Chapter 23
Ashley
“Hey stranger,” I say quietly to my so called friend who hasn’t bothered to stay in touch or even answer my messages as I walk over to the checkout with the garlic that I forgot to buy for the roasted garlic mash potatoes and chicken Cole had requested for dinner.
My mind has been all over the place lately, only just remembering I didn’t have it because Tyler had his hands on me, sending me into a spin.
I could blame my pregnancy hormones on it, but it would be a lie.
Everything that happened eight weeks ago is still running through my mind.
My instincts are to bolt, to run away but every time I have tried, the brothers stop me.
Refusing to let me to leave them, to leave Tyler and I know he’s fighting for me, for us.
I know he still sneaks into our room with the spare key he thinks I don’t know about, I just, I don’t know how to get past it all…
The hurt, the pain.
It’s been nearly three years since I was raped, a year since I found out he cheated on me, a year since I left him, which technically, I could now contest the courts for the divorce, but something is holding me back, and that is where my confusion lies.
I was adamant about a divorce at the beginning, and now I’m just confused.
I love him, I do, that will never change, but can I forgive him?
Can I trust him again?
Evidently not considering that I ran from the clubhouse after Hazel’s taunts instead of slapping her like she deserves.
“Hey, uh, Ash,” Nat says as she glances at me quickly then grabs her phone and says, “Long time no see, how is uh, how’s your new job?”
I furrow my brows at how weird she’s being and answer, “Well, I’ve already brought a cat home that is a little terror, but otherwise it’s going good.”
“Oh, good, good,” she says absentmindedly as she texts something before dropping her phone, then looks at me but does a double-take.
“You’re pregnant again?!”Nat gasps, looking at my swollen stomach, and I smile slightly, a little confused by whatever look she’s giving me right now, a look I can’t decipher, and my gut tightens because it was the same look when I told her I was pregnant.
That the doctors confirmed it three years ago, and I was raped.
“I am,” I say as I put the garlic on the counter, my gut telling me to get out of the shop confusing me.
“Is it uh, Talens?” she asks, not taking her eyes off my stomach, her face pale.
“No,” I deny as I scrutinize her, her hands trembling a little, “It’s Tylers. I dumped Talen Nat.”
She looks at me, and guilt washes over her, and I swear my stomach drops as a light bulb goes off on my head.
She wouldn’t…
“You know his name isn’t really Talen, don’t you?” I accuse, the look I couldn’t read, now becoming clearer, the guilt, and she swallows hard, looking away, and I question, “Nat?”
She looks at me with tears in her eyes and stutters, “It-it was you or me, and-and you weren’t that far along back then and Virginia and I spoke about pushing you in his direction instead, she wanted Trigger and I-I didn’t want to be sold.
But then he-he became obsessed with you, he-he wanted you for himself after he raped you… ”
He…as in…
“Oh god,” I choke as I step back, holding my stomach with fear, and her eyes go to the movement as my eyes go to her phone, and I take another step back.
“I’m sorry, Ashley, but it was me or you,” she says, and I snap, “I was fucking pregnant, you stupid, selfish, bitch!”
She flinches, and I chuckle darkly, “And you’ve just gone and done it again, haven’t you?” just as a hand comes over my mouth, and I feel something poking in my back.
A gun…
“I’m sorry,” she cries as Talen or whatever the hell his name is chuckles darkly, “No, you’re not, and you certainly weren’t when you allowed me to fuck your ass over the last few months.”
Nat flinches, and my nostrils flare at the betrayal.
She helped with my miscarriage, my rape all to save herself only to still screw him?!
Knowing I need to think of my unborn son, I allow the dick to pull me outside of the store, through the back, and into the alley where he raped me, Natalie’s sobs echoing.
That is why I always felt out of place with him, my body already knowing and I let him touch me willingly, oh Christ, I allowed him near my son.
“I have missed you, Ashley, and I have to tell you, my boss wasn’t too pleased when I explained I was claiming you after how much of a fight you gave when I took your tight pussy, only for you to go and dump me for that MC fucker!
” he snarls in my ear, “And to find you pregnant again! It’s not okay, Ashley, I claimed you that night, you are mine! ”
I can feel his anger coming out in spades, but I try to breathe through my panic and recall the fighting techniques Viking, a brother who is basically a nomad and runs a fight club in New York, taught me.
Tyler is in church, he doesn’t know I haven’t come back yet, and I cannot lose another baby, not from this monster.
“Tell me something, Ashley,” he growls before licking my cheek, and I tense.
“Where is my top-paying girl, Virginia, gotten to? My boss is very unhappy with her disappearance,” he says as he moves the gun from my back, and instead of answering, not shocked that Virginia was involved with him, already knowing she orchestrated my rape, I pull my arm back and then jab my elbow in his kidney like Viking taught me.
He grunts, letting go of me, and instead of running, I turn, then with my palm I smack him hard in the face, hitting his chin, my hand instantly throbbing.
Talen’s face knocks to the side, spit leaving his mouth, and I take my chance. I rush over to the alley clearance, but scream as his hand reaches my hair and yanks me back just as a rumble of pipes echoes, and hope swells in my chest, recognizing the sounds.
He came for me…
“Tyler!” I scream as I land on the concrete with a thump, my head hitting the concrete with a hard bang and I gasp with the pain that spreads, and Talen growls, “Shut the fuck up, bitch,” as his fist comes down, hitting my temple.
I cry out as I try to turn on my side to protect my son, but his foot comes slamming down right on my stomach and complete pain washes through me, and wetness instantly spills between my legs as cramps begin.
No, not again.
“Tyler!” I scream again, and Talen growls as I hear, “Pixie!” before a foot connects with my stomach again, and everything goes black, the pain too much, my husband’s roar the last thing I hear.