Page 26 of Blade

“It’s going to be alright, Bianca,” Sara says, grabbing my hand. Nodding my head, I try to let her words sink in and calm me down.

“Pops, am I about to see you settling down?” Cara asks with a devilish smile.

Smoke laughs and nods his head. “I plan on making that woman my Ol’ Lady. I’ve never felt this way about a woman in my life. Back when I was with Viper’s mother, I did the right thing when she got pregnant, but there never was any love in that relationship.”

That shocks the hell out of me. Most men wouldn’t marry a woman just because she was pregnant with their kid. I thought what Smoke said would upset Viper, but when I look at him, he’s smiling at his dad.

“I’m happy for you, Pops.” Smoke grins and slaps Viper on the shoulder.

Viper looks over to me with a mischievous grin. “I always wanted a sister.”

A giggle bursts free and I look at him like he’s lost his mind. “I think we’re a bit too old for the whole step-sibling thing, Viper.”

All the guys start laughing. “Never,” Viper says, shaking his head at me. “I’m going to pull all the big brother pranks I wanted to when I was growing up.”

My face falls, and everyone laughs harder.

This is exactly what I needed. I’m completely distracted and not thinking about all the what-ifs. Before I know it, the doctor is walking into the waiting room. Standing, I rush across the room to him. Smoke is right beside me. “How is she?” I ask. My heart is beating so hard right now. I feel like I can’t breathe.

“Everything was successful. There were no complications whatsoever. Her recovery will be a long road, but all in all, it was a success.”

I sigh in relief as my tears fall. She’s going to be okay. I don’t have to bury my mom anytime soon. This past month has changed my life in every way. If I had never taken that job at Cara and Sara’s restaurant, I would have never found out the truth about Cam, my girls wouldn’t have their father in their lives, and my mom would never have gotten her surgery.

I hate that she allowed Paul and Crystal to pay for her surgery instead of me, but I know my mom didn’t want me paying off that kind of debt when I could barely pay my bills. Either way, I’m grateful she’s finally had her surgery and we can move past this hurdle and focus on making more memories together.

The past three weeks has been a long journey. Mom is finally home from the hospital and Smoke has pretty much moved in. He has his own house down the trail, but he refuses to leave my mother’s side. While she was in the hospital, Smoke never left her side. I would go home at night because it was safer that way, but I would come back first thing in the morning.

I came back to work this week and I hate it. I didn’t want to leave my mom, but Smoke sends me texts throughout the day, letting me know how she’s doing. Today, I came to work without Cara and Sara. They had to check on their other businesses. Those two are busy as hell. I don’t know how they have time to run three different businesses and still find time to be mothers.

The kitchen is crazy busy right now. The restaurant has been at full capacity since I walked through the door. The trash in the kitchen is overflowing. Normally the prep cooks take out the trash, but I need them on the line, so I take out the trash myself. Propping the back door open, I grab the bags and walk to the dumpster. As I’m throwing the bags into the dumpster, something comes across the back of my head, and everything goes black.

When I finally come to, I’m strapped to a chair in a dark room. What the fuck is going on? Why the hell did I take out the trash? I should have kept my ass in the restaurant like Cam has been telling me. It’s too late to change the outcome and now I need to focus on escaping. These Knights almost killed Bear, so I know they won’t hesitate to kill me.

I think of my babies and my heart sinks. I know if anything happens to me my mom, Cam, and his family will take care of my girls, but I have so much to live for. The door to the room opens and the lights come on. There’s a stairwell so I assume I’m in the basement, but I can’t focus on any of that because Finn is the one standing at the top of the stairs.

What the hell?

Is he out of his mind?

Yes. That has to be it. He’s lost his fuckin’ mind. He makes his way down the stairs and stands in front of me with a grin that is pure evil and sinister. “Why are you doing this, Finn?” I ask. I try and keep my voice neutral, but it shakes. I’m so damn scared right now, and I have no clue what he’s going to do to me.

“Why?” he shouts, and I jump, which causes him to laugh. “I lost my job because of your ass and now, no one will hire me in this town because that bitch Cara has spread word to all the other restaurant owners!” he shouts. He is out of his mind. He’s blaming me for this. I didn’t make him do what he did.

“You lost your job because of you, Finn! I didn’t make you—”, I don’t get to finish my sentence because he backhands me. My face feels like it’s on fire, and I close my eyes, trying to shake the pain away.

“You don’t talk, bitch. You’re going to listen. I’m going to make you my personal pet. You’re going to get everything you deserve for being a stuck-up bitch!”

He gives me another backhand and then another and another. I’m sobbing and begging him to stop, but it only makes him laugh. This man is pure evil. I hope someone has noticed I’m missing by now. I still had another three hours on my shift when he took me.

When he pulls a knife from his back, my tears flow harder. “Please, don’t do this, Finn.” He ignores me and cuts my clothes away, but he leaves my bra and panties on. His smile widens as he puts the knife against my arm, and he starts to cut me. The scream that rips through me is filled with pain. Finn starts laughing, and it’s so dark and evil. How could no one see how sick this man is? From the looks of this room, this isn’t the first time he’s done this.

“Yes, scream for me, pet.”

ChapterFifteen

BLADE

I’m conducting an interview for the night shift manager and the man sitting across from is the best candidate we’ve had so far. I’m so over this day and I just want to go pick my woman up from work and take her home. When the interview is over, Torch lets him know we’ll call him, but I think we’re all going to agree to hire him.

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