Page 1 of Arrow: Riding Rebels MC

“I’mtired of having this conversation with you, Cecilia. Sometimes, talking to you makes me feel like I married a retarded woman.”

Gideon paced the length of our room as he belittled me while I just lay there and took it.

If Gideon’s attention was on me, then he wasn’t thinking about our son. That was good enough for me. I was strong enough to take his wrath, but not Hendrix. To prove his point to me, he’d hurt my baby just for the hell of it, and I couldn’t have that.

Shifting to a sitting position, I winced against the pain in my shoulder and hand.

“I wasn’t trying to make you angry?—”

“I can’t fucking tell! What is so hard about you following basic orders, huh? Me, first, then whatever that little bastard needs. Tonight was a big night for me that we had to end because of a damn fever. Do you know how many connections I could have made, but no. We spent the night in the hospital just for them to tell you to give him baby aspirin. The nanny could have handled that.”

Gideon scoffed and turned his back to me.

“I’m sorry. I told you I would go, and you could stay. It wasn’t my intention to ruin your night.”

Before the night had even begun, I knew leaving Hendrix with the so-called nanny wasn’t the right move, but there was no telling Gideon Baxter no.

Hendrix had been sniffling for a few days, and when I brought it up to my husband, all I got was ‘He’s a boy. He’ll get over it like men do.’ Our son was barely four months old. His words didn’t make sense, yet that man loved calling me stupid. When we made it home from children’s hospital, Gideon unleashed his wrath on me.

I could feel my face swelling, my body was stiff, and I could feel that one of my stitches from two weeks ago had reopened.

“What kind of father would I have looked like if I had stayed at the gala while my son was being taken to the emergency room? You don’t think. We need these people to like me if I’m gonna get elected for another term. Leaving with my hysterical wife about our sick child was my only option. Trust me.”

“Okay, Gideon, I understand.” Gingerly, I climbed to my feet and leaned against the chair to steady my balance. “I need to go check on the baby?—”

My head whipped right, and I was back on the floor with Gideon standing over me.

“Fuck that baby! You need to tell me how you plan to make this up to me. You ruined the most important night of my career,and you aren’t leaving this room until you tell me how you plan to fix it.” He leaned down, gripped the front of my dress, and pulled me toward him. “I’m beginning to think motherhood is a distraction for you. Father suggested Hendrix living with them for a little while so you can get your head on straight. I’m not the only one who noticed that you haven’t been right since you had him.” The smile on his face caused my heart to sink into my stomach.

Gideon was evil, but his mother and stepfather were ten times worse.

There was no way I would let them take my baby away from me. Gideon and his family would have to pry Hendrix from my cold dead hands, but that wasn’t saying much. In this town, their pull was long, and I knew they would take joy in doing just that. For years, I never got pregnant, and I took it as a blessing that God wanted Gideon’s bloodline to stop with him, but he went and got me a nutritionist. Every day, the meal was the same: smoothie in the morning, high protein lunch, fruit or vegetables for a snack, and a salad for dinner.

It only took three months after she was hired for me to get pregnant… I didn’t have physical proof, but I knew she had done something to me because as soon as my pregnancy was confirmed, Gideon fired her.

“You can’t take my baby, Gideon. I’ll do better. I promise… I will make everything right.”

“You are only getting one more chance. If I feel like you can’t manage being a wife and mother, I will remove the mother title from your plate. My mom has been itching to get her hands on him to raise him the proper way. One chance, Cecilia. Now, come fix yourself up… I want some pussy.”

I swallowed hard to hide my gagging.

“Okay, baby.” I whispered and scooted to my knees.

I would play by his rules until I could find a way out of this house. No one was going to take my baby from me while I still had breath in my body. It didn’t matter what it took; me and my baby were getting out of here.

Two Weeks Later

I smelled the liquor long before Gideon lowered his face to mine.

Experience told me that if I lay still and pretend to be asleep, he would leave me alone. There were plenty of women Gideon entertained, but for some odd reason, I was his favorite to pick with. I didn’t move one muscle and relaxed when I didn’t feel him in my space anymore.

I thought the coast was clear until I felt a searing pain in my scalp.

“Why is my dinner not on the table, Cissy? Huh?”

Spittle and the staleness of the ale hit my nose, and I coughed.

“It’s in the warmer, Gideon! I always put it in the warmer on the nights you go out with the boys.” I cried.

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