Page 36 of Broken Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #7)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Elizabeth

I bury my face in Danielle’s neck as we hug. God, I’ve missed her.

“I wanted to …” I start to apologize to her.

“Stop. Don’t say it.”

My fingers wrap around her shoulders, and I gently push her away from me. “I have to.”

She waves her hands in front of her face. “You don’t.”

“I do.” I pull her to sit down beside me. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. Anthony told me what they found.”

My eyes fall closed, and I take a deep breath. It’s embarrassing. The paintings. All of me … naked … sometimes in painful stances … covered in blood.

A warm hand presses against the side of my face, bringing me back to reality. I open my eyes, finding Tank leaning over, cradling my cheek in his big palm.

“It’s over,” he says gruffly. “We’ve all made mistakes.”

He pats me lightly a few times before he settles back in his chair.

The four of us stare at the fire quietly for several minutes deep in thought.

“So, let’s hear about this guy who locked you in his basement,” Anthony says bluntly.

Danielle groans apologetically, making me laugh lightly. “I wasn’t locked in.”

“Do tell,” he says, ignoring his wife.

So I do. I tell them everything, beginning with Kelsie visiting me in the nursing home.

Tank listens quietly, with his big arms folded across his chest.

“Anyway, I don’t know why it took me so long to tell someone …”

“Maybe you finally felt safe,” Danielle suggests.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t feel safe with all of you.” What can I say? I can’t tell them about the baby.

Tank finally speaks up. “You don’t have to explain, Liz. Sometimes we’re just not ready to share parts of ourselves. You were scared. I think we all get that.”

Everyone nods in agreement.

I spend the next few hours listening to Danielle talk about her kids. She looks at her watch. “God, I’m sorry. I’ve talked your ear off.”

“I’ve loved every minute,” I tell her honestly. “A lot has happened in your life since we talked last. I don’t have much to share.”

Her mouth turns down. “I say this sincerely, Lizzie. Don’t waste any more time. Don’t let Mr. Baxter keep his hold on you.”

He’ll always have a hold on me.

“The auction must be over,” Tanks says. “I better go see if they need help loading stuff.” He stands, looking down at me. “Come on, let’s go find JD.”

I sit there staring up at him. Danielle stands and gently pulls me to my feet. “We have to get home, but I’ll be back, and we’ll talk more then.” She hugs me, and her husband does the same.

He whispers in my ear. “You found some good people here. Don’t fuck it up.”

Tank hugs Danielle before shaking Anthony’s hand. “Have a safe trip home.”

As they walk away, he snaps at me to follow him.

“You can’t just snap at me,” I tell him, staying exactly where I’m at, not budging.

He turns around laughing. “There she is.”

I narrow my eyes at him.

“Elizabeth, would you please join me in my search to find your man?”

“He’s not …”

He rolls his eyes. “He is. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not jealous. I love Kelsie.”

“I know that.”

“Then?”

I glance around to make sure no one is listening. “I don’t know if I’m right for him.”

“Sabotaging yourself again, are you?”

My arms wrap around my stomach. “He … he would make a great dad.”

His face softens, and he reaches for me. I take a step back.

“Lizzie,” he starts.

“Elizabeth,” I correct.

He runs his hands through his hair, a sign that he’s already fed up with me.

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine, but I’m going to have to let him go.”

I start walking toward the front of the warehouse, and he follows by my side. “Have you even asked him if he wants kids?”

“No.”

“Jesus, Liz. I mean, Elizabeth.”

I scowl at him out the corner of my eye.

“Just fucking tell him you can’t have kids and see what he says.”

“He’ll lie. He’ll say he doesn’t want them.”

“That’s fucking bullshit right there. That man doesn’t lie.”

“He lied about having a woman in his basement, didn’t he?”

Tank laughs. “You’re still fucking crazy, you know that?”

“Of course I do.”

I stop dead in my tracks when I see Jacob with another woman. Tank takes me by the elbow, tugging me toward the pair. The woman laughs, placing her hand on his arm. She’s younger. Prettier. Normal.

She’s normal.

Big Dan stops us. “Hey. Kelsie needs help over at the auctioneer stand,” he tells Tank.

Tank looks down at me. “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him away.

He pats Dan on the back. “She’s all yours.”

I blink slowly as Jacob and the woman continue to talk.

She can probably have kids.

“Are you having a good time?” Dan asks.

“Um, yeah. Um, is there a restroom inside?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you.” He waves for me to follow him.

Lily catches us on our way inside. “Hey, how is it going?” she asks.

“Good. Real good. Dan was just showing me to the restroom,” I tell her, bouncing on my toes to show her my urgency.

“Oh, shit. Go on. I’ll see you later.” She holds the door open for us before heading back to the auction.

I’m taken aback by the warehouse. I was so upset the last time I was here I didn’t notice how incredible it is. “It’s beautiful in here,” I say in awe, following him down the hall.

“I love seeing the shock when someone enters for the first time. Here you go.” He stops and points to the restroom.

“Thank you.” I step inside, and slowly close the door. When I see he has no intention of leaving me, I pause. “You don’t have to wait for me. I can find my way back.”

He shrugs. “No worries. I don’t have anything else to do.”

My nails tap against the door as I continue to peek out at him. “Well, I’m not feeling very good.”

“All the more reason to stay.” He leans against the wall, folding his arms over his chest.

I take a deep breath. “It’s embarrassing, if you know what I mean.”

“I’m a human too. No big deal. Go on before you shit yourself.”

I bite my tongue and close the door. Immediately, I look for a window.

My ass is shimmying out as soon as I have the screen popped off. The second my feet hit the ground, I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m not sure where I’ll go, but I can’t stay here.

“Sneaking out of the house to meet up with your sexy bad boy?” a gravelly voice asks from behind me.

Big hands tighten around my neck as he pulls me against his hard chest. And then the world goes black …

When I wake, I’m staring at the ceiling of a moving car. I try to sit up, but something is holding me back.

“Shh, it’s me,” Jacob says in my ear, his fingers wrapping over my mouth to stifle my scream.

The man driving turns to look at me. “Hey, I’m Brody. Sorry we had to meet this way. I’m not sure if you’re afraid, but if you are, trust me, he isn’t going to hurt you. He’s just terrified you’re going to leave him. I mean, I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but I just wanted you to know this isn’t his normal behavior. Even though he’s kidnapped you twice.”

Jacob tightens his grip on me. “Shut up,” he tells his friend.

“You owe me big for this, because if Jesse finds out, neither one of us will be having children.”

My insides clench as his words hit me square in the gut.

I wait quietly as Brody parks. This will be my last chance.

When he opens the door, I bite Jacob’s hand as hard as I can. He lets go of me, and I dart past Brody. He snags me by the back of my hair, painfully stopping me.

“Damnit, woman. I don’t want to do this.” He pulls me against his chest. “Three days,” he tells Jacob as he hauls me down the stairs for his friend. Jacob holds the door open.

“That’s what the fuck I said,” Jacob grumbles.

Brody sets me on my feet in the middle of the room. “Talk to him,” he says before he walks out of the room.

“I told you I was never letting you go,” Jacob reminds me.

A few seconds later, I’m alone in the dark … and for the first time ever, I hear him lock me in.

Oh.

I fucked up.