by K. J. Dahlen
Cassie leaned in close to him and said, “My childhood wasn’t anything happy either. You know most of it but there are still some things I can’t talk about, not because I don’t trust you with my past, but just because I can’t talk about it yet.”
Deke wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “When you’re ready I’ll be there, no worries.”
“What are we going to do about your dad?” Cassie asked.
“I don’t know,” Deke admitted. “I hate the fact he showed up at all. Maybe he’ll just go away and we can get married in a few days.”
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“He said he wanted to meet the woman I was going to marry. He claims he wanted to know that you weren’t just taking me for a ride.”
“He doesn’t have much faith in you does he?” Cassie rolled her eyes.
“He doesn’t have much faith in the human world period. He doesn’t trust the women of the world at all. He thinks the only thing a woman is good for is to—”
“I think I know and that’s disgusting.” Cassie sneered.
Deke nodded. “That’s my dad.”
“So now what? Where do we go from here?”
“We wait for him to leave, then we get married.” Deke shrugged. “I don’t want him to be there for the ceremony. I don’t want him to taint what we have but I do want to marry you.”
Cassie sighed. “Okay, we can wait. But he is your family.”
“No he isn’t,” Deke insisted with steel in his eyes. “My family is Gator and the other men in my MC. My family is you and your family. It isn’t Sam Tory. I think sometimes, it would have been better for both of us if we’d never met. I wish he’d never come to Albany that fateful day.”
“That’s rather harsh isn’t it?”
“You don’t know my father.” Deke looked angry. “I’m not sure I want him around our kids. He’d screw them up worse than we ever could.”
Cassie gasped and grabbed her belly.
Deke grew alarmed. “Are you okay?”
Cassie nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t your kids like you talking smack about their grandfather.”
Deke laid his hand over hers. “They don’t know him like I do.”
~* * * *~
A few hours later, Cassie was walking in the backyard, it was up against the forest, and she felt it might calm her being out by the trees. She’d been restless most of the afternoon. Peaches and Paige had wanted to come along with her but Cassie just wanted to be alone for a few minutes. After Deke left her earlier, the girls had come in to check on her. They wouldn’t tell her what was going on at the clubhouse and she’d finally gotten sick of both of them. She even left Demon behind. Deke had wanted her to keep the dog with her but Cassie just needed a minute all by herself.
Wrapping the shawl around her shoulders, she walked along the woods bordering the clubhouse property. The air seemed colder now. Fall was settling in, soon it would be winter and while she was used to the cold she hated it. She couldn’t forget the bone chilling cold of her childhood.
The babies began rolling around inside her and she had to stop and put her hands on her belly. Rubbing her belly seemed to soothe her infants and right now, she needed them calm. Her fears about becoming a mother were always in the back of her head but secretly, she couldn’t wait for them to be born. Without admitting it to anyone else, she knew it was because she would finally have someone of her own to love and if she took care of them, they would love her back. That was the kind of love only her mother had ever shown her and that was the kind of love she would show her own children. She vowed her babies would never be left alone, she would protect them to the death. Nothing bad would ever happen to them like what had happened to her.
So deep were her thoughts that she didn’t see the man sneaking up behind where she stood. In fact, it wasn’t until she felt him put the rag over her mouth that she even knew he was there. A sickly sweet smell was dragged into her lungs when she took a deep breath to scream.
The scent made her lightheaded and she felt dizzy as everything swirled and tilted around her.
~* * * *~
Halo caught her in his arms and quickly dragged her out of sight. He quickly bound her hands with a narrow rope and carried her deeper into the wooded area. Out of sight of the clubhouse but not too far away, was a truck and as Halo got to the truck, Fury got out and helped him put her inside. He quickly wrapped a gag around her mouth and helped Halo lay her carefully in the backseat.
Halo glanced over at Fury. “For the record…I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all. Jr. is gonna kill his old man over this woman and you fucking know it.”
“I know it but he’s our boss and we’re just following orders,” Fury agreed. “Bones is like a dog with a bone about this. He just won’t stop.”
“Did you see their faces?” Halo asked. “He’d better get his answers and take her back before they realize she’s gone or he’s gonna have more than just Jr. looking for him. The President of the Sinners MC was there today. He’s gonna start a war with this shit.”
“Yeah, between the Sinners and Satan’s Spawn this could get ugly.” Fury nodded. “Let’s get her to him, so we can get her back to where she belongs.” Fury started the truck and they took off for the warehouse where Sam was staying. A few minutes later, he carried her into the warehouse and to the small room Sam was waiting for her in. He laid her on the small metal bed and took the gag off her. He left her hands bound for now.
The room was small and the only furniture in it was the small metal bed Cassie was lying on. Sam sat on a folding chair and waited for her to wake up. He had a beer bottle in his hand and he stared at the woman his son was going to marry a few hours ago.
When two of his men joined him, none of them said a word. Sabbath and Raine sat on the floor, backs against the wall, waiting for her to wake up. The only one that wanted to be there was Sam.
When Cassie began moaning and moving around, Sam put his empty beer bottle on the floor and moved closer to her. He knelt down beside the bed and waited for her to open her eyes.
Cassie groaned as she woke up. She tried to lift her hands but she couldn’t. Opening her eyes, she saw the concrete walls around her and she began to panic.
“Hey, settle down,” Sam ordered. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
Cassie scooted back on the bed as far as she could go but it wasn’t far enough. Her belly got in the way and she brought her hands up to protect herself. “What the fuck do you want?”
Sam leaned forward. “I wanted to get to know you better.”
Cassie sneered. “Go to hell, you bastard.”
Sam frowned. “You aren’t exactly in the position to talk trash to me girl.”
Cassie twisted and tried to loosen her hands but the rope got tighter and the bite began to burn her skin. “What did you do to me?” She moaned. “Where am I?” She glanced around the room in panic. Sweat beaded her forehead and she looked terrified. She tried to pull her wrists apart but the ropes wouldn’t give. Sweat rolled down on her forehead and the side of her face.
Sam frowned as he watched her struggle. He turned and grimaced at his men. Turning back to Cassie he said, “I’m not going to hurt you, so stop struggling.”
By this time, Cassie couldn’t hear his soft spoken words. The inability to get herself free along with the concrete walls around her had plunged her deep in her worst nightmares. She began throwing herself back against the wall behind the bed.
Sam got to his feet and motioned for Sabbath. “Cut the goddamn ropes before she hurts herself!”
Sabbath came towards the bed and flipped open his knife.
Cassie saw nothing but the knife coming for her. “No!” she screamed and brought her hands up to protect her belly. She hit the knife and sent it flying, cutting her arm in the process. She didn’t seem to notice the blood running down her arm as she curled herself up in the corner of the bed.
“What the fuck is she doing?’ Sam a
sked his men.
Sabbath reached for the knife again and tried to get close enough to cut the ropes on her wrists. She screamed again and tried to kick out at him. This time, the knife came down on her side.
She screamed again and Sabbath backed away. He turned to Sam and said, “I’m not going near her again. She’s crazy.”
~* * * *~
“She isn’t crazy, she’s scared to death, you fucking dummy!” Raine told the other man. He stepped forward and knelt at the side of the bed. “Honey, please stop. I don’t want you to hurt yourself any more than you already have.” His voice was low and quiet.
“He was gonna hurt my babies,” Cassie whimpered.
“No honey, he wasn’t,” Raine told her. “He was going to cut the ropes on your wrists, so you could get free.”
Cassie looked down at her wrists. The skin around the ropes were raw and bleeding. The rope was so tight her hands were turning blue. “I can’t feel my hands. Why can’t I feel my hands?”
“The ropes are too tight.” Raine explained. He picked up the knife from where it had fallen on the bed. “Can I cut the ropes?” he asked. “I’m not going to hurt you or your baby. I just want to help you get your hands free.”
Cassie stared at the man in front of her. Her sense of panic was still there but his voice was calming it down. She nodded as she held out her hands to him.
Raine cut the rope and laid the knife down carefully on the bed. He didn’t want the girl to panic again. Carefully, he took one of her wrists and pulled the rope loose. Then he did the other wrist and when he was done, he took note of how bad the injury was. He looked over his shoulder and asked Sabbath, “Can you find my first aid kit?”
Sabbath nodded and left the room. When he returned, he tossed the kit to Raine and kept back.
Raine opened the kit and pulled out a gauze pad. He began cleaning the blood from her wrists.
Cassie watched him with distrust in her eyes. She wouldn’t acknowledge the pain as he cleaned the wound and dressed it.
After he was done with her wrists, he began cleaning the cut on her arm. When he was finished with that, he looked at her. “I need to see the cut on your side. It’s still bleeding and we need to see how bad it is.”
Cassie studied him for a moment then lifted her eyes to the other two men in the room. She picked up the knife and held it in her hand. Her panic was still there but not as strong as it had been. She glared at Deke’s father but kept her eyes on the other man as well. The knife in her hand was the only thing she had to protect herself and she wasn’t giving it up. “If my babies are hurt, I will kill you.” She snarled at Sam.
“Babies? As in more than one?” Sam queried.
“Babies, as in more than one.” Cassie confirmed with a glare. “I’m having twins in a couple of months.”
Sam quirked an eyebrow. “Twins don’t run in our family. Are you sure those are Deke’s babies?”
“They do in mine,” Cassie told him.
Sam leaned back against the wall. “So how did you meet Deke?”
“That’s none of your business, is it?”
“I think it is.” Sam growled. “He is my son.”
“And if he wanted you to know he would have told you,” Cassie informed him. She ignored the pain in her side as Raine cleaned the blood away. She hissed slightly and pulled away from him but Raine pressed the gauze to her side harder. She wouldn’t take her eyes off the two men standing there. She looked pale and her eyes were dilated.
“I’m sorry but I need to stop the bleeding,” Raine apologized. Opening another package of gauze, he pressed it to her side again. He threw the bloody gauze to the floor in the pile he had already started. Blood quickly soaked through the new pad and Raine had to open another package. He turned to Sam and shook his head. “I can’t get the bleeding to stop.” Turning to Cassie he said, “I need you to lay down. The bleeding won’t stop as long as you’re sitting up. There’s too much pressure on the wound.”
Raine pulled her down to lay flat and she tried to fight him off but found she didn’t have the strength. He turned to Sabbath. “Get me some clean towels or something heavier than this shit.”
Sabbath disappeared for a moment. When he came back, he shook his head. “There isn’t anything clean here.”
Raine turned and stared at Sam, ‘Then we need to get her to a hospital. She’s bleeding bad enough to warrant medical attention. If they can’t stop the bleeding, something is gonna happen to those babies and you don’t want that. Deke will kill you the way it is.”
Sam nodded. “Fine, you take her and you stay with her until she gets medical attention.” He turned to leave but turned back and snarled, “Don’t you let anything happen to her or those babies.”
Raine narrowed his eyes and snarled. “What a fucked up mess this turned out to be. Jr. is not gonna be happy.” He turned to gather her in his arms and felt the knife at his throat. Looking down at her, he could see the emotion in her eyes.
Hate blazed strong but there was something else there too. She looked scared to death. “Save my babies,” she whispered. “Please don’t let my babies die.”
“They won’t and neither will you,” Raine promised. He turned and found Sabbath standing there. “Let’s go, you’re driving.”
He carried her own of the warehouse and got inside the truck. With her on his lap, he waited for Sabbath to get behind the wheel. The few minutes it took for them to get to the hospital, Raine could feel the blood soaking from her wound straight through to his shirt.
When they got to the Emergency Room, he called out for a doctor. Nurses came running and he laid her on a gurney. She was whisked away to an exam room and Raine noticed she was fighting to stay awake. The blood loss worried him but when a nurse tried to take the knife away from her, she began fighting them.
Raine went to the nurses, “She won’t give up the knife. Its better if you let her hang onto it.”
The nurse shook her head. “We can’t, it’s a weapon that could cause harm to the staff here. We have to get it away from her.”
“Then let me try. She’s scared and hurt and not thinking right,” Raine assured her. He turned to Cassie and with careful movements, he approached. “I need you to let me have the knife. The nurses think you might hurt somebody with it.”
Cassie shook her head. “It’s all I have to protect my babies.”
“You don’t have to protect them here, no one here is going to hurt them.” Raine tried to reassure her.
Cassie looked up at him with confusion in her eyes. “But if I don’t protect them who else will? I don’t have anything to give them but protection. I don’t even know if I can love them like a mother can. I’m scared to death here. I need Deke. Can you find him and ask him to come here?”
Raine held her hand. “I’ll call him and he’ll come. I think that man loves you very much.”
“I think he does too. I don’t know why he does but he does. He’s so excited about these babies. He doesn’t understand my fears but when you grow up the way I did, the fear always wins. I’ve never had anything I could call my own except these babies. I have to protect them.”
A nurse came up to the gurney Cassie was on. “Hey there girl.” She smiled. “What are you doing here?”
Cassie turned her head and smiled. “Maggie, I’m glad you’re here. I got a cut on my side that won’t stop bleeding.”
“I know honey.” Maggie patted her hand. “I’m here to help but you have to give up the knife, so the doctors can see you.”
Cassie turned to Raine. “Will you call Deke for me? I really need him here.”
Raine nodded. “I’ll call him.”
Maggie smiled. “I already called. Deke is on his way along with Peaches and Paige and everyone else. They are very concerned about you.” Maggie began noticing her other wounds. She turned to Raine and asked, “What the hell did you do to her?”
“Halo tied her hands together and when she woke up she fought us. We were
n’t going to hurt her but she didn’t give us a chance to tell her that,” Raine explained. “When we went to cut the ties she thought we were going hurt her or her babies and she put up a fight. She got cut by accident. We were never going to hurt her or the babies.”
Maggie snorted. “You’d better hope Deke believes that and nothing else goes wrong.”
Just then, Cassie screamed Maggie’s name.
Maggie turned to her and began checking her over. “What’s wrong honey?” She laid her hand on Cassie’s stomach and found it hard with a contraction. “Oh Jesus, not now,” she muttered. “It’s too soon.”
Cassie gasped. “I’m gonna lose them aren’t I?” she wailed. “I couldn’t protect my babies and now they’re gonna die!”
“No, they aren’t sweetheart,” Maggie tried to reassure her. “You and your babies are gonna be just fine. Pregnant women get these pains all the time. They’re called Braxton Hick contractions.” She took the knife out of Cassie’s hands and stepped back.
The doctors rushed over to her and began examining her side where the blood was still seeping.
As they wheeled her away, Maggie turned and glared at Raine. “You and your fucking boss better hope nothing happens to those babies or her.” She turned and walked the same way Cassie had been taken.
Raine followed more slowly. Sam had told him to stay with her and nothing was going to keep him away. He wasn’t sure he wanted to leave now anyway. He had to know if she was going to be all right.
