Page 10 of Mason

“Who’s they mum?” I swallowed the vomit that made its way up my throat and tried to take deep calming breaths as my heart raced.

“The bikers.”

Holy shit. “How the hell did they get him?”

“I don’t know. We need to go now.” She yanked on my arm.

I looked back toward where I knew Alexa was and then down at my mum. “Where’s dad?”

“He should be at the hospital now. I wanted to be here for Alexa, but . . . but, oh, Evelin. I have to get to her. We have to.” I hugged my mum, still in shock. It had to be why I wasn’t freaking out over my cousin being taken, shot, and in a coma.

I DIDN’T REMEMBER THE DRIVE to the hospital. I didn’t remember coming in and meeting the family, but when Alexa,my Alexa, was brought up in the details, I paid attention. The Devil’s Queens wanted my woman. I didn’t know why or even how they’d found out where she was. The police had questioned me and had been given permission to enter our property and speak to Alexa if an adult was present. My dad had gone back to be with Alexa when they spoke to her. I wanted to go, but I was torn. Would she even want me there? I hadn’t seen her all day and she didn’t sleep with me last night, which caused me not to get much sleep at all. I was so used to sleeping with her scent surrounding me and her warmth against me, I tossed and turned all night.

Pacing the waiting room along with my cousins, I wished I’d gone home. Dustan had been shot close to his heart and when he’d fallen he’d hit his head and cracked it open. We’d been told he’d been shot escaping, and he was lucky that someone driving by found him on the side of the road before the Devil’s Queens got him again. A ransom had been sent to his family and it had asked for Alexa and money in exchange for Dustan. The ransom had only come in a couple of hours before his family got a phone call from the police telling them they thought they’d found Dustan at a hospital, but because he had no ID on him they were going off photos from magazines. I was angry at my parents for waiting until the last minute to tell me about this.

“Holy crap, she came.” I turned at Jade’s mumbled words and saw Cassie, Dustan’s soulmate, who had done a runner when Dustan was an arse. She looked good, better than what I thought for someone who’d been hiding from us and refusing to see Dustan. He’d only just moved everything back home and settled his business in America a month ago. He’d told me Cassie was back at her parents and refused to see him. She’d gone as far as to get an AVO out on him.

Cassie looked hesitant as she shuffled into the room they’d given us. “They, ah, um, sent me in here.” She looked behind her and I could see she was ready to bolt. Someone needed to stop her and reassure her.

I darted my gaze over to Jade to see her getting up off a devastated Stephan, but I was shocked when Derick, Dustan’s other brother, made it to Cassie first and yelled, “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t fucking run, if you’d just gotten over yourself and let him apologize this wouldn’t have happened. He would have had fucking guards!”

Shocked at Derick’s outburst it took me a moment to move, but Ryder and Divinity were quicker. Divinity shoved Derick. “You’re an arse. That was a dick move.” She whacked him upside the head and then spun back around to face a retreating Cassie. Ryder was now blocking the door so she couldn’t escape. “I swear to fucking God, lady, if you leave I’ll hunt you down. Get back in here.” Divinity pointed to a seat next to where she’d been sitting. “And sit your arse down, because I’m pregnant and ready to pop and not in the fucking mood to chase you. I’m sure the girls have told you I can kick arse, too, so park your arse until you’re told you can move.”

Cassie’s mouth opened and closed once, twice, and a third time before she nodded slowly and made her way to the seat Divinity pointed to.

Then Divinity turned to me and waddled over, her face in a, ‘don’t mess with me or I’ll have your balls’ look. I raised my hands in surrender, ready to do just what she said. I’d already learned that you didn’t fuck with Divinity, but a pregnant Divinity was bloody scary.

Divinity rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an idiot, Mason.” I lowered my hands. “You don’t need to be here right now. We’re all here and you need to be with Alexa. I’m damn surprised you came here without her in the first place. That girl is glued to your side.” I winced at the ‘girl’ comment. Divinity caught it. “Oh, stop it. You’re being a pussy. She’s fucking seventeen and a bloody mature seventeen at that. She survived on the bloody streets. Stop being a wanker and just claim the girl. Christ, you Silverman boys are crazy.” She didn’t wait for me to reply before she waddled back and sat next to Cassie. When she looked up again she growled, “Go now, Mason.”

I stood still for a second as the others chuckled, the somber mood in the room changing for a moment. I left knowing I needed to talk to the guards and find out what the hell had happened with Alexa.

I MISSED MASON. I’D TOSSED and turned and when I did finally fall asleep I awoke from a nightmare. I should have spoken to Mason. I got up early ready to talk to him, but his mother intercepted me and dragged me shopping.

“Now you’re ready to venture out. I have so many fun things for us to do,” Gillian gushed.

I’d learned this morning that shopping with Gillian wasn’t fun. Hours of trying on clothes and shoes and going into every high-end store was not only exhausting, but boring. I liked Gillian, and I wanted her to like me, too, so I didn’t complain. We’d arrived just in time for my therapist appointment and as I sat, exhausted, I wished I’d told Gillian I wanted some time alone. Dr. Heather Dickson, my therapist, could tell something was up. I wasn’t a huge talker in most of our sessions, but today I just couldn’t stop staring at the study door. I was eager to find Mason and talk to him. I needed to tell him how I felt. That I was sorry.

“I stuffed up,” I blurted out.

Dr. Heather raised a brow. “Why do you think that, Alexa?”

“I stuffed up with Mason. I’m not using him.” I shook my head. “He said I was, but I’m not. I’m ready for him. I love him. I’m ready. I know what I want. I was just having fun.”

“Firstly, who said you’re using Mason?”

“It doesn’t matter. It was just Tony. I, I don’t like him. Oh, can you tell the Silvermans I don’t want him as my guard? I’m not a user. I, well, Mason found me. He didn’t leave me. I, I, how could I not fall for him. I have a family now, er, again. I want that.”

“You didn’t feel like you were a part of any of the foster families? Is that why you ran?”

“Yes. No. No, I ran because I’m not Cinderella. I ran because I choose who touches me.” My body started to shake and I wanted to vomit. I hadn’t told her why I’d run from my foster families. I’d talked about my mum, dad, grandma, and even Mason, but I hadn’t talked about anything with my foster families or what had happened the night Mason found me. I knew I needed to talk about that night, but I was being selfish. I had carefully taken all the things that had happened to me and locked them behind doors, many doors, in my mind. I didn’t want to open the doors and think about my experiences, or what could be happening to those girls.

“This is the first time you’ve spoken of anything that happened with the foster families you were with. You said Cinderella. Did one or both families make you feel like her?”

I nodded, not ready to voice what happened to me. The beatings I could handle, but the touch . . . no. I shook my head as unwanted images of Randy leaning over me jumped into my head. I practically felt his hands snake up my legs. I brought my legs up on the sofa and wrapped my arms around them, hugging them to my chest. I closed my eyes and tried to go to my safe place, and shut and lock the door on those thoughts. I tried to bring forth memories of my mum and dad, but for once it didn’t work.

Screams rang through my head as I fought Randy, my foster parents’ biological son. He ripped at my clothes as I struggled to get him back out the door. A knee to the groin got him off me and I fought him with everything I had to get him out of the room, and then put everything I could in front of the door to keep him out.Memory after memory of him getting to me and attacking me and night after night of sleeplessness as terror of sleeping and not being ready to defend myself sank in until I ran away, again and again until they moved me.

“Alexa. Alexa.” Dr. Heather called my name, over and over, but I couldn’t break from the memories repeating over and over. “Alexa, take a deep breath in and slowly let it out. You’re safe here.”

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