Page 32 of Intertwined Souls

David finishes his cigarette silently, but my hope that he is done is short-lived as he pulls up to a dirty, decrepit warehouse in the middle of nowhere. I don’t even know if we are still in Jacksonville.

A bald man with dirty-blond hair comes out the door and walks up to the window on David’s side of the truck. He shoots me a crooked smirk before looking at David. “Grab the kid in the back and put him in her room. We’ll deal with him later,” David sneers in disgust.

“No,” I whisper, not meaning for the word to come out.

Twisting my wrists, I attempt to pull them out of the zip-ties or break them off of the headrest, but it’s a waste of energy to even try with the angle my hands are at above my head.

David’s head whips towards me, a snarl twisting his features. “So hearing all the things I did to your mama doesn’t get you worked up, but talking about that fucking kid does? She finally speaks for him?”

He reaches over and roughly squeezes my cheeks together, yanking my face towards his.

“The only man you should even be thinking about is me. Try anything to save him and I will slit his throat right in front of you and fuck you in his blood. Maybe I’ll fuck you first while he watches and then slit his throat.” He grins slowly.

To the best of my ability, I attempt to spit in his face even with him squeezing my cheeks to the point of tears forming in my eyes. His grin grows wider, and he doesn’t even bother to wipe my saliva off his face as he releases me and slowly runs his hand down the front of my throat, between my breasts, and continues down until he cups my pussy through my jeans and leans in closer to whisper in my ear.

I turn my head as far away from him as I can get and keep myself perfectly still. The sound of my racing heartbeat thrashes in my ears, and a small whimper slips past my lips before I can stop it. My terror overpowers any strength I was attempting to show until now.

Hearing the whimper, David groans. “This pussy is mine, little girl. Spit on me, yell at me, do whatever you want. All it will do is turn me on even more. It might even be mine in more ways than one.”

He breathes in my ear as he gets even closer until I can feel his lips against the shell of my ear. My breaths come rapidly, until I’m hyperventilating with no way to stop it.

“Did I tell you the best part, sweet little Harley? Rage wasn’t the only one who fucked her then. When she was home around having to be at the club, I was still getting my fill any chance I got. So the real question is, who is your daddy? Rage? Or me?”

His cackle slowly fades…

Gasping, I jolt up in the bed, blinking my eyes rapidly and wiping away the tears that are dripping down my cheeks. It’s just a dream. Just a dream, I tell myself, yet I know it’s a lie.

It’s far from a dream or even a nightmare. It’s real. It did happen, and now I don’t know if his words will ever leave my mind.

Glancing next to me, Ryker is passed out on his stomach sound asleep. Trying not to wake him, I slip out of the bed and walk over to his dresser, snagging a pair of his sweats. I have to roll the waistband and tie them as tight as I can get them, but it’s better than no pants.

As quietly as I can, I sneak out of his room and head downstairs. The clock in the kitchen reads 3 a.m. which means I got a whopping two hours of sleep. Heading out the back door, I take a seat on the bottom step of the porch and run my toes through the damp grass.

Glancing up at the sky, you can see the stars because of how far out of town the compound is. The quiet is peaceful and soothing, but at the same time it makes my skin crawl and chest squeeze painfully because all I can hear in my head is my mom.

Screaming in pain as her innocence is ripped away from her at such a young age… begging for it to stop… never getting help until the day she saved herself.

I can’t even imagine the horrors she had to face, but looking at her for the thirteen years she raised me, you would have never known she had suffered her entire childhood. She stayed strong for me. For our family.

A heart-wrenching scream rings in my mind with the sound of David groaning and cackling following. Slamming my hands over my ears, I lean my head forward in between my knees and take deep breaths. I count to ten and then exhale. Repeat. Over and over again until I feel like I can drag a full breath of air into my lungs.

Sitting up straight again, I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, letting the tears fall.

I just want to see her one more time. I want to hug her and tell her how fucking sorry I am. I want to take all her pain away. She didn’t deserve it. She was so sweet and kind to everyone.

I never understood why she didn’t date when I was growing up. I remember asking her why she didn’t have a boyfriend, and she always just said I was the most important part of her life and all that mattered.

Now I understand why she never dated.

“Harley?” someone questions from behind me. I glance back and watch Gabriel come down the few steps and take a seat next to me. “Are you okay? What are you doing out here?”

I raise a brow at him. “What are you doing out here? Why aren’t you sleeping?”

He grimaces. “I was working, and time got away from me. I was coming out to head over to the house and grab a shower before going back. Now you, what’s going on? Why have you been crying?” he asks genuinely.

Taking a deep breath, I look away from him and out at the tree line across the large yard. An easy lie forms in my head, Just feeling bad about what happened to Cade. It’s not really a lie, though, I feel awful, but that isn’t what the current issue is.

No matter how hard I try to let the lie fall from my lips and be done with the conversation, I don’t.

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