Page 44 of Bound by Family
I lightly stroke Bristyl’s hair, waiting for her to open her eyes. Once she does, I see something in there shining brightly. I’ve never had it before, so I don’t want to assume anything. Assuming things gets a man killed. Facts, one can survive on.
“That was …” she starts, unable to form words.
I have to agree with her. “Yeah.”
Seeing a box of tissues on the nightstand, I remove the condom and toss it to the floor, not wanting to leave her for a minute. Then I pull her tighter to me, grab the comforter, and flip it on us so we are in a cocoon of warmth. It doesn’t take long before we fall fast asleep.
Shots are fired in every direction. My mother goes down with a thump as I lay, covering a woman who’s bleeding out everywhere. Looking down, Bristyl’s lifeless body stares back at me.
I jolt upright, looking around the room. A body flies off me as I take in the space. Hotel. Bristyl.Shit.
I flip the light on to see her pulling the hair away from her groggy face, half on the bed, half off.
“What’s wrong?”
Grabbing her, I hold her close. She’s alive. She’s safe. She’s here. The relief is so damn overwhelming it threatens to strangle my breaths.
“Just a bad dream.”
I allow her warmth to heat me, taking me away from the nightmare. Her touch pulls me away from the fear, which doesn’t hit me often. Seeing Bristyl dead … that’s a horrible fear.
“Do you have those often?”
“I have them quite a bit.” Admitting that is hard. No one knows about them. I’ve been able to hide them from the guys and women—no woman has ever spent the night beside me to learn of them. Weakness. That’s what I tell myself. Having the guys or anyone know about them isn’t in the cards. Yet Bristyl knowing feels right.
“Want to tell me about them?”
“No,” I answer immediately, not wanting to tell her that I held her lifeless body in my hands inside that cloud. “But I will tell you where they come from.”
“I’ll listen to whatever you want to tell me.”
Inhaling the cool air, we tangle our legs together, bodies flushed. “When I was young, like, really little, a man came into the Ravage clubhouse holding a gun to my grandmother’s head. Not only that, he shot my mother. I saw it all, and the woman protecting me had to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t scream. My dreams come from that.”
“Oh, Cooper.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want pity; that’s not why I told you. I did because I trust you with that information and to keep it right here, between you and me.”
“Absolutely. Is your mom and grandma okay?”
I squeeze her a little tighter. “Yeah. They are.”
“Good. And you’re safe, so that’s all that matters.” She presses into me, her head on my chest, arms around my body. All I can think isand so are you.
“You said that Princess isn’t really your mom? I don’t understand.” Her words are soft and comforting.
I glide my hand up and down her back as the weight of years lays on my shoulders. “Not biologically, but in every other way possible. My incubator, as my mother calls her, was a drug addict. My father told me a few things, but both he and my mom kept a lot from me, saying they didn’t want to taint my life with my biological mother’s shit. Her name was Mel, and she didn’t love me. All the memories I have of her are bad.”
“Oh, Cooper.” Her grip gets tighter as she tries to pull away to look into my eyes, but I hold her tight. This is hard enough talking about without the weight of her thoughts on me, as well. “I …”
“It is what it is. I have a great mom and more than I could ask for. Mel was going to give me to a crazy lady, but ended up dead.” Her body jolts at that. “I can’t tell you all the details because it’s club business, but what I can tell you is that my mom saved me in more ways than one.”
“I’m so happy you have that.”
“Me, too. Who the hell knows how my life would have turned out had Mel been a part of it?”
“Does it bother you that she’s dead?”
It surprises me that she didn’t ask how she died. I respect that.
