Page 76 of Chains

“We need to talk,” he replies quietly. “But not here. Come with me.” He takes my hand and practically drags me back to our room, the music still pumping and the loud sounds of the party going on downstairs telling me it’s not about to end soon.

“What’s going on?” I demand, when we’re in the privacy of our room, getting a really bad feeling about what he has to tell me. “You haven’t changed your mind about claiming me as your ol’lady have you?” I question. Because if he has, I might just go postal on his ass.

He takes my hands in his larger ones, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Of course I haven’t, baby. You're mine, and you always will be.” He tells me, sighing deeply before continuing, “Something happened when we were in Dallas a few days ago.” he begins.

“Okay. What?”

“There’s no easy way for me to say it, so I’m just gonna come out with it.” He says, and I can feel the frustration building inside me.

“Okay, and?” I push.

“We found out Caleb had killed your mother,” he tells me. “I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, but with everything going on, with the asshole kidnapping you, you can understand why I didn’t.”

The news he told me was so shocking that it felt like a physical blow. My mother was dead?

How much more shit am I able to take in my life? All because of the piece of shit I was married to.

“But why my mother? She liked him. She didn’t give a rat's ass that he was abusing me.”

“Because she was sleeping with Kon Sokolov. I guess because he could never bring him down by legitimate means, he wanted to hurt you and place the blame on Kon for her death.”

With that bit of information, you could’ve knocked me down with a feather. What the actual fuck?

“I know you’re probably mad at me, baby, and I’m sorry for not telling you straight away…” he stops speaking when I place a finger against his lips.

“I’m not mad at you, baby. Never at you. I’m just shocked is all. Sad that my mother and I could never bridge the gap between us. But I’m not mad. You’re not responsible for her choices in life. She was my mother, but she was virtually a stranger to me. Which is really sad when you think about it.” I wiped the lone tear that slid down my cheek. Adding, “He was a real evil and nasty bastard, wasn’t he?”

“He sure was. But he won’t hurt you anymore, my brothers and I made sure of it.”

“I know you did. And I love you for it. My mother and I didn’t get along, but she didn’t deserve to die. I hope Caleb burns in hell.”

“I’m sure he is.” Chains says with a small grin. “Let’s get back down to the party.”

We cleared the last step on the staircase, when we could hear raised voices coming from outside, rushing to see what was happening.

A woman with a baby around the same age as their little boy, Silas, stood before Tiny and Sage, as everyone looked on with curiosity. What was going on now? I thought to myself, squeezing Chains' hand even tighter.

Tiny looked livid, and Sage looked like she was about to tear both the woman and Tiny limb from limb.

“What the fuck do you want?” Tiny growled.

The strange woman narrowed her eyes at him, trying to calm the crying baby. “What do I want? I have a job I’m starting on Monday in Atlanta, and I want you to take Bella. That’s what I want.”

“Why would I do that? I have nothing to do with your kid,” he spat.

The woman laughed humourlessly. “Well, since you were a part of making her, you’re partly responsible for looking after her, asshole.”

Collective gasps went around the women at the cookout, and I could tell Sage was barely holding it together.

While Tiny was standing there in complete shock, the other woman handed over the baby to him with a large diaper bag.

“Everything she needs is in that.” She tells him, motioning to the bag. With that, she turns on her heel and makes a quick getaway. The grenade she let off in the middle of the cookout still exploding around us.

“Didn’t expect that.” Chains whispered.

“Did you know he cheated on Sage?”

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