by Khloe Wren
Ten minutes later I was washed, dried and dressed. I’d not bothered putting a new dressing on my arm and had skipped my usual long sleeved shirt in favor of a black t-shirt that left my burns open to the air. Let nature do its thing. Veronica’s sweet voice echoed around in my head, making me wince yet again. Both because my brain still felt like it was sloshing around inside my skull, and because I’d hurt her somehow with my touching her cheek and hair. Maybe I should drop back into the hospital just to check that she was okay and to apologize again…
Mac busting through my door once more had that thought vanishing from my mind as I noticed what he was carrying.
“You were seriously gonna throw a bucket of water at me?”
He shrugged as he headed to the bathroom to empty it out. “Scout wouldn’t let me bring a hose up here. You ready to go?”
“I guess, but where are you taking me, exactly?”
He left the now empty bucket on the floor near the sink.
“You need to get away from these four walls, get some fresh air and talk to people.”
I glared at him. “That told me exactly nothing. Where, Mac?”
He threw his hands up as he strode past me. “Where the fuck do you think I’m taking you? Home. I’m taking you to my house where you can see how Sparrow’s doing and meet my old lady. Is that okay? Or are you gonna give me grief?”
I clenched my jaw against the curse I wanted to let out. I’d been surrounded by made men since I was fucking sixteen years old. I knew better than to trust anyone. Mac should have remembered that, he’d had enough time with those fuckers to have learned that lesson too.
“Could have led with that. You know why I’m as suspicious as I am.”
The tension left Mac’s body and he dropped his head down as he looked at the floor for a moment. When he lifted his gaze he caught mine and held it.
“If you decide to stay, to make a life here in Bridgewater, those days are over. The club is fucking loyal. Every man here has your back.”
I shook my head. “They have your back. I ain’t one of you.”
“You can be, if you want it. Scout’s all but offered it to you. It’ll need to go to a vote in front of the club, but with everything you’ve done for us, I’m sure everyone will vote yes.”
I turned and headed out the door. “It’s too soon for me to be making any decisions for the long term. I still have no fucking clue of what fallout is gonna come my way from what we did in L.A.”
Mac followed me down the stairs. “Keys is monitoring all the news sites and has calls into a few of his contacts over that way. He’ll let you know if he hears anything.”
I let the conversation drop, but considering I’d been their number one contact in L.A., I had no clue who the fuck Keys had over there. But unless they’d been in Antonio’s inner circle, they’d be useless. And I highly doubted he had someone that close to the top. I knew each of those bastards and not one of them had any morals at all. I’d been living in a nest of vipers for decades. I’d been there so long that now I was out, I apparently didn’t know how to live with normal people.
“How is Sparrow settling in?”
Mac’s face lit up with pride. “She’d doing good, all things considered. She loves Cleo, and that girl has her big sister firmly wrapped around her little finger already.”
That had me grinning. I’d yet to meet Mac’s ten-month-old daughter, but I’d heard plenty about the little spitfire.
“She’s gonna have you on your toes when she gets older.”
Mac winced. “Yeah, we know. Let me tell you, I am not looking forward to that girl as a teenager.”
I chuckled as I got into Mac’s car. I didn’t currently have a bike, but I’d ridden in the past. If I did decide to stay and give the club a go, one of the benefits would be the excuse to get another one. I’d missed the freedom I’d felt when I’d been out on the open road with the wind in my face.
Chapter Three
Blade
It was an hour later that I found myself sitting on Mac and Zara’s back porch sipping iced tea—because Zara had declared my liver needed a break—and looking over their backyard and into the scrub that their placed backed onto.
Zara stood up and lifted Cleo up from where she was sitting playing with Sparrow. Mac had been right, the teenager was clearly completely besotted with her new baby sister.
“I’m going to go change Cleo and put her down for her nap.”
“I’ll help.”
That was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I rolled my eyes. I seriously doubted Zara needed help with their daughter. When they both went inside, Sparrow shifted from her spot on the ground to the seat next to mine.
“I wanted to thank you.”
My hand was wrapped around the cold glass and I tapped my thumb against it as I glanced over at the teen.
“Thank me for what, darlin’?”
Been in town one fucking week and I was already calling girls darlin’. Texas was wearing off on me damn fast.
“For giving up your place here for me. For making them take me in.”
I shook my head. “No need to thank me, Sparrow. I’m a grown-ass man, I don’t need a family to fuss over me. And Mac would’ve brought you home with him no matter what I said. All I did was give him a push in the direction he was already heading.”
She frowned down at her hands as she picked at her nails for a few moments, making me worry I’d offended her somehow with what I’d said. But fuck it all, I wasn’t the hero in this story. Mac was the one who’d taken her into his home, Zara the one helping her adjust to her new life.
“You know, we all need family. There’s enough room for us both.”
My heart kicked in my chest at her innocent words. Unsure what to say, I lifted my glass to take another gulp of iced tea, wishing it was a different kind of amber liquid. After putting my drink back down, I cleared my throat and pretended like she hadn’t said that last bit.
“I’m glad you’re settling in here so well. You deserve it.”
She frowned and ran her way too perceptive hazel gaze over my face. “Why’d you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Push Mac to bring me here. You could have just as easily pushed him to hand me over with the others. Was it because of that woman at the warehouse? The one who didn’t make it.”
With a sigh, I released my tight grip on the glass and slumped back into the chair, scrubbing my left hand over my face, being careful to avoid the still reddened parts on the right side. Guess Sparrow had overheard someone talking about Josefina. Since I got the impression she wasn’t going to quit until I gave her something, I tried to decide what to tell her. How much to tell her. I figured after what she’d already been through, the whole truth wouldn’t shock her too much, and really, what could it hurt? Might even make her appreciate what she had here a little more if she heard what could have happened.
“You sure you wanna hear all this? Might give you nightmares.”
She rolled her eyes. “I already have those.”
Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and looked straight into her eyes. “What you went through was bad, but it was nothing on what Josefina went through. Be sure you wanna know this shit, kid.”
“I need to know. To make sense of why you, a stranger to me, helped me after my own flesh and blood sold me to those bastards.”
I gave her a nod. Made sense. Huffing out a breath, I decided if she wanted it, she could have it.
“Two reasons I stepped up for you. Not only because of Josefina, but because of me. We’re not so different, Sparrow. It wasn’t my mom who sold me, but my dad. He owed protection money for his store that he didn’t want to pay, or couldn’t pay. Who knows? Anyhow, he cleared the debt by giving me to Sabella. I was sixteen. I didn’t choose that life. Never would have if it had been up to me. But my old man threatened to hurt my mom and little brother if I didn’t do what Sabella told me. My body was never raped, but my mind,” I paused
and tapped my temple, “those bastards fucked with my head in a big way. Tried everything they could to make me be like them. Dark and heartless.”
Tears sat on her lashes and my breath caught for a moment.
“Don’t cry for me, sweetheart. I ain’t worth it.”
She opened her mouth to say something but I shook my head, stopping her. Even after all she’d been through, the kid had a big heart. But I couldn’t handle her turning it on me.
“I first met Josefina when I was twenty-one and she was sixteen. Thought it was a random meeting at the time but I learned later it was a set-up. Sabella had bought her from a Mexican cartel, who’d stolen her from her parents’ farm. He’d left her drugged and abused on the street for me to find, to see what I’d do.”
“He hoped you’d bring her in, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t.” I had to pause to clear my throat against the lump that had formed there. “I took her home. Treated her like a sister. Let her get cleaned up, gave her clothes, food. Not that it mattered. Three months later I came home and she was gone. Sabella had come and taken what he deemed was his property. I went to him about her. It was the first time I’d gone up against him. I was so furious at him, I didn’t think. Just barged straight into his office.”
I paused to take another drink. “He had his men beat me, all the while telling me what he did to Josefina before he sold her to some other fucker who used her so hard she died.” I stopped talking. I just couldn’t say another damn word.
“He lied to you.”
I nodded.
“Did you know she would be in that warehouse before you saw her?”
I nodded again. “A few hours before we stormed the warehouse, we found out that he’d lied. He’d kept her all those years as his personal toy. Until that day. That day he’d handed her over to his men, who had been wanting a piece of her for the last seventeen years. We were too late. She died in my arms.”
I shook myself and stood, pacing across the porch.
“When I first saw you in that filthy room, you reminded me of her. They’d knocked you down but you were still ready to fight. Josefina had been like that when I’d first met her. Her clothes had been torn up, she was coming down off whatever drugs they’d given her, but she still put up a fight against Gino, the man I was with when we found her. Then, in the van, you were surrounded by big, tough men who you knew could cause harm yet you stood your ground—”
Her chuckle cut me short, and I spun to look at her.
“I was hardly brave, Blade. I was desperate and happy to beg for what I needed. I knew if I was given to the authorities I’d end up back with my mother, who’d just sell me all over again. Anything was better than that.”
“What about your father?”
I wondered if she even knew who he was. With a wince, she shrugged a shoulder. “Never met him. Mom told me he’d rather see me dead than have me in his presence, so I’m happy to never go down that road.”
Fuck, she’d struck out in the parent department big time.
“I’m sorry, Sparrow. I at least had my mom. She loved me as much as she could while being under my dad’s thumb.”
“What happened to her and your brother?”
I smiled, for probably the first time in a week. “They’re fine. Not long after everything went down with Josefina, I got new identities for them and helped them sneak out of my father’s house. They’re nowhere near California and have lived peaceful lives for a long time. I check in with them a couple of times a year.”
“It must be hard to not see them. You should bring them here. They’d be safe here.”
I chuckled. “I like that you have so much faith in the Charons, honey, but they’re happy where they are. I wouldn’t want to uproot them and make them start over again. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“I’d suggest you could go to them, but I get the feeling you don’t want to leave here. I know Mac doesn’t want you to.”
I gave her a raised eyebrow. “You see too much, kid.”
She shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her own iced tea as we both fell into a comfortable silence, staring out at the trees and shit that surrounded the yard. It was strange that I somehow felt lighter for having shared what I had with Sparrow. I just hoped I hadn’t given the kid a whole slew of new nightmares to suffer though.
Mac strode out a few minutes later and from the look on his face, I suspected he’d been inside eavesdropping on our conversation. Not that I blamed him. He’d taken Sparrow in fully and was being a protective father for her.
That got me thinking about how Mac had been treating me since I got burned.
“Mac, you know I didn’t do that shit on purpose, right? The can slipped in my grip and splashed every-fucking-where. After I lit the room up, a spark came my way and I’d forgotten that I was soaked in gas when I tried to bat it away from me. I’ve never once been suicidal in my life.”
He gave me a nod. “I was worried that shit with your girl had broken you.” He heaved out a heavy sigh. “How about we hit Styx tonight? Change of scenery from the clubhouse.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, brother, the club-owned bar is gonna be a real change of pace from the bar in the clubhouse.”
Only change I could see going in was that I’d be paying for my drinks while they’d been free at the clubhouse, but whatever. If Mac wanted to head out, I’d join him. It probably was time I got out and started interacting with people in the real world anyhow. Making decisions about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life now that I wasn’t bound to Antonio.
Veronica
In the ten days since I’d treated Mr. Jared Walker, I hadn’t been able to shake him from my mind. It was insane. More than once, he’d filled my dreams, which I will admit, was a welcome relief from the nightmares that usually filled my nights. But it still had me on edge. I’d never actually been with a lover of my own choosing, never wanted to. After escaping, my whole world had been solely about staying hidden and surviving. In my experience, sex was just something a man forced upon a woman when he wanted it.
My body convulsed as a vision of my uncle looming over me filled my mind. Bile rose up my throat and I rushed to the bathroom, barely making it in time before I emptied my stomach. By the time I washed my face and stared in the mirror at my pale reflection, I wondered if going out tonight was a bad idea. Maybe I should stay in.
The timer on my phone chimed, letting me know I only had ten minutes before the girls would be here to pick me up. I couldn’t cancel. If I did, there’d be even more questions that I didn’t want to answer. In the seven years I’d been in Bridgewater, I’d made a few friends among the staff at the hospital, but I’d never let anyone all the way in. My secrets stayed with me, locked away.
With a huff, I dried my face and set about quickly fixing my makeup, hoping by the time the others got here, they wouldn’t notice I’d been sick. It wasn’t often a flashback got to me enough to make me physically ill, but I’d been preoccupied with thoughts of Jared and had not been paying attention to where my mind was heading until it was too late.
“Stop it.”
Blowing out a breath, I forced my thoughts away from the past. Nothing good would ever come from it. By the time a horn honked out the front, I was as ready as I was going to be. Snatching up my purse, I headed out my front door, carefully locking things up before heading toward the little hatchback waiting for me.
Pulling open the rear door, I slid in and couldn’t help but smile. Sophie and Laura both beamed big grins at me.
“You ready for some biker eye candy, girl?”
Laura scoffed at Sophie’s question. “Girlfriend’s been hankering for a more classy type of candy than biker.”
Naturally, they’d both caught wind of my treating Jared and had teased me about it ever since.
“I doubt I’ll ever see him again. He was just another patient.”
That thought had me torn. It was probably for the best. My life didn�
�t have room in it for a romantic entanglement, but on the other hand, when I’d been close to him, I’d felt alive. Something about his striking blue eyes drew me in and I was helpless to stop it. Well, until he touched me. Then I’d behaved like a frightened mouse. I’m sure if I did see him again, he’d either laugh at the memory, or not remember me at all.
Sophie wriggled her eyebrows in the rear-view mirror at me as she pulled up into the parking lot of Styx.
“Well, let’s see if we can find you something down and dirty to distract you tonight.”
Since it was only a little past eight on a Thursday night, the parking lot was about half full, and that included a very nice lineup of Harleys that I took my time walking past. So much chrome to keep clean and polished. I couldn’t help but wonder if these men would treat a woman like they treated their bikes? Or were all men more like my uncle?
Squeezing my eyes closed for a moment, I forced those thoughts away. Not tonight. I wasn’t going to allow myself to fall down that hole tonight.
When an arm hooked behind mine, my eyes flipped open to see Sophie’s worried face.
“Babe, you know we’re just joking, right? We’re gonna go in, sit at our usual table, have a few drinks and watch all the untouchable bikers for a few hours before we all head home again. No pressure to even talk to one of them.”
I patted her hand. She was a good friend and I wished I wasn’t so messed up. Wished I could find a way to explain why I was the way I was, without revealing the reason why. She knew something had happened to me. She and Laura both had nailed that down early on in our friendship, but I’d never offered up the information and thankfully, they’d never pushed me for it.
“I’m good. Just needed a moment. Hey, how long do you think those guys have to spend polishing their bikes? Some of them have a serious amount of chrome on them.”
Laura came and took Sophie’s other arm. “I think they’re compensating for something. Like the shinier the bike, the smaller the—” She winked at us without finishing her sentence before we broke apart and went through the door into the dimly lit interior of the bar.