Page 9 of Pope's Penance

I flinch harshly at Valkyrie’s hand on my shoulder, not missing the anger that flashes in Pope’s eyes.

People are all around me, and there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

A vise constricts my chest as my body urges me to leave.That insidious voice whispers in my ear that if I don’t get out right now, they’re going to hurt us.

“Let me take them, Birdie.That way, you can fill them in on what’s going on,” Valkyrie says.

I nod, loosening my hold on the twins.I’d try to cut their hands off if it was anyone except my twin sister.She’s the only person I trust with my heart right now.If there was anywhere else in this vicious world I could go, where they would protect us like Pope and the Saint’s Outlaws, I’d be there in a hurry.I wouldn’t have come back to Coral Cay by choice.

Nothingcould have brought me back to the place of my biggest heartbreak.

Except for my children.

I’d walk through the bowels of hell for them.

There were so many times that I already had.

I keep my eyes glued to Kyrie and my kids until they’re no longer in the room with me.

My buffer between me and the club is gone.

Their claws dig into me, trying to flay my skin open in their search for answers.

Impatience tinges the air around us.

I whimper, curling my arms around myself.Pope scoots closer to me, but I grasp the necklace around my neck and move to the side, away from him.The pearls dig into my clenched palm, a visceral reminder of our differences now.

“Will you let Hannibal check you out?”Pope questions softly.

My eyes flash around the room, trying to determine who that is since it’s a road name I’ve never heard before.When they figure out that I’m searching for him, a rugged young man steps forward.He’s tall, thick, and covered in tattoos, with a menacing air around him that has me tightening my grasp on the necklace with a whimper.

His silver eyes, which were so cold a minute ago, soften, and he tries to make himself smaller for my sake.

I glance at Pope, begging him silently to tell me that it’s okay.I don’t trust him with my heart, but I have to believe he’d never let any of his club brothers physically hurt me.

“It’s okay, little mama.He’s a big softie underneath all that fuzz on his face,” Pope reassures me.

Hannibal steps beside us, holding his hands out to his sides.“Got nothin’ to fear from me, lass.My ma would shoot me herself.”

My eyes jerk to Pretty Boy as he steps up and hands Hannibal his medical bag.Then he meets my gaze with a wink and blows me a kiss.

I fight the amusement that tickles my insides at his familiar goofiness.

Hannibal squats beside my chair and opens the medical bag while keeping his eyes on me.Warmth flickers in and out of them as if it’s an emotion he’s not used to showing.As if the light and dark sides of his psyche are battling for supremacy.

My body trembles as fear from his nearness floods my system.There are too many people.Too much menace fills the air, reminding me of the same suffocating way it did when Frankie was in a rage.

Pope reads the terror on my face and turns to his club.“Everyone except my council, clear the room.”

He tries to keep his voice soft for me, but the authority and anger come through.

“Wait, what?”a feminine voice cries.“This woman shows up on our doorstep with obvious trouble and suddenly we’re the interlopers?”

Pope jumps up so fast that I flinch with a whimper, but he’s so focused on getting to her that it doesn’t register with him.

The fear on her face triggers my own, and I jump to my feet, frantically searching for my sister and my kids.

We have to go.We have to get out of here.They’re bad, too.They’re going to hurt us again.We have to go.

---