35. Lia
Chapter thirty-five
Lia
“Let me go!” I howl suddenly. The blind obedience is suddenly ripped away, and I realise what I am doing. I throw myself both ways, trying to escape. With vicious snarls, I struggle against the hands holding me tight until they leave bruises. I’m dragged forward, and I kick out, my heart pounding. I fight to stop any forward movement, but it’s impossible.
I’m dragged to a stop. I can hear multiple people in the room. Sounds of movement are everywhere, and I turn my head at the sound of footsteps to my right, tracking the movement.
“Let me go!” I try to sound calm and in command. “You let me go or else!”
One of the guys lets go of my arms, and my blindfold is torn off. I blink, glancing around really quickly, looking for the exits. When I find the closed door and the two men leaning on it, I dismiss it and turn back to the front, searching until I find a man sitting at the long ten-seater table to my right.
He has a folder in front of him. I can barely make him out in the dim light, but I can see the large hand with the chunky rings on it.
“Why am I here?” I snap. “You fucking murderer. I want to go home!”
He laughs. “You’re just as you were when you were a child, Lia.”
I tense, uncertain. I peer at him harder. “Who are you?”
He nods, and the lights come on. I know him instantly. He hasn’t changed at all. His mid-brown hair is still hanging down to his mid-back, except now it’s grey. His face is more lined, but it’s still Andy.
“Andy? ”
He grins that familiar smile that used to turn my world joyful. “How have you been, kiddo?”
I laugh and spring towards him, hugging him tight. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, and I’m sorry for everything and for leaving the way I did.”
I shift and step back when he releases me. “It’s okay. I understood.” But then I remember Kyle and Nicky. I wrap my arms around myself and back off.
“But you shouldn’t have had to.”
I frown and glance around. I feel uncomfortable and scared. “So, what’s with the kidnapping? And why did you tell Malone to hurt Nicky and Kyle?”
Andy leans back in the chair, and this time, there is no smile. “I’ve been hearing some disturbing things.”
I tense.
“You’ve fallen in with Mirakill MC. They have been using you, and-”
“Let me stop you right there, Anderson. They are my scent matches. I love them. They saved me. They aren’t using me or abusing me, and it gives you no right to kill-”
He sighs heavily. “First off, I didn’t kill anyone, and I certainly didn’t authorise Malone to kill anyone. I paid him to bring you to me.” He looks down at the folder and taps it. “Is that what they told you?” Andy murmurs. “Those assholes.”
I tense, gazing at him. “What do you mean?”
He crooks his finger, and someone steps up beside me. I realise it’s the guy who came to the clubhouse.
“You said you were looking for Mills!” I snarl.
He shrugs. “I was. I wasn’t intending for him to see me. Hi, Lia, I’m your baby brother, Bailey.”
I blink, and then blink again. Is this a dream or a nightmare? I can’t even tell anymore.
“I have a brother?”
“Well, half. Andy is my dad. Mum dumped me off with him before she left the hospital. Raising a boy child would have drained the Satan right out of her.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You were only a year old,” Bailey points out with a smirk. He’s got my eyes, I think with a start. He looks like a clone of Raider, but his eyes, our eyes, are slightly lighter.
“You dated her, and then dated her again?” I ask Andy, shocked.
“She was an incredibly woman, and I wanted Bailey to know her.”
“Why didn’t I know about Bailey?” I snap, furious and hurt.
“She didn’t want you to.”
I clench my fists and wish Ranger was with me. I wish anyone was with me. All I want is my pack .
“I want my pack.” I enunciate slowly.
“You need to hear the truth first,” Andy says with confidence that I can now see is arrogance. “Then you’ll realise how wrong you’ve been. That it’s better to be away from them.”
“No, I-”
“They know about Bailey, Lia,” Andy growls. “They know he’s your brother, and still, they have waged war on us, trying to push us out of our city. Your so-called pack knew about him, and they went after you to get to us.”
I stare at him, my mind going blank. “No, they wouldn’t do that-”
He raises an eyebrow and stares at me. “Wouldn’t they? They’re bikers. They care about the club first and always.”
I pace away from them, noting everyone else has left. It’s just Bailey, Andy, and me. I could run.
“They are my scent matches.”
“NO! They aren’t!” Andy snarls. “These are your scent matches.”
I stare at him, loathing him, feeling and hearing the thunder of my heart in my ears and wondering why he’s trying so hard to hurt me.
Andy holds out a folder to me. “I took the liberty of getting your scent and going hunting for your perfect match. Those filthy Mirakill bastards aren’t your scent matches. They just want you to get back at me. Somehow, they found out about my connection to China, and they decided to take it out on you. I had people watching your mansion, and when I saw them sniffing around, I did some digging. I knew they were up to no good.”
I walk to the folder. Half of me wants to ignore it, but I have to look to prove it’s not true. If I can just find one lie, I can disprove everything he’s saying and go home.
I flip it open and look down at the information. According to all the science, all the information, these strangers are my scent matches. I study the bios, not really seeing them. They aren’t mine. They aren’t!
The Mirakill pack is not mine , a tiny voice whispers.
Yes, they are! My heart screams. They’ve always been mine.
My knees buckle, and I catch myself on the table, holding myself upright. I feel sick. My eyesight gets blurry, and I drag in a deep lungful of air that does nothing.
A keen breaks from my throat, the panic that wells up rips through me like a blunt blade, tearing me apart. The grief…is unspeakable.
They said they loved me.
They aren’t mine.
I step back, my panic and grief so raw that I can’t hear anything but my own inner screams. They said they loved me! They said they were mine! The pack will leave me. I’ll be alone.
Alone.
Forever.
“Lia!”
“Lia!”
Someone grabs me, shakes me, but I lash out. My hand collides with something hard, and I’m free. I back into the corner and slowly sink down into the floor. My arms wrap tightly around my legs.
My wails fill the air.
What am I if I don’t have them?
What do I do without them?
I have nothing.
I have no one.
I am alone.
I am…all alone.
I can’t go home. No home. No pack. No mother.
Distantly, I hear screams, but nothing makes sense. All I feel is pain, something deep inside rending me in two.
“Call an ambulance!” I hear it from a distance. The words make no sense.
“I told you to leave her alone! You’re an asshole, Dad.”
I lie in the bed, staring at the wall. Nothing matters, and I have no desire to live. I trace the shadows the curtains leave on the wall over and over.
Anderson comes in and sits with me. “I won’t let them near you, I promise.”
I ignore him. He’s stolen everything from me. I hate him. He thinks he's some big hero, but he’s as bad as Mama. He never said goodbye when he left. He was watching me, and he never helped. Not once. Andy is just like everyone else. I want nothing to do with him.
He stays, and then at some point, he leaves. I don’t even know when he does. Just that when I look back, he’s gone.
Bailey stands in the doorway, a shape I recognise instantly because I think for a minute he’s Raider, and for a second, a split second, I think I’m saved. Then I remember Bailey, and my hopes crash .
Bailey takes my hand. I don’t try to stop him. I don’t do anything.
“You were happy. I can see that now. I didn’t think you were. Shit, Lia. I don’t know you, but I’d like to. I don’t want to see something bad happen to you. Dad spent all my life talking about how wonderful you were.”
I don’t answer.
“The pack, your scent match pack, has an omega. They chose her years ago. Dad didn’t know that information. But I rang up and found out. I was hoping…I don’t know what I was hoping, I just didn’t want to see you in pain.”
It’s another blow, mind you, one I almost don’t feel.
“Lia? I’m sorry.”
I don’t answer him, and eventually, he leaves.
And it’s just me alone. In the dark.
Where sick people belong.