Page 10 of Death's Devotion
Vince squeezes my cheeks hard. To the point I feel a pop in my jaw before excruciating pain fills me. I don’t whimper or cry out in pain though. My ex feeds off that shit and only makes the beating worse. Plus, he doesn’t deserve to hear anything from me.
“I see you’ve been spreading your legs since leaving me. With money that doesn’t belong to you. You stole from me. Left me and thought you really wouldn’t get caught at some point. I’ve been hours behind you since you left. Then, you thought you’d have my kid and keep him from me? I told you I didn’t want fucking kids. Not with you. You’re nothing more than a fucking slut who will spread her legs for anyone close to her. The kid you’re trying to trap me with can’t be a year old yet and you’re already pregnant again. If I didn’t know you were a gold digging slut before, I certainly do now. Guess my father was right about you all along,” Vince taunts me, pissing me the fuck off.
“You’re right, I’m pregnant. By a man who’s actually a man. Not a fucking pussy like you, Vince. You think hitting a woman and making her fear everything is the key to being a man? It’s not. You’re a little bitch who will never get anywhere in life because you’d rather throw a tantrum for not getting your way than actually working for it,” I spit out, my jaw and face hurting as he continues to squeeze the skin between his hands. “The money I supposedly stole from you is nothing compared to everything you took from me. Tell me something, Vince. How did you go through the millions left for me? Money from my parents’ deaths and the trust funds set up for me. I’m surprised you actually got access to the money in those trusts. Or haven’t you gotten that figured out yet? I mean, it wouldn’t really surprise me to know you’re too dumb to realize no one can access them but me. And I need to show my identification and be in person to access the money. You can’t just randomly walk in and take what you want.”
“You fucking bitch! I didn’t take a thing from you that you didn’t owe me. Just for being seen in the same place as me means you fucking owe me. I only took what I was owed,” Vince spewed while glaring at me as his face turns red. “And you will give me access to those fucking trust funds. I’m also owed that money. You’ve got one week, Kelsey. If you don’t give me the money I’m owed, I’ll make sure to take your precious fucking boy and sell him off to the highest bidder.”
“I’m not giving you a dime of my money. I’ve purposely not touched it so you wouldn’t fucking know I have. I’m sure you’ve got someone keeping tabs on it. Plus, I have to be in contact with the lawyer and as you can see, I’m not home. Can’t meet with a lawyer when I’m not there,” I sass back, knowing this is only going to add fuel to the fire already burning in Vince’s eyes.
Before I can blink, Vince is attacking me. His punches come hard and fast, landing all over my body. I wrap my arms around my stomach in an attempt to protect my child from the assault happening right now. When Vince lands one perfectly placed punch to my ribs, I fall to the floor at his feet and curl up into the fetal position. It hurts to breathe as I try to suck in the air that was robbed from me when he landed the hit followed up by another one to my sternum. Vince just uses me being on the floor to start kicking me as he leverages himself on the counter. I keep my eyes closed so I don’t have to look at the rage filling him while his face turns a bright red. It’s the same thing that happens every single time he beats the fuck out of me.
When I can’t take anymore, Vince manages to pull himself back and stop kicking me. I open my eyes as he bends down over my body. His gaze takes in his handy work and a sinister smile covers his face. Nothing good is going to come out of his mouth right now. It never does.
“I’m being generous, Kelsey. You’ve seriously got one week to fucking get me access to those trust funds. If not, I will get my hands on the boy and sell him. It’s not like you truly care about him anyway. If you did, you wouldn’t be in some small as fuck town filled with criminals. Criminals you stay with. Yeah, I know you’re living in a fucking biker compound. Don’t think a judge would take kindly to a child being in that kind of environment. It wouldn’t take me anything at all to get him from you. Make it so you never see him again,” Vince promises.
He's got fucking money. Well, his parents do. Last I knew, his father will do anything for his son because he’s a spoiled little bitch.
“Spoiled. Bitch,” I grit out through the pain. “No money and not taking my son.”
Vince laughs like the crazy fuck he is before standing and landing one more blow to the side of my head. Thankfully he misses my temple and the blow doesn’t knock my ass out. It does hurt like a bitch though. Almost the worst pain I’ve ever felt, but not quite.
“One fucking week,” he reminds me as if I’m dumb as fuck and haven’t heard the other times he’s said it since starting to beat the shit out of me.
I watch on, not being able to move, as Vince walks over toward Brent where he lays in the playpen sleeping peacefully. Vince looks down at my son for several minutes without saying a word. He doesn’t get closer or lean over to touch him. I’d do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t take him. Even if I can’t move right now. However, it doesn’t come down to it as Vince suddenly turns and walks away.
Listening to his steps on the floor, I try to figure out where he is in the shop. It’s almost impossible with the ringing in my ears. Finally, I hear the door unlock and open before slamming shut behind Vince. It doesn’t just slam though. He shuts it so damn hard, the glass in the door shatters, tinkling on the floor as it lands. Tears slide down my face as I try to move along the floor to get closer to my baby. The diaper bag is by the playpen and that’s where my phone is. I don’t keep it on me while I’m at work. That’s just bad business.
I don’t make it too far as I try to pull myself along the floor. My vision is getting hazy. Black spots form around the edges and I know it’s just a matter of minutes before I pass the hell out. I’ve been through Vince’s beatings enough to realize when I’m going to black out. It’s not going to be very long at all before I’m out and my son is left vulnerable and alone. There’s no way to protect him either with Vince shattering the door as he was leaving. So much for believing a few minutes on my own wouldn’t make a difference. It was all Vince needed to get his hands on me.
It also makes sense why he’s letting me live right now. He wants the rest of the money of mine he can’t get his hands on. I’m not going to give it to him. That shit isn’t his. It’s bad enough he took the insurance money from my parent’s deaths. Now he wants everything I have left from my parents and grandma. Things he’s not entitled to despite what he believes. Vince is out to get what he wants and refuses to get a fucking job. The man has never had a job the entire time I’ve known him.
“Kelsey! Where the fuck are you?” a voice yells out for me. I can’t tell who it is because my ears are still ringing and I’m about two seconds from blacking out.
I hear Brent start to cry as he wakes up. Like the voice, it’s from a distance and not as loud as it should be.
“Kelsey, what the fuck happened to you? Where the hell is the guy watchin’ over you?” the voice comes at me again as I try to answer him.
Unfortunately, I can’t do anything more than moan out a response. In my head, I’m talking and saying actual words, but it’s not coming out to whoever is talking to me. Hell, I can’t even tell who’s with me right now because my eyes are swollen and I’m fading fast. Blackness surrounds me as everything else fades away. There’s no stopping myself from passing out after an attack from Vince. It’s like he makes that his mission every single time he puts his hands on me. The only good thing about passing out is not being in pain. My pain fades to nothing as I let the blackness consume me and pull me through the depths into nothing.
Chapter Eight
MY EYES SLOWLY slide open as the pain filling my body pulls me from the blackness that sucked me down. I’m not even sure how long I’ve been out of it. At least this time I remember everything that was done to me and by who. There have been a few times Vince has beaten me so bad I have periods of memory missing. Not just about what he did to me, but how long I was knocked out for, and if anything happened or was done once I surfaced. Though, I don’t know where the hell I am right now as my eyes finally focus enough for me to look around the room. The walls are white with no posters or anything. There’s a large window showing nothing recognizable to me. At the very end of the bed I’m lying in, a whiteboard is hanging on the wall with a ton of writing I don’t understand. Then there’s the beeping. The constant damn beeping I can’t seem to get out of my head.
As I look around the room again, I notice one thing that has my heart racing and the beeping start to accelerate. Brent isn’t here. I’m completely alone in this hospital room. Does Vince have my son? Where the fuck is he? Looking around frantically for the call button, I can’t find it. My movement is limited because of the wires connected to my body and from Vince’s latest assault. It feels like it takes me an eternity to find the call button as I move around the best I can. Now I just have to wait for someone to come in the room so I can find out where my son is. Brent can’t be with that fucker. If he is, I know I’ll never see him again. Vince’s threat of selling my baby boy rings loud and clear in my mind if I don’t get him the money he feels he’s entitled to.
“Ma’am can I help you?” an older woman asks as she comes in my hospital room.
“Where’s my son? I have a little boy who’s not even one yet. Where is he? Is he okay? I need to see him. Now!” I say, my words all running into one another as I try to get them out so she can understand my need.
“I don’t know anything about your son, ma’am. You were brought in alone and have been here for over a day now. There hasn’t been any little boy in here with you since you came up on this floor. I can go ask around and see if any of the other nurses know where he is,” the woman tells me with a gentle smile on her face as tears begin to roll down my face.
“You don’t understand!” I scream out, panic consuming me. “Ineedto know where my son is. Get me someone who knows something!”
The woman scrambles to leave the room I’m in and before my door can shut all the way, it’s being pushed open again as I scream and cry while looking away from the door. Brent hasn’t been here is the only thought racing around my head right now. That leads me to believe Vince has him. He managed to get his hands on my son after I’ve been so careful. I’ve never stayed in one place too long or done anything to draw attention to myself. Brent has always been kept with me so I can have eyes on him at all times.
“Kelsey, gonna need you to calm down,” a man says, his voice washing over me as I finally turn my head to see who’s in the room with me.
Lash, Death, Sabotage, and Boxer are standing in my room. Jaelyn is the only reason I know who Boxer is. She pointed him out one day while we were working at the shop. He’s Lash and Sabotage’s baby brother. I’ve never said anything to him before though I know he was in the room where I spilled my guts about Vince and shit.
