I hear my brother, but I can’t see him, though I swear my eyes are open. I’ve been banged around by men before but this… what Hopper did to me, I’ve never known a man’s rage like it.
“Take your turn brothers, she’s all yours. Enjoy!”
Sweat and stale beer fills my nose. I concentrate on taking one breath at a time since my last breath doesn’t seem to be coming.
“You like that, baby?”
“I don’t mind sloppy seconds. Better than sloppy thirds or fourths.”
Laughter.
Cruel, cold, menacing laughter.
I clench my legs together and more pain radiates between my thighs. Do I even want to remember how many assholes climbed on top of me… how long did it drag on for?
A soft warmth envelopes my hand and I immediately know I’m with my brother.
“Harper’s so worried. I’m taking you to hers. I spoke to her this morning…”
“I should’ve gotten rid of you a long time ago. You fuckin’ tricked me with your smile and pussy, but I see you now, you’re nothing more than a whore.”
A tight grip around my throat cuts off all air and I pray this is it, this time. There’s nothing but manic violence in his eyes as he toys with trying to take my life and keeping control of himself.
I think of Harper. She won’t have to worry that I’ll fuck up again. We can both finally find peace from this.
“Lils, I got you. You’re safe now.”
I’ll never be safe because it’s me I have to keep myself safe from.
Chapter Twenty-One
Shane
Ialways find the ride home faster than the journey to wherever we went, but not this time. Every mile stretches on, and every hour drags.
I’m glad the roar of our motorcycles drown out Lily’s screams when she comes around. It’s not right what Hopper did to her and now it makes it clearer to us, knowing exactly what a piece of shit we’re up against. Those kinds of injuries should be life threatening, I still don’t know how she is still alive.
Leo, JJ, and Harper are waiting when we ride into the club. I do a double take when I think I’m seeing things, catching sight of Annie sat on the tabletop of one of the picnic tables. What the fuck is she doing here?
I park up watching Slade and Zach move quickly to open the van doors. Lily wakes, screaming, as they lift her out of the van. Zach helps position her so she’s in Slade’s arms and they disappear from sight rushing across to Harper’s house. Leo and JJ follow, and I head over to Annie. Myles is nowhere to be seen.
I focus on Annie’s smile, trying to figure out where this is going to go. She’s come a long way over a one-night stand.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
Her smile slips. “I tried letting you I was on my way, but you never picked up my calls.”
“It’s been crazy lately, but I was gonna call you back.” Though she could’ve hit me with a text.
“I couldn’t wait around for that. I’m…we’rein a tangle and I don’t see why I should deal with it alone.”
It takes a hot second, but I soon catch on. “You’re pregnant?”
“We’repregnant,” she corrects me.
I laugh, though nothing about this is funny. It’s always been in the back of my mind that this could happen, but it hasn’t yet, and I’ve always thought myself lucky.
“What do you wanna do about it?”
