Page 16 of Regret

“Let’s go. I’m not lettin’ you do this shit alone, Love. I’ll be there every step of the way,” I state as we both get out of bed.

Savannah puts her shoes on while I put on my shirt and cut before sliding my feet in my boots. Grabbing Savannah’s hand, I lace our fingers together and we leave our room. I stop long enough to lock the door before we make our way to the common room. Most everyone is sitting around the tables eating while I look around for Court, Vault, and a few others. When I don’t see them with everyone else, I guide Savannah down the hallway toward my brother’s office. Knocking on the door once, I open it to find Vault, Court, Buzz, Fox, Kingston, Slim, Killer, Playboy, Chrome, and Red in the small room. They stop talking when we walk in and Killer quickly jumps out of his seat and offers it to Savannah. Always taking care of my girl because she's important to these men who have watched her grow into the strong woman she is today.

“I’m glad you’re both here. We were just goin’ over what everyone found,” Vault says, sitting back in his seat and looking at Savannah and no one else. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“I’m as good as I can be right now,” she answers, trying to keep her voice strong as she looks at each man here. “I’m sorry this is falling on your shoulders and you’ve been dealing with a mess I created.”

“Savannah, I don’t wanna hear that shit from your mouth again. Darlin’, you’re the victim in this situation and have been for a number of years. From what we’ve discovered, you’re a target and there’s a reason Conrad was so adamant you go out with him,” Slim says, bending down so he’s face-to-face with Savannah. “You got away and Conrad’s father can’t have that happen. He forced Conrad to come for you by any means necessary. This is still from that shit when we found you years ago. Nothin’ is gettin’ close to you, Darlin’.”

Savannah drops her head and her shoulders start to shake as she cries. I want the attention off of my girl because she doesn’t need witnesses to her breakdown. She feels horrible enough. None of the men in this room will say a word about her losing her shit, but she’s going to feel bad about them seeing her so broken and vulnerable. Savannah’s at her lowest point and I will make sure she doesn’t get stuck here.

“Why don’t you tell us what you’ve found out so far,” I say, watching as the men take their attention from Savannah and look at me.

“I went down and personally went over every inch of the bitch’s body. Savannah, you didn’t kill her. When I was goin’ over her body, there’s a bullet hole in her head. The shooter timed it fuckin’ perfectly. When you pushed her, they took the shot causin’ her to slam into the concrete pillar before hittin’ the ground,” Court, my best friend, informs us as Savannah’s head snaps up and looks at him with shock filling her face.

“Are you sure?” she questions him, looking around the room and squeezing my hand tight after lacing our fingers together again.

“I’m positive. I told the guys about findin’ the bullet hole in her head and Kingston was able to slow the footage down enough to see everythin’. You’re not gonna see that shit, but Valor can watch so you can hear from him exactly what happened. The way you shoved her away from you would’ve put her on her ass at most. This is not on you, Savannah. I promise you that you’re not a killer and this wasn’t your fault. It was a combination of things includin’ the drugs in her system. Not only did Doc run a test that came back positive, but she had more on her body,” Court says, his voice softer than I’ve ever heard it as Savannah takes in every word he’s saying to her and tries to process the information.

“We got the direction the shot came from, but there’s no way he’s gonna be stickin’ around to find out what happens next. I’m sure he’s a paid hitman and completed his orders. He saw that you weren’t gonna go with your mother and took her out before she could give up information they didn’t want you knowin’. We’ve seen that shit happen before and I know it doesn’t change the fact that your mother is dead, but I want you to get it out of your fuckin’ mind that you killed her, Savannah. Your mother brought this shit on herself by the assholes she chose to associate with,” Vault says, leaning forward and resting his arms on his desk while keeping his eyes locked on Savannah where she sits in front of him. “The girls are here and want to see you. Why don’t you two go out and eat dinner with them? We’ll take care of all this shit and have church first thing in the mornin’.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go tell them that she showed up here and what happened. Obviously I won’t go into details, but I know this isn’t over. Conrad is here. I don’t know why I feel that way, but I do. She said he knows where I am, and he’s not going to wait very long to get his hands on me,” Savannah says, standing from the chair and not letting go of my hand.

“We’ll keep an eye out for Conrad, Sweetheart. Kingston and Fox are runnin’ a deep check into him. We’ll find him and make sure he doesn’t get his hands on any of you,” Vault promises Savannah as we leave the room and go in search of the girls. I want to see them as bad as Savannah does.

We find the girls in the common room at a table with Annabell, Shy, and Gwen. Annabell looks so uncomfortable with her pregnancy and I want to talk to her, but right now, I need to be there for my girls. Stepping up to the table with Savannah, I wait for Ava to stop talking about the upcoming football game with Annabell. Both of them have cheerleading in common and I’m glad my girl has someone to talk to about it.

“Can I talk to my sisters for a minute?” Savannah finally asks when Ava finishes talking.

“Of course. We’ll get you and Valor plates of food. You both need to eat to keep up your strength,” Shy says, helping Annabell from the chair she’s sitting in and leading them to the kitchen so they can get us some food.

“Girls, are you okay?” Savannah asks her sisters while I pull out a seat for her to take and remain standing behind her with my hands resting on her shoulders.

“We’re okay. A little confused, but okay,” Ava answers as she grabs Miracle’s and Chloe’s hands while keeping her eyes on Savannah and me. “What’s going on?”

“Our mother showed up here today. She was trying to force me to get you three so we could go back with her. I fought her every second and told her she no longer has a claim on the three of you. You’re my girls and I won’t let her get close to you. No one will get close to you if I can help it. Um, we got into an argument and I pushed her away from me when she tried to grab my arm again. At the same time, someone shot her in the head. She’s dead. I’m sorry to have to tell you this news and I don’t know how else to tell you other than what I just said,” Savannah says, her voice sounding robotic as she relays the information to the girls she’s promised to love and protect.

For several minutes, the girls don’t say a word. They look at Savannah and me while processing the bomb that was just dropped on them. Finally, Ava speaks.

“Good. I’m glad she’s dead. That woman was never a mother to us. Savannah, you’ve been the only mom we’ve ever had and I don’t miss that woman at all. She did nothing but try to hurt us and I have no doubt that was her plan by trying to force us to go back with her. Do you know why she wanted us back all of a sudden?” Ava questions Savannah as Miracle and Chloe nod their head in agreement with Ava.

“The money. I’ve never once kept the money a secret from the three of you. We all agreed we wouldn’t touch it if we didn’t have to. You know I’m going to invest a good portion of mine and leave your money alone. I want us all to have a future without constantly worrying about money and how we’ll get through each week. Kingston is going to help me invest some money and we’ll go from there. For now, I just want you to know I’m here for you and the guys are doing everything they can to protect us,” Savannah answers her sister as I squeeze her shoulders gently because her entire body is tight with tension and I know she’ll be feeling the pain later.

“You and Valor are our parents,” Miracle says, smiling at us with nothing but trust filling her bright blue eyes. “No matter what you’re both there for us and all it took was one call to Valor and he showed up like a dad would. We love you two and know you’ll do what it takes to keep us safe.”

“I love you girls and will always protect you. You might hate the way I choose to protect you, but I’ll always do what I feel is best for the four of you,” I tell my girls honestly as I finally take a seat between Chloe and Savannah. “It’s an honor that you consider me your parent and I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.”

Savannah, the girls, and I remain at the table while we eat and then have some cake for dessert. Court joins us with his own plate of food and cake and we spend a little while talking and listening about the girl’s day at school. For now, Savannah has let everything go and focusing on her sisters and nothing more. Everything else will always fade into the background when it comes to the girls needing something from us. I’m the same way and will always put them first and never make them feel as if I don’t care about them as I would any child I have. These are my girls and they’ll know that without having any doubts in their mind from this day forward.

Chapter Twelve

Savannah

I’VE BEEN KEEPING a close eye on my sisters since I told them about our mother. Last night they were fine and talked with everyone in the clubhouse. They spent time with the kids they were around since the Phantom Bastards rescued us and saved our lives and made sure each man and woman got a few minutes with them. It’s been so long since they’ve really had the chance to just be around everyone and I’m glad they’re taking the chance now before everyone goes back home and returns to their normal lives. When they went to bed last night, I remained awake watching over them in case any of them had nightmares and needed me. Zach didn’t sleep at all either. He stayed up with me and tried to get me to fall asleep so I wouldn’t be tired today. I refused after the nap I took yesterday and I’ll take a nap today if that’s what I have to do.

It didn’t help that I was lost in my head and kept thinking about what I need to do in order to protect the girls if something were to ever happen to me. Zach and I talked about it in the past, before everything happened, and he always promised me he’d take the girls in and raise them as his own. I know that’s a promise he’ll keep even now. He’s told me more than once that we’re his girls and if I trust anyone with them, it will be him. Zach has the backing of the entire Phantom Bastards club and they’ll help him raise the girls to be the strong, loving, loyal women I know they’ll be. All four of us want to be better than the mother we were born to. With Zach raising the girls, I know that will happen. It’s one of the many reasons I started to fall in love with him so long ago. Zach is one of the best men I know and that’s never changed when it comes to my sisters.

While I was wide awake, I came to the conclusion about what I need to do in order to protect my sisters if Conrad ever gets his hands on me again. I already know I won’t come out of any interaction with him alive. Conrad is going to take me running from him as a personal insult and that’s not something he can handle. He believes he’s a man no woman can resist when the reality is that he’s a monster. Conrad will never change and he’ll always be evil. I don’t know if it's how he was raised or something he turned into over the years. What I do know is if his father is also involved in trafficking people, then it was something he learned by watching the asshole who was supposed to love and mentor him. He got plenty of mentoring from what I can tell, but it wasn’t to do with anything good. It kind of makes me wonder where Conrad’s mother is. If she’s just stood by and let all this shit happen because she’s scared or if she’s actually a part of this entire situation.

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