Page 68 of Sniper

The men I saw as a family don’t say anything, so Doc adds, “Sniper fucked with her birth control pills. Rory had found out around the same time about him being a brother. Her past and her trauma overtook her, and she went into survival mode. Autumn was a product of rape, and she panicked that she wouldn’t love the new baby, and when she realized she was having twins, she finally opened up to us.”

Piston, who has been quiet since I entered the room, steps forward and whispers with pain, “The day I was supposed to come over and help you with the math test, that day was the last day any of us heard from you…. Axe said you weren’t in when he got there.”

My tears fall, and he shakes his head in denial, seeing my terror at hearing his name, but soon roars out in pain, gripping his blonde hair, crouching in guilt when I confirm, “Axe raped me; he’s Autumn’s biological father.”

Acid freezes, my father stepping back, while Steel tries to hold it together, gripping Piston’s shoulder as he sobs in guilt.

I continue, “He told me that after a few months, he could take his property patch from Hannah and give it to me, all while trying his hardest to get me pregnant again. The first time I got my period after Autumn was born, he knocked me out and nearly broke my eye socket before raping my ass.”

The men in the room curse, Theo holding me tighter as Steel cuts in, “Hannah went missing a year after you did; we all thought she….”

I shake my head. “She helped me escape. She never wanted him; he forced her to be his old lady after she had found out she was pregnant. He treated her like crap, and she had an abortion, hoping he’d kick her to the curb, but he didn’t. She stole from his safe for me, she saved me and my daughter, and I hope and pray she’s okay.”

Steel drops his chin to his chest, anger radiating from him, and I sniffle. “I couldn’t get in contact with her when I ran. At first, it was for my safety, my daughters, but then, his voice was in my ear, the words he tormented me with over the years, about how you were all happy to get rid of the burden. I let it fester, and it was hard…. I held a lot of anger for a while.”

Steel's head shoots up, and he snaps, “You were never a burden. You’re my niece, Aurora, and I mean in blood, too. It turns out your mother and I shared a father; it all came out after you went missing. You’re my fucking family, you were before I even found out the truth.”

My eyes widen, and he shakes his head before looking at Theo, and rasps, “I’m sorry for how I spoke to you. I understand I’m of higher rank, but you're right; not only is this your clubhouse, but you're also her husband. I should have respected that. I-I just…four years, brother. It’s a long time to look for someone, then not be able to see them after finding out they are alive.” He looked at me again, his brows furrowed. “Though she’s not wearing a cut….”

He adds the last bit as a question, and Theo hums.

I roll my eyes as every brother’s eyes come my way, each one smirking.

“He lied to me! He has a whole lot of groveling to do before I put that leather on, leather I never wanted, by the way, which you can all vouch for, and don’t get me started about the whole keeping a prospect on my ass so I wouldn’t leave like I tried to do, and getting me pregnant with, not one but two babies, and he’s huge which means they’ll be huge!”

The brothers all try to hold in their laughter as Theo states, “And there’s the Firecracker I love so much.” He looks at me with a smile and admits, “I’d still do the same, Rory, because you’re here, our daughter is here, and you’re carrying our babies. I don’t regret it.”

I narrow my eyes at him, making him grin just as my father butts in, “How are you in one piece right now? How are you joking?”

I look his way, and I soften a little toward him, seeing his pain. “When I found out about Autumn, I didn’t want her.” Guilt fills me as the brother’s eyes all soften as Annie rubs my hand. “When she was born, I struggled to connect with her, but I saw she was all me and innocent, and I knew I had to survive for her. She was a few months old when Hannah got us out of that place.He wanted to get me pregnant again, and I couldn’t live with that. It was all survival mode for me, Dad, until Theo…. When I’m around him, my pain, my past disappears, and since I opened up to him, told him the truth, I’ve felt….” I pause momentarily, thinking of the right words, before smiling and admitting, “I’ve felt free. All the pain and heartache, his voice, all gone because of the love of a man who was damn determined that I’d be his, that my daughter would be his. He saved me….”

Theo places his lips on top of my head as my dad nods, his eyes teary. Dad whispers, “I’m so sorry, Pumpkin….”

I shake my head at him and snap, “No. You left me, and right now, whether you deserve it or not, all of my anger has been focused on you for leaving me. I know I wouldn’t have Autumn, and I have to battle with that guilt every day, but you don’t get to look at me with guilt and sorrow; you left me.”

He sniffles. “I resigned, Aurora, when I heard you were missing. I left my job, handed in my resignation, and spent all this time trying to find you.”

I sob. “But you didn’t find me.”

He shakes his head. “I know, and it kills me, Pumpkin, fucking kills me.”

I shake my head, my tears falling hard, my breathing getting heavier, my heart wanting to run to him, but my head blaming him.

Acid snaps, “Fuck it,” and storms over to us. He takes me from my husband’s arms, holding me close, one hand in my hair, the other planted in my back, holding me to him. And I grip him, his musky scent overtaking my senses, and my childhood hits me, making me sob.

Theo growls, and Acid chuckles. “Brother, she’s like a little sister to me. I mean, I grew up protecting her while asking for advice when I pissed a woman off.” Theo to groans, realizing he growled loudly, and I chuckle with a sniffle, holding Acid tighter.

I murmur, “I missed you….”

He holds me tighter and whispers, “Not as much as I missed you, Cupcake….”

I snort, pulling back and smiling at my little nickname.

Crow speaks up, “Cupcake?”

I feel my cheeks heat, and Acid smirks. I try to warn him with my eyes, but he doesn’t care as he announces, “It’s the nickname I gave her when she was twelve and shoved a chocolate cupcake in Billy Madison's face when he called her a poopoo brain.”

The brothers laugh, and I groan as my husband pulls me back into his arms, his hand going straight to my bump.

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