AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We have a doctor at home,” I reply.
“It’s getting ridiculous around these parts lately, and it’s not safe to be walking home alone,” he tells me.
I nod. “I’m only around the corner. I thought I’d be okay. I was trying to call my friend to meet me, but I think that’s when they struck.” I stop outside the club. “Thanks,” I tell Harry. “I’m good from here.”
Grim is on his phone when I walk into the clubhouse. He stares open-mouthed before disconnecting and yelling for Mav to come quickly. Maverick rushes from his office. “Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?”
“I got mugged. They took my phone.” I drop my bag and burst into tears, shock finally hitting me. “I was trying to call Rosey,” I mumble through my tears. Mav hugs me and tells Grim to find Mama B. “And they came from behind. I don’t remember much, but I think my ribs are broken.”
He steps back, assessing me. I lift my top to reveal bruises on my ribs. “Where the hell was Arthur?” he demands to know.
“Working. I decided to come home.”
“If he upset you and made you leave,” he begins.
“He didn’t. He doesn’t know I’ve left.”
Mama B gasps when she sets eyes on me. She takes me to the kitchen and helps clean my face. She gives me a mirror, and I cry harder. I have a cut under my eye where I’ve been punched and both eyes are swollen and bruised. My lip is busted, and my ribs are in unbearable pain.
Hadley rushes in. “Grim just told me,” she cries, taking my hands. “Are you okay?”
“I think so, a little shocked.”
“Should I call Arthur?” she asks.
I shake my head. “He’s got a lot on right now. I’ll speak to him tomorrow.” I don’t want to pull him away from whatever it is he’s dealing with, and he’ll be upset I walked out because of Jolene. After he left, things became awkward, especially when she talked about how supportive Arthur was being. I got jealous and let her get the better of me. It was stupid of me, looking back now.
Hadley helps me upstairs and waits while I change into something more comfortable. “I think Arthur would want to know,” she says as I carefully get into bed and take the painkillers she offers me.
“He’s got Jolene staying at his place,” I tell her. She lowers to sit on the bed. “Before we were a thing, he slept with her.”
“That’s why you walked home alone?” I nod. “Meli, you could have called me.”
“I was trying to call Rosey, but then this happened. Am I being unreasonable?”
“You’re insecure, he’ll get that.”
“Will he?” I ask, shaking my head. “I should have stayed and talked to him.”
“Hindsight is a great thing,” she says, smiling. “Get some rest. I’ll keep checking in on you.”
I pace my bedroom waiting. He usually comes in late. I check my watch just as the door opens and Ripper steps inside. He smiles, closing the door and grabbing me, pulling me against him and burying his face in my neck. “I missed you, baby girl.”
“I want to talk,” I announce, and he pulls back to look at me with an amused expression.
“You do?” I nod. “Okay, but before that, can I give you my gift?” My stomach aches. I hate his gifts because I know what they mean. More secrets. More things he wants to do that I’m not ready for. He pulls a small box from his pocket and opens it. It’s a charm for my bracelet, the one he got me last week for my fourteenth birthday.
“Thank you.” I take it and close the box. I’ve learned over time that he doesn’t like it when I try to refuse his gifts. I take a deep breath before announcing, “I think we should stop doing this.” This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned it, but each time, he talks me around and, somehow, I agree to carrying it on, even though I don’t want to.
“Doing what, baby girl?” he asks, smiling in that condescending way he often does.
“This,” I say again, pointing back and forth between us. “I don’t want you to come to my room anymore.”
He grins. “Is that so?”
I nod. “Lucy said a boy her age taught her to kiss.”
“Perfect little Lucy,” he mutters. He hates all my friends.
