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“Jesus, you ran, didn’t you? Who were you married to? Anyone I know. God, did they force you to marry him?”
Cassia hung her head. I put a finger under her chin to lift it back up. I gave her a brief kiss. She didn’t pull away, which made me happy. I was hoping this was a sign that she was getting more comfortable with me. She took a deep breath before answering a fidgeting Neriah.
“I did run. You remember my dad. Well, he didn’t get better as I got older. By the time I turned sixteen, he was done with me. He told me I was getting married in two hours and to get ready. I was taken to meet my groom. Do you remember Reuben Tully?”
“Oh God, not him! He was as bad as your dad. I’m so sorry, honey.” Tears started pouring down her cheeks which set off my woman. We let them cry and hold on to each other. Giving her room, I got up and paced the room. Tiger came over with Thorn.
“Spill. She’s on the run. She was forced into marriage. I’m going to assume she didn’t consent to being with him sexually after the wedding,” Tiger growled. I shook my head. His fists tightened.
“Son of a bitch! Does she have any kids? Does she think they’re looking for her?” Thorn asked.
“She miscarried right before she escaped. It was the result of a beating he gave her. I’d say it would be a good guess that they would want her back. Does he have the capability to find her? That I don’t know. He wasn’t one of the lieutenants, or at least not when she left. I’m going to ask Smoke to check into what he can find out about him and where the survivors went after the church was destroyed.”
“So what Terror was saying to check out yesterday was bogus. She’s not a spy. Who is the woman who helped her?” Tiger asked.
“A woman who lived in Hartford. She heard of her somehow and went to her. She was known to help women escape abusive relationships. She got her a birth certificate and other documents and sent her here. Her name is MaryAnne. I’ll have Smoke dig into her too. She claims her real name is Cassia Parrish, but she was born at home. They must have not registered her birth.”
Storm came over to join us. He had Tristan back. He nodded toward the three women. They were clustered together talking softly. “Why don’t we give them some time? I think it’ll be better if they can talk without us.”
“Wanna head over to our house? It’s closer than the clubhouse,” Thorn suggested.
After nodding in agreement, we took the time to tell the ladies where we were headed. I gave her a kiss then whispered, “I won’t be far. You have your phone. Here, let me put my number in it. You can text if you need me.” She didn’t give me any grief. She let me put in my information. It was hard to leave her, but I knew she needed this. While they were doing that, I’d see if Terror was available for an update.
Cassia:
By the time I was done telling Neriah, or Ne-Ne as I knew her, about what had happened after she left, I was drained and only wanted to sleep. My eyes were sore, puffy and red from all the crying. My head was pounding and my nose was stuffy. My body ached, although I had no idea why.
Both women didn’t look much better. They cried, swore, and yelled with me. It had been cathartic to be able to vent like that. The fact that Neriah could relate to the environment we grew up in, and Bryony had been through her own horrors, helped so much. They had assured me that when I met the rest of the Warriors’ ladies, I’d gain a whole sisterhood. They didn’t share details but hinted that several women in the club had experienced traumatic things in their pasts. Blade had said the same thing.
It had been two hours since the guys left us alone. I bet they were wondering what in the hell we were doing. I blew my nose before breaking the silence. “We should tell the guys it’s all clear to come back. I wonder what they’ve been doing?”
“Probably having a drink and talking to Terror and the other guys. They’ll have to rally the troops and get to work,” Bryony said with a smile.
“Rally the troops? To do what?”
“To find where Reuben ran off to when the Converts were run off their compound.”
“Why? As long as he doesn’t come here, and there’s no reason for him to know where I am, they don’t have a reason to know his whereabouts.”
Neriah chuckled. I gave her a confused look. Why was she laughing?
“God, you have so much to learn. Cassia, you’ve been singled out by an Archangel’s Warrior to be his old lady. You’d have to be crazy and blind not to know the man is head over heels for you. This club is filled with strong, protective, alpha males who will do anything they have to in order to keep this club and their families safe and happy. Blade isn’t going to let the man who forced you to have sex with him for years, abused you, and caused you to lose your baby to walk free. Reuben Tully’s days are numbered,” Neriah told me softly.
I sat there in shock. Was she insinuating Blade would find Reuben and kill him? Surely not. I went to ask her to clarify when Bryony jumped back into the conversation.
“Yes, she means he’s going to kill him. What do you think of that? Can you live with him taking out a monster like Reuben? I wouldn’t count your dad as being safe either. Cassia, if you’re going to be with Blade, you need to know what kind of man he is. The kind of men they all are. They don’t hurt the innocent. They don’t go looking for trouble or do illegal things like sell drugs or stuff, but they do believe in justice. Sometimes that can only be achieved outside the law. If you can’t live with that, then you need to tell him and walk away.” I could hear the tone of warning in her voice.
“I-I don’t know. This is a lot to take in. I need to think. Thank you both so much for listening to me. It was a relief to get that out. Neriah, I’m so happy to see your life has turned out so well. I hate to dump all this on you then run, but I need to think and in order to do that, I need to be alone.”
“Don’t take off without telling Blade where you’re going. He’ll lose his mind if you disappear. Promise us that you’ll think about what we said then sit down and talk to Blade. Don’t just cut him off without a chance to talk or God forbid, leave town like you almost did,” Bryony pleaded.
“I won’t. I promise. Okay, let me tell him I need to leave. Thank you. Come see me soon at the bakery. I’ll hook you up,” I told them. They grinned. I sent off a text. It was only a few minutes after his return text saying he was on his way, that they walked back into the house. Tristan was asleep in Storm’s arms. He slipped out of the room with him. Blade came straight to me.
“Baby, are you doing okay?” His concern was evident. I was bold enough to touch his whisker-covered jaw.
“I’m doing okay. I’m tired and I want to go home and rest.”
“Sure. I’ll take you and we can do that then later we can get dinner.”
