Chapter 22
Rose
“Okay, so his sister just stood there, holding a knife?” Donna gasps, her mouth hanging open, a fry mid-way, “Like an actual knife?!”
I nod as I take a sip of my coffee and lean back in my chair as the cafeteria buzzes with the night staff.
“Yep,” I confirm, “she was shaking and scared, she was manipulated.”
“Damn…” She whispers and I hum because yeah, damn..
I take another sip of my coffee, and my wedding rings catch my attention, the diamonds shining off the lights.
“Have you forgiven him yet?” Donna asks, but I shake my head because I really haven’t.
My trust in him is gone, and I can’t help but feel what we had was all a lie, even though it couldn’t have been. If it were, he wouldn’t have married me, but still, my head is all over the place.
“It’s hard,” I admit, not taking my eyes off the rings I just can’t seem to make myself take off. I murmur, “I love him, I know I can’t see my life without him, but he, he lied to me, made me think I was the other woman.”
“So, his marrying you behind your back is not the issue?” Donna asks, but with a serious note in her tone, and I look at her to see her examining me intently.
“I don’t think I’m mad about that,” I finally admit more to myself, “I saw forever with him, I knew it when I saw him standing in my kitchen making breakfast the night after we slept together,” I frown, “Does that make me an idiot?”
“No,” Donna instantly denies, “it makes you human,” she leans forward, pushing her food away and says, “You deserve to love, Rose, you deserve to be happy and if you take away the club, take away the fact he married a patch chaser who lied then was stuck with her, would you be questioning him right now? Because I don’t think you would be.
I think you would have been shocked and angry at first and you would have made him pay but in the end.
You would have forgiven him because like you said, you knew you were going to end up with him and everything with his ex, I think you could forgive that, I think your main problem is the fact you felt like the other woman for three and a half months, you felt like you broke up a marriage and that is what you can’t forgive. ”
“That’s a lot of ‘think’s’,” I whisper and Donna smiles gently and says, “Okay, then I know,” then reminds me, “You just admitted to Stone’s little sister banging on your door with a knife, the intent clear as day and instead of running away from him, you helped his sister then made sure he treated her with kindness.
You love that man, you gave some love to girl who was lost…
” She leans back in her chair, “Now, I’m not talking about forgiving him straight away, you said you spoke to the Untamed old lady, right? ”
I nod and reply, “Yep, Annalise.”
Who was absolutely lovely and gave a lot of advice on how to handle a brother who has messed up, which apparently most of them do, except for Slicer. He had a one-night stand with his old lady, got her pregnant, but before he woke, she was gone the next morning after a jealous waitress lied to her.
She then spent years trying to find him because she had his daughter.
They thankfully had a happily ever after, while a clubwhore who lied when Slicer's woman called asking if he was in the club, keeping his kid away from him, did not.
“She mentioned a lot of ways to punish him, from changing the powder he uses to wash his clothes with itching powder, pouring hair dye in his shampoo, to messing with his bike, but I just…” My words trail off as I look at my rings.
“You love him too much to do anything to make him upset, even if it is for revenge,” Donna finishes, knowing me inside and out, and I hum and nod.
As fun as it sounds, I can’t bring myself to do something like that.
“It’s good to know you’re not going down the Untamed women’s route,” Doc says from beside us, shocking us.
Donna squeals in shock, and I jump and press my hand on my chest before glaring at Doc for scaring us. My glare soon turns to panic when I lock eyes with Caleb’s, and I gasp, “Please tell me you’re not here to be admitted?!”
Caleb grins and shakes his head as Doc admits, “He actually wanted to see you, so I brought him with me. The brothers managed to get stuff done sooner than they thought so Dirty is going to pick him up on his way through from the run. Stone has been ordered to keep on going, so you can work.”
I sag in my seat with relief before I push my chair out a little, and Caleb instantly sits on my lap, making me smile as Donna snaps, “That was not funny, Doc!”
Dr. Conners grins widely, not caring at all, while I pay attention to Caleb, whose eyes are on my ring, and he pouts.
“What’s with the pout, buddy?” I ask as I run my fingers through his hair.
“You married your boyfriend,” he claims with sorrow, “I wanted to see if you’ll meet up with Uncle Stone.”
Donna snorts, but coughs to cover it while I look at Doc, who is also trying to hold in his laughter.
Guess the kid didn’t hear the news.
“Do you know my husband's name, Caleb?” I ask gently, and he shakes his head, his adorable pout still in place, and I admit, “His birth name is Cage. Do you know anyone called Cage?”
He thinks for a second before shaking his head, and I hum as I raise a brow at Doc, and he admits, “The kids were born when we had our road names,” and I nod.
“Okay,” I say, “how about I tell you a little secret?” I lean forward, and his eyes light up before I admit, “Cage is a part of your daddy’s club, and he’s the VP!”
Caleb’s eyes go wide as he gasps, “You married Uncle Stone?” I nod, “But Uncle Stone has a mean wife…”
Donna snorts again as Doc clears his throat while I smile softly and whisper, “Uncle Stone divorced his mean old wife then married me.”
The boy’s whole face lights up just as his daddy walks over and asks, “What’s gotten you so happy, bud?”
“Uncle Stone and Nurse Rose got married, which means she’s now my auntie,” he whispers, full of excitement, and I chuckle as Doc nods and murmurs, “You and Stone will make it,” and I furrow my brows.
Why would he think…
I blink. I just told a six-year-old that I married his favorite uncle…crap.
I look up at the early morning sky as I walk home ten hours later, taking in the stillness of the town.
After Caleb was finally convinced he had to go home with his father and couldn’t help us with our shift, we only had two emergencies. In between them, my mind was on Cage and what I told Caleb, a six-year-old.
It’s confused me, really freaking confused me.
I know I’ve been sleeping with Cage, I can’t really help it, the man is amazing in the sack but I didn’t think I would be able to stay with him. I didn’t think I could trust him again, yet, I told a kid, a six year old I was basically his auntie, which he called me after he hugged me goodbye.
Subconsciously, I decided to stay with Cage and try with him, but emotionally, I just wasn’t ready for it, still not. I wondered why I would tell Caleb I was married his uncle.
This is why I’m walking home at six in the morning, to see if I can get my head straight instead of catching a lift with Donna.
My emotions are all over the place, while my head knows exactly what it wants. I now need to somehow get both on the same page. I just don’t know how.
I sigh as I look down at my feet and wrap my arms around myself.
I love him, that is a given. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. It’s what I felt before finding everything out. It’s plain and simple, I ran from the hurt, the pain, the lies.
I just didn’t expect him to follow me and drop bombshells that I still don’t know how to get over.
But again, I can’t live without him.
So where is the middle ground?
Where do I go from here?
Just as the thought hits me, I gasp as someone grabs my arm and yanks me towards them before pain, so much pain fills my chest. I lock eyes with Cage’s ex-wife, hers crazy and true fear hits me as she grins wide and she looks at my chest, and I look down.
A knife is inside my-my….
Elsie twists the knife in my chest as my breathing becomes choppy and tears blur my eyes before she shoves me, and I stumble into the alleyway and drop to my knees.
My body trembles, my hands shaking as I place them on the knife, and she grins as she runs her fingers through her arm, then shows me blood.
“I wonder how my husband would feel to know his mistress wasn’t what she seemed, that she attacked me…” She says with glee, and slowly she steps back, then waves as she says, “Bye bitch,” and I fall to the floor, breathing becoming difficult as my blood covers my hand.
“C-Cage,” I choke as I watch cars begin to drive past where I’m lying, the town slowly waking up, and my only thought is Cage before everything goes back.