Page 15 of Condemned Soul

“So, how was he?” Ella asks when she picks up Sophia. I don’t know how she knows her father paid me a visit earlier, but I figure there's no point lying to her.

“He was like he always is, uptight.”

My daughter laughs at my response.

“You wanna talk about being uptight? Mom, do you know yourself?”

“No,” I answer her honestly and watch her face turn serious again.

“My whole life I was told who I was supposed to be, by my parents, by my husband. I’m feeling lost, Ella. There was only one time in my life when I ever felt free and that was so long ago…”

“When you were with him.” Ella reads my mind and looks almost sympathetic.

I don’t deserve her sympathy.

“I should have understood you better, I was very much like you at the age you were when you met Nyx. I should have been prepared for history to repeat itself.” I can’t look back on the time I was with Vincent without feeling guilty. All that I went through with that man, I dragged my daughter through too.

“That’s in the past now, Mom, this is a fresh start for you. Nyx is dealing with those men, and you can live your life however you want.”

“It’s easy for you to say that, sweetheart. Look at you, you're a wonderful mother. You always put your children first. I have to live with the fact that I didn’t,” I confess, feeling deflated when I’m reminded how terribly I let her down.

“Let’s not talk about that. I wanna know more about you and Dad. I know it wasn’t just a fling between you, I can tell from the tension that's still there.”

“Oh, it was way more than just a fling. Your dad and I were a disaster, we should never have been together. But the connection we had was like a drug. I don’t think either of us could get enough of that.”

“This is how I like it with you the most,” Jimmer tells me as his cock slowly stirs inside me. The sunlight is shining through the window and warming up our faces as his hand strokes my face. There’s nothing rushed or frantic in the way he’s fucking me, there’s no urgency for either of us to finish. We’re just enjoying each other's bodies. If I didn’t know Jimmer Carson better, I’d say he was making love to me.

“Lazy Sunday mornin’ sex.” He presses kisses all over my neck and builds me up to another orgasm, one that’s about to reach its peak just as the door flies open.

“Prez, I think you should come down here.” Jimmer’s best friend, Brian, is standing at the door with a worried look on his face. It’s not the first time we’ve been interrupted, and usually, Jimmer tells whoever it is to fuck off, but he must get the same sense of urgency from Brian’s expression as I do because he quickly gets up and throws on some clothes.

“Stay there,” he points his finger at me, picking up his gun and following Brian out the door in just his jeans.

I cling the comforter to my chest and listen to all the commotion that’s coming from downstairs. Someone’s screaming like they're in pain and I can hear tables and chairs scraping the floor. It doesn’t take long for curiosity and impatience to get the better of me, and I quickly throw on some clothes before heading down there myself.

I stop in the doorway when I see all the panicked faces and blood. Lots of blood. Some guy wearing a cut like Jimmer’s is the one who’s screaming, and Jimmer quickly hands him a bottle of scotch while he assesses the damage.

“Shit, it’s still wedged in there.” He shakes his head.

“He needs a hospital,” Brian tells him, knocking back a bottle of Jack himself and looking concerned.

“No.” Jimmer shakes his head and uses the blood-soaked rag he’s holding to continue applying pressure.

“He’s got warrants out on him. He can’t go to the hospital. Go get Mary-Ann, she’s done this kinda thing before. I’ll try and hold off the bleedin’. Take Lacey so she can wait at the house with Hayley,” he orders before Brian races out the door, and I stay right where I am so I don’t get noticed.

“Hang in there, Jack, we got help comin’,” Jimmer tells his friend, looking panicked himself.

I can’t stop my hands from trembling. I’ve always been very aware of what this club is about, but seeing this feels like a real wake-up call. I look behind me to the door that leads out into the alley where I gave Jimmer my virginity a few months ago. It would be easy to run from here, he’s far too distracted to notice that I’d be gone. I wouldn’t have to sneak around and lie to my parents anymore. I could go back to my old life and pretend this never happened. But the truth is, I don’t want to.

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Jimmer lately, mainly at the cabin he has at his new compound. He prefers it that way and I always got the impression he doesn’t like me being here all too much. Now, I know why. Jimmer’s not the man the skeptical people in this town think he is. He’s mindful and caring. He’s smart and has morals that even took me by surprise. I don’t want to run from him. I want to be right by his side.

I continue to watch everyone bustle around and try to offer the injured man comfort until eventually the door bursts open and a woman rushes in with Brian.

“What happened?” She rolls up her sleeves and gets straight to work, ordering the men around and taking full control of the situation.

“Bastards came outta fuckin’ nowhere. He was coming outta the gas station and they just took a shot at him,” Brian answers.

“Can ya get it out?” Jimmer asks her, narrowing his eyes in concern.

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