Page 29 of Regret

“Bitch! I’m the best thing you could hope to have in your pathetic life. Your own mother didn’t even want you or those fucking brats. She sold you to me for practically nothing. What the fuck does that say about you?” he returns, his voice cold and hard as he continues to glare at me.

“It says more about her than anything bad about me, Conrad. If you were a decent human, you’d realize that. Instead, you prey on people weaker than you and force yourself into their lives when they don’t want you around. I’m sure Daddy is really proud of the bitch you’ve become,” I respond, my voice going hard as I hold my head high and grab his wrist.

I squeeze his wrist as hard as I can before yanking it to the side in my hopes of breaking his hold on me. A pop sounds in the air as he screams and lets go of me. I race toward the kitchen and run my hand across the plates and other breakfast dishes that were left behind this morning. They all crash to the floor as I start to tip the stools at the island over and flinch as they crash to the floor at my feet. Racing around the island, I grab the cast iron pan on the stove along with a sharp knife from the butcher block. Turning to face Conrad again, I watch as he laughs at me.

“You think I’m scared of a pan and knife? You don’t have the guts to hurt me in any way, Savannah. You’re weak and pathetic,” Conrad says, his voice even harder as he starts to make his way over to me.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my family, Conrad. Something you know nothing about. You’d run like a pussy before you ever thought about protecting anyone you supposedly love or care about. It’s exactly how your father raised you because he’s nothing more than a bitch like you,” I state, my voice as strong as I can make it and I look straight at Conrad so I can figure out his next move as he stands across from me.

“You have no family. Your sisters are all sold to people already and I’ll be collecting them to hand over to their buyers as soon as you get them to me. For now, I’m gonna enjoy breaking you and making sure you have the worst time you can possibly have with me. Then, I’m gonna sell you for the highest bid I can get. You’ve already cost me more than enough money and I’ll make sure to get every fucking penny back. I’ll also make sure I get the money I’ve lost from the sale of your sisters,” Conrad threatens me, placing his hands on the island as he steps as close as he can with the stools laying all over the floor.

“I do have a family. See, what you don’t know is those girls are legally mine in every way. I’ve adopted them and have been the only mom they know. Zach is my husband and with him comes an entire club full of men who would give their lives to protect my girls and me. You have no one in your corner. For as selfish as you are, your father is just as bad if not worse than you. I’ve surrounded myself with those I know will fight for me because I’d do the same in return. You’ll never experience that because you’re a vile, sick monster who gets off on hurting those around him. No one will ever want you because they can see how fucking black your heart and soul are,” I inform him as Conrad’s face starts turning a shade of red I’ve never seen on someone before. He’s going to explode and I’ll pay the price for this information drop I’ve just given him.

“You’re not fucking married!” he shouts to the empty house as I look around and try to figure out how I can get away from this island and to a different part of the house.

“Yeah, I am. I’ve been married for a few weeks now,” I answer him, making him believe I’m going to rush toward the table past the island where we all eat dinner together every single night.

Conrad goes toward the table as I want him to when I change direction and dart to the opposite side and head for the stairs to get up to the second floor. As I run through the house, I pull everything I can from where it stands or sits in order to make it harder for Conrad to follow me and give me a decent head start away from him. I’ve got my foot on the bottom step when I’m once again yanked back by my hair. I scream out in pain and let him pull me away from the stairs. The risk is too high for me to fall on the stairs and have something happen to the baby.

“You’re completely alone here, Savannah. No one is gonna hear you scream or save you because they’re all too busy for you. They’ve left you here alone and there’s no way in hell they’ll get here before I remove you from this hellhole. You should be thanking me for taking you away,” Conrad states as he looks around my house like it’s beneath him.

“They’ve got more money in savings than you could ever hope to have on your own, Conrad. My husband doesn’t use blood money to buy what we need and want and has the means to spoil the girls and me rotten. You will never be anything compared to him because you’re too much of a bitch to even think of being a decent person,” I state, fighting once again as he tries to pull me even further away from the stairs and my escape.

“Shut up!” he yells, his voice going higher than any woman I’ve ever heard before. Guess I hit a nerve with that one.

Swinging my arm back, I try to hit him with the pan in my hand. It takes a few tries, but I finally manage to connect to his ribs. Conrad screams once again before tightening his grip on my hair. I close my eyes and clench my teeth so I don’t scream like he has. The asshole knocks the pan from my grip but doesn’t realize I still have the knife in my other hand. I give him a few minutes to believe he’s got me before swinging out with my other hand. The knife cuts him on the first swing and I pull it out of his body as he screams before I swing back once again. This time the knife digs into his thigh and I hope I hit something important.

“You stupid cunt!” he yells, pulling me back by my hair so hard I hit the floor with a solid thud.

My head bounces off the floor twice causing my vision to turn hazy and blackness to start filling the edges. I know it’s going to be a matter of time before I pass the fuck out. Before that happens, I need to incapacitate Conrad so he can’t take me away from this place. Or at least try to get him so he can’t leave the house. I wish I had my phone on me, but I’m pretty sure I left it in my office at the clubhouse. It was a stupid mistake to make and that’s on me. The guys taught me better than that when I worked with them on self-defense moves and shit. I know so many ways to break out of holds and shit. The one time I need to use that information, I freeze and can’t do anything to help myself.

Conrad is mumbling to himself as he steps up next to my side and I barely recognize him as he glares down at me. There’s a sneer on his face as he looks at me from head to toe. The sneer turns into a smirk and I have no doubt the thoughts in his mind are pure evil and everything I need to avoid before he completely destroys me.

“You’re mine, Savannah. I will sell you, pimp you out, or do anything else I want to you. The first thing I’m gonna do is make sure you’re no longer married to that fucking prick before I touch you. Then, I’ll make sure you give me a child before I sell you off to the highest bidder. Once I have an heir there will be no need for you any longer,” Conrad states, his voice full of promise as he kicks me in the side and I finally break, screaming out in pain as I know he’s gotten me in the ribs and I’ll be feeling that for a while.

Leaning down over me, Conrad balls up his fist and punches me in my temple. The blackness filling me is immediate and it sucks me under with no way for me to fight against the pull. Conrad’s voice is the last thing I hear before everything fades to nothing.

“You’re nothing more than a fucking slut who bends to my will. I’m going to enjoy breaking you and watching as you crumble because I’ve taken everything you love and hold close,” he says, his voice fading to nothing as the fear, strength, and determination fade to nothing.

Images of Zach and the girls fill my mind and I know this could be the very last time I see them because there’s no way in hell Conrad will ever let me go once he takes me out of our home. He’ll beat, torture, and break me until there’s nothing left but an empty shell. Conrad will have more fun breaking me than anything else. That’s just the kind of man he is. Zach would never do anything like that to me because he knows how to make me even stronger than I am and will never do anything to hurt me. He loves and protects me more than anything else in the world. Zach has always been my safe place and we lost so much time together that we’ll never get back. Now, I’ll never see him again.

Chapter Twenty-One

Valor

COURT AND KILLER told me Savannah had gone home to take a nap as soon as I came upstairs from taking care of the sick fuck who bought one of my daughters. She couldn’t handle being around everyone and there was no way she’d be able to go back to work. Since everyone was down in the basement with me or up in the common room watching over my daughters, no one went home with Savannah. They didn’t even send Martin or George with her. I have no clue what the fuck any of them were thinking as dread fills my gut and my need to get to Savannah overwhelms me. I look at Killer and Court before turning my attention to the girls where they sit in front of their computers and finish up their work for the day.

“I’m gonna go check on my wife. Can you stay here with the girls until we get back?” I ask the men in front of me, fear filling me as I look between my best friend and a man I’ve known for most of my life.

“You’re not goin’ up there alone, Valor. I’ll go with you. The guys will be comin’ up from the basement any minute and they can stay with the girls. Killer and Playboy are already in here. George has been on gate duty and Martin just got back from the store,” Court informs me, his voice letting me know he realizes exactly where my mind went about why my wife is alone. “Let’s go get my sister-in-law so I can get her to bake for me.”

Court has taken to calling my sweet Savannah his sister-in-law over the last week or so. He’s my best friend and the brother of my heart. We clicked immediately and there’s no way I can let him go when the guys patch in and take over their roles in the new chapter. I want to ask Court to stay here with me in Pine View, but he has always been a lover of traveling and said he never wants to set down roots or be tied to any place for long periods of time. Since he’s my best friend, there’s no way in hell I can ever let him leave without making sure I know where he is and what he’s doing. If he wants to call my wife his sister-in-law, I don’t mind. Court would never take things beyond teasing Savannah because he respects me enough to ensure neither one of us are ever uncomfortable with him.

“I don’t have a good feelin’ about this,” I tell them, pulling my phone from the pocket of my jeans.

Nothing is showing up on my phone about any security system alerts being triggered. I see the log where Savannah turned the system off before rearming it. She didn’t do anything wrong or to throw up red flags. There’s nothing on the security system after the time she armed the alarm again. Dread fills me even more because when I try to pull up the camera feed to check on her in the house, I get an error message.

“We gotta go. Now!” I bark out, racing from the clubhouse with Court hot on my heels.

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