by Trejo, Erin
“I think the kid has been through enough. Don’t you? You two fightin’ isn’t helpin’ shit,” Fin says. Roland is vibrating with anger. You can see it all over him, his eyes are black and his hands are clenched at his sides.
“She told my son I didn’t want him,” Roland growls.
“It was for his own protection,” I scream.
“You left me,” he roars.
“I was protecting you!” The words fall from my mouth in a fit of rage and anger. I didn’t mean to say them. Not out loud.
“What?” he asks. Fin’s arm falls from my shoulders as he moves off to the side to listen.
“Tom found us Roland. I was getting ready to come home and surprise you when he stopped me. I was planning to surprise you with a bunch of baby stuff. He caught on.” My voice catches in my throat. Roland stands there stunned by what I’m telling him, but I can’t stop now. I have to tell him everything.
“What the fuck?” he asks more to himself. Shaking his head, he runs his hand through his hair, and tugs.
“He said that if I didn’t do what he said that he had proof you killed Ray. I saw it Roland. He showed it to me over and over. The same fucking scene.”
“You couldn’t get away? For almost ten fuckin’ years?” he asks as if he doesn’t believe me. I lean down and slowly pull my pant leg up. His eyes move down to my leg to the scar that remains as a reminder of my time with Tom. “He chained you up? Like a fuckin’ animal?” His voice booms around us making me to jump. Fin curses under his breath next to me.
“When Drake was eight, he started letting me loose for a little while, he was usually home though. I tried to run a few times, and every time I did he caught me and he beat me. I tried. I really tried,” I find myself screaming back at him. Roland stands still not knowing what to say.
“He hit my son?” His eyes come to meet mine. My heart flutters in my chest.
“A few times, yes. Nothing too bad. I would always get his attention back on me.” I watch Roland closes his eyes while trying to rein in his anger.
“Where is he? Where did he have you?” His voice has calmed slightly.
“About twenty minutes from here.”
Roland’s mouth falls open. “Twenty fuckin’ minutes? You’ve been twenty goddamn minutes away this whole time? Son of a bitch!” he roars.
9
Reaper
My fist slams into the brick wall over and over until it goes numb. Fin doesn’t even try to stop me, but Molly does. She slinks under my arms and wraps her arms around my waist. I sigh, but I can’t hold her. Not right now. I want to snap her fucking neck, and I don’t know why. I want her to feel the same pain I do. It’s unfair. I know it is.
“I’m sorry. I tried to get away. I really did,” she cries.
Fuck! Wrapping my arms around her, my bloody hands hold her close while she cries. I savor this moment in time with her. We’re just like we used to be. I hold her, just caring for her.
“I’m gonna go check on Drake,” Fin says. I give him a nod and watch him walk back inside.
“I need to know everything babe. I need to know all of it, so I can handle him.”
“He still has the proof. He said he’d turn it in Roland. I won’t let you go to jail.”
I chuckle. Sure, that’s what’s been stopping me. If that’s what she thinks then she’s been hit in the head too hard.
“He stole my world, Mols. Don’t you get that? He stole you and my son. I’m going after him. I don’t give a shit what you say, it isn’t even up for discussion,” I inform her.
“Not right away you aren’t,” Viking’s voice comes from next to us. I turn my head and look at him.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“That means that I just got word and they’re pullin’ a warrant for your arrest brother. You need to spend the night with your family. They’ll be here in the mornin’.”
I shake my head. There is no way in fuck. “Fuck that shit. I ain’t goin’,” I tell him letting my hands fall from Molly. She takes a step back and I see her eyes are wild.
“You don’t have a choice. I called the lawyer. He’s on it already, but he said you gotta go in before he can get you back out.” Viking turns and walks away leaving me to my thoughts.
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice is full of tears. Letting my head drop forward I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing anymore.
“I need to ask you somethin’ and I need a real answer.”
“Anything.”
“Do you still love me?” It’s the same question that has burned in the back of my mind for years now. It’s the constant ache in my chest. Everything down to this one question.
“I’ve never stopped loving you Roland. I’ve always loved you. I just wanted to do what was right.”
I turn quickly and pull her into my arms and kiss her like I’ve never kissed her before. I kiss her until she can’t breathe. I want to invade her and suck the life from her and into me. I need her.
“Stay with me tonight,” I nearly beg her. I don’t know when I’ll see her or Drake again.
“What about Drake?”
“He’s stayin’ too, but I need some time with just you baby.”
Molly nods her head as I lift her into my arms. I head in the side door and walk us straight to my room. I kick the door closed behind me, and then set Molly on her feet.
“Take it off. Everything. I need to see you,” I demand in a low, rough voice.
Molly moves quickly taking her clothes off and showing me what I’ve been missing all this time. Swallowing hard I take her in as she stands before me. Her perfect skin, taut nipples. Fuck I’ve missed the sight of her.
“You’ve always been the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
I pull my cut down my arms and toss it onto the chair as I work to free myself of my clothes. It’s been far too long since I’ve had her like this, and far too long since I’ve felt the world spin again.
When I’m completely naked and in front of her, she gasps. Her eyes move over my body tracing every line, every muscle, every tattoo, and every crevice on me before she makes it up to my eyes. I’ve gained weight, muscles, and scars as a reminder of who I am now.
“You’re much bigger than you were,” she whispers softly.
“Don’t you like it?” I ask as I move slowly toward her.
As much as I want to throw her down and fuck her roughly, I can’t. Not when I don’t know when I’ll see her again. When I reach for her, she shivers. Smirking I lean down and capture her lips with mine. My hands hook around her hips and I pull her into me. Molly moans into my mouth and I almost lose my concentration.
Walking her backward toward the bed I slowly lay her down and climb between her thighs. I can’t wait any longer, reaching between us I slowly push my way inside of her. Molly begins to pant and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve heard in a long ass time. My hands slide up and down her side. I stop so I can lift her thigh up.
“This feel like the first time Mols,” I whisper.
Her eyes lock with mine as I begin to slowly thrust. She takes each one and raises her hips up to meet me. The slowness. The connection. It’s everything that I need in my life. It’s everything I’ve missed. I may have ended up a Soulless Bastard, but this woman owns my heart. She always has and I won’t let that go. I can’t.
“Ro I love you. I always have,” Molly’s eyes fill with tears. I lean down and kiss each eye before I press my lips to hers.
“It’s okay. You’re here now. We’re both here. I will never let anything happen to you again. You hear me?”
My lips hover over hers as I slowly move in and out of her. Molly nods her head as her body arches up into me. As much as I wanted to take this slow, I just can’t stop myself from speeding up. Thrusts become harder, deeper. I push up on my hands and Molly wraps her legs around my waist. In this position she holds nothing back. Not one fucking thing.
“Goddamn. It’s been too fuckin’ long,” I groan.
Plunging in even deeper I growl as my release washes over me. Molly clings to me like she may never get the chance to touch me again. She cries as she comes with me. I hate this. I hate that she’s been carrying around my fucking burdens for this long. She’s had to deal with this all on her own and try to raise our son. When I pull out of Molly I laugh and lay down next to her. I pull her into my side and sigh. Every fiber inside of me wants him dead.
“I wished I’d known Mols. I would have come for you. I thought… fuck I thought you didn’t want me anymore. I thought you left me. There was no other explanation.”
Molly snuggles into my side as her fingers splayed over my abs. “I would have never left you if I’d had a choice. I never wanted to Ro. He found me and I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t let you go to prison for defending me. It was my fault you were even in that position,” she says softly.
“No, it wasn’t your fuckin’ fault Molly. Nothin’ was your fault.”
“I failed anyway. You’re still going to prison.”
“Stop it Molly. Just let me have tonight, okay? We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
A knock at the door stirs both of us. I climb up and slide my jeans back on. Pulling the door back open I find Taz standing there with Drake.
“He was looking for his mom,” she says.
I nod once and push the door the rest of the way open. “Thanks Taz.”
“No problem, he’s a sweet kid.”
Drake rushes past me and into the room. He throws himself into his mom’s arms. I close the door and just watch them together. I see everything I’ve missed already, and everything I’m going to miss when they come for me tomorrow. My stomach drops at the thought.
I just got them back. How can I lose them all over again?
10
Molly
We spent the whole night awake and together. Drake really is a lot like his dad. I’d never noticed the similarities in their personalities until I watched them play games together. I couldn’t believe just how alike they are. Standing here watching him say goodbye to his son is killing me, ripping my heart right out of my chest. I feel like I’m drowning and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Drake smiles up at Ro like he’s the best person in the world, and to us he is. When he hugs and kisses him one more time I almost lose it. Roland turns on his heel and walks toward me with his head held high. If this is hurting him, like I suspect it is, he isn’t showing it. I suppose he’s toughened up over the years. Stopping in front of me he rests his hands on my shoulders.
“You’ll be safe here. The guys will take care of you. Anything you need, you let them know. I’d rather you stay here than at the house, but if you feel more comfortable at my place Viking will set someone up outside. I don’t want you two alone anywhere. You get me?”
His eyes tell me to agree. I don’t want all this. I just want him. A tear slips down my cheek as Roland shakes his head.
“No tears babe. I’m not dead. Just promise me that you’ll stay here or with one of the guys. Yeah?”
I nod my head and he pulls me into his chest. Roland kisses the top of my head before he pulls away. The cops are already here with the warrant, but since they knew a few of the cops they were giving him some time to say goodbye. Roland kisses me roughly before he takes a step back.
“I meant what I said. Stay,” he reminds me. I nod once more when he turns and heads to the door. Fins steps up next to me and puts his arm around my shoulder.
“He’ll get back out, don’t you worry, we got a good lawyer.”
If only that were true. In my heart I know that he could be there for a long time with the evidence that Tom has on him. It was all filmed. The entire assault. Of course there was no sound, but you could clearly see Roland beating him to death. My stomach trembles as a sob escapes me. Fin pulls me even closer and doesn’t let me go.
I watch Roland say his goodbyes to a few of the guys before the cops put the cuffs on him. His eyes stay on mine the whole time until they pull him out of the door.
“Okay, show’s over. Get your asses back to work. Lawyer’s on his way. I want church in ten,” Viking roars as he storms toward a closed door.
“What’s church?” I ask looking to Fin for answers.
“It’s a meetin’. You can’t go in. Sorry babe. I’ll let you know what I can. Go help the girls in the kitchen.”
Fin presses a quick kiss to my temple before he walks away. My heart doesn’t know what to do. The thought that Roland could be in there for a long time is killing me. It’s my fault.
“Mom?” Looking down at Drake I choke. He just met him. He just got his kid back and now he’s lost him again.
“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay,” I tell him as I pull him into my arms.
I watch as the men all shuffle into a door at the side of the room. When Drake and I are alone I let out a sigh. I don’t know what this would entail. I don’t know what kind of madness I just walked into, but Roland was right. I do feel safe here.
“Let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can help with,” I tell Drake as I nudge him toward the door.
He walks with his hand wrapped tightly around mine. Pushing through the door a few of the girls look up and smile while the rest just ignore us. You can tell which ones belong to one of the guys and which ones are the club whores I’ve heard about. I’ve sat back and watched a few of them and I’m not sure what I should think.
“Hey, come try this,” Taz says to Drake holding out a spoon full of chocolate. He walks over to her slowly and takes the spoon from her.
“Oh, that’s good,” he squeals.
I smile when another girl I think I might’ve met already walks up next to me. She throws her arm around my shoulder and leans in close to me. “In case you forgot, I’m Whitley or Whit. Whatever the hell you want to call me. I love your hair,” she says leaning in close to smell my hair as another girl rolls her eyes.
“You have to ignore Whit. When Mason lets her out of her sex cave she just runs wild. I’m Tink by the way,” the small girl flounces over to me with her hand outstretched. I take it in mine.
“Molly.”
“Oh, I know who you are. Reaper made it clear you were off limits to us girls. Especially to Whit,” she says sticking her tongue out at the other woman. I smile at the two of them.
“Mason didn’t say I couldn’t touch,” Whitley says as she starts stroking my hair and making me feel slightly uncomfortable.
“Mason did say not to touch. What the fuck are you doin’ baby?” a deep voice booms from behind us. Whitley quickly pulls her hand away from mine and spins to face the voice.
“I wasn’t doing anything you wouldn’t like to watch,” she giggles.
“I bet. Get over here,” he tells her. I turn and watch as she leaps into his arms.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she whispers into his ear loud enough that everyone can hear her.
“Me too. Get to cooking. I need to talk to Molly.”
My eyes widen when he says my name. I’ve heard about Mason. That he’s the VP of this club, but I haven’t had the chance to meet him. He’s been out on some run as they called it. Whit kisses him once more before heading back to what she was doing before.
“You got a minute?” he asks me. I nod once and follow him out of the kitchen.
“I’m Mason. I know all about you and your situation. I just wanted to let you know that as long as you’re here you are protected. That fuck that had you did turn in the video. Our lawyer is fighting it, but he might be in there a little bit longer. The house you told him about has been wiped clean.”
I’m confused. Wiped clean?
“What do you mean?”
“I mean there is no proof that you were ever there. This was all we found,” Mason says passing me a piece of paper.
I take it with shaking hands and slowly unfold it. I read the words, “You made a mistake. You know where I’ll be, but if you want him free the
n you come alone.”
11
Reaper
I roll my shoulders, my hands are clenched, and I’m ready to swing. The bastard on the other side of the bag holds it tightly; anticipating my punch. When I finally throw it he nearly falls to the ground and that just angers me further.
“You can’t even hold a goddamn bag?” I roar as the punk tries to right himself. He grabs the bag again, but before I can throw another blow someone moves in next to him.
“I’ll take it from here,” the man says ushering the kid out of the way. He grabs a hold of the bag and steadies it with his hands, nodding at me when he’s ready. I take out my frustrations on the bag. Over and over I punch until my knuckles are raw.
“That’s some power you have,” he says as he moves to stand next to the punching bag.
“What is it you want? Let’s not pretend I don’t know who the fuck you are,” I grit my teeth as I look at him. Prison. It’s hell on earth. It’s four walls that keep you trapped in your own head with no way out. This has been my house for the last few months. I miss my boys, my club, Molly, and my son.
“I can help with your little situation.”
I shake my head, take a step back, and lean against the fence with my arms crossed over my chest. Mexican human trafficker Julio Ramirez. Never thought I’d come face to face with this piece of shit, but here he is.
“What makes you think I have a situation?”
“Oh come on now Reaper. I know what happens in here. This is my domain. I’m doing a life sentence man. Don’t fucking play games with me.”
“What do you want Ramirez?”
I’m over playing nice. I’m over trying to skirt my way around these fucking assholes. They are like goddamn vultures ready to swoop in on a person.
“You see that group over my shoulder? That’s the boys of the Old Dirty Fliers MC. You know what they are now?”