Page 56 of Goose

“He’s gonna die. I can feel it. Nothing good ever comes to me. I’m in love with my best friend and he doesn’t love me back. I lost our baby, Zane is dying, Lilah is in the hospital too, and I have such a fucked up past that nobody will ever want me. I’m going to die all alone!”

Goose pulls me to him as fresh tears roll down my cheeks. He sits us both up and takes my face into his hands.

“You listen to me right now. Zane will not die. Not on my watch. You didn’t lose our baby. Shit happens, Bambi. And I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. I’ve been an idiot and need to own up to it.”

He pulls me into his lap and runs his hands through his hair.

“If you’re willing, I want to hear about what happened that night and everything going forward. I need to hear it, babe. I should have let you tell me all this time, but fuck. I know it’s going to gut me. I was so stuck on trying to protect my heart I didn’t even think about yours.”

I’m shocked to hear him say that he wants to know. We had done this dance for years now, and I never thought I would hear those words.

“Are you sure?”

He nods and takes my hands in his.

“Yes. It can’t change what has happened in the past, but it sure as fuck is going to change our future. We can’t go forward not knowing the past. And there’s no way in fucking hell I’m ever letting you go again. Tell me everything.”

I take a deep breath and close my eyes as I let my memories take me back to that night....

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IHAD FINALLY ESCAPEDthe abuse and torture from the Shadow Raiders. My father had only sold me to them to pay off his gambling debt.

The men at that club made me dance for them every night before taking their turns with me. Sometimes there was more than one at a time.

If I said no, they would beat me. I would curl up in the bathroom just to get away for a few minutes before somebody would come looking for me.

They threatened Sawyer and his family every day if I cried too much or threatened to run. I had to keep quiet to keep them all safe. I was the barrier between them, living and dying.

I stayed for two months before plotting my escape. I figured they got their fill of me and would forget all about the threats.

They were slowly forgetting me as they had new young girls coming in everyday. I kept quiet to remain invisible. The more you fought, the more beatings and attention you got.

They were on a run and left the clubhouse unattended that night. I waited until the coast was clear and ran for my fucking life. They thought they had broken me; but they were dead wrong.

I had waited and bided my time. As soon as I had the opportunity, I ran with everything I had left inside of me. All I wanted to do was go home and live a quiet life after this nightmare.

Returning home was a nightmare, though. I thought my father would let me leave, but he beat me and wanted more from me. When you, Goose, stepped in I thought I was saved, but damn was I wrong.

The one person I needed wanted nothing to do with me. I was lost and alone in this world.

When I found myself at the door of the seedy strip club in town, I knew I had hit rock bottom. The owner was a slimy man in his forties, but I needed the job.

He had only let me do a few shows before he approached me and wanted more from me. When I told him no, he snarled and attacked me. He screamed that he knew what I had done for the Shadow Raiders.

I was embarrassed and tried to run, but he grabbed me and threw me down. That night he handcuffed me to his chair and raped me over and over until the morning light shined through the office window.

As he unlocked the handcuffs, he had told me I had the spotlight. I collapsed to the floor and felt like I was dead.

He picked me up by the hair and threw me outside. Looking up, I spit at his feet and told him to get fucked.

He stomped on my chest and laughed. He threatened to run me out of town, and that's when I ran right to the Devil’s Highwaymen.

Bear helped me inside and got me cleaned up. I begged him for a place to stay and he said only for a little bit while I got on my feet.

I knew I needed protection, so I offered to be a club girl. Bear was hesitant at first but then gave in on one condition; I had to tell him who did this to me.

I told him it was the strip club owner and told him all the details of what him and the Shadow Raiders had done to me.

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