Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
NATTY
AGE TWENTY-FIVE
It was late when I made my way back to the house. Later than I ever dared previously, but Sasha had texted me Dirk was gone, along with his captains and inner circle of Raiders. So I had opted in to do a later shift at the diner.
Most of the other women in the club worked at Strings, the local strip club, but Silas would burn it down before he allowed anyone to see me dance there. I understood it, but damn they made good tips. Much better than I made down at the Steakhouse.
Being able to work a little later than usual helped, which meant I finally had enough saved up for a new place in Rose Ridge.
I knew Sasha and Silas would hate this idea, but I hated Pyle, and Rose Ridge was the next closest town that would allow us to stay close enough for Silas to attend club required events.
That was assuming he’d want to come with me.
The wound from two years ago when I’d told him where I spent my Christmas, and with who, was still a strain between us. I had never seen Silas so hurt when I explained through sobs that I’d spent the night in his brother’s arms.
Words burned my tongue to explain that it was more than just being lonely. I wanted to tell him about Dirk, and how afraid I’d grown of the leader. How I felt like my every move was being stalked and hunted. If I told him, he’d kill Dirk or try to, and then he’d be killed.
So Silas had slipped back into traveling, being gone. When he came back, he’d hold me, fuck me and we’d fall back into the same roles we always had before, but I could feel the tension between us.
I’d broken him when I’d gone to his brother for support, and while it had been two years, it seemed like he couldn’t fully move past it. Regardless that he said he forgave me, and he must have because he never went after Alec.
I hadn’t spoken to the man since that night…
.except for one solitary time. The following morning, I had spent Christmas with my husband’s brother, and then I drove back to Pyle.
Silas came home a day later, and I confessed what I’d done.
After that, things were dust and ash between us. There and tangible but decaying.
Now, he was slowly breaking me by not returning to me like he once did. Silas had been gone now for three months, and I was dying to know where he was, and what he was doing. Sasha wasn’t much help.
So it left me with little options but to dream of a fresh start. Away from this place, and these walls that had been both my home and prison since I was a child.
My plan was to make Silas dinner, assuming he came home within the next few weeks, and explain how he could live in Rose Ridge despite the fact that it was rival territory.
I didn’t know anything about the Stone Riders, but after hearing about Simon Stone offering up so much to save his daughter, it made me feel as though the city would be a safe option.
There was the cutest little white cottage on the outskirts of town, by the old highway that I had been looking at.
If we moved there, we wouldn’t even be within city limits technically.
It had these overextended windows that popped out, with window seats built in.
There wasn’t a yard that I could see, just all dead grass, and no trees.
But maybe I could plant, and help a few things grow.
I had images from the real estate website folded and tucked into my wallet.
On my lunch breaks, I’d take it out and stare at it, drawing ideas of where I would put things.
The rental agreement already came through, and with the last of my tips tonight, I had six months of rent saved up.
If I could get Silas on board with moving with me then I was sure he had funds he’d be happy to pitch in.
He was always leaving me wads of cash when he went on runs.
He didn’t know that I’d been saving it all for my little cottage fund.
“Sasha?” I called out, shutting the door with my foot and flipping the lock.
I had no idea if she was home, but if Dirk was gone then I assumed she would be as well. Any respite she ever had from that man; she would take. Regardless that he now favored torturing me when he tired of Sasha or any of his other women.
The lights were still off, but my hands were full of the two bags of groceries I’d purchased on the way home. Setting them down on the counter, I assumed Sasha wasn’t home since she hadn’t answered, but as soon as I turned, I heard the click of a lighter.
The very blood in my veins froze as the voice in the dark echoed through the room.
“Just me, little Fawn.”
Terror had an interesting way of arresting me and engaging my flight or fight instincts. When Dirk came for me, I immobilized completely. I didn’t consider what weapons were near me, or where the exits were.
I just froze.
I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat, but the knot began to swell.
If Dirk was in the house, it meant he was here for me.
It didn’t matter that I wore the property patch for Silas.
Dirk didn’t care. I was a toy to him, and he dangled and played with me as he saw fit.
Always terrorizing me, just enough so I was still intact when Silas returned.
“Thought I was out of town, didn’t you?” Dirk smirked around his cigarette.
His tall stature was folded into one of Sasha’s armchairs, his wide, barrel chest was covered with a white t-shirt, revealing sleeves of tattoos down his exposed arms. It was the ones along the side of his face that were truly gruesome.
My fingers trembled as I kept my back to the groceries that were going to spoil now.
Dirk slowly stood from the chair, stretching as he went, and exhaling a breath of smoke.
“You did, didn’t you? That’s why you worked later and drove in past dark. You never come in this late, little Fawn.”
He took a few long strides in my direction, making me step to the side, so I had an exit.
Tilting his head to the side, he paused with a smirk.
“You know better than to hide from me. Come here, let me see you.”
My heart felt like a thundercloud was roaring behind it. My body trembled and inside I was silently screaming for Silas to come back for me.
“You know the deal, Fawn…come to me, let me see you. Give me your arms.”
I took another step back on instinct. We’d done this dance before; the first few months Dirk had started paying attention to me, I’d tried to fight, which resulted in me gaining a broken femur and then a broken finger.
Silas showed up at my job, assuming someone there was responsible.
He’d stayed home longer than he usually did, which was the only good thing to come of Dirk’s attention on me.
Now, years in, I knew better than to run or to fight. Dirk was stronger and a broken nose might be enough to prove to Silas that something was going on. If Silas found out what Dirk was doing, he’d kill him, and then all of Dirk’s loyal men would kill Silas and probably Sasha.
“I said come here, Fawn.”
A sob caught in my throat as I held my arm out, old burns were scarred into them already but if I wore long sleeves, no one noticed.
His tongue clicked. “This time, I want you to strip for me. I want to watch your flesh burn in a more creative place tonight.”
If he was willing to burn me somewhere that would cause Silas to be suspicious, then he was getting more assertive.
“I don’t have all night, and if you drag it out any longer, I might just decide to let go of my gracious attitude and fuck you instead.”
Flicking a quick gaze to the door, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up over my head. Dirk’s dark eyes looked nearly black as he stared at my cleavage, and the lacy black bra holding up my breasts.
“Your skirt next.”
A tear slid down the length of my lash as my fingers wrapped around the copper button. I flicked it open and pushed my skirt down, leaving me in a pair of black bikini underwear.
Dirk stepped closer, exhaling a plume of smoke against my chest.
“Perfect.” He stroked a finger down my left breast. “Soon enough, you’ll belong to me, Fawn. All this flawless skin will be mine to ruin. Mine to taste.”
I was shaking as another tear slipped down my face, dripping from my chin.
“Take off your underwear, Fawn. You shouldn’t have such a fuckable ass…it’s too tempting to ignore. I need to see a pink little burn disrupting the perfect smooth skin.”
Turning toward the counter, I clung to the edge after pulling my underwear down.
Dirk didn’t touch me except to extinguish the butt of his cigarette in the globe of my ass.
The burn felt the same as always, and yet the shock of pain never seemed to get any easier to stomach.
My fingers clenched the edge of the counter so hard my nails chipped.
Dirk hissed, and then groaned as if this was deeply enjoyable to him.
The second he stepped back, I pulled my underwear up, heaving as sobs trapped the air in my lungs.
“If you’re worried about The Roman seeing it there, I suggest getting ink to cover it.”
I continued pulling on clothing while he made his way to the exit. Before he opened the door, he called out, “If you’re so worried about coming home after dark, then wear my patch, Fawn. No one will touch you if you belong to me.”
The door slammed behind him as he left, and I ran to the bathroom. I vomited the small remnants of my lunch into the toilet and then I started the shower.
I didn’t even wait for it to warm up, the heat would hurt the burn anyway. I just needed to scrub the feeling of him off my skin. The washcloth and bar of soap left my skin raw and red as tears streamed down my face, my braids remained, the loose strands sticking to my face.
I was still crying when the bathroom door opened, and Sasha appeared. Her eyes were wide, watery and red.
“I watched…I couldn’t…he would have…” she stammered as fresh tears streamed unbidden down her face.
I nodded, stumbling out of the shower, pulling my towel around me. “I know.”