Chapter Twenty
Sheridan
WAKING UP, I’M groggy as hell and it takes several minutes for me to gather myself so I can figure out where the hell I am.
My head is pounding and I can feel something pulling at my hair.
I try to remember what happened to me, but it’s all a foggy blur.
The last thing I remember is getting the phone call about Leo being discharged.
Everything after that is blank. Trying to remember what happened to me only causes my head to hurt worse.
It’s so bad I start to feel nauseous. This is the worst feeling in the world as my eyes finally clear enough for me to look around.
I take in the details of the room I’m in.
The walls are covered in wallpaper that’s an eggshell color with roses and vines all over.
I’m sitting in an old, wooden chair that’s got a thick padding under my ass.
Looking toward my feet, I find dark wood flooring.
I know exactly where I am. I’m being held at my grandparents’ house—my house if I want to be technical.
My hands are still behind me and I can feel the metal of the handcuffs digging into my skin.
There’s also a rope tied around my chest so I can’t move off of the chair.
When I was younger, Marcus and Axel always worked with me on defending myself.
I had more lessons with them than I ever dreamed possible.
They knew all about the bullying I received at school and wanted to ensure I could protect myself for the times it turned physical.
I could never remember all the lessons they taught me, but I do now.
Each way to get out of holds, where to hit to land the most damage to give me time to get away, and everything else they drilled into my brain on a regular basis.
Hammer used to sit out and watch them work with me, giving me pointers if I had difficulty grasping a concept.
He loved to see me kick Marcus’ and Axel’s asses.
Right now, all of those lessons won’t do me any good considering I’m wrapped up like an animal and pressed tight against the chair I’m in.
It’s so bad, the circulation in my arms is non-existent.
I can’t feel them and I know I’m going to be in so much pain when I’m finally released.
My legs aren’t tied to anything though. I have the use of them and will utilize what little leg strength I possess to hurt anyone who gets close enough to me.
Yes, I also worked out with Axel and Marcus when they would use the gym at school after football practice.
I was too self-conscious when they worked out with the guys in the club so I just sat on the sidelines and watched or went home.
My legs have always been the strongest part of my body in my estimation.
However, my arms have more strength than normal with how often I worked in the garage with my dad.
I try to move my upper body around to loosen the rope keeping me locked against the chair.
These aren’t cheap wooden chairs that will break with the slightest movement.
They’re strong and have been in my grandparents’ home for as long as I can remember.
My grandma used to tell me they were given to her by her parents when she got married.
My grandpa’s parents bought the house and her parents furnished it with new furniture and things that were passed down through the generations.
This table and chairs in the dining room is one of those things that was passed down through the family over the years.
Eventually my kids will get it and then their kids will get it from them.
Whoever tied this rope did a good job. I’m lucid enough to realize it’s tied tightly around my body and it doesn’t give me room to maneuver myself around to loosen the rope so I can escape.
I watched the guys train in ways to escape when they were growing up, but I never got that training.
It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I’m thinking right now I should have hung around and taken the lessons from Hammer, Rooster, and a few other guys who are sadly no longer with the club.
All the kids at the time had the same training and there were only certain parts I participated in.
I try not to regret anything in my life, but this is certainly one of those times I do.
Giving up because all I’m doing is wasting what little strength I have, I slump against the chair and close my eyes.
At the same time, I hear a vehicle pull up.
Hope fills me with the thought of Axel and the club showing up to rescue me.
I try not to let it build up and fill me, but the bubble bursts when I hear my mother’s voice.
It grates on my nerves and sends a tremor through my body because this is simply one more tactic in a long line of ways she’s using to get her hands on my money.
The woman is fucking obsessed with it and that’s not how she was raised.
Her parents were the most loving and caring people I’d ever met in my life. They were the same as my dad’s parents.
“When we get her to sign the papers, all the money will come to me,” I listen to my mother speak before that maniacal laughter I’ve heard so many times growing up fills the house. “She’s so fucking stupid and will do anything I tell her.”
That’s nothing but a lie. I don’t do anything that woman says because she’s a vile human and doesn’t deserve anything from her parents, me, or anyone else.
The life she’s living is the one she deserves.
Every single choice she’s made has been in greed and her selfishness.
I won’t give her a damn thing to reward anything she’s done since I’ve been alive.
“How long do you think it will take to get the money from her?” I hear a second female ask and it doesn’t take me long to realize Jess is with her.
“Not long at all. As soon as she wakes up, I’ll make her sign the papers transferring everything to me.
It’s automatic from what Wesley told me.
The money will be available to me as soon as I get to the bank with the signed papers.
Then I’ll give you both your cut and you can fuck off,” my mother says, her voice directly in front of me as her disgusting breath washes over my face and I have to fight with all of my strength to hold myself back from gagging.
“I’m not even supposed to be in town still.
That fucking bitch got me kicked out of the club and they drove me directly to the bus stop so I could leave town.
If they catch me here, they’ll kill me. That’s a promise Homicide said before they left me there as the bus was pulling away.
Tease isn’t worth all that shit,” the girl who cornered me at the clubhouse says, her voice whiny and disgusting as it almost echoes off the walls of the dining room.
“Tease will be mine,” Jess says, determination filling her voice like I’ve heard countless times over the years.
“I’m gonna make sure this skank watches us together every fucking day.
Especially when her brat starts calling me mommy.
She got me fired from the strip club and now I don’t get to see my man on a daily basis.
I’ll make her pay if it’s the last thing I do. ”
“I don’t give a shit what either one of you do.
You don’t hold your end of the bargain and you won’t see a dime from me,” my mother threatens and I can’t help but laugh inside because Jess and Foxy, Janessa and Jolene told me her name, are stupid as hell.
Neither one of them are ever going to see a penny from my mother.
She’ll disappear before she shares money with anyone.
***
“Can’t we wake this bitch up?” Jess whines, her voice like nails on a chalkboard as I slowly start to wake up once again.
“We’ve been here all fucking day long and you didn’t say anything about wasting time like this.
I have better things to do than sit here.
Tease is at the clubhouse all alone and I should be at his side. ”
“Fine. We’ll wake her up then,” my mother says and I feel the first slap against my cheek.
My mother is weak, but she still manages to hit me hard enough to force my head to the side.
Blood fills my mouth from biting the inside of my cheek and I can’t spit it out.
I want to see what else these twatwaffles have to say.
Maybe it will be something the club can use.
Yes, I know Axel and the club will come save me.
There isn’t a single doubt in my mind they’ll be here for me.
“Wake the fuck up!” Jess screams, her voice hitting a pitch that almost shatters my ears from how loud it is.
Jess hits me in the stomach and I can’t hold in the groan because of the cesarean section to deliver Leo.
While I’m essentially healed, getting hit in that area causes me more pain than normal.
It doesn’t take long for another person to slap me.
This time I know it’s Foxy. Her long nails scratch my face deep enough to immediately draw blood as it drips down my face and onto my lap.
“Wake the fuck up you spoiled little bitch!” my mother screams and I know it’s time for me to let them know I’m awake and their plans won’t succeed.
“I’m awake you stupid bitch,” I grind out, my voice a graveled mess from lack of talking or anything to wet my mouth and throat.
“I always knew you were going to resort to kidnapping me. All to get your way when it won’t ever happen.
My money is mine and you won’t ever see a single penny of it.
I suggest you figure out what the hell you’re doing to cover your debts. ”
“The fuck I’m not. That money is rightfully mine and never belonged to you,” she shrieks, a cold edge lacing her voice that reminds me of the coldest winter day during a storm. It’s positively glacial.