Chapter 15 #3
“You couldn’t have known what would happen.
No one uttered a word about it. And I meant it yesterday when I said I am so thankful you got away.
It wouldn’t have changed my story if you’d stayed, Lu.
You would have just lived it alongside me.
” I shake my head. “And you wouldn’t have shown up with the club and rescued me and all those other women.
You wouldn’t have been able to bring me here, where I have a shot at real happiness. A real life. Where both of us do.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. But it seemed like you were dead set against it. You’ve been so angry, and I haven’t been able to help you. I didn’t know what to do.”
“There was nothing you could have done, sister. I had to get through it. I may not have handled it the right way, but I can finally put the past behind me. I finally feel free.”
Lucy looks at Cash. “Guess I have you to thank for that.”
He shakes his head. “This is all her.” He nods at me. “She’s never needed me to save her. I’m just the lucky son of a bitch that gets to stand next to her.”
“Do you love her?” she asks my man.
He nods once. “Yes.”
Lucy looks at me. “Has he told you that?”
I smile. “He has.”
She tilts her head back and lets out a breath. “Okay. I’m wrapping my head around this. It’s not what I pictured, but I’m adjusting.”
“I know you think I’m too soft for this life,” I say with sadness tingeing my words.
Her head springs forward, and she looks at me. “I don’t think you’re too soft, Cece. I wanted your life to be soft. Be easy. I didn’t want you wrapped up with a biker who, for the entire time I’ve known him, hasn’t exactly screamed the type who wants a commitment to one woman.”
“Hey now, I was never a manwhore. Jesus,” Cash gripes.
“You weren’t exactly ready to settle down, either. But I can see how much you love my sister. And lucky for you, she feels the same.”
“Damn straight,” Cash says.
“How’s your face?” Lucy asks.
“You have quite the right hook,” he replies, rubbing his hand over his slightly bruised jaw.
Her mouth twists into a self-satisfied smirk. “Sure as shit do. Keep that in mind if you ever even think of hurting her.”
Jude laughs. “Jesus, Lucifer. Can you put a lid on it? The man is obviously smitten over Little Bit, and I, for one, couldn’t be more thrilled.
” He walks over to Lucy and places a sweet kiss on her mouth.
“I know what the love of a good woman does for men like us,” he says softly, looking her in the eye.
It’s always amazing to me the effect Jude has on my sister. She can be tough as nails, threatening anyone who looks at someone she loves wrong, but he utters sweet words, and she melts right into him. I guess it’s not just her love that softens even the toughest people. It’s his too.
“Alright. How about some breakfast?” Lucy says.
“You going to cook for me, Lucifer?”
My sister laughs as though she’s just heard the funniest thing in her life. “Oh, you’re hilarious. No, you’re going to take us out to breakfast.”
Cash’s phone rings, and he pulls it from his pocket to answer it.
“What’s up, Oz?” He’s silent as he listens to his president on the other end of the line.
“Okay. I’m at Jude’s. We’ll grab Linc and be on our way.
” He disconnects the call and looks at Jude.
“Ozzy called church. Liam waltzed into the clubhouse this morning. Time to make some plans, brother.”
Jude nods and walks over to my sister, leaning down and kissing her. “Talk,” he whispers in her ear before pressing another kiss against her cheek.
I stand as Cash makes his way over to me. When he wraps me in his strong arms, I inhale his fresh scent, and it helps calm the leftover nerves from earlier.
“You good here until I get back?” he asks.
“She’s fine, lover boy,” my sister answers for me.
I shoot her a look, but Lucy has a wide smile on her face as she sips her coffee.
“I’m fine.” I lean up on my tiptoes and place a kiss on his lips. “See you when you get back.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead and squeezes me just a little tighter before releasing me. “I’ll be back in a bit,” he says, and he and Jude walk out of the house, leaving my sister and me alone.
Lucy stands and walks over to the coffeepot, pouring another cup, adding some creamer and a dash of cinnamon on top before handing it back to me. “Let’s go talk in the living room.”
Grabbing the warm mug from her hands, I smile at the gesture and follow her out of the kitchen.
“I don’t really know where to start,” I say as I sit on her couch and pull my legs onto the cushion.
Lucy settles in on the other side, leaning her back against the opposite armrest and facing me. “Yesterday, you said you were protecting me.”
I close my eyes and blow out a breath. “You don’t want to know what I went through, Lu. It was…” I shake my head. “Horrific.”
“You don’t have to tell me details if you don’t want to, or if you can’t. But you don’t have to protect me either.”
I bite my bottom lip, readying myself for this conversation. “You were right that night at the church when you spoke of Otto raping me. He did. But he wasn’t the only one.”
Lucy’s hand tightens around the mug. She looks out the window for a beat, then back to me. “Who?”
“The Bone Breakers. Red and the other members. Nolan Dawson,” I answer.
“That motherfucker!” Lucy jumps up from the couch and paces in front of the coffee table for a few moments, taking deep breaths and releasing long exhales as she tries to calm herself down.
Finally, she sits back on the couch and looks at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Cece. God, I left you there.” Tears track down her face as she reaches over and grabs my hand. “I’m so sorry I left you.”
Shaking my head, I squeeze her hand. “No, sister. I’m not sorry you got away.
I’ll never be sorry for that. If you would have stayed, the same thing would have happened to you.
There was no way you would have been able to protect me.
Protect any of us. We would have never gotten out if it hadn’t been for you and the club. ”
“Did they”—Lucy swallows hard—“do this to all of the women?”
“Not all, no. But there were a few other wives who would have this visible spike in fear every time the Bone Breakers showed up at the compound. I think it was only the young, pretty ones. Or maybe the women who they showed interest in when they would come to pick up the drugs. We were an added perk for their help in distributing the meth for Otto.”
Lucy’s head falls forward, and she silently cries while our hands are clasped together. She’d had no idea all the ways I’d been violated during our separation. The extent of the hell I lived through that she managed to escape.
She lifts her head and looks me in the eye. “I wish I would have made Otto’s death more painful. Slitting his throat was too easy on him.”
A huff of air escapes me. “I’m pretty sure destroying his entire life’s work before killing him was torture enough.”
Lucy shakes her head. “Nothing would ever be painful enough for him.”
“I hope he relives that night over and over again from whatever pit of hell he was thrown in,” I say. “And that he sees us happy and free. I’m damn certain there is no worse fate for him.”
“We are happy, aren’t we?” Lucy asks with a smile playing on her lips.
“Yes, sister. We are.”