Chapter 6
Dante
My eyes went to the rear-view mirror for what felt like the hundredth time. No matter how many times I looked at him, it still didn’t feel real.
I had a son.
A son that was a year old and had no idea who I was.
It fucking hurt.
I wasn’t completely unreasonable. I knew Rachel’s reasons for not telling me about him. I knew we ended our relationship in a shit way—especially after the boat incident. But that didn’t make this hurt any less.
And I finally started to understand how she had felt when I took Bee away from her. The pain was almost physical, and it hadn’t left me for even a second since I’d found out about Axel.
Many times I had wanted to charge up to Scotland and take him there and then, and many times my club had talked me down from it. If Rachel decided to pursue full custody through the courts, she’d win hands down. I had to do something to make this work in my favour.
Hopefully, it ended with both Rachel and Axel back where they belonged. But worst case, I had my son in my life.
I looked at him in the mirror, feeling a wave of affection wash over me, seeing his adorable face. He was fast asleep, the adventure of the day having worn him out, and he wasn’t even aware of how momentous the day actually was. He had spent the first half an hour of the journey babbling away to me. He knew no fear. Every stranger was already a friend to him, and I had to grudgingly offer Rachel a bit of respect for that. He was sociable and warm, all the things I wasn’t.
I had everything ready for him at home—a new bedroom, new clothes, new furniture. All that was missing was the star attraction. He even made driving this car worth it. Even if it pained me to see Vienna loading my bike into the back of the van to transport back to Leeds.
I knew Rachel would be tearing her way down the motorway the second she woke up. She would come looking for her son without thinking about the consequences.
I would make sure I was waiting for her.
And I’d give her an offer she wouldn’t be able to refuse.
No, scrap that. Shecouldn’tafford to refuse it. Not if she wanted to see her son as a free woman. The threat of life in prison carried much more weight when you had more to lose.
I smiled to myself, thinking how perfectly the plan had been executed. Act two depended solely on Rachel and how rationally she wanted to play.
Let her come,I smirked to myself.I was counting on it.
Chapter 7
Rachel
I opened my eyes, feeling as though I was a teenager again, having drunk far more than necessary. My tongue felt fuzzy, my vision was hazy, and I couldn’t remember why the fuck I was lying on a carpet.
What on earth did I get up to last night? I’ve got to stop drinking!
Only… I didn’t remember drinking at all. I hadn’t touched a drop since Axel was born. Babysitters were few and far between, and even though Hayley had invited me to have a drink a few times, I much preferred being home with my little man than forking out a fortune for people to watch him for me.
It was one thing for Karen to watch him during the day. I had to work. But my nights were reserved for my son.
I rolled onto my back, immediately hating myself as my hazy vision made it seem as though the ceiling was rushing down to greet me. I tilted my head to the side, swallowing down the vomit that threatened to choke me.
Why did that seem familiar?
I wasn’t the type of woman to get blackout drunk, so there was hardly a massive catalogue of memories where I choked on my own vomit, but there was one memory beating at the doors of the fog. I just couldn’t pull it forward enough to focus on it.
I brought my knees up, resting my feet flat on the carpet and raised my hands to my head, shielding out any light in the room and exhaled sharply, wracking my brain for any memory it wanted to give me.
Where the fuck was I? What were my last movements?
I was with Axel, but that was hardly a fucking revelation. I was either with my child, or I was at work. I had been to work yesterday, and I left early for Axel’s party… but then what?
