Chapter 43 #2
He flips me onto my back and kneels between my thighs, yanking my legs over his shoulders. A sharp gasp bursts from my lungs as he fills me up again, hammering into my pussy like a wild animal. Sweat runs in rivulets down his handsome face and drips onto my belly.
“I’m coming,” I pant, my slick walls tightening around his erection.
“Fuck,” he groans, his features going slack with pleasure. “Milk every last drop.”
A split second later, he drops down boneless beside me. I take a measured breath and ask the question weighing heavily on my mind.
“Do you still hate me?” He allowed me to call him Sam. Maybe he doesn’t hate me as much anymore. Maybe we can be a semi-normal family.
Without so much as a glance, he storms into the bathroom and slams the door behind him.
Where is he?
He’s been gone for hours. After showering, he left without saying a single word to me. I knew there was a possibility my question would set him off, but I needed to know. Guess I have my answer.
I don’t know why I needed to know when I’m unsure of my own feelings. I still fear him. Always will. But I’m starting to crave his touch more and more. When he’s inside me, I forget he’s a monster, at least for a little while.
God, my life is a soap opera. I have a psycho baby daddy, and my mother is pregnant by her sister’s husband. No point dwelling on either situation now. What’s done is done.
I already love my daughters and sister unconditionally. They are my life now, and I would gladly die for them. My sister will not have the same fucked up childhood I had. I will protect her from our mother at all costs. Speaking of the woman who birthed me, it’s about time we had that talk.
Sighing, I push away from the island and slide off the stool onto swollen feet. With my empty bowl and glass in hand, I pad over to the dishwasher and deposit both inside. Dinner wasn’t exactly a gourmet meal, but the ramen noodles and boiled eggs feel good in my stomach.
“Thanks for keeping me company,” I coo at my adopted fur babies, giving both a pat on the head. We had a rough start, but now they’re my shadows.
Due to my extended belly, it takes longer than usual to reach the second floor. I linger at the landing for a few minutes to catch my breath.
“Stairs can go kick rocks,” I mumble before trudging on.
As I approach my mother’s bedroom, her condescending voice slices through the quiet. “No, I am not going to write a character letter for him. Let him rot,” she says with a bitter laugh. “And tell him I want a divorce!”
I clasp a hand over my mouth in shock. Daddy?
“Oh, and let him know that he is not the father of my children,” she boasts proudly.
My heart leaps into my throat. No. No. No. She’s lying. I slam the door open, the impact rattling the frame. My mother jumps, dropping the cell phone onto the bed.
“Tell me it isn’t true.” My voice shakes. “Tell me my father is my father.”
She clambers to her feet, holding her head high. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me!” I scream, tears streaming down my face. “You lied to me my whole life! Who is he? Who is my real father?” The truth hits like a punch to the gut. “Nolan and I… we have different dads, don’t we?”
We look nothing alike, but I never thought much of it—siblings don’t always resemble each other.
“It doesn’t matter,” she reiterates, shooting me a look that instilled fear in me as a child.
I’m going to be sick.
“You’re evil,” I hiss, every word laced with venom. “I want to speak to my father now.” I nod toward the bed. “Was that his lawyer?” I spring across the room, intent on getting my hands on that cell phone, but my mother beats me to it.
“Don’t you dare,” she snarls, holding the device behind her back.
“Give it to me!”
I try to reach around her, but she shoves me back.
“I hate you!” I shout at the top of my lungs. “Keith figured out what a heartless person you are and couldn’t get away from you fast enough!”
“Ungrateful bitch!” she screeches, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking hard. “Your father was and still is a spineless, weak little man who couldn’t give me children! If I hadn’t found myself a real man, you wouldn’t exist!”
I pry her fingers from my braids and fling her away from me. “You’re pathetic. No education. No job. No future. Who’s going to want you now?”
“You little whore!” she rages, her hand slicing through the air toward my face, but Snake appears, stepping between us.
“Whoa, what the fuck is going on in here?”
“I want her gone. Now,” I say between labored breaths. “She can’t stay here anymore.”
Snake pinches the bridge of his nose before addressing me. “Where the hell am I supposed to take her?”
“I don’t care. Just get her the hell out of here.”
His gaze cuts to Draco, who I hadn’t noticed looming in the doorway, a bored expression marring his features. “Can you take her to The Sanctuary?”
He scoffs. “Do I look like a fucking chauffeur?”
“Okay, then you can babysit Zilphia until Sandman gets back,” he counters, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Fucking nursery school,” Draco grumbles, glaring at my mother. “Pack your shit. We leave in five.”
My mother props a hand on her hip. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes, the fuck you are,” Snake tells her, folding his arms across his chest. “The Sanctuary or the streets. Your choice.”
“How can you do this to me?” she sniffles, crocodile tears filling her eyes. “I’m your mother.”
Amazing. Loretta Kensley should’ve been an actress. Draco snorts and spins on his heel, looking none too happy.
“I don’t have a mother.”
She shoots me a look that could cut glass, her mask immediately going from crestfallen to angry. “You’ll regret this.”
I flee to my bedroom, unable to look at her a second longer.
Snake strolls in a beat later, his gaze sweeping over my face. “You good?”
“No,” I answer and start bawling my eyes out. I don’t need to look in the mirror to know I’m ugly crying the ugliest cry ever.
“Fuck.” Snake tunnels a hand through his inky-black strands. “I’m not good at this type of shit. You want me to call Sandman? Hell, he’s no good at this comforting shit either, but maybe he can lay some pipe and make you feel better.”
I shake my head. “I just need to be alone.”
“Aight,” Snake says, already heading out the door. “Shout if you need me.” He might get off on Leah’s tears, but mine don’t seem to matter.
I close the door behind him and perch on the edge of the bed, attempting to organize my thoughts.
I have to find out who my father’s lawyer is and help in any way I can.
We may not share the same blood, but he’ll always be my dad.
Eventually, I do want to find my real father.
I have another whole family out there, and I want to know them.
Once they learn of my existence, hopefully they’ll want to know me too.
My chest knots with emotion, and a fresh wave of tears spills from my eyes. I need to get out of this house. I’m starting to feel a bit stir-crazy, like my skin is too tight for my body.
I push my swollen feet into my slides and wobble downstairs. Before I can make it out the front door, Snake saunters from the living room with Harley and Mayhem traipsing behind him.
“You know I can’t let you leave. Sandman would chop off my balls if anything happened to you.”
“I’m going for a walk.” I grab my jacket from the foyer closet and slip my arms into the sleeves. “I won’t be gone long.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, I’ll be right—”
“Then you stay here.” He shrugs. “You going out alone ain’t happening.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
“Cool.” Snake plucks the dog leashes off the table next to the staircase. “We’ll take the mutts too.”
We secure the excited Dobermans and leave the house, walking in companionable silence as the blocks slip by, which I’m grateful for. I zip up my jacket against the chill. It’s spring, but the nights haven’t quite warmed up yet.
“You’re good for him,” Snake remarks unexpectedly, pulling me from my turbulent thoughts.
I glance at him. “Really? Doesn’t seem like it.”
“He’s… less psychotic.”
“Yeah, if you say so.”
Out of nowhere, a rusted pickup truck drives up on the curb and comes to a screeching stop in front of us.
“Run!” Snake shouts, reaching for the gun concealed inside his cut.
Before I can process what’s happening, two men jump out of the pickup truck and fire their weapons at Snake. I’m not sure how many times he’s been hit, but he goes down fast.
“Snake!” I watch in horror as crimson spreads across his shirt. Harley attacks one assailant, latching her strong jaws around the man’s forearm.
“Get this fucking dog off me!” he yells at his accomplice, who takes aim and discharges a single shot. Harley whimpers and flops to the ground at Snake’s feet.
I don’t know who these men are, but I sure as hell know those cuts. Disciples.
“Run, Zilphia,” Snake wheezes between gurgling breaths.
I tighten my grip on Mayhem’s leash and take off, but there’s no way I can outrun these men. Still, I pump my legs as hard as I can.
I have to get away. For my girls.
Hard hands grab me from behind. Mayhem lowers his head and lets out a deep growl, his eyes locked on my captor. Fearing for him, I drop the leash and yell for him to run. Despite the bullets flying all around him, Mayhem makes it to the next block in one piece.
“Come on, man,” the guy holding me hisses, his gaze darting around nervously. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
They begin dragging me toward their getaway vehicle. I can’t let them take me. Chances are, if I get in that pickup truck, I’ll never be heard from or seen again.
“Help! I’m being kidnapped!” I scream, struggling against the strong hands holding me captive. “Somebody, help me!”
A fist connects with the side of my face, making the world spin around me. I’m tossed into the backseat, and moments later, we’re speeding down the street.
Oh God, what have I done? I’m being taken to God knows where. Snake and Harley are at death’s door. And it’s all because I wanted to go for a stupid walk. If I survive this and they don’t, Sandman’s going to hate me more than ever.