by Marie, Kay
“That’s a good idea. Would you like me to make you some coffee or anything,” he asks.
“Some peppermint green tea, please. There should be a teapot on the stove and in the drawer to the right of the stove is where all the tea is,” I explain to him.
“You got it.” He winks at me and walks into the kitchen. I watch him for a minute before I head into the bathroom to get the bathwater going. While I wait for it to fill up, I head into my closet for some of my own clothes. Maybe Shade will help me burn the ones I came home in. Bra and panties included. I sure as hell don’t want them. They would be a constant reminder of that asshole Scarface.
I take my clothes into the bathroom and set them on the counter. The tub is almost full so I add some lavender-infused Epsom salt to the water. I take a long look at myself in the mirror. I look so different. My hair is disgusting, despite being able to wash it recently. I have dark circles under my eyes and I look like I could put on a few pounds.
I’m eternally grateful for Finn and Lochland. Listening to them talk about saving other trafficked women opened my eyes even more. I think about the girl in the basement again. I hope the Savage Menaces can get information out of Scarface about where they kept me. I would like to go back and save any women or girls that may still be there.
I slip out of these nasty clothes and step into the bathtub, slowly lowering myself into the water. You never realize how much you take for granted until your whole life is snatched away from you. I dip my head under the water, making sure all of my hair gets wet. When I come up for air, I lean back against my bathtub pillow and try to let everything go.
There’s a light knock on the bathroom door and I realize I forgot to close it. I look over and Shade is standing in the doorway with my tea.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi.”
He walks in and sits on the floor next to the tub.
“I brought you your tea.” He sets the mug on the side of the bath.
“Thank you,” I say with a smile.
“Sketch went out and got us some basic groceries,” he tells me. “I thought I would cook us some breakfast.”
“I would like that,” I reply. He gives me a quick kiss on the lips, then stands to leave.
“Oh, also, I called Wren,” he says. “She’s gonna come by around lunchtime.”
“That’s great. I can’t wait to see her,” I tell him.
“She’s really excited to see you too.” With that, he walks out, leaving me to soak.
After a bit of relaxing, I wash and condition my hair and wash my body. While the water drains, I stand and grab a towel. It feels good to be able to stand without needing someone to steady me. I dry my hair, then the rest of my body, and step out of the bath. Once I’m dressed and brushed my hair out, I head into the kitchen
“Mmm, it smells good in here,” I tell Shade.
“Perfect timing. It’s ready,” he replies. We take our plates to the living room and eat on the couch. I turn on Netflix to the car show Shade likes to watch.
“This is what you wanna watch,” he asks, shocked.
“Yeah, I kind of missed it while I was gone,” I admit. He shakes his head, laughing. I take a few bites of my food then set the plate down.
“Is that all you’re gonna eat?” Concern is etched on his face.
I turn my body so I’m sitting, facing him. “Shade, they starved me to keep me weak because I wouldn’t stand down and do what they wanted, when they wanted. I was told that Scarface, I mean, Ricardo, wasn’t allowed to beat me like he did with the other women. He still smacked me around a bit, but that was nothing. I’m going to have to work up to eating more, though.”
Shade sets his plate down and pulls me onto his lap. He brushes his thumb across my bottom lip that’s still a little swollen from the last time Scarface smacked me.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he says. “He’ll pay for what he did to you.”
I scoot off his lap so he can finish eating, but he doesn’t let me move too far from him. We watch his car show until Wren comes over. The knocking on the door isn’t very loud. I start to become nervous about seeing her. She was so mad last time I saw her. Shade opens the door to a red-eyed Wren. When I stand from the couch, our eyes connect. We stare at each other for a beat, not sure what to do. Then, at the same time, we rush to each other, wrapping the other in a hug and start bawling.
What feels like hours of crying later, in reality, it was maybe ten minutes, we pull away from each other.
“I’m so sorry,” we say simultaneously and giggle.
“I should have told you about Shade and me,” I tell her.
“No, it’s okay, really. I shouldn’t have reacted like I did,” she says. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“I honestly meant for it to have been a one-time thing. I wasn’t ever supposed to see him again,” I admit.
“He is still here ya know,” Shade calls from the kitchen. Wren rolls her eyes with a smile playing on her lips.
“Oh, hush!” she says to Shade, then looks to me. “Life has a funny way of bringing people into our lives when we need them the most.”
I grab her hand. We talked about that when we first met. We hit it off so well when I interviewed her to be my roommate. It was like the universe knew we needed each other in our lives. I never thought about it being the same for Shade and me.
“You’re my best friend, Wren. I love you so much. If you don’t want . . .”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” she cuts me off. “You two are so perfect for each other. I don’t think either of you realizes that. Seeing how he reacted the day TJ took you, I knew you were it for him. The way he is with you, he’s never been like that with another girl,” she says in a softer voice, trying not to let Shade hear. A smile stretches across my face so wide, I feel like my cheeks are going to split open. “And that smile tells me you’re just as crazy about him.”
“I am,” I whisper. “How are things with you and Zack?”
“We’re good,” she tells me. “I hate that we were the ones to introduce you to TJ.”
“Hey, don’t do that. What happened to me had nothing to do with you,” I state. “It was one hundred percent on TJ.”
“Tech is still trying to track him. We’ll get him soon,” Shade adds.
“Enough of that,” I say. “What are you getting Cali and Buster for their baby shower?”
“I honestly haven’t even thought about it,” Wren admits.
“Well, start thinking about it. It’s coming up quick,” I remind her. “Maybe you, me, and the girls can go shopping together.”
“That would be great. I haven’t seen any of them since the last time you and I were over there,” she tells me.
“We’ll fix that.” I smile at her. “I can’t wait to find out if they’re having a boy or a girl.”
“I hope it’s a girl,” Wren says.
“Why would you wish that on Buster,” Shade asks her.
“What’s wrong with them having a girl,” I ask him with a giggle.
“She’d have a whole club of uncles who would look out for her,” Wren tells him.
“A whole club of uncles that will bury a boy for looking at her the wrong way,” Shade mutters. Wren and I break out in laughter. “Y’all laugh now, but just wait.”
“I can only imagine how you’ll react when it’s your kid we’re waiting to find out the sex of,” Wren says. Her words sober me up and Shade’s face pales. Wren glances between the two of us. “Both y’all look like you’ve seen ghosts.”
“The thought of having kids has never really crossed my mind,” Shade says. Something in the tone of his voice tells me he's not completely honest. I’ll have to ask him about that later.
“With the past I had, it’s never crossed mine either,” I tell Wren. Wren glances at her phone. Whatever she sees has her eyes wide as saucers.
“I need to go,” she says.
“Is everything ok
ay?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine. Zack is having some friends over for dinner, so I need to get home and make sure the house is presentable,” she tells me, standing from the couch. I stand and walk with her to the door.
“You’re kidding, right,” Shade asks her. Wren glares at her brother.
“No, I’m not. Since I haven’t been working as much, I do what I can to keep the house looking nice,” she tells him. “It’s a way for me to show him I appreciate everything he does for me.”
Shade scoffs. “Ignore him,” I say to her. “Text me when you get home. We’ll plan a shopping day soon.”
“You got it,” she replies. We hug, say our goodbyes and she’s out the door.
“I don’t fuckin’ like that guy,” Shade admits.
“I wish I could say you're just an overprotective brother, but I don’t like him either,” I tell him. I walk closer to him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Have you really not thought about having kids,” I question him.
“Honestly,” he asks. I nod my head. “I have, once.”
“Oh?”
“Not that long ago, actually,” he tells me.
“Tell me more,” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Raze was telling me and Buster how he was trying to get Minx pregnant. It got me thinking about you pregnant with my baby.” My cheeks heat up at his admission. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I’ve felt this connection to you from the first time I laid eyes on you at Bluez.”
He slides his hand into my hair and brings his lips down on mine. He pulls back, resting his forehead against mine.
“Do you remember asking me why I call you Whiskey,” he asks.
“Yeah, you said it was because of the color of my eyes and how I tasted when we first kissed,” I say.
“That wasn’t all,” he admits. “Kissing you is like a shot of whiskey. It’s a sweet, slow burn that leaves me feeling warm inside. You’re my shot of whiskey and I’m drunk on you. I don’t ever want to sober up from this feeling. I love you, Sienna Rae.”
“I love you, too, River.” I tried so hard to fight my feelings for him, but I fell hard.
35
Shade
A few weeks have gone by and Sienna is getting closer to being fully recovered. The first week she was home, she didn’t leave the apartment at all— which was okay with me. Aside from Wren visiting once, I wanted Sienna all to myself. Though, I am glad Wren came over when she did. They needed each other. Wren hasn’t been around since, and I know Zack has something to do with it.
Sienna and I are finishing up breakfast when my phone pings with a text message. I glance at the screen and Bull’s name flashes across.
From Bull: We found him.
I look up at Sienna and smirk.
“What is it,” she asks.
“They found TJ,” I tell her.
She lets out a heavy sigh. “I’m going with you to see him, and Ricardo.”
“Like hell you are,” I growl out. “I’m not letting you anywhere near those assholes.”
“Shade, I need to. It will help with my healing,” she tells me and I run my hand down my face, thinking it over.
“Let me go alone first. I know Ricardo is in rough shape because the brothers have been taking turns using him as a punching bag,” I explain to her.
“Fine, but I want my turn at them before they get killed,” she says in a matter of fact way. “What about Antonio?”
“He made a deal with Bull. He’s helping Finn and Lochlan get to the place where they were keeping you so they can help the other girls there,” I tell her. “Once that’s done, Bull is gonna get him set up with a new identity somewhere Torres won’t find him.”
“That makes me happy. He’s a good kid,” she says.
“Bull will have him somewhere he can keep tabs on him in case something comes up,” I add. She nods and leaves it at that. Bull is pretty good at reading people but shit happens. He’s gotta make sure his ass is covered in case Antonio tries to go into that line of work.
“Why don’t you talk with Minx about going shopping for the baby shower,” I suggest. “Raze and I can take y’all later today.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll see if Wren wants to come too,” she says.
We get to the clubhouse around eleven. The few times that Sienna has been here since she’s been back, there haven’t been many people around, including the cut bunnies. I hope Coco’s dumb ass isn’t here today.
“Hey! Look who it is,” Rivet says to Sienna when we walk in. “Girl, we’ve missed you around here.”
“It’s good to be back, let me tell ya.” Sienna giggles.
Rivet wraps her in a hug. “How are you doing?”
“Much better, thank you,” Sienna responds.
“Sienna is gonna hang out here while I go take care of some things,” I tell Rivet. I turn to Sienna. “If you being here gets to be too much, go to my room. I should only be gone for a couple of hours.”
“I’ll be okay, Shade.” She smiles at me.
“Minx should be back any minute. She just ran up to the house,” Rivet says.
“Y’all don’t get into any trouble. I’ll be back soon,” I tell them. I give Senna a quick kiss and walk back to my car and call Rascal.
“What’s up,” he answers.
“Are you at the barn?”
“Yup. You headed here,” he asks.
“Leaving the clubhouse now,” I tell him and hang up. I’ve been to the barn once before. We didn’t have anyone in it at the time, but I’ve heard some stories. When I pull up, there are four bikes already here.
I climb out of my car and walk in. Between Ricardo’s condition and the pigs, it smells awful out here. That alone makes me want to keep Sienna away. Raze and Rascal are standing in front of Ricardo. Arms crossed over their chest and in deep conversation. Ranger is kicked back in a folding chair with his feet resting on the card table. He looks thoroughly entertained.
“What’s up, asshole,” Sketch calls out to me as he walks into the barn on the opposite side.
“Y’all have really done a number on him.” I snicker. “Is he even alive?”
“Barely,” Raze responds. “I told them not to let anyone else touch him until we found out if you wanted to let Sienna have the final blow.”
“I don’t want his blood on her hands,” I tell him.
“I’ve said those exact words about Minx,” Raze says. “But also like Minx, Sienna deserves to get her own justice. Has she said anything about coming out here?”
“Yeah, she did,” I admit to him.
“Think about it. It helped Minx, it could help her. They’re strong as fuck women,” he says.
“They deal with you fuckers, and that’s no easy task” Ranger dishes out, making us all laugh.
“I’ll talk to her about it. Make sure it’s what she really wants,” I tell them. “Where’s TJ?”
“In the last stall on the left. Sketch was fucking with him before you pulled up,” Raze says. This barn held horses at one point in time. Now, the stalls are used for keeping people locked up when needed. The more people fuck with us, the more we end up getting to use this place. It’s far enough out on Savage Menace property that there’s no one close enough to hear the screams when we torture these fucks. Then we feed them to the pigs to dispose of their bodies.
“I did a little branding and bone breaking,” Sketch explains. “I wanted to keep it slow and painful.”
“Good. He fucking deserves it. Have either given up Torres,” I ask.
“Fuck no! Either they really don’t know where he is or they’re that loyal,” Sketch tells me.
“Rico here might be that loyal, but daddy dearest didn’t come into TJ’s life until sometime recently,” Raze adds. “If he knows, he’ll crack.”
I walk into the stall where TJ is. He lifts his head, his eyes finding mine. His lip curls in disgust.
<
br /> “She doesn’t belong to you,” TJ spits out. “I will get out of this and come for her.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I tell him. “You won’t be leaving here alive. We’ll have our fun with you and when we get bored, we’ll kill you.”
TJ laughs and it quickly turns maniac. I shake my head and walk out.
“What’s that sound,” Sketch asks.
“TJ, laughing,” I tell him. “That fucker has a few loose screws.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Raze says.
“Did Minx say anything to you about going shopping for Buster and Cali’s baby shower,” I ask Raze.
“She mentioned it, but we didn’t actually talk about it.” He chuckles.
“I know I may regret it, but I told Sienna I would take her shopping. She was gonna see if Minx or any of the other girls wanted to go,” I say.
“I’ll go.” He shrugs. “Maybe shopping for baby shit will get her wanting one of her own.”
“Still trying, huh,” I ask.
“Hell yeah I am,” he replies.
“Y’all good here,” I ask Rascal, Sketch, and Ranger.
“Yeah, go. A prospect will be here soon,” Ranger tells us.
Raze and I head out of the barn, me to my car and him to his bike. We’re back at the clubhouse within ten minutes.
We walk into the clubhouse and the girls are sitting on the couch talking. Sienna has her back to me but turns around as I walk closer to her. Her beautiful smile lights up the room.
“Hey, my gorgeous girl.” I lean down giving her a kiss.
“Well, hello to you, too,” she giggles.
“Are you ready to go shopping,” I ask her.
She glances at Minx and Rivet. “Do y’all want to come with us?”
“Um, yes!” Minx replies. “I still need to get some decorations and Pops gave me his card to get them a big gift off their registry.”
“I’m going to have to pass,” Rivet says. “I already got a gift. Plus, I still need to stop by and check on her.”
“Take her some Ginger Ale or 7-Up,” Sienna tells her.
“And let her know we’re thinking about her,” Minx adds.
