by Carol Dawn
Chains` Redemption
Infernal Sons MC #2
Carol Dawn
Chains` Redemption
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Copyright © 2019 Carolyn Jacobs (Carol Dawn)
All rights reserved
Published by Carolyn Jacobs
Cover by Carolyn Jacobs
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.
Dedication
To those who can’t see how truly special they are.
You. Are. Amazing.
Blurb
Bella
My childhood was normal…until it wasn’t. My parents became involved in a lifestyle that ultimately destroyed who they were as people. Destroyed me. Now, I’m being forced to marry a man I want nothing to do with.
I make the decision to take my daughter and run.
But it’s not that simple. It doesn’t take him long to find us.
Then, he saves us. Blake Hunter. Chains. He takes us in and protects us. But, doing so has put his whole family in danger.
I’ll sacrifice whatever I must to keep my daughter and the man I’ve come to love, safe. Even if it means my life.
Chains
I found her, my soul mate. Only, she’s running away from someone. My instinct is to lock her safely away in my home. But for some messed up reason, I help her fix her car so she can leave. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made.
Now, I fight tooth and nail to gain redemption. I will protect her and her baby with my life. Her past tries to take her back, but I’m holding on with all of my strength.
Arabella is mine. Her daughter is mine. God help the man trying to take them away.
Prologue
Bella
“What do you mean, you’re pregnant?” Daddy asks from his office desk. “Pregnant by whom? Do you even know?”
The question feels like a slap across the face. Of course, I know. My parents know. They just decided not to believe me when I told them about it. I was so scared and just wanted my parents to tell me everything was alright.
But I was asked to go to my room, instead.
At twenty-three years old, I should have moved out of my parent's house long ago. However, my parents live a very conservative lifestyle. I’m supposed to stay here, protected by my father, until he chooses the man I’m to marry.
I’m not sure why he has yet to choose one for me. I’m not privy to those closed-door conversations.
We’re members of a religious community called, The Relief. Henry Michaels, my father, is the leader.
Daddy says The Relief is where people come when they want to get away from the sins of the world. When they want relief from the evil that has coalesced their bodies. Daddy says he has the gift to cure all evil, to banish all sins.
Daddy is also full of shit. Religious community, my ass. This is nothing but a cult that circles around my dad’s insatiable need for attention.
But I would never tell him that. For one, people disappear when they say or do the wrong things. And another, I love my dad and I know he loves me.
“I want his name,” he says.
I feel a rush of relief flood my body. I knew telling my parents was the right decision.
“Jack Thompson,” I tell him. “Daddy, he’s…”
“I know who he is, Bella Ann. Have a seat.”
I walk to the other side of his office and sit down on the couch. I’m not sure what he’s going to do, but I feel better knowing that he’s on my side. My mom is sitting in a chair seated close to his desk, not saying a word. She doesn’t usually talk unless asked a question or teaching the young children in their classes.
“Yes, I’d like to speak with Mr. Thompson, please,” he says. “I’ll wait.”
A few minutes of silence go by. I wonder what’s going to happen now? Jack is finally going to get…
“Hello, Jack,” daddy says, like he’s talking to an old friend. “My daughter has just told me some troubling news. She’s pregnant and says you’re the father.”
I stop breathing. Why is he talking so calmly?
“You know what needs to be done, son?”
What’s going on?
“Alright, we’ll see you then,” he says, before hanging up.
“Wait, he can’t come here.”
I’m beginning to panic. What did my dad just do?
“Sit down, Bella Ann, and wait.”
With no other choice, I sit…and wait.
***
Thirty minutes later, Jack walks into my dad’s private office. He walks straight to my father without so much as sparing a glance in my direction.
“One more year, Jack,” my father says. “You couldn’t wait one more year?”
“Look at her, Father Michaels. She’s nothing but a walking temptation. How is a man to resist such impure thoughts when constantly provoked right to his face?”
“I can understand that, however, that doesn’t change the fact that she’s pregnant. The wedding will be moved up from next year, until right after the baby is born.”
What the heck? I want so badly to speak out, but my brain is trying to process everything they’re saying that I can’t think straight enough to speak.
“Why wait until then?” Jack asks. “We can just marry now.”
“When the child is born, we will have its DNA tested to make sure it’s yours. If not, then we must find the child’s father and he will marry my daughter. She will only ever be with one man.”
That doesn’t even make sense, is what I want to say, but I’m so dumbfounded by what my father is saying. He wants me to marry, Jack?
“Daddy?” I ask. “I’m to marry, Jack Thompson?”
“Yes, darling girl,” he says. “As soon as we prove the child is his.”
“I can’t marry him,” I say.
“Of course, you can. And you will. He’s the man I chose for you long ago. He just needed to get his law practice up and running before he settled down.”
“But, you know,” I beg. “You know what he did. I told you and mom. You both know and you want me to marry him?”
My father doesn’t say a word, just stares at me with unwavering eyes. There’s no getting out of this. Nothing I say or do will change his mind.
I have to marry my rapist.
Chapter One
Chains
Another restless night. These are getting old, real fast. Not even the normally relaxing fireplace in my room is helping. It looks like another early morning for me. Might as well get up and head over to the clubhouse.
As Vice President of the Infernal Sons MC, I’m acting president while ours is away on his honeymoon with his beautiful little wife, Rose.
Lucky bastard.
Okay, I admit it. I’m a little envious that Bear found such a perfect woman. Maybe just a tad hot-tempered that he found something that I have been looking for. Possibly even…
Alright, I’m jealous, damnit.
I don’t see Rose in any sort of romantic way. But the way she looks at Bear like he’s the only thing she sees is what I’ve been searching for in women since I was old enough to understand what love is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been in a couple of romantic relationships before. I even loved them. But I wasn’t in love with them; just as they weren’t in love with me.
I’m pulled out of my self-induced pity party by my phone buzzing on the nightstand.
“Yea,” I say, without looking to see who it is.
“Chains, I need to borrow
your hand, brother,” Hawk says.
“Now, Hawk, we’ve had this talk. I will not give you a handjob.” I love messing with that man.
“Fuck you,” Hawk says, laughing. “You’re not my type, Hollywood. I need you to open the safe for me. I need the deed to the clubhouse. Bear asked me to take it to our lawyer to be filed away.”
“I’m going to start demoting every person who calls me Hollywood back to prospect,” I grumble.
That damn nickname. I have what you would call a pretty face, and what my ex, Sherri, called the perfect Hollywood body. She mentioned it one time in front of the guys and they haven’t let me live it down since.
I know it’s true though, and I fucking hate it. I hate the fact that most women assume I’m a player because of how I look. Or, how men who don’t know me automatically hate me because they think I’ll try and steal their women. Or how, with one glance, I’m deemed a dick because I’m apparently full of myself and need to be taken down a few notches.
“Couldn’t you have waited a few more hours before dragging me out of bed?”
“Nope,” he says. “I have to be at Ma’s in an hour. I’m taking her to Cleveland to see her friend. Might as well swing by the lawyer’s office on the way.”
“That damn safe opens for Bear, too. You’re his identical twin. Don’t you have the same prints?” I’m already up, dressed, and about to head out the door to my bike. But he doesn’t need to know that.
“We share the same genetic makeup. Our DNA is practically identical. Our fingerprints are not,” he says with what I know is a smirk. The man is always smirking. “Get your ass over here.”
“I’m on my way. Be there in fifteen,” I tell him as I grab my cut and slide it on.
“See you in thirty,” he says right before hanging up.
It definitely won’t take me thirty minutes to get there and he knows it. Wonder what that was about?
Grabbing my bike keys, I head into my garage. When I open the garage door, that’s when Hawk’s meaning becomes clear. While I was in bed, not getting any rest, at least three to five inches of snow fell. It’s February and the season for it, but I really hate the snow.
Looks like I’ll be taking the four-wheel drive. I run inside to grab my truck keys and then head to the clubhouse.
About four months ago, our old clubhouse was burned to the ground by the cartel leader, Roman Hernandez. The same man who kidnapped Rose and Princess and is ultimately the one responsible for Princess’s death. He didn’t pull the trigger, that was his hitman, Benny. But he is the reason she’s dead.
Rose still blames herself. I’ve heard she’s seeing a therapist to help her work through, well her whole life. She’s had a really rough one.
I’m about two miles outside of my house when I notice a car sitting on the side of the road. It looks abandoned. I slow down as I get closer so I can take a quick look inside. I don’t notice anything at first, but when I get a closer look, I see that someone is in the driver seat.
Shit, it has to be less than twenty degrees Fahrenheit out here and that car is almost completely covered in snow. I quickly pull over to the side of the road and rush to the driver’s side door. I knock on the window but get no response from the person inside.
Damnit!
Carefully opening the door, I get my first look at the person, the female, inside. She looks lifeless. Reaching in, I check for a pulse. Her skin is pale, her lips are blue, and her body is freezing.
Sighing with an overwhelming and completely unexpected sadness for this woman, I grab my phone from my pocket and start to call 911.
“Please,” is whispered so faintly that I almost didn’t hear it.
I stare shocked at the woman in the car. “Please,” she repeats. Not any stronger than the last time.
“It’s okay ma’am. I’m here to help you,” I gently tell her.
The woman weakly wraps her arms around her midsection and looks up at me with tears in her eyes.
“Please,” she says with a little more strength. “Don’t let him take my baby.”
Just then, the silent night echoes with the sound of an infant cry.
Chapter Two
Chains
After my body recovers from shock, I look around frantically for the baby. I can’t see it anywhere.
“Where’s your baby, sweetheart?” I ask the woman.
Her eyes are wide with fear, but not at me. She keeps looking in her rear-view mirror as if expecting to see someone coming.
“What happened to your car?” The car is the last thing on my mind. I know I heard a baby. It’s so fucking cold out here. A baby wouldn’t survive it long.
“Ran out of gas before the sun went down,” she whispers.
Did she really just say before the sun went down?
“Baby, that was hours ago. At least eight hours ago.”
I’m starting to flip the fuck out. I just want to grab the baby, wherever it is, and its mama and snuggle them into my bed with the fireplace roaring.
“I was able to use a small portable heater until the car died,” she says, weakly. She hasn’t moved a muscle, apart from her eyes, since I opened the door. Is she hurt?
“Listen,” I say. “It’s really cold. I need to get you and the baby to my truck where it’s nice and warm, okay?”
It takes her a few seconds before she gives me a small nod. I’ll take it.
“Okay, where’s your baby?” I ask again.
So slowly, she nods down to her thick winter coat. “Against my chest.”
Good girl.
“I’m going to reach in and lift you up then carry you to my truck. Are you hurt anywhere?”
She hesitates before saying, “My body is sore and cold, but I’m not really hurt.”
I lean in and do a quick search for a purse. Every woman I know doesn’t go anywhere without one. I find it on the passenger side floor, next to a pink diaper bag.
Reaching under her legs, and behind her back, I lift her up making sure to be careful of her precious bundle.
When we get to the passenger side of my truck, I manage to use the hand behind her back to open the door. I gently place her on the seat and point all the heater vents in her direction.
“I’ll be right back, baby,” I say before shutting the door and running back to her car.
As I was grabbing her purse and the diaper bag, an infant car seat and a small black duffel bag caught my eye from the back seat. I grab those as well.
Rushing back to my truck, I jump in and close the door.
“I also brought the baby’s seat,” I tell her as I toss the bags onto the floor. “I’m a pro at these things. My sister has a few kids and they love spending time with their uncle Chains.”
“Chains?” she asks. She sounds a little stronger.
“My name,” I tell her as I’m securing the car seat between us. “Well, my name is actually Blake Hunter, but everyone calls me, Chains.”
“Blake Hunter,” she says.
I don’t correct her. If she wants to call me Blake, she’s more than welcome.
“I’m going to take you to the hospital,” I tell her. “You and the baby need to get checked out after being in the cold for so long.”
Instantly, she starts freaking out. “No,” she practically yells while reaching for the door handle. “I can’t go back to the hospital. I swear I’m fine. My baby is fine. We’re both okay, but we cannot go back.”
I’m sure my face is frozen in shock. The weak woman who was sitting in my truck a few moments ago is gone, and in her place is a mama bear ready to defend herself and her baby against the world.
“Okay, I won’t take you,” I say before she can open the door. “I can see that you’re getting better. But, can I please check on your baby? I’m not a doctor, but as I said, I’m pretty good with kids.”
She’s reluctant, I can tell. Who wouldn’t be? A strange man puts you in his truck and asks to see the baby you have hidden in the warmth of your coat? Not a ve
ry safe feeling, I bet.
I can’t really explain it, though. I don’t even know her name. I haven’t gotten a proper look at her because it’s four in the morning and still very dark out. I haven’t even gotten a glimpse of the baby. But I feel this overwhelming need to take care of them. The same need I have for my sister and her kids, for Rose. But this feeling is different. Stronger and more personal.
“I promise not to hurt her, sweetheart.,” I say, gently. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“How do you know it’s a her?” she asks.
Grinning, I say, “Pink diaper bag.”
A small smile appears on her face. “Yeah, I guess that would give it away.”
She carefully unzips her coat, revealing a baby carrier wrapped tightly around her chest. She did a smart thing putting babygirl in there. It most likely saved her life. Reaching in she pulls out one of the smallest babies I have ever seen.
“How old is she?” I ask. She can’t be much bigger than my hand.
“Three days old,” she says. “We just left the hospital this morning.”
I know my sister could leave with her babies the next day, so there are no red flags there. But I have a feeling that she is running from something. Or someone.
“I told you my name,” I tell her. “Can I have yours?”
The warmth is finally back in her skin. She really is looking better.
“I’m Arabella, but you can call me, Bella,” she tells me. “And this little blessing is Sophia Grace.”
Arabella and Sophia Grace. Perfect.
“Where are you heading, Arabella?” I ask her.
“Just away,” is her answer.
Away could mean anything. Away to where? I won’t ask her right now. Really, it’s not any of my concern. She doesn’t owe me anything.
“May I see, Sophia? I just want a quick glimpse to assure us that she’s fine. Then, we’ll buckle her up nice and safe and I’ll take you someplace warm to rest.”
