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Her eyes flickered. “You think you’re the father?”
I nodded, feeling the heavy weight of the new obligation settling on my shoulders. But her question gave me pause.
“I don’t know. What about Richard?” I asked full of venom. “Or others?”
“I didn’t take a single man to my bed until I found out. I figured if I was already pregnant, I might as well get back on the horse. It wouldn’t last. I’ll be showing soon. And I certainly haven’t invited any other bikers to my bed.”
“So, about three months sounds like Halloween night?” I remembered that night oh so well. I thought of it a million times since. It was when I told her I loved her, and I meant it. It had also been the start of this whole mess, the night of the raid.
She nodded, a scowl coming over her. “But I was captured that night, too.”
My brain went completely blank for a moment as I processed her words. My heart felt like it was being compressed in a vise when I understood them. Her club had raped her. The Gods, my enemies, the men who killed my sister, her ex-boyfriend, at least. There was a possibility that the child she was carrying might not be mine. Counting the cars passing, I tried to keep my reactions in check.
“I thought you said Scar prevented all that?” I asked, carefully.
“No, I said he saved me from fifty of them raping me. One already had. They picked the worst one to go first.”
“Ax?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
She nodded, tears suddenly streaming down her face. “Yes,” she admitted it aloud.
Anger and hatred surged through me. Fuck. If I would’ve known, I would’ve chased after him. I would’ve killed him when I had the chance. Slowly, with no mercy. Visions of busting his skull open danced through my head. But that wasn’t good enough. I would take him piece by piece while he still lived.
“You’re saying they chose him?” I asked her, still thinking of what I planned to do to her rapist when I found him.
Fuck. The Gods violated her, then made her President. Sickos.
She bowed her head. “He volunteered to. He was only a prospect at the time. He followed me to the club. I dated him long ago, on the road, in the circus. Looks like he earned his patch.”
She had told me she didn’t have anyone back in Arkansas, so her words answered one of my many questions.
“Poison knows about my pregnancy. She must’ve told someone. No one in my club knows about you and me. Only Killer and Fireball knew. They are both dead. The chapter in Arkansas must think this baby belongs to Ax. This was the first I heard of them knowing anything,” she said, answering more.
Leaning in, I kissed her forehead. My lips on her skin, I felt that sense of protectiveness strengthening within me. I wanted nothing more than to protect her and her child, but I knew that would be impossible if we stayed in Galveston. The Asphalt Gods MC was too dangerous, too powerful here in Texas.
“I have to go back to Tennessee,” I said finally, looking at her with a heavy heart. “Tomorrow.”
Her eyes enlarged in distress and confusion. “What? Why?” she asked.
“I can’t keep you safe here,” I said, my voice quaking. “We need to go into hiding. I need to hide you. I’ll go back to Nashville and explain everything to Kingpin. Once it’s safe, I’ll come back for you.”
Maren didn’t look too sure. All the misgivings I pressed down deep were reflected on her face. “You can’t just give yourself over to them,” she said, pleading with me.
“I ain’t leaving you alone,” I said firmly. “I’ll be in touch with you every day, and I’ll make sure you have everything you need. I know someone who you can stay with. He’ll keep you safe for a price. And once it’s safe, I’ll come back for you. I promise.”
Her eyes were full of fear and uncertainty, but as I saw it, we had no other choice.
“Okay,” she said finally. “We’ll do it your way. But for the record, I don’t think it will work.”
“Trust me,” I said, knowing we hadn’t even talked about all her secrets yet. I didn’t know for certain I could trust her.
We rode on to my motel. She asked but going to her place was out of the question. Parking my Harley, I thought enough to hide it around the back, away from the road, between two SUVs.
“In the morning, you can go and pack up, but we’ve got to get moving,” I said. “We’ll sleep here tonight.”
It was safer that way.
Maren, Treasure, my Treasure, whoever she was, seemed exhausted. Fuck. She was pregnant. She was probably as starved as I was. As soon as we were safely in the room, I ordered pizza. I knew what she liked on it from before. Green olives and pepperoni on her half. Sausage for me. I had been living off delivery services these last three months while searching for her, so I was tired of pizza, but I didn’t have the mental power to think of anything else. It would do me no good to ask a hungry woman what she wanted to eat.
