Page 27 of Avenging Laura

She couldn’t even really blame David, Maria, or Cyrus anymore. This was her. She failed to trust her husband when she got those photos. She should have told him. She was the one whoalways harped on communication being their biggest plus. Yet, when they needed it the most, she shut him out.

“We’ve got her, Ash. Go with Wolf, Cookie, and Dude to deal with Joe. Captain Irby is ready to hunt him down and put a bullet in him,” Diesel murmured from behind her in the bed.

“Hey, it’s ok. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but it will be ok. That man loves you. He’s not going anywhere,” Raso murmured from her front, stroking her arms.

Laura couldn’t say anything to either one of them. Would it be better if Joe left her and took the kids? Show Cyrus, David, and Maria that they were right? That Joe would no longer want her because she was soiled to him?

“It doesn’t matter. They were right. Once Cyrus and Ziegler raped me, I was ruined. I’m not worthy of being Highlander’s wife or a mother to those kids. He’s right to leave me,” Laura sobbed into her pillow.

God why did those words hurt her so much? The pain she felt at those words stole her breath. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and die right then and there.

“Laura Renee Pratt-MacLeod! Do you think because I was raped and treated like nothing that I wasn’t worthy of Hunter’s love?”

Well shit! Now Fiona was going to rip into her. She deserved it. She wasn’t worth the kindness and politeness everyone was showing her right now.

“You weren’t married to him when your situation happened,” Laura ground out, refusing to look at the woman.

“So, you’re saying that women who are married, or in a relationship, if they are raped, beaten, or sexually attacked then they aren’t worthy of their partner’s unconditional love, patience, and just being there for them?” Diesel looked down at Laura with sadness in her eyes.

“No! Why can’t you guys understand I’m broken! I have a father, stepfather, whatever the hell he is and a sister who are part of a human trafficking ring that will stop at nothing to hurt me for some fucking reason! I don’t even know why they are so fucking fixated on me. They won’t stop until I’m six feet under and everything I love is destroyed!” Laura shouted at every person in the room as she sat up in the bed.

“I think you did a damn good enough job of destroying everything yourself. You didn’t see your husband burning every fucking candle he has in his system to find you. You didn’t see your husband break down and nearly lose his shit when every avenue that we went down to find you came up empty. You didn’t see the heartbreak in that man’s eyes when he had to explain to your kids that he hadn’t found their mom yet. You didn’t see the tears of joy that man cried at your hospital bed when he found out you were going to live. You didn’t hear his prayers when he thought no one was around to hear them asking for the man upstairs to heal you. Thanking him for bringing you home to him and your kids.”

Well fuck. Guess now her room was going to be beat Laura’s ass central. Laura turned her glare to her captain who stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a glare in her direction.

“Why? He could have any fucking woman he wanted. Someone who isn’t ruined. Someone who doesn’t have a fucked-up family like mine! Someone worthy of him!” Laura screamed at her captain.

Captain Irby clapped her hands sarcastically during Laura’s tirade, rolling her eyes as she walked further into the room.

“You don’t get it do you? He lovesyou! He wantsyou! Yet you threw his love back in his face with this pathetic bullshit. You hurt that man today, Laura. You hurt all of us in this room right now with your refusal to trust us with what was going on. Idon’t mean the whole Cyrus bullshit. Yeah, we know you didn’t know about him doing the shit he’s doing. I’m talking about the fucking photos. You didn’t trust any of us to tell us about them. You’re not a martyr, Laura. You’re a fucking idiot who needs an ass kicking. You want to throw your shit out there but when you get it back in return, you get your ass up on your shoulders. It doesn’t work that way.”

Laura sat back on the bed, deflated. Shit. Was her captain right? Did she not trust them? Is that why she didn’t tell them about the photos?

“You’re on leave until you’re officially cleared by a psychologist. I can’t have you in the field watching your team’s back if you don’t trust them. Physically, yes, you’re getting there. I know you have three more weeks on your medical leave because of physical therapy, but I don’t think you’re ready to come back. I need to know you’re a hundred percent mentally and emotionally. If you can’t trust us to have your back, I can’t trust you to have theirs.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Laura was now truly alone. Joe had taken the kids and left three weeks ago. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since he walked out of the home. Dominick called her twice so far this week so that the kids could talk to her, but she didn’t pick up the phone. She couldn’t. She knew if she talked to them and they asked when they were able to come home, she would break.

Her captain nor her team called to check in on her either. Wolf nor any of the others checked on her as well. She was truly alone. The way she thought she wanted it.

What broke her heart the most, Joe’s family didn’t even call, text, or email her to check on her. It was as if he had truly cut all ties with her.

Isn’t that what she’d been trying to do in the first place? Now that she’d gotten her wish, she was miserable as hell.

She hadn’t been able to eat or do anything since they’d left. She got up to go to the bathroom and crawled right back into the bed. She didn’t even make her physical therapy appointments as directed.

She was miserable. Guess the old saying, be careful what you wished for was true after all.

Getting up, as she thought about it, to go to the bathroom, she only managed to take a couple of steps before her world went dark. Guess God was finally fed up with her shit too.

When Laura came to, she was in the hospital. How the hell did she get here?

“You done with your shit?”

Laura turned her head toward the voice to find her grandmother at her side. She was alone. Her bodyguards nor her brother were in the room with them.

Laura just stared at the old woman, not sure how or if she should respond. The two women wound up in a stare off before the older woman rolled her eyes and tapped her cane onto the floor.

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