by Nicola Jane
“Didn’t you hear me? I can’t go anywhere. This baby is coming! I bet she’ll be a stubborn ass like her damn father,” she pants. “Born in a prison. Christ, what will I tell her when she’s older? I’m literally bringing life into the world and you’re taking it out. Oh god!” She begins to sob just as the cavalry arrive.
“I told you that it was labour,” says Frankie. “You had that funny look on your face all day,” she adds.
“Not helpful, Frankie, but thanks,” hisses Anna. “I need to push now.”
“Noooooo, no pushing,” says Riggs in panic. “Not in here.”
Anna begins to push. I’ve never seen anything so brutal in my life, and as she begins to pant again, I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding. She grips my knee when the next contraction comes and squeezes. I wince, trying not to be a pussy, but fuck, her nails are long. Riggs hates the fact she’s holding onto me and tries to take her hand, but she bats him away. “Get off me,” she growls and he takes a step back. Fuck, she sounds like a possessed daemon, and I wanna step back too.
Frankie crouches behind Anna and lifts her skirt slightly. “Oh my god, Anna, I think the head is crowning.” Riggs moves to look, but Anna grabs hold of him and pulls him down so their faces meet.
“Don’t you dare look down there,” she yells. Her arms go round his neck and she pushes again, screaming.
“Well done. She’s coming,” praises Frankie.
“Where’s Leia? She knows what she’s doing,” pants Anna, looking around.
“She went to bed. She’s upset,” says Frankie. “I haven’t seen her all evening. I’ll get her as soon as we’re done here. You’re in safe hands, Anna. I’ve had two of these.”
“Anyway, she’ll be scared shitless if you get her in here now. Four months and she’s gotta do this,” says Eva with a smile. She glances at me, then Riggs, and cringes. “Sorry.”
Anna pushes again and Frankie shouts words of encouragement. I watch in amazement as Frankie lifts a small, wet baby into the air and Eva wraps it in a towel. She then passes the baby to Anna so that she can hold it against her chest. “Well done,” they chime together. Riggs stares down at the baby, bewildered.
“You have a daughter,” adds Frankie proudly. Cries from the baby fill the room and Anna begins to cry tears of joy.
“A daughter,” repeats Riggs quietly.
“Are you cutting the cord?” asks Frankie. Riggs nods, then follows her instructions.
Once that’s done, Anna passes the baby to him. “Time to get the placenta out,” says Frankie and the process of moaning begins again.
Chapter Seventeen
Leia
I watch warily from my bed as Ryan sets a small table down in the room. He repeats yesterday’s process and lays down a cloth and two plates followed by cutlery. “You really must eat breakfast,” he says.
“I’m not hungry,” I mutter.
He ignores me and fills two glasses with orange juice. My mouth waters. “If at any point I think the baby is in danger, it’s my duty as a doctor to save it.”
I sigh heavily and take a seat on the stool opposite him. He places a slice of toast and jam on my plate. “There’s also eggs and bacon after this,” he says.
“Ryan!” Someone yells his name from somewhere in the house and Ryan’s face twitches in annoyance. “Ryan!”
“I’ll be right back,” he mutters, leaving the room.
I stare at the open door. This is good news. There’s someone else here in this house. Someone who could help me. I want to cry in relief, but Ryan soon returns. I pick at the toast in silence. He places eggs and bacon down next and I want to vomit. I haven’t eaten for at least twenty-four hours and my stomach is protesting at the sudden barrage of food.
“Will you raise the baby alone?” I whisper. My plan is to make him think I’m coming around to his crazy idea. He stares at me for a moment and then nods. “What about your pregnant girlfriend?”
“How do you know about her?” he snaps.
“You told me, remember?” I say gently, adding a smile. “What was her name again?”
Ryan’s expression fills with pain. “Sara,” he whispers. He seems lost in thought for a moment, so I remain quiet. “I miss her,” he mutters.
“I know you do. How far along was she?”
“Four months,” he says.
“And she left?” I ask.
His eyes shoot to mine and his face hardens. “Eat your breakfast.”
I nod and pick at the eggs. “Who shouted for you just then? Was it Sara?”
“My mother,” he hisses, stabbing the eggs on his plate. “Always shouting for me,” he mutters.
“Does she need looking after? I can help you with that.”
He sighs. “She’s bed bound. Depends on me.”
“I can help look after her. I’m a good nurse,” I say.
“You have enough to do, growing my baby.”
A frustrated cry escapes me. “My baby,” I say coldly.
Ryan smiles and stands. “Let me show you something.” He pulls out a key and unfastens my chain from the wall. He wraps it tight in his hand and tugs me towards the door. I follow eagerly. If I can get an idea of the layout of the house, it will make it easier when I get a chance to run.
We go downstairs and I realise I’m on the third floor. The second floor has three doors along the passage. He takes me to the first and pulls me inside.
I gasp. The room is decorated beautifully for a baby. A white cradle is in the centre with a scan picture laying on top of the covers. A photo hangs on the wall. It’s of a woman in her mid-twenties. She’s laughing and her hands rest on her stomach. There’s no obvious bump. He catches me staring. “Sara,” he confirms. “She decorated this room.”
“It’s lovely,” I say.
I follow him from the room and he opens the next door along. I grip the wall to stop me from falling to my knees. It’s clinical, all white, with a hospital bed in the centre. A tray of medical instruments lay neatly on a table. But the thing that terrifies me the most is the incubator hooked up to a machine, ready for a premature baby. I gasp. “Where did you get all this equipment?”
“I wanted you to see that you’re safe, Leia. I’ll look after the baby the second it’s born. I won’t let you down.”
“And me?” I ask. “What about me?”
“You’ll join Sara.” He smiles and begins to lead me out the room.
“Where is Sara?”
“She’s happy. You’ll be happy too. Trust me.”
His words ring in my ears as he chains me back to the wall in my room.
CHAINS
Eva holds a bottle to my lips and I sip the water, closing my eyes in pleasure as the liquid finally lubricates my throat. “Riggs’ll be back any minute,” she whispers.
“Thanks. Go before you’re seen,” I croak.
“Gia is keeping Blu busy. We need to get you out of here,” she says hurriedly.
I smile. It’s cute that this chick thinks she can bust me outta here, but I can’t run with shattered ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion. She’s risking everything and that means a lot. “No. You’ll get caught and I’ve hurt enough people. Is Raven okay?”
“Leia won’t answer her door to anyone. She must be heartbroken. She might come out if she hears you’re okay. Raven’s doing great. Frankie is taking good care of her.”
Blu appears in the door with Gia behind him shouting insults. “Get out,” he growls at Eva. She smiles sadly at me.
“Thanks, Eva. Tell Leia I love her and I’m sorry for everything.”
Ten minutes later, Cree rushes in. “She’s gone,” he says. “Leia’s gone.”
My heart rate picks up. “Gone where?”
“We dunno. Riggs is on his way back now. Last person to see her was Tiny. Said she was talking to a guy at the gates.”
“Fuck, untie me,” I growl. Cree hesitates. “If you didn’t want my help, you wouldn’t have told me. Now fuckin�
�� untie me.”
He cuts the ropes just as Riggs appears. “What are you doing?” he yells.
“You can slit my throat when we’ve found Leia,” I snap. “Now, call church.” I push past him and limp from the room.
“This is nothing to do with you,” yells Riggs.
“She’s my ol’ lady and she’s carrying my baby. It’s everything to do with me.”
I take my usual seat at the table and Riggs glares at me. His nostrils flare and then he tells Cree to get the guys together for church. I’ve won this round.
Brick plays back the CCTV footage of the gates. “It’s the nerd,” I snap. “Get Gia. She knows more about him.”
Gia comes in and looks around the room. “We need to know about the guy that Leia was seeing,” says Brick.
“Anna said something about him not being so nice the last time Leia saw him, shall I get her?” she mutters.
“She’s resting,” snaps Riggs.
“Actually, she’s just on the couch with Frankie. I think she’d want to help,” says Gia.
A minute later, Anna joins her side looking pale and tired with her new baby daughter in her arms. “She told me Ryan was pretty awful when she last saw him, basically called her trash and said she wasn’t fit to be a mother,” says Anna. “She told me he seemed unstable, not himself.”
My fists ball at my sides. “Why are we only hearing about this now?” I snap.
“You were all too busy with your heads up your asses,” snaps Anna. “If anything’s happened to Leia, it’s on your heads, yours and Riggs’. I need to rest. Keep me updated,” she snaps and then storms out of the room.
“I need every last one of his addresses, past and present. I need names of friends, family, every last fucker who knows him,” snaps Riggs. The men move from the room to carry out Riggs’ instructions. “And you,” he says to me. “We get her home and then you leave. You’re not my enforcer. You’re not a part of this club. I’m taking that tattoo off your back and then you’re gone.”
I nod once and leave the room. I have contacts and I waste no time in calling them to get the information I want.
LEIA
I stand in the bathroom and Ryan stares at me blankly. “Undress.”
“I promise not to leave the room. You can trust me,” I repeat and he shakes his head.
“You need to shower.”
I slowly undress and Ryan turns on the water. He watches as I remove each item of clothing, and when I remove my bra, I cover myself. His eyes are glued to my stomach and I resist the urge to shiver in repulsion. “I’ve seen you naked,” he smiles. “No need to hide yourself from me. You’re beautiful. Your body is perfect.”
I step under the water and close my eyes, hoping to wash away everything that’s happened in the last few hours.
When I’m dry, Ryan hands me a pile of clothes. I hold up the full-size briefs and stare at them. They are something my nan probably would have worn. “Comfort,” he clarifies. Next, I hold up the dress. It’s ankle length with frills and puffy sleeves. “Again, comfort.”
I slip them on reluctantly. “I feel like a ninety-year-old,” I mutter.
Ryan looks at me approvingly and smiles. “Stunning,” he mutters.
He leads me downstairs. I’ve never been to the first floor. There’s a large kitchen, dining room, and a living room. We sit on the couch and he turns on the television. I’m too busy looking around the room to take much notice as he chooses a film for us to watch. Pictures of a little boy growing fill the walls. Some contain his parents and others are just of him playing. I spot a few pictures of Ryan with Sara. They look happy. “You look like a happy child,” I say.
“My parents did so much for me,” he says. “I was raised well.”
“Does your mum know I’m here? I’d love to meet her.”
“She’s not well. Dementia, I think.”
“A new face might cheer her up,” I suggest. “She must get tired of the same four walls. And don’t you want her to know the woman who brought your daughter into the world?” I say. I can tell he’s thinking it over and I settle back into the couch to watch the film.
The next morning, Ryan comes to me early. “Okay. You can meet Mum. Only because she should meet Matilda’s mother.”
“That’s what you want to call her?” I ask.
He nods with a smile. “Sara chose it.”
He unlocks the chain and holds one end. I follow him down the stairs and into a room where there’s an elderly lady in the bed. Maybe in her seventies. She’s staring at a picture and doesn’t look at us when we enter the room. “Mum,” he says gently. “Look who came to see you.”
She looks up from her picture, and when she sees me, she smiles wide. “Sara,” she gasps. “You came.”
“I told you she would, Mum,” says Ryan, leading me in further. I stare at him with confusion, but he ignores me. His mum pats the bed and Ryan urges me to sit down. Her hand goes to my stomach and she rubs my bump. “Soon, she’s coming soon,” she says and I nod. “I’m so excited. When will she be here?”
“I told you, Mum. August twenty-eighth,” says Ryan. He joins her and places his hand on my stomach. I want to scream at him not to touch me. He repulses me.
Chapter Eighteen
Chains
I stuff four painkillers into my mouth and drink the water. “You’re taking way too many of those,” says Raven. She wipes my eyebrow. It’s split open and refuses to stay closed no matter how many times she sticks those little sticky strips across it. She’s looking so much better and can stand using crutches to help support her pelvis.
The door crashes open and Vinn glares at us. “You better have some information about where the hell she is,” he yells.
Riggs looks up from the table in the kitchen. “Fuck me, another pumped-up asshole out to rescue my sister,” he mutters. He hands baby Willow over to Anna and stands. “You’re just in time for church. I’ll let you sit in just to piss that asshole off,” he says, pointing to me.
I get into church and Vinn is sitting in my seat. Riggs is watching me with a smirk on his face. I don’t react—there’re more important things on my mind right now. I stand against the wall and wait for everyone to settle down. Before Riggs bangs the gavel to declare the meeting open, I throw the notepad into the centre of the table. “Every address, every house he’s ever owned and rented.”
“You want a medal?” snaps Riggs. Vinn snatches up the pad and flicks through the pages.
“Let’s get out there then,” says Vinn, heading for the door.
“Actually,” says Blade, halting Vinn. “I found some stuff out myself. It’s not a good idea to go charging in there. He’s mentally unstable.”
“No shit,” I snap. “He took Leia, of course he’s fuckin’ crazy.”
“He lost his girlfriend recently. She was pregnant with his kid,” mutters Blade.
“Am I meant to feel sorry for this psycho?” I snap. “He lost his so he took mine?”
“She ain’t yours,” mutters Riggs.
“You know, instead of constantly trying to piss me off and reminding me how I have no claim to the mother of my kid, why don’t you tell us what the fuck to do? Isn’t that your job as the president?” I growl.
Riggs stands abruptly. “You looking for another beat-down, brother?” he yells.
“We don’t have time for this bullshit,” yells Vinn. “We need to find Leia.” He storms from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Blade and Cree also go to follow. “I’m with him,” says Blade. “You two are tearing this club apart,” he adds.
We try every address I had and there’s no sign of Ryan. Vinn calls me. “Meet me at the Rose Ash Home on Harley Street. His mum’s there.”
“Ain’t that a place for dementia patients?” I ask, jumping back on my bike. “How the fuck can she help us?”
I get there in record time. Vinn is pacing outside impatiently. When we enter, a woman greets us inside at the reception de
sk. “We’re looking for this man,” says Vinn, sliding the photo of Ryan across the desk.
She looks at it. “And you are?” she asks.
“Vinn Romano.”
She nods and becomes flustered. “I haven’t seen him for some time. He removed his mother from the home shortly after the tragedy.”
“His girlfriend?” asks Vinn and she nods.
“He couldn’t afford our fees. He had to pay for the funeral. He had no other choice.”
“How far along was his girlfriend in the pregnancy?” I ask.
“I think the baby was due at the end of August. They were so happy. When he came to tell his mother about the baby, he was just so . . . ” She trails off and her eyes fill with tears. “Sorry. We were all really sad when we heard what had happened.”
“And you have no idea where he might be now?” I ask. She shakes her head and Vinn hands her a business card.
“If he gets in touch, please call me. It’s urgent.”
We step out. “Now what?”
“We keep looking. Someone somewhere knows where they are,” says Vinn.
LEIA
Tonight, I’ve been promoted for good behaviour. Dinner is served in the kitchen, and although I’m still chained at the ankle, I feel like we’ve made progress. I smile at all his jokes and touch his arm tentatively in a flirty manner. I top his glass up with wine for the third time and relax with each mouthful that he swallows in the hope that he’ll become so intoxicated that I’ll be able to make my escape. “Tell me more about Sara,” I say.
“It hurts to talk about her,” he mumbles, and I place my hand over his.
“I know it does, but talking helps the healing. Were you together long?”
He nods. “Since school. I never understood what she saw in me. I was a straight A student, never late, never in trouble, and she was crazy. She loved attention and drama. She was loud and fun. We were like chalk and cheese.”
