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My father would never do that. Sure, I know he’s no saint, but then I doubt Rage is either. But he would never kill an expectant mother.
Rage sucks all the air out of me as he crowds my space. “Her name was Mara. She was pregnant with the little girl you saw in the common room. They blew a hole in her brain, killed her instantly.” My stomach bottoms out. The rush of bile into my mouth almost makes me retch as a disgusted feeling spreads through me. I don’t want to believe my father did these things.
“You’re lying,” I whisper, tears no doubt shimmering in my eyes.
“I wish I was, Skye. Luckily, her old man was barely five minutes from the hospital. He was able get her there, and they cut that baby out of her while she was dead.”
I can’t stop the sob that escapes my mouth. If what he’s saying is true, my father is an animal. I think about my baby and how I would feel if I died before I met him or her.
“And that ain’t the worst of his crimes,” Rage continues, not taking his foot off the gas as he delivers blow after blow. “There was a sixteen-year-old girl gunned down and murdered for being in a Pioneer bar.”
My chest feels like it’s caving in. Sixteen? Just two years younger than me, and her life just stopped. I know what these men do is dangerous and there are no mercies in that life, but these deaths aren’t people in that world.
Jack, and even Tommy, they joined the Pioneers knowing what they signed up for. That child will grow up without a mother. I know how that feels. I lost mine when I was young, and it changed me in ways I can’t explain, and it will change her too.
My father.
Desmond.
He did that to that little baby.
I step back, needing space, but he grabs my wrists, forcing me to stay in place.
“Then there was the two lunatics with machetes who ran me and two of my club brothers off the road. I had to fight for my life with my bare hands.”
It feels like someone is turning bands around my chest so tight, it’s crushing my lungs.
“So, don’t stand there, Skye, and tell me we’re the same. We don’t target women or children. We don’t touch people not in this life. Your father doesn’t have those same scruples. He’d killyouif it served his fuckin’ purpose.”
“I’m sorry.” It’s a useless thing to say, but I don’t know what I can do.
“Your apology doesn’t bring back Mara or Jade.”
I try to swallow, but my throat feels like sandpaper. “It doesn’t, but I didn’t kill them. I didn’t even know it happened. I’m not Desmond. I don’t have blood on my hands.”
“Don’t you?”
I don’t know what he’s accusing me of here, but I’m scared to say anything. He’s still holding my wrists, and I’m sure he can feel my pulse pounding beneath his fingers. I can hear it in my ears.
“I see my father once in a blue moon, Rage. He drops in, lectures me about something, and then vanishes for months. It’s been like that for years. I’m not involved in his life that way, and I’m not responsible for his actions any more than you would be for your father’s.”
It’s the wrong comparison to make. Rage stiffens, his eyes blazing for a moment before he seems to realise what he’s doing. He releases me, stumbling back. I do the same, even though the illusion of space between us is just that—an illusion.
I watch him unravel in front of me, blinking as if trying to clear something from his eyes before he locks his gaze to mine. “No, you’re not responsible,” his voice is raw, “and that’s why you and our baby are still breathing. Ain’t no one ever gonna put a bullet in you because of who your daddy is.” He scrubs a hand over his mouth. “Get some rest. I’ll have something brought for you to eat.”
He all but runs to the door, unlocking it and dragging it open.
“Don’t leave me in here,” I beg.
He stops, turning to face me from the door frame, and I don’t know what I see in his eyes, but he shakes his head. “We have to know you’re not a threat before we can let you out. We can’t risk losing anyone else to the Pioneers.”
The door is closed behind him and I hear the scrape of the lock. My heart thuds as I stagger to it, grabbing the handle and pulling. The door doesn’t open, not that I expected it to. I lean my head against the wood, trying to breathe through my panic.
I left one prison for another, only I don’t think I’ll be able to escape this one.
CHAPTER2
RAGE
