Chapter 8 #2
Bram’s nose flared as he inhaled deeply.
With his clean hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
He didn’t stop glaring at Clay as he brought the phone to his ear.
After a brief moment, he started speaking.
“I need you to come to my house. Bring Ty, Bobby, and Reid with you.” Bram paused to listen to whoever was on the other end.
“Unless you want me to call your boy, let Reid off work early. My daughter is going to need someone, and you know I can’t call Viv.
She can’t handle what I’m about to fucking do.
” Bram hung up before waiting for a response.
Bram walked over to me as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “Okay. Come here,” he said as he scooped me up. The way everything about him shifted to gentleness made me sob.
Crying without holding back, I clung to his shirt as he carried me out of the living room.
“I’m sorry,” I cried.
He frowned. “You don’t have—”
“I’m sorry.”
“Charlotte, you—”
“I’m sorry, Bram.”
Understanding seemed to hit him then and his frown disappeared.
“I’m sorry,” I said one more time between hiccuping sobs.
“Okay, kid,” he said with a quiet voice, and he laid me on the bed in the guest room. “I understand what you’re saying.” His hand went to the top of my head. “You won’t have to worry about the piece of shit after today. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Sniffling, I nodded.
“I don’t want to leave you, but I need to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere. Will you be okay until Reid and Bobby get here?” he asked.
I nodded again.
“All right.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head and left after closing the door behind him.
Ignoring the pain, I curled up on my side in the center of the bed and continued to let tears leak from my eyes. Everything that had just happened replayed over and over again in my head and I did my best to battle and process.
I didn’t know how much time passed until I heard the door open. Whoever came in didn’t announce themself and didn’t say anything for a long minute. It had to be Reid.
Finally, he spoke. “What can I do?”
“Nothing you don’t want to,” I said numbly.
I heard rustling before the bed dipped behind me. “Roll onto your back. You must be in pain on your side.”
I rolled onto my back to find him lying next to me on his side. His hand shot out quickly and he pulled my ripped shirt up to cover my breast. “You need a different shirt.”
I didn’t care about my damned shirt. “It hurts to lie flat, too.”
He sat up and helped me do the same. We awkwardly sat facing each other in silence. My tears started falling faster again. I wished Roe or Wyatt were here.
“What do you need?” he asked, sounding at a loss.
“I want to be held.” I hated how pathetic I sounded, but I couldn’t stop hearing what Clay had said and I needed him to be wrong.
Reid reached for me and I leaned away.
“I don’t want you to hold me if you don’t want to hold me,” I snapped. “I don’t want something fake or forced.”
His hand fisted. “Everything I’ve done and will do with you is because I wanted to.” He reached for me again and grabbed me under the arms. He pulled more than lifted me to him until I was straddling his lap.
Wide-eyed, I put my hands on his chest before I could fall against him. His gaze dropped to my chest for a moment before he sighed through his nose. He averted his eyes toward the ceiling as he pressed me to his chest and leaned back against the headboard. My head rested just below his chin.
“Try to relax,” he said, and it was then that I realized how tensed up I was.
I adjusted to get comfortable by tucking my arms close and nestling my cheek against his chest until I found the perfect spot. It took a minute, but I eventually relaxed. “Were you at work?”
“Yeah.”
So Bram had called Noble.
“Bram’s going to kill Clay,” I said.
Reid’s hand began moving up and down my back.
“Is it strange that I’m relieved by that?” I asked.
“No.” There was so much assurance behind that single word that I believed him.
“Are they going to do it here?”
Reid’s hand went still on my back. “They took him somewhere else and I didn’t ask where. I didn’t ask anything because I’m not a Haven’s Rebel.”
I supposed I didn’t want to know all the details, either. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to get too involved, like Reid. I just didn’t want to waste any more energy on Clay.
Closing my eyes, I listened to Reid’s heartbeat and breathed in his smell. He went back to running his hand up and down my spine.
Just as I was about to doze off, I thought I heard Roe’s voice.
“Lottie!” He sounded like he was in the living room.
I startled.
Reid’s hand on my back pressed down on me. “It’s just Roe and Wyatt.”
Before he could finish telling me, they came rushing through the bedroom door. I pushed against Reid’s chest to sit up as they approached the bed.
“Are you all right?” Roe asked as both his and Wyatt’s eyes dropped to my chest.
I followed their line of sight and realized my breast was out. I pulled the sleeve up to cover myself. “I know I need a new shirt.”
Roe frowned at Reid.
Reid sighed. “I know this looks bad.”
Wyatt smirked at Reid. “You think?”
“I’m not the one who ripped her shirt,” Reid grumbled.
“Are you going to tell us who did? Because you didn’t say shit on the phone,” Roe snapped.
“Her mother’s boyfriend showed up,” Reid said.
I didn’t want to sit there and listen to him tell them what he knew. I climbed off him and grabbed a new lounge set from the closet before heading into the bathroom to change.
By the time I returned to the bedroom, Bobby had shown up. At Bram’s request, he was there to see if I was all right. Physically, anyway, and I was. He took a look at my stitches while he was here and said he could take them out. It was nice that I didn’t have to wait until the next day.