I pull my dress down so it’s actually covering my ass and pull off my heels before running out of the house. Unfortunately, I left my bag behind, not that there was much in it, but it did have a phone in it that would call John to come pick me up instantly if I’m in trouble.
I run down the street, trying to find someone to help me. I doubt anyone would listen to me or let me in their homes when I look like this, look what I am, a prostitute but I have to try. It’s in that moment that I really realize what my life has become. It finally sinks in just how far I’ve fallen. I don’t look back for a second and keep running away from the life I’ve known for past five years. I need to put as much distance between me and it as I possibly can, as soon as I can.
I don’t know how long I’ve been running but my feet are killing me, thanks to my lack of shoes, I’m out of breath and I’m drained. I slow down a little and jog into a sea of people on Bourbon Street.
The crowd will give me a great cover and I’ll be able to step into a bar and call for help. Fuck, who would I call? I can’t call my parents; I don’t want them to find me and I highly doubt they’d come anyway. Something tells me that Bennett wouldn’t have the same number and I don’t know anybody else’s phone number. I guess my best bet would be to call the cops, they would listen to me, but they’d then drive me back to my parents. Even though I’m of age, they’d bring me back to the people who haven’t been family for a long time.
I quicken my pace and get lost in my thoughts when I run into a brick wall and fall on my ass, wincing as the already tender skin hits the ground. I scurry to my feet and look up at the offending wall.
The vision of what my worst nightmares and sweetest dreams are made of is standing in front of me.
What I ran into isn’t a wall.
What I ran into is Bennett fucking Sawyer.
Holy. Shitballs.
Bennett. My Bennett
It’s been five years but he looks exactly the same. He still has the same hazel eyes and the same perfect lips that form into a smile when he recognizes me but soon turn into an expression I’ll never forget. He looks heartbroken. I want nothing more than to comfort him, but I don’t have the time, I need to run. I take one last glance at him and try to go around him but his right arm darts my way and grabs my wrist. The grip is strong enough to hold me still, but not strong enough to cause pain. He pulls me to him and wraps me in his arms. I can feel his body shaking. I don’t know how he’s feeling right now but being in his arms, everything is erased; the hurt, the disgust, the pain, everything. Gone.
“Fuck me, that was fast.” I hear a voice say from behind Bennett and a few nervous chuckles follow. I don’t want to let go but the voice breaks me out of my Bennett trance and I force myself to pull away from him, much to his disapproval as he glares at me and refuses to let go of me.
“You were looking for me?” I ask as I look up into his eyes.
“Your parents called me a few hours ago,” Bennett says through gritted teeth.
“What?” Why would they want to look for me? Why now? I’ve been gone for five fucking years! The last I’d heard, they had given up and buried me. I look between all of the guys that have surrounded us and notice that they’re all wearing the same cut. Now I’ve always known about MCs, especially for being ‘a part’ of one for the last five years, and his parents’ prior involvement in one, but being surrounded by so many members bring back some bad memories and I start to fidget in discomfort.
“Come, I’ll explain,” one of the men comes around to my side, places his hand between my shoulders and leads me away from the group. I look back at Bennett and see that doesn’t look too happy with the situation. Two of his friends are holding him back and his eyes are telling me that he wants to pound everyone around him into the ground.
“What do you want from me?” I look up at the man who lead me away from Bennett, scared that history is about to repeat itself. Surely Bennett wouldn’t let this happen to me?
“Relax, we don’t want to hurt you. I’m a friend of Bennett but he’s too riled up to make any sense or rational decisions right now and we need to know what’s going on and get you somewhere safe,” the man says in a kind and soothing tone.
“Why would you help me? You don’t know me.”
“Because you’re Bennett’s, which means you’re family to us.” He shrugs.
“I haven’t been Bennett’s for four years,” I tell him sadly.
“Nancy, no matter what’s happened, you’re still Bennett’s. Trust me, he’ll never let you go, not again.” He grins to himself and I want to smile with him. He looks like he’s a nice guy, but then again so did my captors, they looked nice but were the scum of the Earth.
“It’s not his fault.” I sigh.
“He doesn’t know that. Look, I don’t know who or what you’re running from, but we need to get you the hell out of here and get you into some decent clothes. Not that I or any of the guys really mind what you wear, but Bennett looks ready to pound us if we keep looking at you.” He grins sheepishly.
“What’s your name?” I ask, suddenly realizing that I have no idea who this person is. Even though I feel safe with him, he has a soothing voice and knows what to say to make you feel safe, I’ve learnt to never to be too careful.
“I’m Gabe.” He extends his hand to me and I shake it.
“I hope that it’s nice to meet you, Gabe.”
“Trust me, you won’t regret it.” He chuckles and pulls off his cut and his flannel shirt before putting his cut back on. Gabe helps me to put on his shirt and walks me down the street as Bennett and the other guys fall into step behind us.
A tall, dark haired and tanned skin man pulls his phone out and calls someone. I’m not sure if going with them is the best idea but it’s not like I have many other options. Gabe walks me to his bike and passes me his helmet before helping me secure it. He climbs onto his bike and helps me on behind him. I wrap my arms around him and hold on for dear life. I look to my left to see Bennett glaring daggers at Gabe, who also notices.
“Not now, Brother. We’ll settle this once we get there. For now she’s with me. Take a longer drive if you need, but make sure you calm the fuck down,” Gabe tells Bennett who nods once before looking at me. I give him a weak smile and he winks before speeding away down the road. Gabe’s bike roars into life and we head in the opposite direction to Bennett, clearly Bennett’s taking Gabe’s advice and is going for a long drive.
I’m on the back of Gabe’s bike, a total stranger and my conscience is screaming at me. What the fuck are you doing? What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing? And to be honest, I have no fucking clue, but if this is my way out of this nightmare then I’ll embrace it with both hands.
The drive to wherever we’re going doesn’t take long, but it’s long enough for me to get lost in my thoughts. My life wasn’t easy or quiet, I’ve managed to escape two hells but I’m not sure what kind of fucked up shit I’m going to find myself in. What happens twice, happens thrice, right? I guess only time will tell.
CHAPTER 7
Bennett
Fuck.
My.
Life.
Fuck my motherfucking life!
I know I was starting to look for her but I didn’t actually expect to see Nancy again. Especially not this soon.
I mean, what were the odds of finding her just a couple of hours after I got the call asking me to look for her?
The guys and I were just about to spread out and try to find her based on the most recent pictures when she literally runs into me and falls on her ass. Her sweet ass. There are hundreds of people out here and I’m the one she crashes into? I’m not one for destiny or whatever but I’m sending a thank you to whatever made it happen.
There are so many things about this situation that I don’t get, especially why she looked so scared of me. I’ve never done anything to hurt her, is she mad at me because I didn’t find her sooner? All of this is fucking with my head, that and the fact that
she’s back in my life.
On any other day I’d have gone with the guys to the compound and hear what she has to say, but today I can’t. I’m too worked up. I’ve gone from thinking that she’s dead to being told she’s alive and then actually finding her all within a matter of hours. I’m feeling so much anger that I wouldn’t be of any use. I’d either end up yelling at her and breaking some stuff or end up in a fight with one of the guys because they might have looked at her the wrong way. Either way, I’d have my ass handed to me by Gabe. He’s the only one who knows how I truly feel and he would kick my ass if I reacted either way.
I should be happy to see her and want to spend every possible second with her, but I can’t be around her right now. The state she was in made me want to kill anyone and everyone who dared look at her.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget the way she looked tonight. Her too short and barely there dress, the blood running down her legs, her tear stained cheeks, the look of horror on her face and the fact she was running away from something or someone, all made my blood run cold. I want to protect her, promise her that everything will be okay and tell her that she has nothing to worry about now. But the truth is that I’m not sure if I can protect her when I’m so involved in this. I want to know more than anything what’s happened to her, but truth is I’m scared of what I might find out. I shouldn’t be too worried about her wanting to go back to that life because she was running away from it, but I can’t help that doubt that keeps niggling away in my mind.
Five years.
Five long years and my feelings have never changed or wavered. I’m still very much in love with her despite the circumstances. I don’t know if she still feels anything for me, but I intend to find out soon. Let’s just hope she’ll open up to either me or Gabe.
What the fuck happened to her four years ago? Could fate be the reason why she ran into me? Does she still want me or is it too late? Could it mean that we’re meant to be together?
I drive to the cabin, it’s not mine, it’s just a useful place most of us have used at some point in our lives. Callum mentioned this place to me a while back and how he comes here when he needs to shut out the world. This is exactly what I need right now, although being along with my thoughts can be a dangerous thing.
I park in front of the small cabin that Callum owns in the middle of the woods and take it all in. The sun is about to rise over the cabin, it looks breathtaking as light emanates from behind it. It’s not too far from civilization, but far away enough that I feel like I’m completely on my own, I need time away from everything and everyone.
I round the cabin and sit on the back porch to watch the sun slowly rise over the lake. In moments like these, I’d love to have Nance in my arms with my chin resting on her shoulder, watching the sunrise together. Fucking hell, I’m a miserable fucker and a sappy little shit all in one.
Hopefully one day we’ll be watching a sunset together. One day I’ll be able to hold her again.
One day.
Maybe.
CHAPTER 8
Nancy
Roughly twenty minutes later, we arrive at what I’m guessing is their compound and unlike the place I was held captive, it looks inviting and almost like a normal house.
Gabe parks his bike next to another and gets off before helping me off. I don’t know what my face looks like, but the amused look he gives me makes me smile.
“What?” I ask confused as to what I’ve done to make him laugh.
“First bike ride?”
“No. Bennett was my first.” I shake my head when I realize what I’ve just said.
“First what?” He smirks, clearly amused by my discomfort.
“Shut up.” I glare at him as I take off the helmet, I’m surprised at how easy it is to talk to this random person when I’ve known him for less than thirty minutes.
“What? You’re the one who mentioned him being your first. You didn’t specify what first.” He shrugs and walks me over to the building.
“Fair point. Where are we?” I ask as I take in my surroundings.
“Our compound. Don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe here. You can take a nice, long shower whilst I find you some proper clothes, no doubt you need a good night of sleep.”
“And a drink.” I sigh and rub my face.
“That can be arranged.” He squeezes my shoulder and leads me inside with a few of the guys following behind us. I glance back and see they all have their eyes on me with a look of worry in their eyes.
“Good.” I feel a bit overwhelmed and vulnerable. Once inside with the door closed behind me, a sense of relief washes over me. I take in my surroundings and see that there are a fair few beautiful women stood behind the bar, pouring drinks for the men and chatting them up. More importantly and something I’m not used to, the women are smiling and look happy to be here. This place looks more like one of those frat houses you see in movies than an MC compound, or maybe I have the wrong idea of what a compound is supposed to look like. The place is massive! There’s a closed room to the far left of the room which I’m guessing is their Chapel. At the back of the huge open plan room there’s the bar with a huge staircase next to it leading upstairs. To my right are a few more rooms but all of the doors are closed.
“You alright?” Gabe asks me, sounding genuinely concerned.
“Yeah, I don’t know what I was expecting but this place looks a lot better than I imagined it would.” I smile nervously.
“Blame our women for the decoration. It would not look like this if we had any say in it.” I can’t help the giggle that escapes my lips as I imagine these big, bad bikers doing exactly what their girlfriends and wives tell them to.
“Are you guys all pussy whipped?” I ask with an amused tone.
“Most of us yeah,” he mumbles and guides me to the bar just as a beautiful woman with lilac hair pops out from behind the bar.
“Hey, Hot Stuff. Who’s our new friend?” The woman kisses Gabe before smiling kindly at me as he still has his arm wrapped around my shoulder. I push his arm away and look at him with disgust as the woman subtly eyes me up.
“She’s one of Bennett’s friends, long story. What?” he explains whilst looking at me with a confused expression.
“Nothing.” I shake my head and look around.
“Don’t worry about him having his arm around your shoulders. He might be a biker, but he’s faithful and he knows I won’t hesitate to chop off his balls and dick before feeding them to him. I’m Viv by the way.” She grins widely at me and holds her hand out to me.
“Good to know. I’m Nancy.” I smile at her and shake her hand.
“A pleasure to meet you, Nancy. Come with me, I’ll get you some clothes and show you where you can shower.” She smiles warmly at me. Despite what I thought, I feel safe with these people who are still strangers to me.
“Hold on,” Gabe says and disappears behind the bar and hands me a bottle of beer and Viv a bottle of water. “Call the girls if you need to.” He smiles at her and rubs her tummy, a slight hint of a belly showing. I look around feeling like I just walked in on them having sex. It’s weird.
“Will do.” She kisses him quickly before pulling me up the stairs.
“This is slightly awkward,” I say following her.
“Why?” She turns around to look at me.
“I feel li…it’s a long story.” I want to open up, but I can’t. What if they work with my previous captors, would they hand me back to them? Can I trust these people?
“Hey,” she stops abruptly and turns around to place her hands on my shoulders, “I don’t know what you’ve been through but we’re here to help you. I’m sure it must be hard for you to open up to total strangers, hell I had trouble talking to my best friends when I came back. We’re all here to help you if and when you need. We won’t let you go back to whatever life you had before and if you even think of going back we’ll first kick your ass then try to brain wash you into staying with us. I promise w
e’re friendly really, we’re also just a little bit crazy.” She grins as she sees my face fall when ass kicking is mentioned. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay, it’s just hard to trust people. I was taken by an MC, it’s weird to be on a different MC’s territory, especially because I don’t know if you have any affiliation with them or what type of people you are.”
“Were you willingly with them?” She asks looking at me with a serious expression.
“No.”
“I see. You know, we’ve all been through some tough shit because of one MC or another. We’re here to help, but we won’t keep you here if you want to leave, but I warn you. We’re pretty fucking awesome.” Viv calls out as she walks into a random bedroom. I walk past her and hear her gasp which makes me instantly turn around. “What the hell happened to you?”
“What do you mean?” I ask feeling confused as to why she’s looking at me like I’ve grown an extra head.
“The back of your legs.” She looks at me in horror. I look in a mirror and see dried trails of blood covering my legs.
“Long story.” I look down, feeling incredibly ashamed but not remembering why the blood is there in the first place.
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.” She hugs me and sets both of our bottles on a chest of drawers by the door. “How about we get you cleaned up and into some proper clothes?” She half asks, half tells me as she opens the wardrobe and rummages through it.
Forgiving Nancy (Last Hangman MC Series Book 5) Page 6
