Page 26 of Fury
My mouth parts in shock as I drop my arms, the realization hitting me like a ton of fucking bricks, and I choke, “They planned it…”
She nods once before admitting, “Melissa was money hungry, and she wanted Brick, always had, but she knew he wouldn’t cheat on me unless I did something to hurt him.”
No, no, no…
“He raped you!” I snap, and she flinches, and instantly, I feel like a fucking dick.
“He did,” she admits, trying to be strong, “and my husband saw only what he wanted while I was gasping for help.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I turn, gripping my hair.
She continues, “I-I, I was pregnant, Nyx,” I turn to her in shock, “The night I was raped I was pregnant, and I lost it because of the trauma, including any chance of carrying again so when Brick accused me of cheating, I shut down but when he screamed that he had a daughter, I-I,” she shakes her head, pain etching her features, “I felt like I couldn’t breathe because that should have been my child and because of a jealous woman I saw him flirt with over the years before that, giving her the green light to do what she did, I lost my baby.”
“Anna,” I choke, and her tears fall.
“I only went to the trailer that day because I wanted nothing more than to hit Melissa, but then I heard a scream, and I didn’t think, I just ran,” she admits as she wipes away her tears. “When I went inside, Melissa was holding a bat cackling, and Skylar was crying in her room. The trailer was dirty and smelly, and I…. God.”
She shakes her head, the pain of that day showing a cross on her face, and I breathe heavily as I link my fingers behind my neck. She states, “She said they’d report Brick for rape if I tried to take her, so I did the next best thing and kept Skylar away from that trailer as much as possible, giving her everything she needed, and for years it worked until it didn’t.”
“What happened?” I growl, a sinking feeling churning, and she swallows, her throat bobbing.
“I’d just dropped her off after I thought Melissa was passed out, and she walked inside, but something didn’t sit right with me. Call it a mother's intuition, but I had a horrible feeling, and I went in after her to see a man attacking her, trying to pull her jeans down,” she explains, and my blood boils. Her tears fallagain as she chokes, “I didn’t think, I attacked him to get him off her but when he turned around, I was shocked. Eight years and not once did I see him, Sky only calling him Melissa’s boyfriend,” she wipes away her tears, “I froze when he gloated about what he did to me, that their plan worked.”
“He’s fucking dead,” I sneer, pissed Brick allowed Peter to live.
“He already is,” she shocks me, “Skylar grabbed the bat Melissa used on her before I came on the scene, and she hit him over and over until he was dead. She was sixteen Nyx, sixteen, and she killed him.”
Fuck.
I stumble back, pure shock etching me at her truths.
She saved her, she saved her mother.
Anna sniffles, “I got rid of the body, burning it before I got Skylar an apartment the next day, using money from what my parents left me, ensuring enough was left for Skylar’s education and the business start-ups but Nyx, she’s heard the rumors around town.”
I flinch, looking away for a moment before I look back and confirm, “You are part of the reason why she wants fuck all to do with Blade and Brick because of how they’ve treated you.”
She nodded as she wiped away her tears and chokes, “I’ve tried to convince her otherwise, but I-I…”
I finish her sentence, “You are her mother.”
“A role I am blessed to gain from her,” she whispers, and I nod.
“Thank you, Mama Lopez, for becoming someone most women in your position would run from and making that girl yours,” I rasp, and she nods and says, “I’ve been in her ear a lot, encouraging her bond with Tate. She’s yours, Nyx, which is why I was so disappointed in you for hurting her the way you did. Just don’t let me down, don’t hurt her again.”
I walk over to her and kiss her cheek before muttering, “I promise I won’t, and get ready to walk your daughter down the aisle…”
She snorts but nods, and I walk to the door before I state, “Your past is safe with me until you are ready,” and she replies, “Thank you.” And I walk out, meaning every word.
This club, Brick, has taken enough from that woman, and she deserves to hold onto her past until she’s ready to let it out. My only fear is Brick and Blade will lose her when she does tell all. She already has one foot out the door.
Brick stands up straight near the bar, but I shake my head at him and continue walking, passing Blade, but I don’t make eye contact, anger for Anna burning through me.
I understand he needed to stand by his dad, but not the way he has.
He’s talked down to Anna over the years, accused her of shit, believed the rumor mill, punishing her over shit that never fucking happened.
