Chapter Thirty-Three
Caliana
W AKING UP SLOWLY, it takes me no time at all to realize I’m in the hospital.
The smell and beeping are the first things I notice.
There’s that distinct sterile smell you only get when you’re in the hospital and the beeping of the heart monitor that’s attached to me.
Thoughts of Darren and everything he did to me fill my head as I relive the time I just spent with him.
Time I’d rather not relive. The only thing about the situation I want to think about is the fact that I got back a fraction of what he took from me.
I wasn’t his victim even though he kidnapped me and put me through hell by beating on me with a pipe.
Using the training I was given over the years, I escaped him and beat the hell out of him.
He was left lying on the floor bleeding while I escaped.
The people who truly matter in my life saved me.
They’re the ones I need to be thinking about.
I do wonder what happened to Darren. Did he get away?
Was the club able to get him from the dilapidated house he held me in?
So many questions start racing through my mind as I wonder where he is.
I need to know where he is because that’s the only way I’ll truly be free.
Darren will never stop coming after us if he doesn’t get stopped by someone else.
Caleb won’t let him get away with hurting me if he can help it.
Kreed and the men in the Feral Dragons won’t allow it either.
They’ll also want answers as to why he faked his death and betrayed them.
They deserve to hear why he did that to them.
“Caleb,” I whisper as I turn my attention to the man sleeping with his head on my bed right next to my arm.
Carefully lifting my hand from the bed, I run my fingers through his hair. Caleb instantly stirs and lifts his head from the bed. He looks at me with sleep-filled eyes as I take in the red creases on his face from the blankets covering me. In seconds, Caleb’s alert and closer to me.
“Reina, you’re awake,” he says, letting his eyes slowly move over my face and down my body until he gets to the blanket covering me. “How are you feelin’?”
“I’m so sore, Caleb. My entire body and head hurt,” I tell him honestly knowing there’s no way I’ll be able to hide it from him.
“I’ll get Doc. He took your case over after surgery.
The only reason he didn’t perform the surgery himself is because you needed an orthopedic surgeon.
He was in the room though. Cali, I need to tell you something,” Caleb says, his voice hesitant as he laces our fingers together and he kisses the back of my hand.
“What’s wrong? Are the kids okay?” I ask him, panic filling me immediately with the thought of something happening to Bryce or Rory.
“The kids are okay, Cali. They’re in the waitin’ room with my parents and Kreed.
Luca is standin’ right outside the door makin’ sure no one walks in here who doesn’t belong.
He’s been standin’ guard since we got back.
You don’t have to worry about Darren ever again, Reina.
He’s been dealt with and will never hurt anyone else ever again,” Caleb informs me, my body instantly relaxing with the thought of never having to see or deal with Darren again.
“Cali, when you were brought in, the doctors did all sorts of tests. You’re pregnant.
Very early in the pregnancy, but the babies are fine.
Nothin’ happened to them when Darren beat you. ”
I have no words. Shock fills me as I try to wrap my head around the fact that I’m pregnant. Wait. Did Caleb say babies? What the hell does that mean?
“Babies?” I question him as a commotion sounds at the door and we both look over to find my parents and Darren’s parents walk through the door with a police officer trailing behind them.
“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” Caleb growls, standing up and releasing my hand as he stands in protective mode between everyone and me.
“We’re here to inform Cali we’ll be taking the kids from her. She obviously can’t protect them and won’t be able to raise them on her own. Bryce and Rory will grow up between our two homes,” Mr. Foster states with a sinister smirk on his face as he hands Caleb paperwork.
Caleb reads through the papers in his shaking hands before he tosses them to the floor and steps closer to both sets of parents.
“You’re not takin’ the kids anywhere. Those papers are forged.
Though I really wouldn’t expect anythin’ less from the four of you.
None of you deserve to raise children for any reason.
To think you’re gonna come in here when Cali’s vulnerable and would have let this shit slide if she were alone makes me fuckin’ sick.
Not to mention the fact that I know every officer on the police force and this guy isn’t one.
Nothin’ about his uniform is correct either.
You might want to think about the small details before you try to pull somethin’ like this off,” Caleb states, his voice full of rage as his fists clench and release at his side.
Fear fills me with the thought of these people trying to take my children from me. They treated me like shit and have done everything in their power to ruin my life. Especially Darren’s parents who literally took my dream from me and cost me the job I loved doing.
“You’re lying,” Mr. Foster says, letting me know he’s the one leading this little charade. “This is an officer of the law and those papers are real.”
“No, they’re not,” Caleb says, pulling out his phone and sending a message to someone.
“In a matter of seconds, I’m gonna have someone in here who will prove the papers are fake and that the officer isn’t real.
If I were worried, I wouldn’t be standin’ here to tell you that your son is no longer breathin’.
He’s been taken care of after kidnappin’ Cali and beatin’ the shit out of her.
Though, I know you won’t give a fuck about that because you beat your own wife.
Somethin’ about keepin’ her in check if Darren’s words were accurate. ”
“What the fuck did you do to my son?” Mr. Foster yells, his voice hurting my head more.
“I didn’t do anythin’,” Caleb responds with a straight face as I try to sit up more so I can pay closer attention to the situation.
The door of my room opens and distracts us.
That’s all my father needs to race up to the opposite side of my bed from Caleb and slap me across the face.
His face is filled with anger as he glares down at me.
Caleb practically leaps over my bed to get my father away from me.
Shock fills me because I wasn’t expecting that to happen.
My father would never hurt me verbally or physically in front of others in the past. Something big is going on we don’t know about.
“Master, what did you find?” Caleb asks as he holds my struggling father back.
“Mr. Foster did indeed take the insurance payout from Darren’s death.
Since he was alive when it was given, that’s fraud.
The authorities have already been alerted that he’s here and of the situation.
Cali’s father has started gamblin’ on top of drinkin’ himself to death every day and beatin’ the shit out of her mother.
Both women appear to be innocent, but they’re also involved in the scheme to get money from Cali and kidnap her children for even more money.
That’s all this shit is about. They’re tryin’ to take the kids to blackmail her,” Master informs us as he holds a stack of paperwork in his hands.
“Those papers they brought in here are definitely fake. I’ve already contacted the courthouse and they were never in there to get custody of Bryce and Rory. ”
“That’s what I thought. While I’d love to take these five down in the cells of the clubhouse, we’re gonna let the law handle them.
Mr. Foster will lose so much more if he’s arrested with all the charges we have evidence of.
He’ll lose everythin’ he’s worked so hard for in the military.
I hope all this shit was worth it because you just fucked yourself,” Caleb says, a hint of satisfaction in his voice as the door of my room opens again to show several police officers entering.
In seconds, all five people in my room are in handcuffs. Mr. Foster is yelling and struggling against the hold the officers have on him.
“This isn’t over! I’ll make sure you all lose everything for fucking with my family. First you take out my brother and now my son. Nothing will happen to me. I’ll be out in five minutes,” Mr. Foster yells as he’s removed from my room followed by Master leaving Caleb and I alone once again.
“I’m sorry I didn’t move fast enough and your father was able to hit you, Reina,” Caleb says, gently placing his hand on my cheek where my father slapped me.
“It’s okay, Caleb. He’s a piece of shit and will never be able to hurt me again.
If he’s in jail, he won’t be able to drink the way he’s done for years and his body won’t be able to handle the lack of alcohol.
For the first time in years, my mom and Mrs. Foster will be free.
They won’t face the constant abuse from their husbands.
We’re finally free from Darren, Caleb. This all ended up the only way it could with all the pieces of shit who tried to hurt us either dealt with or in jail.
Yes, I know what dealt with means,” I tell Caleb as he laughs and presses a kiss against my forehead as I close my eyes and simply relax into the touch of his lips pressed against my skin. “Now, what did you mean by babies?”