Page 67 of Hateful Union

“Ray-Ray?” Bentley asks, his voice soft.

“Yeah,” I whisper. “Um, can someone tell me where we are?” I ask hoping that they know.

“No fucking clue,” Bentley clips out. “Bastards took me and I’ve been held here ever since. I wondered why I was being moved. What happened?”

It’s Dad that speaks next. “They shot me. Fucking prick. All these years and the bastard is betraying me. Fucking Banks.”

“Ashton betrayed you?” Bentley questions and I’m glad that he’s here to ask, because right now I’m not able to; I’m struggling to breathe and my face is killing me.

“Yeah, fucker has been trying to take over the business. He’s the reason that Raylee was taken when she was fourteen. I only found that tidbit out yesterday. Fucking bastard. When I get my hands on the snake, I’m going to kill him.”

None of this makes any sense.

“Raylee, what the hell happened?” Bentley questions.

“Um, well, I’m not really sure how much you both know?” I respond, my breathing still erratic.

“Ray, you gotta calm down.” Bentley snaps, I know he’s trying to help, but it’s not working.

“Baby, listen to my voice,” Dad says gently and I blink. “Tell me everything that’s happened since you went to stay with Gabby.”

I lick my lips, “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” they both ask, confusing me even more.

“That Dad has a warrant out for his arrest, for trafficking, prostitution, and rape. Ashton too. Both Wayne and Francis are currently awaiting trial. They were arrested and both had weapons on them.”

“Fuck,” Dad grunts. “What else, baby?”

Does he really not know that I set the ball in motion?

“I’m pregnant,” I tell them. “I’m scared and I’m pregnant. Malcolm’s not here, he’s gone to America and no one knows that I’ve been taken.” The tears fall thick and fast.

“I’m going to be a granddad?” Dad says and I realise he never denied what I said, even though I know he’s done it, he still didn’t try to deny it.

The darkness is getting to me. My arms are getting heavy and my chest feels as though it’s being caved in by a ton weight.

“I need to get out of here,” I tell them. “I can’t breathe.”

“Shit,” Bentley growls. “She’s having another panic attack.”

I try to breathe in deeply, listening to my brother walk me through the steps, but it’s no use, the panic has set in deep and I’m unable to fight it.

Darkness closes in on me again and this time I welcome the abyss.

27

Malcolm

The whiskey goes down easy, the burning sensation a welcome feeling from the numbness that I’ve felt the past two weeks. “Are you doing okay?” I ask Holly. She’s battered and bruised. She was taken by an enemy of her husband. The enemy had managed to shoot every guard that was around her along with my uncle, grandfather, and cousin. Jade wasn’t as bad as Holly, but she was still shot. My uncle Finn was the worst of those that had survived, even now he’s currently lying in hospital in a coma. We lost too fucking many, including my granda.

She pulls in a shaky breath, “I’m okay, it’s been a shit few days.”

I pull her into my arms and hold her tight. “It’ll get better,” I lie, no matter what it’s not going to get better. She’ll always remember what happened, what that feeling was when she was taken. Raylee feels it every time she wakes with a start and is shrouded in darkness. I began to leave the hall light on, so if she wakes she’ll not dive into a panic, she’ll see the light and be able to breathe.

“Tell me about your girl,” Holly asks once she composes herself and pulls away from me. “Da told me a little about her, but not everything.”

Footsteps sound and in walks the man himself, followed by my brother Danny, his wife Melissa, my aunt Makenna, her husband Dante and his brother—and Holly’s husband—Romero.

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