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CHAPTER5
Aurelia
The girls go to school, leaving me home with Bailey. She tries to keep me occupied, but all I can think about is that horrid old man my mother wants me to marry. Midway through the morning, there is a knock on the door. Bailey tries to act as if there is nothing to worry about, but I have a feeling in my gut. She gets up to answer the door, leaving me sitting in the living room. I hear her unlock the door, and then it slams back, loud voices filling the air.
I come to my feet quickly, my stomach churning as the door to the living room is flung open. Two men I recognise as part of my parents’ organisation step into the room. My mouth is suddenly dry as the nearest man—I think his name is Simon—smirks at me. “Someone wants a word with you.”
There is nowhere to run, but I try anyway. Simon grabs me by the hair, tugging me towards him.
There is no sign of Bailey, and I hope she is okay. Did they hurt her? Simon drags me against him, his arms wrapping around me like steel bands. I fight him, clawing and scratching at his arms, kicking back as hard as I can. I’m wishing I had my shoes on, because there’s not much damage I can do barefoot. The second man, whose name escapes me, grabs my legs, lifting them off the floor while Simon holds my top half. Slung between them like a hammock I can do nothing as they start to carry me toward the door.
“Let her go!” Bailey’s voice barks through the air.
Relief floods me that she is okay. She smacks Simon’s back, trying to get him to release his hold on me. The man lets go of my legs and Simon shoves me into him. The man whose name I can’t remember wraps his arm around my throat, pulling me back against his chest. I grapple at his forearm, trying to breathe past his grip. Simon turns to Bailey and backhands her across the face so hard she tumbles into the table at the end of the sofa before sprawling on the floor.
I scream. I fight and I try to let out all my rage. She starts to move slowly, as if her brains are rattled.
“Are you crazy?” the other man asks Simon. “That’s Zeke Fraser’s fucking wife!”
Simon shifts his shoulders. “She shouldn’t have fucking touched me.”
“Bailey.” I say her name softly, and she glances up at me. Her face is starting to redden but her eyes are blazing fire.
“You leave this house with her, and Kane, Zeke and Lucas will hunt you down and rip your guts out of your body,” Bailey snarls. “Then I’ll talk to my brother, and you’ll have the Untamed Sons coming for you too.”
Simon snorts. “I don’t answer to you.”
“You think Charlotte cares about you either?” I hiss at him. “You’re nothing. She’ll watch as my brothers tear you apart.”
If this unsettles him, he doesn’t show it.
“Let’s go,” Simon says to the other man.
The man holding me starts to walk me toward the door. My breath rips out of me as I slam my heels into the carpet. I’m not going without a fight. I won’t be taken easily.
This is the fight of my life.
If I get back into my mother’s clutches, she’ll have me in a wedding dress before I can blink.
“Stop!” I gasp as he increases his grasp on my throat in an attempt to control me.
“Fuckin’ walk!”
He drags me back, and I scrabble to keep my feet.
“Please.” I’m not above begging if it saves me.
He ignores me. I can do nothing as he drags me to the front door. I’m weaker, smaller, and he has bulk on his side. Bailey screams, trying to defend me, but I don’t want her to be hurt either. Not because of me.
I try to calm myself, but my heart is hammering beneath my ribs. My body is wired, every synapse firing on full.
As they get me into the street, I start to feel terror crawl through my veins. If they get me into a vehicle, I’m done. I’m never escaping whatever my mother has planned for me.
I hook my fingers into my attacker’s eyes, pushing hard. It makes my stomach turn, but he screams and releases me. I run. I don’t make it far before Simon fists his fingers into my hair and I’m dragged back. My scalp prickles as he turns me towards him and slams his fist into my face.
My legs fold, and I would be driven to the paving slabs beneath me if he didn’t have such a good grasp on my hair.
I let out a groan as my vision rolls. I’ve never been hit by a grown man before. Charlotte has slapped me more times than I can count over the years, but this is different. Simon wants to hurt me.
