Page 25 of Regret

“That’s my fuckin’ daughter, you sick fuck!” I growl in his face as I watch him lose all color and turn pale in a split second. “You bought my fuckin’ daughter and think I’m gonna fuckin’ deliver her to you with a ribbon tied around her? I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you, motherfucker!”

“Valor, not yet. You’ll get your chance to kill him. For now, I think we need to get him back to the compound so we can get information from him. It could be the missin’ pieces we need to fuckin’ end this shit once and for all. Plus, I think this fucker should spend some time in prison to see what it feels like when he’s someone’s bitch,” Fox says, pulling me back before I can land another hit anywhere on him.

“I guess you’re right. Keep him the fuck away from me, Fox. If I get too close, I’m not gonna fuckin’ hold back. I will gut him where he stands and not give a fuck about doin’ it. That’s my fuckin’ daughter in that folder,” I growl, my entire body shaking with the rage rushing through my veins.

“I’ll keep him away from you. Go out with Kingston and tell him to stop the installation. This stupid fuck isn’t gonna need a security system so we can come back and finish it at another time for whoever ends up with this house. It’s nice of this pervert to ensure the next owners will have a state of the art system if you ask me,” Fox says, making the asshole groan as I drop him to the floor at Fox’ feet so he can deal with him.

Leaving the room, I find Kingston in the front hall by the door. I let him know that we’re done for the day and to pack everything up. Pulling out my phone, I call my brother and fill him in on what just happened. He tells me he’ll be here in ten minutes with a van so we can get this asshole in a cell where he belongs. Vault is fucking pissed and I know he’s not gonna send anyone in his place for this pick-up. My brother will be driving the van and make sure this guy gets back in one piece. I can’t say he won’t be beaten and bloody by the time he’s unloaded and put in a cell, but he’ll get there alive. If Court were the one picking him up, I couldn’t say the same thing. Court would make this scumbag pay and not hesitate because it’s my girl that he’s trying to get his hands on.

Chapter Eighteen

Savannah

WORKING AT THE clubhouse is something I’ve come to love. It breaks up being at the house and I can get lost in the work and not worry about everything in the world around me. I need to forget what’s going on for a while during the day because when I’m not working, my mind is on a continuous loop about Conrad and everything that’s going on. Zach has been telling me everything they find out because he wants me to know exactly where the club stands on the situation and what they’re doing to find him and make sure he doesn’t get the girls or me. I appreciate knowing what’s going on, but it makes me go crazy because there’s nothing I can do to help. There’s also no new information I can give the guys because Conrad hasn’t contacted me. Other than sending my mother here to get the girls and me. I’d never know he was in Pine View if he didn’t play that card. Part of me can’t believe that he actually followed me here, but the other part knows he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants—me.

Every single night I have nightmares of Conrad getting his hands on the girls and me. Of him taking us away from the club and the guys not being able to find us. When he takes us to the warehouse he’s holding us in, we’re separated and all I can hear are tortured screams of the rest of his victims. Conrad taunts me every second he can with what he’s going to do to me until the buyer comes to pick me up. The nightmare is the same every single night and Zach is always there to hold me close and break me out of the images haunting me and making my life a living hell. I’ve got dark circles under my eyes and my skin is pale from the lack of sleep and pure exhaustion filling me. Most nights I can’t get back to sleep even though I pretend so Zach will get some rest. There’s no point in both of us being exhausted and not sleeping. I’m used to it from the years I lived with the woman who gave birth to me.

Zach has been doing his best to exhaust my body every night. While I love his methods and he’s learned every inch of my body, it doesn’t work. It’s enough for me to go to sleep as soon as I close my eyes, but then the nightmares take over and he can’t take those away. I’ve thought about talking to someone and working through everything with Conrad, but until he’s been detained and dealt with, I really don’t see the point. I can’t go into details about the situation because it could hurt any kind of plan the guys have in place for him. If a therapist I talk to goes to the police, they could pick him up and not have all the information necessary to keep him in prison where he belongs. That’s the last thing any of us want. Plus, we have to make sure his father is also caught and serves time to stop the trafficking ring from continuing.

Since Zach had to go to work today, Court and Killer are with the girls as they complete their school work in the common room. The ol’ ladies are all here and Annabell is sitting on the couches closest to them. She’s so uncomfortable today and miserable. Vault wants to help her, but she’s just biting his head off and blaming him for her current predicament. I mean, he’s half responsible for the pregnancy. I’m staying far away from that mess though. I don’t want to piss my friend off and have her direct her wrath toward me. The kids are the only ones Annabell’s not yelling at. Maybe she needs a nap because she told me this morning she didn’t sleep very good last night. Shy is going out to get her one of those pregnancy pillows so she can sleep better. Or at least attempt to sleep better at night and when she naps. I hope it helps her.

Right now, I’ve got my music louder than normal as I try to get lost in the work like I normally do. It’s not working, but I’m trying. The numbers are all mixing together and it’s taking me twice as long to get anything done. Shaking my head to clear it from the thoughts of Conrad, I focus on the work in front of me and try to make the numbers make sense. Right now, I feel as if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew and that Zach should keep working on the books for the club because I clearly can’t concentrate on my job.

Getting out of my chair, I stop the music on my phone and head for the door. Leaving my office, I make my way to the common room and find Court reading a paper that one of the girls has written. I watch for a minute as he explains something to Ava in a way she understands. The paper must be hers as she takes it back and starts making changes in pen so she can rewrite it on the computer to turn in when it’s ready. Killer is actually helping Miracle as she works on something and I take a look at where Carson is working with Chloe. It’s the first time one of the kids have helped my sisters and I smile as I watch Carson show my sister how to complete a math problem. The only reason I know that’s what he’s doing is because he’s holding up a paper with the problem on it so Annabell and Slim can make sure he’s doing it the correct way. Playboy joins me at the entrance of the common room and watches the group with me.

“Carson is really good at math. He always has been. If anyone can help Chloe with that, it’s him,” Playboy says as I look at him over my shoulder to find him watching one of his sons. “Dylan is better with English and history, but Carson is my math genius. I swear he doesn’t even have to get taught the new lesson and understands what he needs to do.”

“I wish I were like that. I wasn’t really all that good when I was in school. Math was always my worst subject when I was in school. It was nothing more than a jumbled mess and no matter how much extra help I got, I couldn’t ever make the numbers and formulas make sense,” I tell Playboy while laughing at the absolute mess I used to make of my math homework and notes.

“I’m in the same boat. Sam had to help Dylan and Caleb with their math homework. If she couldn’t figure somethin’ out, Carson could. It was just a matter of catchin’ him at home and not out doin’ whatever in order to help his brothers out,” Playboy says and I know what he means as we watch Hope enter the common room and stare at Carson where he’s helping Chloe.

I can’t read the look in her eyes as she hangs her head and lets her long hair cover her face before rushing from the room and back outside. Carson looks up when he hears the door open and a frown covers his face as he watches her disappear. I can’t help but shake my head because those two are already half in love and don’t want the other one to know how they feel. They’re in denial and I can’t wait to see them figure their shit out.

“My son is so fuckin’ oblivious and doesn’t have the first clue that Hope likes him,” Playboy says and I smile up at him.

“I remember a few of you guys being in the same boat. Fighting your feelings for the woman you love and pushing her away,” I state, remembering when Playboy did everything in his power to push Sam away from him when he was in jail for saving her.

“Yeah, we’ve all been the biggest dumbasses when it comes to the women we love and want in our lives. I’m as guilty as everyone else in that regard,” he tells me as his wife walks in the common room and looks at her son before turning her attention to us at the opposite end of the room.

I love Sam. She’s so strong and has been through so much shit. Playboy and her are an amazing couple and I want to have the kind of relationship they have. She doesn’t take his shit and calls him out for all the bullshit when he’s being stupid as hell. Not many people get to witness that because she never does it in public. Everything happens behind closed doors or when there’s hardly anyone else around. The way it should be when a couple is going through something in a clubhouse full of vindictive club girls, gossiping men, and children who don’t need to know what’s going on. Now, the ol’ ladies gossip and we help one another through shit, but we don’t put a couple’s business out there for the world to hear about.

Sam makes her way over to us and wraps her arms around Playboy’s waist as she looks up at him. The love between the two of them is plain to see and it’s a way I hope Zach looks at me.

“Hope isn’t happy and I don’t know what to do,” Sam says, her voice hurting for the young girl who likes her son.

“Nothin’, baby. You let them work their shit out on their own. One day Carson is gonna see what Hope means to him and not let his fear rule his decisions. Until that day, we have to leave them alone. Especially with Killer in the room. It’s a good thing he just didn’t witness his baby girl leavin’ upset because he’d be on Carson before any of us could blink,” Playboy tells her, a smirk on his face because his son is being stupid.

“I don’t wanna see her hurt because he’s a stupid idiot like someone else I know,” she says, still looking up at her husband with memories filling her eyes.

“When the time comes, I’ll talk to him and let him know what’s up. Until then, we need to leave them alone,” Playboy says, trying to find middle ground to keep his wife happy while staying out of his son’s romantic situation as long as he can.

“How are you doing, Savannah?” Sam asks me, turning in Playboy’s arms and giving me her attention.

“I’m okay. Tired of the bullshit I’ve brought to the club, but one day it will be over,” I tell her honestly as I try to stifle a yawn.

“You’re not sleeping,” she states as she looks at me on a deeper level to take in exactly how exhausted I truly am.

“No. I have nightmares every night. Zach does what he can to help me, but this won’t end until I know Conrad and his father are behind bars where they belong. I just want it all to end,” I say, leaning against the wall behind me as I look around the common room again.

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