by Mallory Funk
“It’s okay, Sophie. You’re with family now. You will come home with Sasha and me. I just need to know what happened to make you leave so that I have all the facts,” he says in a serious voice.
I nod my head and try to settle down. I glance around at everyone staring at me with interest.
“Don’t mind them. They are family. There aren’t any secrets in this family, and it’s best that they all hear this once so that we can all protect you because I’m guessing that he’s going to come looking for you,” my uncle says and I nod my head agreeing with his observation.
I take a moment to gather myself and, after a deep breath, I finally have the courage to tell him, or them, everything.
“Well, I was dating Vince for a year and a half when he proposed. I said yes, of course. He seemed like the perfect guy. He treated me right until he slipped the ring on my finger.” I start playing with my finger. Now that it doesn’t have a ring, it feels a bit weird.
“After the first time he hit me, I knew that I couldn’t stay. I left, but he came for me and told me that he invested too much time in me to let me walk away. He said he was sorry and that it wouldn’t happen again, but when I went to my mother; well, you know what she said. So I stayed and then he hit me again. I started to make a plan. I needed to find a way to leave. If my mom wasn’t going to help me get away then I needed to do it for myself. So, I went digging through old stuff we had and hadn’t opened since we moved. I found old pictures of my mom and dad together before he died. I remembered that I had an uncle and hoped that you could help me. I took as much money as I could. I didn’t have much saved, but it was enough to get me here. He had gotten angry at me because some guy from his work function was flirting with me and he thought I was flirting back, so when we got home that night, he hit me. He usually only lets it go with one punch or slap, but this time he punched me in the stomach and pushed me down and kicked me a whole bunch before he left. I made sure that he was gone before I grabbed the bag that I had packed and kept hidden for when it was time to leave. In the bag, I had all the money I had and some clothes, along with the pictures of dad. I drove straight here only stopping once to rest in a shitty motel,” I say and take a breath while I finish my story. I look at everyone, and the men look angry. The women are looking at me with understanding and sympathy.
“Do you have a photo of this asshole so that we know who we are looking for?” a guy beside my uncle asks. He’s nearly as big as him but he’s got the brightest green eyes I have ever seen. When I look around the room, I notice two other men and a woman who have the same colour of eyes. There is no mistaking that those are his children. You can’t mix up those eyes for anything.
“I think that I have some on my phone. It’s all in my car,” I say looking at the man with questions in my eyes. Would it kill this group to introduce themselves?
The man sees me looking at him, and the younger woman who has his eyes comes forward and rolls her eyes at everyone.
“Sorry we are being rude. I’m Ella. This big guy here is my daddy Derek and he is the president of the Vicious Snakes. He is also your uncle’s best friend, so don’t worry you’re safe here and there is no way that asshole ex will get within these walls,” she says, and I shake her outstretched hand.
“Thanks, I think. I don’t have much. I have a small bag with a couple of clothes in it and I should probably dump the car somewhere. It’s under my mom’s name, so I wouldn’t put it past her to call it in stolen or something,” I say with a light blush coating my cheeks.
“That’s okay darling. KID!” Bear yells.
Someone comes walking from the other side of the room, but he doesn’t look much like a kid. Sure, he is younger than some of the members, but I can’t help but wonder why he has that name.
“Yeah, Bear?” he says in a low, gravelly voice. Wow, that’s deeper than I thought it would be.
“Get my niece’s bag, will ya? While you are at it, let’s do something about the car. She can get a ride with Sasha back to the house,” he says, and the guy moves outside, no questions asked. Wow, Cool.
“Alright, and we are going to head out and get her some clothes. I’m sure she wouldn’t want to show her face around town in case this is the first place he looks,” a woman named Stacey says as she comes and grabs Ella and another woman by the hand already ready to head out to the stores.
Sasha looks at them with a small smile on her face. “Good idea. Sophie dear, just let the girls know your sizes and they will get everything you need. Girls, don’t forget to grab stuff for the bathroom, and shoes. She certainly can’t go walking around in only one pair of shoes. I mean, I love the strappy sandals with the very baggy sweats look, but you will need runners or something more comfortable,” she says giving me a wink.
I can’t help but blush. I just grabbed the first shoes I could find. All I could think about was getting out of there and nothing about the way I looked. I realize that strappy sandals with a little heel look pretty ridiculous, but I have nothing else.
I can’t help but get teary eyed at the women who are already walking out the door ready to help me. I had only just met these people. How can they be so nice?
Chapter Two
Trigger ‘Colton’
I stood in the background listening as this woman tells us her story. I have to hold the rage that’s burning inside of me because I’m likely to go out right now and kill that mother fucker for laying his hands on her. Well I’m at it, I would like to pay a visit to her worthless mother.
Who could treat their child like that? She was looking for someone to have her back and look out for her, but she got turned away and kicked around for it.
Even with the bruise on her face and baggy clothes, she’s still the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen.
Why would anyone want to mark-up that perfect body? I have no doubt that she’s hiding a stunning body under all of those clothes.
I try not to spend too long looking at her body and checking her out. I don’t want anyone to catch me, or worse, have Bear catch me. I know that he’s a mean fucker who would have no problem laying one into me for the way I’m looking at her, though she does look like she would be worth it.
Once everyone starts getting stuff for her and making sure she’s comfortable, I decide to head to my room. I need to clear my head after seeing her.
I can tell that she’s sweet, maybe too sweet for the club life, but she’s also fucking strong to put up with what she did and courageous for leaving her situation and coming here. She had no idea what kind of people we were, or if her uncle would send her packing, but she took a risk and I fucking admire that about her.
I spend a couple hours in my bed thinking about Sophie. I already know that she’s long gone to Bear’s house, but I still haven’t left my room.
There’s something about her, but I already know I’m going to try my best to stay away from her. I know not to go up against another brother. I can already tell that Bear will tell everyone to back off at church later on today.
When Crash knocks on my door to tell me that it’s time for church, I finally leave my room.
I must have been lost in my head for a while thinking about Sophie.
I try to clear my head of all thoughts of her when I walk into the room where we hold church.
Bear is sitting in his spot at the head of the table when I walk in. I try my best not to look at him because, from one glance, I can tell he’s fucking pissed. At least I know that it is directed at the guy who hurt his niece and not anyone else; well, maybe her mother too.
Prez comes in when everyone is inside, and the meeting starts.
“Alright. Let’s discuss the issue with Sophie and the mess she is in,” he says as he leans back in his chair.
“That fucker better not come near her or he’s fucking dead,” Bear practically growls out.
“Agreed. Not only is she a child of a fallen member, but she’s also Bear’s niece and was once upon a time a child of the
club until her mother took her away. She has always been a Vicious Snake and that has never changed. This fucker crossed a line and so did her mother,” Prez says and we all grunt in agreement
“Okay, Tech did you get the information on him that we needed?” I ask getting down to business. I want a picture of this fucker so that I know who he is and I don’t fuck up the wrong guy.
“Yeah I got it here. It seems that Vince here is a trust fund brat and is currently trying to take over his father’s company. There is a clause in the contract that he must be married by the time he turned thirty, and with someone worthy of the family name, which was where Sophie came in. Because of her mother’s gold-digging ways, she had made a name for herself in wealthy society. Her mom had made sure that her daughter wasn’t anything less than perfect. There is no mention of Sophie taking off, but there is something here saying that Sophie is away for a spa retreat to get ready for the big day,” Tech says, and I clench my fists in anger.
I can feel all of the anger coming off of every brother in the room.
“We will not let those fuckers get her. I trust that my brothers won’t tell anyone shit about where to find her. They might come looking here if that bitch thinks hard enough. We will just keep Sophie’s visits outside of my house and the clubhouse to a minimum in case anyone recognizes her,” Bear says with so much rage just radiating off him.
We all agree that Sophie will always have someone with her.
I am to go on watch first. I try hard to hide my excitement to see her again. I know that it hasn’t been that long, but there is something about this woman that is drawing me to her. Until I figure out what it is, I want to be by her side.
Well, there goes my plan to stay away from her.
Sophie
Getting to know Bear and Sasha over the last couple hours has been interesting.
He looks so much like my dad that it’s kind of amazing to see. He had shown me more pictures of my dad, and some of him and I together. I couldn’t help but cry seeing them. I miss him so much, especially since my life has turned out the way it did. I will always wonder if it would have turned out differently if my dad hadn’t died and I was raised around bikers.
I can’t keep thinking about “what ifs.” I need to work on now. What am I going to do now that I’m away from Vince and my mother?
I can’t seem to make myself relax. Bear had left to go to some church thing and I’m here with my Aunt Sasha. It’s hard to get used to saying Aunt and Uncle, but it’s only been a couple hours. That might change in a couple days. I can see myself becoming very close to them.
I’ve already unpacked my clothes in the guest room where I will be staying, and Aunt Sasha had made me something to eat. She had told me to make myself at home, so I’m wandering around the house looking at pictures and their gorgeous back yard. I wonder why they didn’t have kids of their own, but I don’t feel like I should ask. Maybe one day she will be able to tell me.
The club had taken my phone and I honestly didn’t care. I haven’t had friends of my own in a long time, so it’s not like I need to tell anyone that I’m okay. I know that my mom won’t care, and Vince is probably angry that I got away since somewhere along the line he started thinking of me as a possession instead of a woman he should love. I’m just glad that I hadn’t married him yet, although that was only because the venue that Vince wanted had a waiting list. I’m glad that he showed his true colors before we got married or had kids. I still got out while it was only me, and if my mom thinks that he’s so great then she can have him. I shudder at the thought. That was a disgusting visual to have.
I start baking since it’s the only thing that has relaxed me over the years.
When my mom spent more time trying to marry rich and switching from man to man than with me, I had started to bake when I was alone, which was often. She never really spent much time at home, and I am thankful that she only brought a guy around when she was ready to marry him or had married him already. The first time she got married without me, I was hurt, but my mom hadn’t been the same person since my father had passed away. I don’t think I could remember a time when she was an actual mother and treated me the way that I wished she would.
I always found a shelter to give all my baked goods to since my mom wouldn’t be caught dead eating one of my tasty treats. I knew they were good too because I spent hours and hours perfecting a recipe.
I imagine that a clubhouse of bikers with their Old Ladies and children wouldn’t mind some baked goods.
A couple hours later, I am deep in my process of baking muffins when a throat clears. I turn around to see the biker from earlier. He raises an eyebrow while looking at the counter and table full of muffins that were already finished. I had looked through the freezer and cupboards and realized that Sasha had ingredients to make blueberry, banana chip, and chocolate chip muffins, so I made a batch of each.
I give him a shy smile and clear my throat so that it doesn’t sound shaky talking to the hottest man I have ever seen.
“Help yourself.” Wow, great talk there Sophie. Keep going, you will blow him away with your conversation skills. I shake my head at the thought. I don’t need any more man problems right now. I have enough going on.
I have never been great at talking to the opposite sex. I feel like I say the wrong things all the time or, if I do say the right things, they sound weird coming from me.
“Why did you make all of these?” he asks curiously. I don’t sense any judgement from his tone which is good because he is too hot to be judgemental. That would ruin the whole image. I know that I’m already building an image of what he’s like in my mind, but I can’t help myself. He looks like someone that I could only dream about.
“I just like to bake,” I say, lamely shrugging my shoulders.
I finally have the courage to take him all in, well, more than I did before. He’s got brown hair with light brown eyes. There’s a bit of scruff on his face, but that just adds to his appeal. He’s built, but not in a huge way where I would be scared to be alone with him, or big my like uncle Bear. I’d say that he’s the perfect size, perfect size for what? I ask myself.
I don’t realize that I have been staring at his body until I meet his eyes and he gives me a knowing smirk.
I can’t help but blush in embarrassment. I can’t believe that I just openly checked him out and was caught doing it!
“Hey Trigger, what brings you by?” my aunt Sasha comes in from where she has been hiding for the last few hours. She walks over to the counter and picks up a blueberry muffin causing Trigger to pick up a banana chip one. I make a note to myself that he likes the banana ones for absolutely no reason at all, nope.
“Watch,” he says it like it explains it all and, by glancing at my aunt, I can tell that it really does. Hmmm… Wow I really wish that I knew the biker lingo. Even though that one should be self explanatory, I would like to know what he’s on watch for.
They talk for a few minutes, and Trigger keeps glancing at me causing butterflies to swirl around in my stomach. That is a reaction I haven’t had in a long time.
It’s not long after that my uncle Bear comes into the kitchen and grabs himself a muffin and joins in on the conversation.
“Holy shit these are good muffins. ‘You make these Sophie?” Uncle Bear asks as he takes another huge bite out of the muffin. Wow, these are like two bite muffins for a big guy like him.
I nod my head and my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. I’m not used to someone complimenting my baking, nor being the center of attention. I always just wanted to blend into the background.
“You didn’t have to bake, you know. We are happy to have you here with or without your baking,” he says seriously.
“I know, but I love to bake. Back home I would bake all the time since I was always left alone; but since no one I knew would eat it, I would drop them off at shelters. Vince or my mom never minded because it played into the image that they wanted to have for me.” I say the l
ast part quietly when I notice that everyone seems to be holding in their anger including my Aunt Sasha.
I keep on talking since no one seems to be saying anything. “Well, I figured that since there were so many bikers with their Old Ladies and kids that no one would mind eating the baking here.”
“That’s great, honey, but you don’t need to do anything for anyone. You know that, right?” Aunt Sasha asks with a serious voice, but then her hand reaches out for another muffin and she has no shame about stuffing it in her face.
I nod my head again. “I know that, but I like to keep busy and I love baking so it’s good that they go to someone since there is no way I could ever eat all of it.”
“Well I’m not going to stop you,” Uncle Bear says as he grabs another muffin and is done in a couple of bites. That brings a small smile to my face.
Uncle Bear explains to me that I need to have someone with me at all times in case Vince or my mom comes around. I reluctantly agree. I’m used to being alone in the house. If I was around town, I had my mom or Vince with me.
Since Vince never approved of my friends, I lost touch with all of them after high school. Not that I was ever close to any of them since I was only friends with people I was allowed to talk to. I never had any education after that since my mom didn’t think it was necessary since I would be marrying some rich guy and become the perfect trophy wife.
Thinking about my mom brings on the anger, so I try not to think about her or Vince. I need to move forward.
Uncle Bear explains that Trigger is on duty for eight hours and then, when it will be close to bedtime, he will be home. I just nod my head along with everything he says.
