“Zoe. You lost your wife that day in the worst possible way, but I was there too, I saw it unfold just like you did. The horror stayed with me for years also brother, only I got Shiloh. A constant reminder of that day, the day I lost one of my closest friends. Ten years I knew Zoe before you did, we made a baby together but she loved you, not me. I doubt Zoe regretted a minute of bringing that little girl into the world,” Deck’s hand took mine, his fingers tightened around mine so tight they turned white.
“I have two kids, two of the best times of my life was witnesses their births. No matter the circumstances of Shiloh’s birth, the pain and the heartache. I have everything because Charlie was much braver than I was. She gave me life again, the shit over in the desert, Rogue and losing Darth. All of it is made better because of the love I have for that sweet, sexy dancer.” I gaped at my brother, speechless. Deck wasn’t known for his compassion, or his speeches. Hearing his tale, his side of that day brought me a new sense of clarity.
“Don’t throw away a lifetime of happiness with the right woman just because of the memory of another. Kelsey is truly exceptional; her upbringing could have left her with nothing but hostility but she pushed through the shit she went through and look at what she is today. Beautiful, strong and for some fucked up reason she loves you,” Deck said, with his trademark smirk.
Fucking smart-arse.
Steel laughed from his seat, his beer still not finished.
“Ya know mate, it’s okay to still have love for Zoe. You have a big heart, plenty of room for the good memories of her. Fuck the bad shit, you can’t change that now so why torment yourself. Kids change you, brother; there ain’t no better feeling of your own flesh and blood. Even better when you share it with the love of your life,” Steel said nodding at me.
“And speaking of the loves of our lives, are we finished with the tampon talk yet? Mia is waiting for me to rub her feet, they are swollen like you wouldn’t believe.”
Letting out a sigh, I looked first at Steel then at my twin. The changes in them since they got their happy ever afters, like night and day.
Steel lost a limb, his identity, his pride in himself. Following Callie like a puppy for her scraps for years until Mia gave him the courage to take the plunge and show his true self. Even Deck, who enjoyed being a dick most of his life discovered a better road in life. I admitted I didn’t think he could raise a baby on his own with just a bunch of broken soldiers turned bikers for support. My brother proved me wrong in so many ways, fucking prick.
Shiloh and Sebastian his greatest achievements, his marriage his crowning glory.
Adversity struck all of the men of the Wounded Souls, and love and courage brought them back to life. I had to believe the same could happen for me. Kelsey was my light, my second chance. Who could say they met and loved the love of their life twice? Was given another chance at having it all, that something special most only yearn for.
Me.
All because of a redheaded mermaid with enough courage of ten men.
Rising to my feet, I smiled knowingly. I had one last thing to do before my begging and grovelling commenced.
“Wanna help me pack some things away?”
It was time to put my fears to rest, and Zoe.
Chapter 22
KELSEY
“Hey Kels, do you want peppermint tea or plain?” Stella called out from the kitchen.
“Peppermint please,” I shouted back, not really caring what she decided to make for me. There was only one thing I wanted, and he was being a dick hiding in his house across the road.
Three hours ago, a man in a white coat granted my dream, and at the same time warped Jason’s mind.
“Damn lying doctors.”
“Huh?” Stella asked me, walking into the lounge with two cups of steaming tea.
Taking the cup from her, I held it between two hands and stared into the greenish tinted water.
“I was just thinking about the fact that for all these years I did have the ability to fall pregnant. I stayed away from men and relationships because of that and my face, thinking no one would want me,” I told Stella sadly.
“Mmmm maybe, and maybe not. Maybe you kept to yourself because the only man you wanted wasn’t ready yet,” she said with a smile, “and maybe you kept to yourself because there wasn’t any other choice. Him or no one.”
Blowing on the hot liquid, I looked at Stella over the rim of my mug.
“Is that how you thought about Booth? The only one and no one else?”
Stella nodded, “Yep. I am not saying he gave me an easy time of it, in fact he made my life miserable at times. Pushing me away, cruel taunts he even flaunted another woman in my face. It wasn’t what it appeared to be but it still hurt,” she admitted ruefully.
“Oh my god! Booth?” I asked, completely shocked.
“Hey, he wasn’t always the loving, caring, stalking hunk he is now, okay he was always a hunk, but Booth had his own demons to slay before he could open himself to love. Jason is no different.”
“I am scared he is, Stella. Zoe meant the world to him, I saw them together she was his world,” I conceded, hating the truth.
“Yes, she was, and she was also a lovely person. A good friend whom I miss all the time, especially when I look at that little girl.” Stella’s smile was sad. I forgot that Stella knew Zoe back then, and Vegas.
“But,” she said looking at me with a mock frown, “you’d have to be a bit stupid not to see that he thinks the same about you. Jason has spent the last ten years avoiding relationships with women until you. Your friendship with Jason all your childhood and beyond set the ground work for one hell of a slow burn. So, he took a detour and found something with another person. Who says you can only love once in your life?” she said with a shrug, reaching for a yo-yo biscuit.
“What if he loves her more than me?”
“I don’t think he does, but let’s say for argument’s sake he still loves Zoe. It is a different love, a memory of a special time in his life. You can’t take that away from him and I don’t see why you would want to, to be honest. The way he loves defines him, makes him the man you are in love with, Jason is so much like the men he is brothers with, they feel deep in their souls. They love with all their hearts; it just takes a special woman to look past the stubborn to see the gift up for offer.” Stella’s phone started to ring, and I wanted to protest the intrusion. What she was saying made so much sense I needed to hear more.
“Hi handsome, give me a second baby,” Stella said before taking the phone from her ear.
“I will never regret a minute of the heartache Booth put me through. He had to find his own way to me, on his own terms in his own time. I would have waited for the rest of my life to get just one minute of happiness with him. Thank god he saw his way clear and now we have Gabriel and a love so strong, not a single person or force in this world can come between us.” Getting up Stella came over to me and placed a kiss on my scarred cheek.
“Give him some time, but don’t give up on him. That baby inside you deserves nothing but happiness.”
Placing the phone back to her ear, Stella smiled the most beautiful smile.
“I love you so much too baby.” I heard her say serenely before she left the room, leaving me with a sense of hope.
Jason needed time, I would give it to him. If he needed reassurance about the pregnancy then I would find a way to makes sure he got it. And if he needed a kick up the arse, I could do that too.
Just as long as he needed me and our baby too.
Snapping my fingers, I beckoned Sassy up onto the couch with me, ending up helping her when her meatloaf shaped body had a little trouble making it all the way on her own.
“Hello sweet girl, you really need to lose some weight. I must learn to resist your begging eyes and not feed you scraps at each meal,” I said to her, absently stroking her fur.
“We will give him the night Sass, that is all he gets. Then either he moves over here or we go there, I don’t care
which. Together is our new mantra, if he has a problem then we work it out together. No more hiding and running.”
Talking about it and actually doing it was not going to be as easy as I was wishing, I knew that Jason’s concerns about pregnancy were completely founded and plausible even. But love was all about leaping, as was life and bringing children into it. If I could see the good in life after the hell I lived through with my mother, then Jason had to see that Zoe’s death didn’t automatically mean pregnancy was the deal breaker he insisted it was.
Laying my hand on my flat belly, joy bubbled inside me.
A piece of him and a piece of me had taken root despite the odds stacked against it ever happening.
No God, or whatever being made the decisions on life, could take such a miracle away. No way.
The sound of the back door slamming interrupted my mental resolve.
“Stells? Is someone here?” I called out not looking up when I heard two sets of footfalls.
It is probably Booth, coming to get his wife and take her back to the compound with their son, I decided, and he was probably bringing whoever was my appointed sitter for the night.
“Stella, do you think I should go over and see Jason? I mean he might need a hug.”
“You will stay right here and find what belongs to me, bitch.”
My head whipped up at the sound of my most hated voice, a voice that starred in every one of my nightmares.
“Oh god no,” I gasped, shocked that she was actually here, and by her appearance.
Gaunt sunken cheeks replaced what had once been slightly chubby. Her drug and alcohol use always left her skinny but her face remained round, not so now, though. Although the most shocking thing, other than seeing her here in the house when she should still be in prison, was the gun she was holding to the wife of the president of the Wounded Souls.
Not a good move mother.
“What… how… why are you here?” I babbled, too stunned to make any sense because… well my mother was in my house.
“Oh, for god’s sake Kelsey, are you really that stupid? No, don’t answer that, I already know how pathetic you are and I don’t have the time. Now get your fat arse up and move to your bedroom,” mum sneered at me, “and don’t try anything or your pretty blonde friend here will be sorry.” I believed her threat to hurt Stella, my hand instantly went to the scar she gave me, the puckered skin left by the knife testament to that fact.
“Please don’t hurt her, she has nothing to do with this. Just let her go and I will give you anything you want,” I begged, slowly getting up to my feet. Sassy’s fierce growl when I shifted her from my lap not because of the intruder but more because I disturbed her sleep.
Maybe it’s time to think about adding a German Shepard, or a Rottweiler to my collection of animals. One that can take an arm or a leg off.
“Don’t give me the shits Kelsey. I spent the last nine years of my life in a prison cell being treated like crap all because of you and that idiot cop. You owe me.”
A burst of laughter erupted from me without permission. This wasn’t funny by any stretch of the imagination, but who the hell was this woman kidding?
“Are you serious mum!” I shouted at her, hating the use of her title. She was the most inhumane mother on the planet, not a drop of maternal instinct ran in her blood.
“You tormented me my entire life. You beat me, starved me, ridiculed me for everything I did or didn’t do. Then you sold me, had me shoved in a boot, not before you scarred me for life. What exactly do I owe you? And how are you out of prison right now?” I screamed at her, indignant at the very suggestion that I owed her. I owed her? What a lot of bull crap.
My baby was never going to feel anything but love from his or her parents. It will be adored and wanted, even by its stubborn father, who I wished had telepathic powers and could sense the danger Stella and I were in right now. Otherwise, this might be the way my mother finally wins.
“Oh, stop your whining girl and get a move on, I sold you for your own good. Had you cooperated you would have been his number one girl by now. As for beating you— you ruined my life by being born, I just repaid the favour, at least you can’t have your own kids and suffer the same life sentence I got when your father walked out leaving me pregnant with his spawn.”
Stella gasped with shock, I didn’t though. I’d heard it every day of my life when she was around. Blame, shame and guilt were the main meals of my day.
“Now move scrag!” mum shouted, waving the gun in the direction of the hall, then jamming it back into Stella’s lower back.
Holding my hands up in surrender, I skirted around the coffee table to the hall that led to my room. Hearing the whimpers from my friend, I quickened my pace. With any luck I could give mum what she wanted and then she would leave, no harm coming to either Stella or me.
Or you could stop dreaming about flowers and rainbows, and think how to disarm your mother, I chastised myself silently. Nothing helpful came to mind as I made the short walk to my bedroom, the beside lamp was already on, but I turned the overhead light on anyway. I wanted to make sure the room was lit up as much as possible so I could see that gun.
“Okay, we are here, now what?” I asked with an attitude.
“Don’t be a smart-arse with me girl, that cop biker boyfriend of yours thought he could push me around, warn me to stay away from you. He even used his club to threaten me.” Mum laughed manically, a chilling sound that did not come from a sane person.
Jason went to see her? When? Why didn’t he tell me? Not that I cared he went to see her, Jason was a protector by nature, of course he would be worried about mum’s impending release and what it would mean for me. But it would have been nice to be informed, kept in the loop.
All of a sudden, Stella made a small grunting sound, getting my attention back to the dire situation we were in. I looked at her and noticed the discreet way she pointed at her bra, looking closely I saw a weird rectangular shape behind the cup. Her forefinger made a circling motion and pointed back to the shape.
Oh my god! Stella had her phone on, she must not have hung up with Booth when he called her. Understanding what she needed me to do, I averted my eyes from the hidden phone and instead focused back on the crazy lady.
“Jason went to see you? What did he say?” I asked hoping that keeping her talking would buy the time needed for the club to get here.
“He said the club would get me if I came after you, but I am too smart. Instead, I used that stupid bitch Callie. All she talked about was getting payback on the club for forcing her out and killing her sugar daddy. God, it was so easy to convince her to run you down, she jumped at the chance. Shame she fucked things up, so I made her break me out of that prison farm to make up for it.” Mum’s willingness to share Callie’s involvement worked to my advantage. Without even knowing it, she was digging a grave for herself and Callie Stone.
“The dumb cow got nervous when she heard a bunch of bikes on the other side of town, she ditched me and ran off on foot, leaving me with the car and a way out of this god-forsaken place. I hope they find her and kill her before the cops can get to her,” mum mused almost to herself, she sounded worried that Callie would squeal to the police, little did she know the Wounded Souls were not an outlaw gang. If they got Callie, they would take her right to the police. I was positive about that.
“Callie was in on it? How?”
Mum turned the gun on me, her eyes wild and crazy. “Enough talk! Who cares about that plastic bimbo, she was a means to an end. Now get me that box of your grandmother’s trinkets,” mum demanded, pointing one yellow nicotine stained finger at me. “I know you kept all that costume crap. God forbid you would throw anything of hers away or sell it.” She spat at me. She had always been jealous of my bond with gran, and terribly angry that everything got willed to me and not her. Gran knew mum was evil inside, but her age and health prevented her from caring for me. She died when I was so young, which in one way I was thankful fo
r, at least she didn’t see the worst things mum did to me.
“Kelsey, if you don’t hurry up I will put a bullet in the blonde’s kidney. She will bleed out and die and it will all be your fault.”
It’s all your fault I have to live like this! Your fault my body is ruined, all your fault.
The taunts from my childhood raced around in my head. She blamed me for just about everything that went wrong. Panic swarmed me, mum would do it, she would kill Stella just for shits and giggles, but it would be me that would feel the guilt.
Afraid for Stella, I scrambled over to the end of the room, taking hold of the smaller dresser and pushed it under the air vent at the top of the wall.
Gingerly, I climbed up, using the handles as foot holds and hoisted myself to the flat surface.
Glancing down at my mother, I wavered. “And you promise to let Stella go?”
Mum’s head bounced up and down. “Oh, sure I will, right after you get me that locket.”
The locket? She was after the rusted old locket, what on earth for?
I turned my attention to the old-fashioned air vent, but not before I heard the noise of a gun cocking and Stella’s gasp of fright.
Oh god, Jason please, please help me. I don’t know what to do. How do I get Stella and me out of this alive? My baby deserves to be born, the odds stacked against me conceiving justified my baby’s place on this earth.
Without conscious thought, I placed one hand gently to my belly where my child, so young in its development, laid.
“Kelsey no!” Stella cried out in alarm, but it was too late my mother’s evil eyes narrowed in on my careless movement. Her mouth twisted in a sinister grin.
“Well if that don’t beat it all. The scarred bitch got knocked up by the widowed copper. This is a nice surprise, changes my plans too. I think your boyfriend would pay very handsomely for the return of his kid.” My mother’s foul diabolical twist in her plans revolted me.
My fear revved up, knowing what the woman was capable of and how she would do anything for money, I surrendered.
Love Heals (The Love Duet Book 2) Page 19