Chapter Five
TAKE IT SLOW
My eyes fly open when the sound of whimpering startles me awake.
My heart beats erratically, but the slight weight of the woman draped across my chest has me relaxing.
Last night’s meltdown moves to the forefront of my mind.
It was a long night with little sleep. It started when Sierra realized that I only had one bed in my house.
The woman lost her mind and had a full-blown shit-fit, but miraculously she worked through it quickly.
I’ve never witnessed a woman rein in a tantrum so fast and was rather impressed. It made her that much more attractive.
As impressive as it was, she refused to be reasonable.
I offered to sleep on the couch, but she insisted my bed was big enough to share if I promised to stay on my side.
It made me hard as a fucking rock to watch her get geared up for tantrum number two as I laughingly assured her I would be a perfect gentleman and respect her boundaries as much as my king-size bed would allow.
Even bitching, the woman is fucking perfection. I ignored her while she complained about me purposely trying to get a rise out of her. Figuring she was hangry, I opted to make her a frozen pizza instead. She was much more agreeable after her belly was full and she’d had a hot shower.
When she came out of the bathroom wearing one of my t-shirts to sleep in, I almost swallowed my tongue. I could tell she didn’t know what to do, so I lifted the covers and waited as she climbed in beside me and swiftly fell asleep.
Throughout the night, she inched closer to me before finally ending up like she is now.
Sprawled across my chest with my arm around her and my hand fisted in her hair.
Kissing the top of her head, I feel at peace even though I’m at a loss for how quickly she’s gotten under my skin.
She feels like she was made to be right here, and normally the thought of permanence would freak me the fuck out, but everything about Sierra feels like she was made to be mine.
Whimpering again, her eyelids flutter rapidly.
Gently, I run my hand across her back, hoping to soothe her in some way.
I freeze, unsure of what’s happening, as Sierra’s body twitches and her grip tightens painfully on my arm.
A heartbeat later, she scares the shit out of me when she bolts upright and screams, “No!”
“Fuck! Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, baby,” I gently say like she’s a spooked horse.
When she relaxes, I gather her in my arms and shimmy back against the headboard.
Holding her tightly against my chest; I grit my teeth as she cries.
The guttural sound is killing me. I hope I’m not fucking this up, but I can’t let her go.
I breathe her in, knowing that no matter what happens, I’ll protect her at whatever cost.
“Talk to me, baby.”
“H . . . He’s going to ki . . . ki . . . kill me,” she cries, tightening her arms around my neck. “Wh . . . wh . . . when he finds out that I . . . I’m back . . . he’s guh . . . guh . . . gonna kill me,” she whispers as her body trembles.
“I’ll never let that happen,” I vow. I hold my breath when she throws her leg over my thighs, loops both arms around my neck, and buries her face in my neck as she continues to cry silently.
“Let it out, baby. I’ve got you,” I soothe as her body wracks from the sobs she’s trying to hold back. My blood boils that someone has scared her so badly. Her fear and pain are tearing my heart out.
After what feels like hours, I finally ask the question that’s been begging to be answered. “Who hurt you, Birdie? Tell me who he is, and I’ll take care of him, baby. I’ll end his fucking life, I swear. Just tell me who he is.”
“I don’t know.”
“Please tell me, Birdie. Just give me a name, and you’ll never have to be scared again.”
Lifting her head, she looks me in the eyes and tears another piece of my heart out.
“You don’t understand. I don’t know who he is.
He grabbed me from behind and shoved a needle in my neck.
I never got a good look at him before he was shooting that poison into my veins. Every time, Sparrow,” she whispers.
“Birdie, what are you saying?” Fuck, please don’t let it be what I think it is.
“Did you know when Kierra and I moved here from Cuba that we were placed with a foster family?”
“I did, and I also know that when you two aged out, they tossed you on your asses because the money stopped coming.” Kierra told me all about the fucking Jones’. I hope Viper did something about those fuckers. If he didn’t, I will.
“They did, but Kierra and I knew that we’d be okay.
We had been working at the diner for a couple of years and had saved most of our money because we just knew that they were going to throw us out.
When they did, we got a little apartment down by the docks.
It was a real shit hole, but we were making it.
Everything was going fine until someone broke into our apartment and stole the rent money.
We should have kept it in a bank, but we were only eighteen.
We thought we knew it all back then. After that happened, we were barely scraping by.
Kierra met one of the dancers that worked at Heaven’s Door not long after that and saw how much money she always had.
That’s how she started dancing there. I didn’t want her taking her clothes off for money, but she was adamant she didn’t care as long as we could get back on track.
The money she brought home the first night was enough to fix everything.
If she had quit, then . . .” It kills me when she starts to cry again.
“Sierra.” I don’t know how but I’m going to find the man who hurt her and end him.
“The night he grabbed me . . . I never even saw him coming. He wrapped his arm around my neck, and before I could even blink, the needle pierced my skin, and everything started to feel funny. It was as he was throwing me in his trunk that I realized he thought I was Kierra. He complimented me on the way I had danced for him. Said he couldn’t believe his luck when he found me at the diner without all the security to keep us apart.
I thought he was going to kill me, but it was much worse.
When I came to, I was blindfolded, and he was on top of me.
H . . . He was raping me. That was the first time he hurt me,” she whispers, void of emotion as tears track down her cheeks.
Gritting my teeth, I hold her stare as my own tears fall. That was the first time he hurt me plays on repeat in my head as I put together a plan to find the motherfucker who hurt my Birdie.
Pulling her deeper into my chest, I whisper into her hair, “You’re safe. I won’t let anything hurt you ever again, baby. I give you my word.”
“H . . . how ca . . . ca . . . can you promise that?”
“Because baby, I’ll die before I let anything hurt you ever again.
You’re going to think I’m fucking crazy .
. . Hell, even I think it sounds fucking crazy, but I know in here,” I say, thumping my chest, “that you’re supposed to be mine.
I know it as sure as I know the sky is blue.
If you give me a chance, I know I can make you happy.
I’m going to take care of you.” I watch as emotions filter across her face and wish I knew what she was thinking.
“What are you saying?” When I see hope flash in her eyes, I decide to go for it.
“I want you, Birdie. I know you need time, and I can wait. But I want you to know you don’t have to be afraid anymore. I’m going to find this fucker, and when I do, I’m going to end him.” When she’s quiet for far too long, I start to panic that my threat to kill a man has ruined my chance with her.
I’m just about to take it all back when she throws her arms around me and rasps, “Thank you.”
“You stick with me, and things are only going to get better, yeah?”
“Okay.”
“Let’s try to get a little more sleep before we have to do this all over again with your sister.”
“We?”
“Yeah, babe. I meant what I said. You’re mine now, and I’m never going to let anything else hurt you. That includes your sister.”
“Oh.” Scooting down the bed, I hold Sierra close as we both fall back to sleep.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I lean back against the railing and watch as Sierra hugs her boy for the hundredth time. I grin when he squeezes to hug her just as tightly. The love shining in her eyes is a testament to the kind of woman and mother she is.
This day is going much smoother than I thought it would. I was prepared for tempers, tantrums, and maybe a catfight or two. What I didn’t expect was for Kierra to hold her sister close while she explained everything she’s endured over the last four and a half years.
There’ve been so many revelations today.
The most devastating is that Nash is the product of her rape.
Hitting rock bottom, Sierra was desperate for help and went to Pinball.
She soon realized that he was never going to help her and decided it was time to get the fuck out of there.
Unfortunately for us all, she found his money before she left and stole it.
That is what put Kierra on his radar. When Viper asked her what she did with the money, she simply said that it was somewhere safe.
I could tell that Viper wanted to press her more about the money, but I advised him to let it go.
She can decide if she wants to give it back to Chavez or not.
Whatever she decides is not up to us. Needless to say, today’s been full of tears and revelations.
“What’s going on with you and my sister-in-law?”
“She’s mine, and I’m keeping her.” I turn to look at Viper so he can see how serious I am.
He should understand more than anyone how I’m feeling.
He knew the night he met her sister that he’d never be able to let her go.
Although, it took him almost a year to admit it and do something about it.
Good thing I’m not that slow on the uptake.