Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Anastacia
“If you’d like to take a shower, you can. I’ll watch the baby,” Snapper offers.
I watch him for a moment, not understanding why he’s being so helpful. When I was here last time, he ignored me most of the time and tried to get out of doing anything with me or for me.
“A shower does sound nice, but I have nothing to change into yet.”
“I’ll lend you some clothes.”
Just like he did last time…
I can’t say I know him much better than I did when I was living here before, but I do feel like I know more about him. He’s a little easier to read now.
“Thank you,” I say with a smile.
“I’ll leave them in the bathroom for you.” He goes upstairs again, this time returning a few moments later. “Tommy just left the clubhouse, so they’ll be here in about an hour, if I had to guess. The roads are pretty bad, and the snow is picking up.”
“I’m surprised she’s still sleeping,” I say, chewing on my lip. “If she cries…”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
He nods, but he doesn’t look like he’s sure.
“You can come get me if you need anything.”
“Go take a shower, Anastacia,” he says firmly.
Without an argument, I head upstairs and to the bedroom that was once mine. The lights are on in the room and the bathroom, a pile of clothing sitting on the counter top—sweatpants with a drawstring and a T-shirt.
I turn the shower on, and while I wait for the water to get hot, I look in the mirror.
I look terrible. My eyes are red, cheeks puffy, and my skin is pale.
All over one night gone bad? Imagine how I’ll look in a week.
I can’t do this to myself. I can’t allow myself to lose everything I’ve gained in the last couple of months.
If it was just me, that would be one thing.
But I am all that Dorothea has, and I will not leave her to fend for herself.
When the mirror starts to fog, I remember I’m supposed to be taking a shower. It must be hot enough by now, so I pull the curtain back and get in. The water is hot on my skin, burning, but it feels good. I take my time washing up, scrubbing the tears from my cheeks and the nonsense of the day away.
What a great Christmas…
Maybe I’m not destined to have a good one. Seems that way. I’m twenty-five and I’ve never had a good one.
After scrubbing my body, hair, and standing under the water until my skin is red, I finally decide I should get out—if only to check on Kolton and Dorothea. He said he would be fine, but if she’s crying, he may be losing his mind. I don’t think he will hurt her, but maybe he’ll start crying too.
I laugh to myself as I shut off the water and reach for the towel. I dry my hair as best I can, then dry my body and quickly pull my clothes on. The house is quiet, so I’m careful as I walk down the stairs, not wanting to wake Dorothea.
Only she isn’t asleep when I get down there.
And Kolton isn’t the only one in this house anymore.
I freeze on the bottom step. Fear slams into me so hard it steals the breath right out of my lungs. My ears roar, my chest tightens, and my vision gets blurry.
“Took you long enough.”
That voice—deep, smug, familiar enough to turn my blood to ice. It sickens me.
My hand grips the railing until my knuckles ache. My legs won’t move, but my vision starts to clear and I finally see him. Really see him.
Gunner.
And he’s holding my baby.
Dorothea is cradled in his arms like a prize he won, her tiny fists curled against his chest, her little face scrunched as if she knows this is wrong. My baby. My sweet, helpless baby in the hands of a monster. How did this happen? How can this be happening?
Every instinct screams at me to run to her, to tear her out of his arms, to claw at his face and get rid of him once and for all. But my body betrays me—I still can’t move. My feet are cemented to the floor, my heart hammering away in my chest, threatening to burst through.
“It’s okay, Anastacia,” Kolton says, his voice low, steady, a command wrapped in calm. His hand lifts slightly—telling me not to move, to stay put.
As if I could move if I wanted to…
Kolton is standing closer to the kitchen, his posture casual, but I see the tightness in his jaw, the way his shoulders are squared, ready to strike. His eyes never leave Gunner. Not for a second.
And Gunner… Gunner is by the couch, standing there like he owns the place. Too close to me but not close enough that I can get Dorothea without him knowing.
The room closes in on me. Every creak of the floorboards, every tiny squeak from my baby feels amplified, like the universe is holding its breath and the world is ready to implode.
None of this makes sense.
How did he get in? How long has he been here? And why does it feel like one wrong word, one wrong move, could end with me watching my daughter be taken away from me forever?
The thought has me sick, and I sink to the steps, my body giving out on me.
“Pretty little thing, isn’t she?” Gunner’s voice is cold and deliberate. “She’s going to make the club real happy.”
“Stop with the threats,” Kolton snaps. “We know you aren’t part of the Iron Runners anymore.”
Gunner looks up, his face gaunt. Eyes sunken in, teeth rotted. Bile rises in my throat.
He laughs, a snarky little sound that feels like a claw up my spine.
“Fuck the Iron Runners,” Gunner says. “And fuck the Hell’s Mayhem too. Bunch of pussies you all are.”
I don’t know what any of this means. I can’t make sense of what he’s saying, and I don’t care to.
“Give me my baby,” I say, so quietly that I barely hear the words myself.
Gunner certainly doesn’t.
My stomach lurches. The room tilts. I want to scream, to rip her away, but I just can’t move. I’m a terrible mother, not even able to save my baby…
Kolton’s steady presence is the only thing keeping me from losing it completely.
His eyes lock onto mine, silently telling me to trust him.
I so badly want to, but how is he going to get us out of this?
Neither of them seems to have a weapon, and my baby is stuck in the arms of the man who ruined my life!
He could end hers in a second. My god, there’s nothing we can do to protect her! Not now that she’s in his arms…
But then there’s the crunch of tires outside. Faint. I barely hear them myself.
Gunner stiffens. His head jerks toward the sound and his face darkens. My pulse skyrockets, and I may actually pass out. I don’t know who could be here, but either way, it can’t be good.
If it’s people with him, we’re screwed. We’re not getting out of this alive—none of us. I guess if my baby is going, then I’m going too. I won’t be able to live after that, so it’s better to just get it over with. Only, I doubt that’s what they have in mind. That’s not what they do.
If it’s Lucian and Tommy out there… it’s only going to piss off Gunner, and who knows what he’ll do then.
The front door rattles a second later, the knob turning hard against the lock. There’s pounding and shouting. Gunner’s lips twist into a sneer, his grip on Dorothea tightening.
“No!” I finally shout, reaching my arms out like I can save her. He ignores me, his gaze toward the kitchen, where the front door is about to be kicked in.
Kolton moves an inch, ready to pounce, but he’s too far. There’s too much distance between him and Gunner. If he ran for him, Gunner would have too much time to react.
The door bursts open, the sound echoing through the house. A blast of icy air whooshes in, along with heavy footsteps. Snapper doesn’t flinch, doesn’t change his expression, as the footsteps get closer—louder.
Someone emerges from around the corner, stepping out of the kitchen and into the living room, a foot from Kolton.
Grizz.
The fury on his face could melt every bit of snow in a hundred mile radius. A small blossom of hope ignites in my chest, but it’s quickly tamped out by fear.
“Put. Her. Down.” His voice is dangerous enough to make the hair rise on my arms. If he spoke to me like that, I would cry. But to have him on my side… it’s a relief.
But the problem still stands.
Kolton and Grizz are on one end of the room. Gunner is on the other, holding my precious and fragile baby.
Dorothea lets out a sharp cry, and my heart breaks.
“Let her go!” I cry out. “Please!”
Gunner turns his sharp gaze on me. “You think I’m going to let my daughter go?” he growls. “She’s half mine, you fucking whore. How dare you—”
“Don’t you dare fucking talk to her that way,” Grizz bellows. I swear the walls shake. Kolton grips his arm, holding him back.
Gunner shifts his hold on the baby, his hand sliding up under her chin.
“No! No, please don’t. No!” I cry.
His grin widens, and he takes slow steps toward me. “I could kill her, you know. It would be so fucking easy. And it would be all your fault. Had you just stayed with me, everything would have been fine. But no… you had to leave and kidnap my daughter.”
There’s only a few feet between us now. He’s still moving toward me, still speaking words that go right through me because I’m panicking so hard I can’t hear a word.
All I can think about is my baby and how fragile she is and how easily he could harm her.
I feel like I’m going to pass out. I think my heart is going to give out.
But then everything happens all at once.
Glass shatters.
Something warm is on my face.
The guys shout.
Gunner falls.
And I leap for my baby.
I get my hands on her tiny body, mine protecting her fall, but Gunner comes down on top of me too. I do my best to cradle her head and protect her from his weight, but I can’t be sure I do.
It’s only a moment later that Gunner is pulled off me, and I’m being lifted and checked on. There’s more shouting, crying, screaming, all sorts of noise that I can’t place.
Then everything is black.