by Brook Wilder
Liz looked ready to collapse. She staggered to the stairs and sagged onto the bottom step. She was clutching at her stomach and rocking, looking like she was about to be sick.
“Remember the auction I mentioned the other night?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Getting sold to the highest bidder? Ruiz was the one who bought me.”
I closed my eyes and tried to fight back the pain. That bastard had got his hands on Liz. My woman. I opened my eyes and stared at her. I couldn’t bring myself to approach her.
“How long… how long were you with him?”
“Two weeks.” Liz whimpered and swallowed hard. “It was the worst two weeks of my life. He… he made me do so many things. If I didn’t, he would take it anyway.”
I couldn’t look at her without seeing her with him. Dropping the photographs onto the floor, I began to pace. Anything to stop myself from hitting something as the rage built.
“Don’t ask me to tell you what other things he did to me, Noah,” Liz pleaded. “All I know is he had these taken as an insurance policy, to have a hold over me in the future. It’s a part of my life that I don’t want to relive anytime soon.”
“He raped you.”
Liz nodded miserably.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
That was when Liz stared in genuine shock. Her face went pale and then she went red, her eyes starting to flash as she stood, glaring at me.
“How dare you!” she hissed. “How could you think that? I didn’t want to be there, and I certainly didn’t want to be bought by Ruiz. I nearly died when the shooting started. I don’t ever want to go back.” She broke out in sobs and started to cry. “Please, Noah, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
I wasn’t about to. I couldn’t. Just hearing that Liz had been subjected to vile things by that man was bad enough. I didn’t want to hear anymore.
Liz started sinking to her knees. I caught her before she hit the floor and lowered her down with me until we were sitting. I held her close as she cried, burying her face in my chest, her tears staining my shirt. I wasn’t sure what part of me hurt the most. It scared me to think that knowing the woman I loved had been a part of this monstrosity could have me on my knees.
The woman I loved. I did love Liz. I don’t think I ever stopped loving her. And I badly wanted to take away her pain.
I just didn’t know how. But I did know that Ruiz was not going to walk away from this. At least, not intact.
Chapter 29
Liz
Admitting even that slice of life I didn’t want to go through again to Noah had been incredibly tough. Even tougher than keeping my pregnancy away from him. Afterwards, as Noah held me while I cried, I was drained. I could barely stand up without breaking down.
But Hunter needed me. I couldn’t collapse completely. I needed to pick myself up and carry on. Those pictures Hunter must not find, must not know about. Thankfully, when Noah left the safe house a short while later, he took them with him. I didn’t want to see them again as long as I lived. The memories of those two weeks were bad enough without physical reminders.
I wished we could have talked some more, but I knew Noah wanted to ask questions I wasn’t sure I could answer. We had to leave it up in the air. That I didn’t want. I was scared he would completely walk away from me. I wasn’t sure I could handle that.
We were only just getting back on track. Someone seemed to know what we were up to and was trying to sabotage it.
I was tougher than that. At least, before that auction, I thought I was.
Most of my morning was spent being distracted by Hunter, who decided he was going to play in the garden bed and get covered in soil. That meant trying to carry him through the house without dropping soil on the floor and up to the bathroom. Hunter didn’t seem to care, chattering away happily as I put him down in the middle of the bathroom and stripped him down while running a bath. The soil would be dealt with while Hunter was having a nap. Hopefully, he would go down for a long time; there was a lot of mud around.
Then my cell phone started ringing on the windowsill, where I had put it while struggling with Hunter. Thinking it was Noah, I snatched it up. But it wasn’t. My mother’s name flashed up instead. Not the name I wanted to see.
Hunter laughed as he splashed away with the bubbles and his various toys. Sitting on the closed toilet seat, I braced myself. Gloria had called me several times since I had come into the safe house. She was driving me crazy. I wanted to block her, but then Amy started, or they found a way around it. It wasn’t the first time they had done that.
Might as well bite the bullet and get it over with. Taking a deep breath, I answered the call before it went to voicemail.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Is that boy anywhere near you?” Gloria said in a loud whisper.
I rolled my eyes.
“No, Noah’s gone out. Why?”
Gloria then spoke at a normal level but hurried.
“Because I need you to text me the address of where you are. Then I need you to start packing a bag for you and Hunter and wait for me at the end of the road.”
I stared at the phone like it was about to blow up in my hand. Then I put it back to my ear.
“What are you talking about, Mom?”
“You can’t stay with him. I heard what happened at the annex. Noah drew a gun on someone.”
“He defended me against someone who was threatening me.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
I snorted. “Come on, Mom, if someone drew a gun on Amy and started threatening her, what would you do? Stand there and let it happen? Of course, you wouldn’t. We protect those we love.”
I could hear Gloria’s disapproval down the phone.
“He’s really changed you, Liz. And I don’t like it.”
“What do you want, Mom?”
“I want you and Hunter to come home. I don’t believe you’re on vacation. He’s kidnapped you, hasn’t he?” Gloria’s voice became very shrill. “Is he holding you against your will, darling?”
“For God’s sake, Mom, stop it. Noah and I are spending quality time with Hunter. We didn’t want anyone bothering us.”
“And you think Hunter growing up to be a biker like his daddy is going to be good for him?”
“Bikers are not evil people. They’re a community, a family. And they look after their family. This isn’t the wild west.”
“They’re criminals.” Gloria argued.
I hated the fact Gloria thought Hunter wasn’t safe. It had been bad enough when she tried to undermine my parenting, but now she was undermining Noah and his ability to keep Hunter safe. If she actually took the time to get to know Noah, she would be able to see Noah would walk through fire for his son. Hunter was Noah’s first priority, even more than I was.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t really mind coming second to someone else.
“I will take Hunter off you, Liz,” Gloria said shrilly. “He’s not going to be raised in that environment.”
I barked out a laugh. After the morning I had had, I wasn’t in the mood to pacify the bitch.
“Try it, Mom. Hunter’s not going anywhere. And if you keep talking about taking custody from me, I will make sure you never see him again.”
Gloria made a sound that sounded like a horrified gasp.
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“No, I’m threatening you with a promise. I’m fed up with you threatening to take Hunter every time we talk. If I let this go and Hunter went to you for his usual grandmother time, how do I know you won’t give him back? I could have you arrested for kidnapping, but I know you’ll be able to twist it around and walk away, taking my son with you. I don’t trust you with Hunter at all now. You don’t get to see him if you keep threatening me.”
“But you have to get yourself out of there, Liz! Noah isn’t good for you or for my baby.”
I snarled so loudly that Hunter’s laughter fell silent and he
looked at me with wide eyes. I knelt beside the bath and stroked his hair, trying to calm him.
“My baby, Mom,” I snapped. “My baby, not yours. Stop forgetting that. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t call me again unless it’s to give me an apology for what you’ve just said and what you said about Hunter’s father.”
“Now listen to me, young lady…” Gloria began but I had already hung up, switching my phone off and tossing it onto the top of the laundry basket.
Chapter 30
Noah
He had to have known. Mason had to have known all about this. I knew he had been involved with the auctioning of people with Khloe. He had to have known that Liz had been part of it. Whether or not he actually kidnapped Liz is another matter, one I doubted was Mason’s fault, but he had to have known about it.
Hiding the pregnancy and my son from me was one thing. Hiding the fact she had been bought by Ruiz and used as a sex slave was something else. I wasn’t sure what to believe anymore from Liz. She was keeping more secrets than I realized, and they were serious. Make-or-break stuff.
Why couldn’t Liz talk to me about it? She knew me. She couldn’t be that scared of me, surely?
Then I remembered that Liz wasn’t scared of the old Noah. The new Noah was someone else. I had come out a different man. Liz didn’t really know me.
I screeched to a stop outside the annex and almost forgot to put the bike on its stand before I strode towards the door. Diesel was coming out as I was going in, but I barged past him, knocking him into the doorframe. I could hear him shouting after me, but I was focused. Charging through the bar and into the back of the annex, I kicked the office door in, the door bouncing off the wall. Mason was behind his desk leaning back with his feet propped up on the desk with a beer in his hand. He dropped his feet down and put his beer aside as he stood.
“Noah. What are you…?”
That was when I punched him, catching him in the face. Mason was knocked backwards, and I followed him, slamming him into the filing cabinet. The cabinet clanged against the wall and papers on top scattered to the floor. Then Mason got over his shock and started grappling with me. We wrestled against the cabinet, Mason getting a few good shots in while I uppercut him in the belly. Then Mason tripped me up and ploughed me to the floor, kneeling on my chest as I tried to get up. A flick knife appeared in his hand and was pressed against my throat.
“Take it easy, brother,” Mason warned with a low growl. “We’ll have none of that.”
With his weight on me and the sharp blade at my jugular, I had no chance of moving. But I was almost past the point of caring. I glared up at my boss.
“You piece of shit,” I hissed.
“What’s got into you?”
“You kept things from me, Mason. You lied to me.”
Mason looked confused. He drew the blade back but didn’t get off my chest.
“You’re going to need to be a little more specific, Noah. What are…”
“Did you know that Liz had been auctioned to Ruiz?”
Then I saw it. Mason’s face went white. He did know what I was talking about. He eased back and stood, stepping away from me. Now he was looking like he wanted to be anywhere but with me.
“Let’s sit down, Noah, and talk.”
“No!” I shot to my feet. My chest felt like an elephant had been walking all over it. “You don’t get to tell me to fucking sit down! Liz said Ruiz bought her. She was raped by him for two weeks.” I gestured with two fingers in Mason’s direction. “Two weeks, Mason! Where the fuck were you? Did you even fucking know about this? I thought Liz was one of us.”
Mason put his flick knife away and began to back away. I saw he was getting nearer the door and jumped between them, slamming the door shut and swinging around on him.
“Not a chance, Mason. You don’t get to leave here until you tell me exactly what I want to know.”
“Okay, fine.” Mason ran his hands through his hair. “I knew Liz was at the auction. I saw her there very briefly, but it was just a glimpse. I didn’t know it was Ruiz who bought her, though.”
I had half-expected it, but still the news shocked me. Mason had known all about it. They had kept Hunter from me and now Liz’s auction and her captivity. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be.
I was probably better off inside.
“Khloe was there, wasn’t she?” I demanded.
“Yes,” Mason snapped. “Where do you think I met Cassie?”
Where he met… that had me drawing back.
“Wait a minute. Cassie was auctioned there? What the fuck was she doing there?”
“She was being sold. She never told you the full story? I took her, and then I bought her.” Mason spread his hands. “And Liz, by the time I realized she was there, the shooting had already started.”
“Are you telling me all this happened while I was in prison?”
Mason swallowed. He really didn’t want to be here.
“I’m afraid so, Noah. Within the last six months.”
The last six months. Liz had had this happen to her and she had not spoken a word about it all. She had kept it all hidden away. I was beginning to realize that everyone had kept something from me. I couldn’t trust anyone, not even my closest friends, the people I called brothers.
“So, everyone’s been lying to me,” I growled. I paced to the wall and punched the bookcase. My knuckles stung with the pain. “Does nobody trust me anymore?”
“Not intentionally, Noah,” Mason protested. “Nobody wanted to keep this from you. The only other person to know is Cassie, and she doesn’t want to talk about it. But it was ultimately Liz’s decision to not tell you. We had to respect Liz’s choice.”
“Just like her pregnancy?” I snapped. “Like everything else? Nobody seems to trust me anymore.” I slammed the side of my fist into the wall. “Why is nobody telling me things?”
“Like I said…”
“I know, I know, Liz’s choice,” I muttered. I was stewing over. It wouldn’t take much for me to explode now. “Thanks for making me realize I’m not worth anything, Mason. Thanks for making me not trust anybody anymore.”
Mason sighed. His jaw was tightening.
“If you had known about Ruiz, you would have gone out there and killed him. Then you’d have ended up with twenty-five to life.”
“Damn right I would,” I said defiantly. “And I’d happily do it for Liz. She’s mine. Remember that, Mason.” I jabbed a finger in my boss’ direction. “I hear you’ve kept more from me and I won’t be as nice.”
Mason said nothing. I was glad about that. Anything else would have sent me into a frenzy.
Chapter 31
Liz
I was positive. I could hardly believe it. Fair enough, we hadn’t exactly been thinking about being careful since Noah came back, but still it shocked me when I saw the two lines.
We were going to have another child. Normally, the thought of being pregnant with Noah’s baby would have had me relieved and delighted—he would be around this time—but now it scared me. In the back of my mind, something told me things were going to break down and we were going to be dragged apart again.
With everything up in the air right now and my confession to Noah this morning, I wasn’t sure if we should even bring a baby into this world. But I had to tell Noah; it was not fair on him to keep things from him, not after everything that had happened. If he was happy about it, I would keep the baby. If not, then we would make arrangements to abort.
It wasn’t a situation I wanted to deal with. In fact, I wanted lots of kids. I adored children. But I couldn’t cope with two children on my own, especially not with Hunter as young as he was.
Noah needed to be on board with this or not at all. I silently prayed for the first time in years that Noah wouldn’t be angry.
It was hours before I heard the key in the door. Hunter had been fed, bathed and put down for bedtime an hour ago. I was left trying to watch the TV and calm myself but, inst
ead, I found myself pacing up and down, almost tripping over the random toys scattered across the room. They needed to go away, but I didn’t have the motivation to do so.
If Noah didn’t like it, tough.
“Liz?” I could hear Noah in the hallway. “Where are you?”
“In the lounge.”
Footsteps came and then Noah was in the doorway. He looked awful. I couldn’t smell any alcohol, but he looked exhausted, red-eyed with dark circles under his eyes. Even then, he still gave me a small lopsided smile.
“Hey.”
