by Mallory Funk
I fucking trusted her. She’s the mother of my child. I’ve never had a reason to not trust her.
I’m replaying every conversation and every moment we had together. Not once had I seen or got the feeling that she was lying to me or going behind my back to try and destroy my club.
“There’s only one way to find out,” I say and walk towards the door and slam it open. I quicken my steps to cross the street and I can feel all of my brothers behind me.
When I make it to Olivia’s, I throw the door open and she’s standing in the living room looking like she is putting in a movie for Hale.
I try to keep the anger from my face when Hale looks at me.
I walk over to him and bend down so that I’m at his eye level.
“Hey bud, you mind going to your room and letting me talk to your mom a minute?”
He looks at his mom. I can see through the corner of my eye that she nods her head slightly, and he takes off to his room. I make sure that the door is shut before I turn to look at her.
I don’t know what she can see in my face, but she looks scared right now.
Good. She should be.
Chapter Twelve
Olivia
I don’t know what’s going on, but all of a sudden, my house and front yard is filled with the Vicious Snakes MC and not one of them looks happy.
I take a second to look at all of them while Aiden is talking to Hale.
They all look either pissed or disgusted with me.
I can’t help but be confused.
What is going on? What did I do?
When Hale goes into his room and shuts the door, Aiden finally looks at me. I don’t think I have ever seen that look on his face before. I never thought I would be on the receiving end of this look.
“What’s going on?” I ask trying to mask the shaking from my voice.
Aiden let’s out a bitter laugh. “What’s going on? What the fuck is going on?” he says and runs a hand through his hair.
“Why did you do it?” he asks.
I can’t help but look at him in confusion since I have no idea what he is talking about.
He simply just shakes his head and throws a bunch of papers at my feet.
I bend down to grab them.
I can’t help but let my jaw drop when I see what is on them. I put a hand to my mouth.
There’s a printed out conversation from me to the police on the phone and there are several texts to a detective saying all of this stuff about the MC and accusing them of horrible and illegal things.
I start shaking my head back and forth. When I look over the number, I can’t help but gasp because it’s my number but there is no way I did any of this.
“I- I didn’t send this! I didn’t do this!” I say on a harsh whisper.
When I look up at everyone in my room, it’s clear that no one believes me.
My eyes start to tear up. I thought that I was part of this family, but they were so quick to believe I would do something like this. They aren’t going to let me explain that this wasn’t me. I can see it in their faces.
All I can see staring at me is a bunch of cold, hard expressions. It’s like staring at strangers.
I can feel the anger building up inside of me for being accused of this. I know it looks bad, but there has to be a reason for this.
“It sure as fuck looks like you did it, Olivia,” Aiden, no Steal- the man I’m looking at isn’t the Aiden I was falling in love with. No, this is the brother of this club. The one who would do anything to protect it.
I shake my head and keep my mouth shut. I can already tell my words are going to be useless with these men.
“What? Now you’re not even going to talk?” he asks in a cold tone. He steps closer to me, but I can’t help but step back. I don’t want to be anywhere near him.
Just before he is about to say something again, everyone’s phones go off.
“Fuck, there’s a fire at the diner. We’ve got to head out,” Prez says.
I feel so much anger towards these men that I can’t help but think of them by their club names now. They are bikers and not the family I thought I had.
Everyone starts heading back across the street to their bikes.
Steal takes one look at me before he talks. “Stay here, don’t fucking go anywhere.” Then he slams the door and he’s gone.
I stand there stunned and, when I look outside, I see Shield standing outside my house, on watch.
“Mama?” I hear the small voice of my son ask and when I turn around I can see the tear streaming down his face and the scared expression in his eyes.
“Why was daddy yelling at you?” he asks before he runs into my arms. I can feel the tears as he silently cries into my neck.
“He doesn’t understand, baby,” I say quietly.
I make a decision right then and there. My son is scared and shaking from seeing his dad and all the men he has come to know as uncles angry and mad at his mom.
I won’t let anyone make my son feel this way.
I will protect him, and us, at all costs.
I walk into my room with thoughts running through my head.
I throw my phone on the bed and put my plan into motion.
Chapter Thirteen
Aiden ‘Steal’
I am still trying to contain the anger that I feel inside. Betrayal is what I’m feeling, and this is the first time I have felt it from someone that I thought I could trust.
She didn’t deny anything; she just stood there and looked at us with anger in her eyes.
What would she have to be angry about?
We take our bikes down town to Hole in the Wall and see that it’s not only on fire but completely in flames.
Words can’t express what’s going through my head right now.
We had only just got the call that the diner was on fire; how is it completely in flames so fast?
This has to be someone’s doing.
When I look around, I see Ella, D.J., Stacey and my mom standing outside of the diner.
They look scared and I don’t think I have ever seen a more terrified expression on their faces.
I see my dad, Dame, and Torch run over to them, and I’m not far behind.
“Baby, please tell me you weren’t in there,” Damien says to Ella while pulling her into his arms.
They all nod their heads. “We were just having lunch and, all of a sudden, we had seen fire coming from the kitchen. We all took off, and the second we were out the door the rest of the diner was catching on fire. It happened so fast,” Ella says as she’s close to tears.
I look my dad in the eyes and he nods his head at me.
This was clearly a message.
Who would do this?
Chapter Fourteen
Olivia
I knock on the door of the only person I know that Aiden would never think of to look for me with.
I am very thankful at that moment that I never told him about Elliot.
I can feel my whole body shaking and I don’t know if it’s from fear or anger.
Just when I think he’s not going to answer, he swings the door open.
His hair is wet and he’s wearing sweats. It’s clear that I was bothering him at a bad time, but I don’t know who else to turn to.
“Olivia? What’s wrong?” he looks at me with concern and, when he sees behind my leg a scared looking Hale, he gestures us inside his house.
For one, I’m glad that he lives on an acreage and I wouldn’t have to be worried about anyone seeing us walk into his place.
I put up my finger so that he knows to give me a minute, and I place Hale at the table with a colouring book and crayons and tell him to sit quietly while I talk to my friend. He nods his head and doesn’t speak a word. I know he’s shocked over everything that happened and the rapid packing that I did for us.
I haven’t had time to explain anything to him, but I need to find a way to get him to understand what’s going on. I also need to make
sure that I’m safe because I don’t think that they would harm Hale, but they might take him away from me if they really think I betrayed them.
I blink back the sudden tears that are trying to creep up before turning back to Elliot.
He looks lost in thought, but when he sees me approach he snaps himself out of it and gives me a questioning look.
I clear my throat while I sit down on the couch and look down at my hands.
“Well, Hale’s father is a part of an MC. I’ve told you that. Well, someone got a hold of my phone or spoofed my number or something because they think that I sent the cops after them, and that I called and sent texts to the cops. They showed me what they have, and it’s all from my phone and someone claiming to be me on the call to them. I have no idea who would do such a thing. They all just looked so mad. I had no idea what they would do or if they would try to take my son from me, so I tasered the guard they left with me and drove out of there, only looking back to make sure that I wasn’t being followed.” I let it all out and realize that I’m quietly sobbing with my head in my hands so that Hale won’t see me lose it.
Elliot sits on the couch beside me and throws an arm around me. He starts rubbing my back in a soothing motion until the sobs subside.
After I quiet down, Elliot finally speaks lowly so that Hale won’t hear our conversation.
“I’m sorry that this happened to you. You can stay here as long as you want. Do they know where to find you?”
I shake my head. “No, I never told him that we were friends because I was afraid he would go all caveman and try to forbid us from talking.”
Elliot lets out a chuckle, but I have no idea what would be so funny about this situation. I’m too exhausted from everything that has happened to question it.
“Let’s make some supper for you and Hale and then you guys can relax. You have had a long day,” he says before he gets up and heads to the kitchen.
I walk over with him and sit on the stool that’s placed in front of the aisle in the middle of the kitchen. I watch him open cupboards and the fridge.
He’s grabbing stuff to make pancakes with bacon and, when I get a glimpse of the fridge, I see juice and fruit. Then when he opens the cupboards, I see a bunch of snacks that would be for a child and some of my favorite foods that I told him I loved but didn’t eat very often.
That’s weird that he has all of that stuff, but it’s just food so I don’t think anything of it and watch while he makes pancakes with bacon for my son and I.
Chapter Fifteen
Aiden ‘Steal’
I’m exhausted from the events of the day.
The cook and manager were killed while they were in the back. We have a video that we had linked to our cameras at the clubhouse.
We had sent Tech back to find out what happened while we dealt with the cops and fire department.
It was hard to put the shit with Olivia on the back burner, but I didn’t want to deal with all of that right now.
I hadn’t heard from Shield so I didn’t think about checking in.
My dad, Torch, Damien, Bear and I all head over to Olivia’s.
I stop in my tracks and my breath halts because her car is gone. I make quick work of getting into the house. I throw the door open and my eyes dart around trying to figure out what happened.
I see Shield laying on the floor with his hands behind his back and his mouth taped with duct tape.
What the fuck? How could she have taken a brother down and where the fuck did she go?
“What the fuck happened, and where is Olivia?” my dad roars.
Torch rips the tape off his mouth, and Shield lets out a curse while glaring daggers at him.
“She’s gone, Prez,” he mutters.
Bear looks and sees why his hands were behind his back.
“She used cable ties on his hands. There are three around his wrists.” He whistles low. “She did not want him getting away,” he mutters and grabs something to cut them.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” I yell at Shield. I have to say I’m impressed because he doesn’t even flinch at the anger on my face.
“How did she get the drop on you, brother?” Damien asks slowly.
“I was guarding the house out front when the door opened. I told her to get her ass back in the house, but she wouldn’t listen. She was yelling a bunch of random bullshit that I wasn’t listening to, so I picked her up and brought her inside, and right when I put her down she shot me with a taser. When I was down, she tied me up with the cable ties and duct tape,” he says, but not looking pissed about the situation.
“What else? You look like you have something to say,” Prez barks.
“I don’t know, she looked pained and upset that she had to do it and she said, ‘sorry, but this is the only way to keep my boy and me safe’ and took off with him out the door. She didn’t look like someone who was out to get the club.” He says the last part quietly.
“Well, careful, because that’s how bitches trick you,” I say before I turn and head outside to my bike.
“Steal!” I hear my name yelled.
“Ya Pops?” I holler back over my shoulder.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he yells, and I stop walking but I don’t turn around.
“I’ve got to go find my fucking kid. Who the fuck knows where she took him,” I yell out and climb on my bike.
I don’t bother listening to anything else.
Fuck, I’ve got to find them.
Olivia
I spend the night in Elliot’s guest room. I really don’t want to be a bother to him, but he made sure to let me know that he was my friend and he was here for me.
There was a look in his eyes last night, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
When he took us to the guest room, I only thought about washing up, giving Hale a bath, and heading to bed.
Now that I’m waking up, I see that there is a lot of stuff in here for it to be a guest room.
The bedding we are on is a dark purple, and at the foot of the bed is a folded-up blanket that is full of motorcycles. I pick it up and unfold it. I know that it isn’t Hales.
I get up and check the rest of the bedroom, and the drawers and closet are full of clothes that are Hale and my exact sizes.
My hands start shaking as I look everything over.
It was almost like he was expecting us.
My brain starts working over-time, and I try to be quiet so that I don’t wake Hale. I sit on the edge of the bed looking around.
I think back to walking up to his door last night. There wasn’t any surprise in his face. There was a smile, but I just thought he was happy to see me.
Could there have been hidden meaning behind it?
Then I remember all of the food that I had told him were Hale and my favourites.
I think back to every conversation that we have had.
He’s asked me a lot of questions about Hale and me. I barely asked him anything and he never offered the information.
I’m almost scared to walk out there and see what’s going on.
I have to though. I don’t know if Hale and I are in even more danger or what’s going on. I don’t want to frighten Hale, so I leave the room quietly.
I do a quick glance at Hale and see that he’s still sleeping.
I look at everything down the hallway when I’m leaving, and I walk straight to the kitchen where I hear some soft noises of coffee being made, and maybe some pots and pans clinking together.
“Elliot?” I ask hesitantly. He turns around and smiles widely at me.
“Morning Olivia,” he says cheerfully.
I narrow my eyes at him in suspicion. Something is off with him and I don’t know what it is, but I can’t believe that I didn’t see it before.
“I need to ask you something,” I say quietly.
“What’s that, sweetheart?” he asks, and he almost sounds… loving? If that’s what you can call it. I have never heard
that tone of voice come from him before.
“Umm… okay, here it goes. Why do you seem to have everything Hale and I need? It feels like you were expecting us,” I ask quietly, and I have to fight hard to keep looking at him so that I can gauge his reactions.
He doesn’t even flinch and, when he looks me in the eyes, there is an evil look in them that I have never seen before. The smile that takes over his face sends shivers down my spine.
Slowly, he walks toward me with his smile never fading. I can’t help but swallow hard and make sure to place myself between him and the door in front of the room that Hale is sleeping in.
“Well, sweetheart, I was expecting you. I knew that once those Vicious Snakes,” he starts, and he says snakes like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. There is so much hate in his eyes when he says it that I can’t help but feel terrified at what he’s about to say. He continues, “had come to blame you for ratting them out to the cops, and you thought they would separate you and Hale, that you would need somewhere to run where they wouldn’t find you. Why do you think I had started the fire at the diner so that you could escape? I knew you would be capable of taking care of one guard. I knew my baby wouldn’t let me down.” He says it in a way that he could be a loving partner, but the hate in his eyes shows me that I should know better.
This was all a set up and one I had stupidly fallen for. I brought my son into this insane man’s house, and he made sure it was him that I ran to.
“W-why would you do all of this? I don’t understand. What was the big master plan?” I ask in a harsh whisper.
He places a hand on my cheek and lightly rubs his thumb back and forth across it. The smile he gives me freezes me in place.
“I had to get those assholes back. I needed to take something that belonged to them. I got more than I bargained for. I took two things that belonged to them. Now you and Hale cannot leave. You’re mine. You have been mine since the second you moved into town while I was forming a plan to get them back,” he says as he moves a hand to grip the back of my hair. I want to cry out in pain, but I don’t want to give him that satisfaction.
