say more calmly. “It was an accident.”
“And the father?”
“He doesn't want to know.” What's the point in lying? Draven doesn't want to know.
I flinch as Paul grabs my face in his hands. Not because he scared me, but because I wasn't expecting him to touch me in any way.
“I'm not angry with you, Marnie. I know how desperately you wanted to be a mother. I couldn't give you that, and I hated myself for it. I know I've not shown it enough, but I do love you.” Okay then. If he says so. Love is not battering your wife within an inch of her life. “This is just perfect. You, me, and this baby,”
I pull away from him. I don't want him touching my stomach. This baby is mine and mine alone. “There is no you and me, Paul.”
“I know the divorce. Which I won't give you,” Yes, I knew that all along. “You're my wife. Mine! I will never let you go.”
“You don't have a choice but to let me go, Paul. You and I are done.”
“You will come home, and you will cancel the divorce, or I promise you, I will make your family suffer.”
I take a deep breath. “Then make them suffer, Paul.” I won't let him blackmail me. He can do what he wants; it's not like my family give a damn about me. They have to know that Paul and I are no longer together, and if they don't, then he's pretending that nothing is wrong.
“You don't mean that, Marnie.”
“I mean it. I don't care what you do, and I don't want to be with you.”
“You cannot raise a baby alone!”
I rub my forehead in frustration. “Yes, I can. I cannot and will not bring a baby into a violent home. Sign the papers, please, and for God's sake, leave me the hell alone!”
I push past him, climb into my car and start the engine. He stares at me through the window, and I know at this moment he's never going to let me go. He's never going to leave me alone, and I am never going to be happy while he's still around. I know one thing for sure though, I will not wait around for him to hit me again.
Vidal!: Snakes Henchmen MC Page 3