Page 43 of Sweet Revenge

He took the last step forward and stood right in front of me. “Maggie, I need to make sure you’re willing to follow through until the very end when I finally put that man where he deserves to be. It may take a while, and you may be asked questions that make you uncomfortable, especially about the abuse and why you never reported it before.”

“I’m ready this time.”

“Why now?” Luke probed gently.

I smiled softly. “I’m not alone anymore.”

Luke nodded and moved forward suddenly, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me tight to his body. I smiled against his shoulder when I heard him whisper, “Thank you,” in my ear and tightened his hold. When he finally pulled back, he smiled down at me and then looked over my head with a strange expression on his face.

I hesitated but turned to look over my shoulder. Gunner stood at my back, staring at Luke. I couldn’t interpret the expression on his face, but there seemed to be a silent conversation going on between Luke and him.

Luke broke the stare and glanced back down at me. “I’ll be back to meet with you tomorrow morning to get your official statement. It’s late, and I won’t be able to get a warrant tonight anyway.” When I nodded, he continued. “Any time alright?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I don’t really go anywhere.”

Luke chuckled along with the others, and I smiled. I usually wasn’t funny, so it made me feel pretty good that I could make these men laugh.

I glanced back at Gunner and turned slightly so I could see everyone. “I think I’m going to go up to my room.”

Gunner jerked his chin up. “I’ll walk you up.”

I shook my head and patted my hand against his chest. “No. You stay here. I’ll be fine.”

He walked me to the door and pulled it open, but I turned back when I heard my name called. Turning, I faced Bear having recognized the voice as his. “You’re right. You are not alone anymore, honey. And you never will be again.” He stepped forward and wrapped his hand around the side of my neck, tilting his head down. “You’re family. You have been since you walked your ass into this clubhouse and bravely faced us. That took courage not a lot of people would’ve had, and it’s something no one in this room will ever forget.” He dropped his hand and grinned. “Go ahead. I know you need a break.”

I felt a blush on my cheeks and smiled shyly. They knew me. They knew me better than I thought they did. I backed out of the room and lifted my hand in a wave before making my way down the hallway and toward the stairs. When I felt someone behind me, I turned and saw a woman I didn’t know walking quickly until she positioned herself in front of me, stopped and blocked me from going any further.

“You the girl I’ve been hearing about?”

My eyes scanned over her face. She was pretty, really pretty, and I tried hard to remember where I’d seen her before because she seemed familiar now that we were standing face-to-face, but I couldn’t. I shook it off, but it felt like something that was going to nag at me.

I assumed I didn’t answer fast enough when she started talking again. “You must be, although I’ve never seen you at a party before.”

“I don’t usually come to the parties.” I answered quietly, but at the same time trying to think of a way to ask her to move so I could go upstairs.

“You’re the one with Gunner then?” When I didn’t answer, she leaned in close, and I smelled the heavy scent of cigarette smoke on her breath. Snake always smelled like smoke, and it was a memory I didn’t welcome. “Don’t think you’re special. He’s fucked just about every female in this room. Well, except for Becs.” She laughed, but it sounded more creepy than amused. “Although maybe he’s her baby daddy, and that’s why she won’t say who is.”

I stared into her eyes and saw the desperation and jealousy I was familiar with. Maybe she really didn’t know who I was or where I lived before here, but her nasty words were nothing new to me. I’d met worse than her and heard worse than this about the man I was living with, although somewhere deep inside me, the part that I ignored all too often when I lived with Snake, I knew those women were telling the truth.

The same way I knew this one wasn’t.

I felt someone come up beside me, but I ignored them and focused on the woman trying so hard to scare me away from the man she so obviously wanted for herself.

“Gunner’s a good man. There isn’t a thing you can say that will change my mind or scare me away from him. We all have a past that we shouldn’t have to explain or apologize for, and I won’t ask him to do something he never asks of me.” I nodded and looked to my side to see Becs smiling at the woman standing speechless.

Becs flicked her wrist in the air and gestured toward the party. “You should find someone new, Candy. If Gunner finds out you were even talking to Maggie, he’ll lose his shit, and you’ll be nothing but a dirty memory here.” She grinned mischievously. “It’d be a shame if someone overheard and told him.”

“You’re a bitch, Becs.” Candy snarled. “No wonder you’re knocked up and alone. Who the fuck would want you?”

Becs leaned forward, but Candy must’ve wanted to have the last word because she spun on her heel, marched back to the pool table, and wrapped her arms around Skinner. “I hope Skinner’s smart enough to avoid her.”

“Me too,” Becs grumbled. “Poor kid if he isn’t because she’s like poison.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” I touched her arm. “She’s wrong, you know.”

Becs shrugged her shoulder, but I could tell Candy’s words hurt her somewhere deep. “She’s not that wrong about me, Maggie.”

“Yes, she is.” I said confidently.

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