“Imogen,” I say, my voice hoarse. “Please leave.”
“Did you hear that boys, your supposed mother doesn’t want to be in your company,” Imogen jeers as she picks a crying Noah up. “Take a good look, Noah, Mummy doesn’t love you.”
I clench my fists beside me, biting the inside of my cheek, the taste of something metallic filling my mouth. I can’t retaliate as much as it’s going against every fibre of me. She storms off back in the direction she came and rage fills me.
“Who the fuck was that?” Lizzy demands.
“That’s the dirty whore bag that stole my life. She slept with my husband and then made him believe I was unfit to care for my children.” I place my head in my hands, sitting back on the bench.
“Fuck that shit!” she shouts. “You can’t let her win! Don’t you dare fucking roll over.”
I shrug my shoulders. “What choice do I have?"
“Bella, I don’t know you, but you cannot let some woman take your children from under your nose. You have to fight. Those boys need their mum, not some young woman who doesn’t have a clue about raising children.”
I know she’s right, but there’s nothing I can do, I’ve exhausted everything. He’s got me by the short and curlys, and he knows I can’t afford the legal battle.
Clay
It’s been over a week since I last saw Belle. I’ve fought the urge to speak with her, to make sure she’s okay, but Red explained the situation with her ex and children, and that I needed to give her space. I needed to let her reach out to me on her own terms, else I’d scare her away.
Red’s been keeping an eye on her, they’ve been texting regularly. She seems to have taken a liking to her, and I know that feeling well because she’s been the only thing I can think about since that night.
I swirl my ice around the glass, watching it melt. I don’t know how long I’ve been staring at it, when Red pulls out the chair beside me. I glance up.
“She’s okay,” she reassures me.
I run my hands through my hair, frustrated.
“You like her?” she asks, although it comes across as more of a statement. I look around to see who’s within earshot. I don’t need the brothers ribbing me for this.
“Is it that obvious?”
She pats me on the shoulder like one of the brothers would, and smiles.
“Clay, I’ve known you for a couple of years now, and I’ve never seen you tied up in knots over a woman before.”
“I want to help her, you should have seen how broken she was.”
“She’s got it rough, I can’t imagine not being able to see Meli. I honestly don’t know what I would have done had Darius taken her from me.” She stares off into the distance, reliving the chaos of her own life. I bump her shoulder.
“You know we never would have let that happen right?”
“Of course, but I do wonder what would have happened had Rock not stopped that day at the side of the road. I could have very easily been Bella right now.”
I nod in acknowledgement and push my glass away.
“I’m sure I know the woman who had her kids though, it’s been annoying me for days now. I just don’t know where from.” She rubs her neck, shaking her head. “Nah, I can’t place her, I don’t know that many women around here, Darius made sure of that.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket. As I pull it out, I smile,Finally.
Beauty to my Beast: 999
Shit. That can’t be good. I stand abruptly, the chair scraping loudly on the tiled floor, and I grab my keys off the bar. “Everything, okay?” Red asks, her face full of concern.
“She needs me.”
It’s all I say before running out of the clubhouse.
