Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
“No one said you had to, Calliope,” Carnage growled. Surprisingly, he stepped closer, putting an arm around me. “We’ll work out something with Chase, but the boys are yours. Legally.”
“You gave up your own childhood for them,” Angel said. “Didn’t you?”
I met Angel’s gaze. I was confused, but Angel seemed to know like no one else did. “I don’t know I’d say that, but I devoted myself to trying to protect them.”
“How’d you end up with the guy you were with when our group found you?”
“Cain.” Angel turned to look at her husband. “That’s not fair.”
“It is. We need to know.”
“That’s not your business,” I said, shrugging off Carnage. “I got us into a dangerous situation I didn’t know how to deal with, and I needed help. While I appreciate you being there when I desperately needed it, my custody of the boys is not something you get to decide.”
“Why not go to the police?”
“She did,” Zora said immediately. “She had a restraining order out on the guy, but that doesn’t always work.”
“Why did you leave with him?” Cain asked, keeping his gaze focused on me. The look in his eyes made me shrink back a little, even when I tried to stand my ground.
Again, Carnage put an arm around me, pulling me solidly against his body. “Cain,” he said warningly.
“Not another word, Carnage,” Cain snarled, never taking his eyes off me. “If I’m keeping a club member away from his kids, I want to know they’re safe. And that their guardian has more than two brain cells to rub together.”
That got my back up. “Spoken like a man who has no lack of friends,” I snapped. “I just wanted some male companionship, OK? A guy who could be a father to the boys. They need a strong male influence in their lives. I thought Mark was a good guy. He was at first, but things changed pretty quick. By the time I realized he was only after any money I had, he already had his claws in deep. He told me he’d hurt the boys unless I did what he wanted. He controlled my finances. Not just the insurance money my sister left me for the boys, but everything I had coming in from the three jobs I worked. I tried to leave more than once. The last time…” I trailed off with a sob. “The last…”
“He threatened them, didn’t he?” Zora asked softly.
“He held a knife to Theodore’s throat while he slept. Only, that was when Theo really started to change. I’m afraid he was awake the entire time.”
“You could have just taken the boys and run,” Cain insisted, pushing me when my back was already against the wall.
“I tried once, but the car was in his name, and he reported it stolen! I got dragged back, and he had the boys overnight while I was in jail. If I’d done it again and gotten caught…”
“That’s enough,” Angel told Cain. “No more.”
Cain gave her an annoyed look but backed off. “I needed to know, Angel. You know I did.”
“There are other ways of going about it,” Angel snapped, pulling me into her arms, away from Carnage, and hugging me tightly. It was almost enough to break me. Almost. I wanted to cry. God, I wanted to sob until all this pressure inside was gone.
“I found where the auto theft charge was filed against her,” Zora said. “She’s telling the truth, Cain.”
“Why is it always the women defending themselves against the big bad bikers?” Angel sounded very angry. “Did you ever think to question Chase before you beat up an already beaten young woman? If this is all for your precious patched member, maybe I need to rethink how much I want to be associated with the whole lot of you.”
“Angel,” Cain said warningly. “This is club business.”
“Bullshit! This is about a young woman and the children she’s raised since they were infants. When she was just sixteen!” She pulled away from me and turned to her husband. “You’d think after all this time you’d have learned to behave better than this. If you’re not going to defend her, I certainly will. You give me equal time with Chase, and I’ll call it good.”
“Don’t do it, Cain,” Data said softly. “She’ll tear that boy apart.”
“Like he just tore Calliope apart,” Angel countered. “And you,” she pointed at Data. “You knew she was just trying to survive. If Zora had all that information, you had it too.”
“I’m just trying to keep any more innocents from being hurt,” Data said, raising his hands in defense.
“You’re making it worse, Data.” Carnage snagged my hand and tugged me closer. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It seemed like both Angel and Carnage were solidly on my side, but who could really tell? Angel, yeah. I could see that. But Carnage? Was this all some kind of game to see what I’d tell them? I hated games. I was never any good at them.