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Preston’s already taken the remaining money from my monthly checks, but somehow, it isn’t enough to cover the amount. He must owe more than he’s telling me, or he has more than one dealer he owes.
I overheard him on the phone a few weeks ago. He’s arranged for someone to buy my baby girl after she turns ‘eighteen’. I’ve tried talking him out of it, but each time, he beats me and then drugs me to shut me up.
I don’t know what to do. I have no family or friends anymore. The only other person I could go to is Jax, and I know he won’t talk to me. I hate that I listened to Preston back then, but he convinced me it would be best for Mae.
How wrong I was.
I wish I could take it all back.
I wait while they all read the entry. When they’re done, I push the stack of journals aside slightly.
“While I was reading Mom’s journals, I overheard a couple of phone calls of Preston’s. The first was that he told his dealer, X, that he’d have the money he owed him next weekend. That he’d be paid in full. I couldn’t hear whatever X said, but soon Preston was cursing and he immediately called Bruce. I don’t know what his last name is and I’ve never even heard Preston talking about him before. Preston asked if Bruce was willing to pick me up today, and if he did, he’d shave off some of the price. He was going sell me so that he’d be able to pay off his drug debts.”
Curses ring out through the room.
“They’re not getting their hands on you,” Tripp grunts, and the look he gives me makes me believe him.
“They’re all fucking dead men walking,” Bear growls.
All of these men look lethal, but Bear especially so. He’s a mountain of a man and I’d hate to be the one that comes across him in a dark alley.
Licking my lips, I give them all a small smile, even though I’m trying my hardest not to shake like a leaf. My gaze goes back to Levi and she gives me another encouraging nod. Taking a deep breath, I go to continue, but Timber cuts me off.
“So that’s why Preston had his shorts in a twist when Peggy told you how he was at her diner yesterday. He’s got till sometime today to produce you. If not, he won’t be able to pay off his debt to his dealer,” Timber says.
Nodding, I frown. “Yes.”
I hate that Preston hurt Peggy. If I get my hands on him, I’m going to make him pay for what he did to her.
Seeing confused looks, I tell them about our texts with Peggy yesterday.
Shaking my head, my gaze goes back to the journals and then to Thor. “You can read the journals once Alexei has them all scanned. The summary version of the journals is that somehow Preston and Mom were able to trick Smoke into thinking I was stillborn. I don’t know how—she didn’t go into that in any of her journals. Preston had apparently convinced her it was the right thing to do for me. With what was in the journals and everything that Preston ranted about over the years, I get the feeling that he’s jealous of Smoke and angry at him for some reason. However, I don’t know why.”
“Probably because he’s a stupid little fucker who couldn’t even keep any of his business ventures afloat for more than a few years, max. His last one was the car dealership he owned, but that went up in smoke years ago,” Smoke says with a smirk.
Suddenly, things click into place. “You were the one that blew up the dealership. That’s why he wasn’t able to launder his money anymore.”
“Wait, what?” Smoke says as he scowls and sits up straighter, or at least tries to since Phoenix and Bear still have a hold of his shoulders. “I scoured over all of his information. There weren’t any clues about him laundering money, even though we suspected him to be doing it.” Inwardly, I smirk at the fact that he didn’t deny blowing up Preston’s car dealership.
Instead of answering him right away, I pull the stack of journals closer and start flipping through them until I find the right entry. Scanning it, I put it up on the screen.
I can’t believe what I heard tonight. Preston thinks I was passed out, but he doesn’t know that I pretend to be so that him and his cronies will tire of me sooner.
Somehow, they all got onto the topic of the car dealership Preston used to own years ago when we were first together. He was bitching about it going up in flames and that it was a waste of a good cover. The explosion happened about a month after Mae was born. At the time, he’d apparently been using the car dealership to launder money into an account under my daughter’s ‘dead’ name. I don’t think he’s still using her name, but you never know with that asshole.
Jax would be able to find out in a heartbeat, but I know I can’t go to him. He’ll never talk to me again after what I stupidly did to him. If I could talk to him again, I’d tell him everything. Everything about what Preston said and did to convince me to marry him. What happened that brought about my decision to divorce him. I’d give him all the information I know about Preston’s ‘dealings’ so that they could be shut down. But I know it’ll never happen. This is my punishment for what I did all those years ago, and as long as I can keep their attention off of my daughter, then everything I endure will be worth it.
Smoke goes to stand but he’s pushed back down in his seat by Phoenix and Bear.
“If you won’t let me up, then someone grab my laptop for me,” he growls.
Ryder gets up, grabs his laptop and gives it to Smoke, who immediately starts typing away.
Putting the journals back in order, I turn to the folder. “Among the papers, I found my real birth certificate and my ‘death’ certificate,” I say using quotation marks. “That’s how I finally found out my dad’s name.”
Pulling them out, I scan them so everyone can see all three. I start with my fake one, and then go onto the others. As I’m scanning, I keep filling them in on what I’d been told over the years.
“Whenever I’d ask about my dad, they’d never tell me his name. Just that he was in an MC that did a lot of illegal things. Drugs, dealing weapons, human trafficking. Preston also said he had died not too long after I was born in a drug bust. Mom never corrected him about anything, but I overheard him more than once threatening to beat her. Maybe one of those threats was for if she ever told me anything about him.”
