Page 36 of Mason

Her laughter stopped. “What? Gross. Why would you ask that?” Her brows furrowed and the look of utter disgust on her face made me chuckle.

“Think.”

I watched as realization came to her. Her eyes got wider and her mouth opened in an o shape. She gaped like a fish and brought her hands out of the covers to pat her breasts and then rest on her stomach. “I’m . . . am I . . . pregnant?”

“Yeah, bear, we’re going to have baby.” The smile that lit up her face was the most exquisite sight I’d ever seen.

“We are going to have a family of own. Someone who will always love me. Who will be part of me. I love you so much, Mason.”

I loved that she was excited and it was contagious. “Alexa, I’ll always love you.” I stroked her cheek. “You mean the world to me. You’ll always have someone to love you. Me.”

She turned her head and kissed my hand. “I know, it’s just this baby will be mine. He will have my blood.”

“Oh bear, you have a family and this baby will be one of many.” I never imagined having kids so young, but with Alexa I wanted to. I knew she would be an amazing mother.

“I’LL SAY IT AGAIN. HELL no.” Mason shook his head and glared at the lawyer who was sitting across from me on the sofa. “I’ll speak slower if that will help. Hell. Fucking. No.”

I had been given the all clear to go home yesterday, but was to keep up my fluids and book in to see an OBGYN as soon as possible. Mason wouldn’t let me do anything but rest, and he wasn’t letting me go testify at the trials. I had keep quiet, but I could see Mason was starting to get worked up, his muscles clenching tight and his face turning red.

I wanted to testify. Especially now that I was pregnant I needed to. I wanted to know that those men would be behind bars, and away from taking kids. My hand went to my stomach. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being taken and made to do unforgivable things.

I was having a baby and as much as Mason didn’t want me to go to the trials I knew that I needed to go, not just for myself, but for our child. The people those no-good men took were someone’s children. I had to stop being a coward.

I needed to say something before Mason lost it. I loved that he took care of me and protected me, but in this, I needed to tell all I’d seen. Closing my eyes, I opened the doors I’d kept shut and locked in my mind, and images of things I’d blocked came rushing to me. For a moment I struggled to keep myself calm, but when I felt Mason’s arms wrap around me and his lips press to my forehead, I opened my eyes and calmed myself, taking deep breaths. With Mason by my side I could do this.

As everything had come back to me, I knew I was one lucky girl. I had seen a lot more than I thought I had. I remembered why I was scared of the police and hadn’t gone and told them what I saw. There was one that I could trust. I had met a Silverman before, Ryder. I turned to Mason. “Get Ryder to come now. I remember. I remember everything I’ve ever seen. No more blocking.” I turned to the lawyers. “It would be best if you stayed.”

Four hours later I was exhausted, mentally and physically. My whole body was wound tight as I told Ryder about the warehouses I’d seen, the basements and clubs I’d seen the Devil’s Queens at. I described girl after girl that I’d seen taken and each member of The Devil’s Queens. I saved what I had been terrified to tell to last, the five cops that had been at the warehouses and basements and the girls they’d brought with them. Three of the cops I’d seen with The Devil’s Queens regularly, the other two I’d only seen at the warehouse. I described them as best I could and tried to remember as close as I could get with dates and times. Mason sat with me the whole time and he gave me strength to get everything out.

“Okay, it’s time to go. You’ve been grilling her now for hours.” Mason snapped at Ryder as he opened his mouth to ask another question. Mason reached across the table and turned off the recording device. “Get out. Alexa has only just gotten out of the hospital. She has given you everything she can tonight.”

Ryder must have known that Mason was at the end of his tether because he nodded and stood to leave, but one of the lawyers was an idiot. “Mr. Silverman. Miss Jennings has held vital information and when she was first questioned none of this information was brought forward. She will be lucky not to be charged with withholding evidence.”

Mason sat forward in the seat and, from where I sat leaned back, I could feel him vibrating with his barely leashed anger. “I do not have our lawyers here today as I felt Alexa was safe. I promised myself when I found her beaten, battered, and bruised, that I would never let her be hurt or put through anything like that again. She has had nightmares from day one and today has been the first time she has been able to talk about this stuff without having a breakdown.” His sharp gaze shot through the lawyer. “Now, if I have to call our team of lawyers I will but know that I’ll find a way for them to bury you and they’ll take this case over.” Pity washed over me for the lawyer who turned a sickly white. “If you were wise, you’d ask to move to another case.”

It was telling when none of the man’s colleagues came to his rescue or even spoke to Mason. I slid forward and sat my hands on Mason’s tense shoulder and massaged them. “Mason, it’s okay.” I kissed his cheek. “I understand why they’d be upset I withheld information that could really help put these guys away and save some girl. All I can say is that I was scared.” I turned his head so he looked at me. “I’m not scared anymore because I know I’m safe with you. I know that you’d never let anything happen to me. I set myself free telling it all because I needed to know that no other child or woman gets taken again. They are someone’s children. We are going to have a child and I would want someone to give all they could to help if, God forbid, anything ever happened. I should have dug up the courage sooner. They have a right to be angry with me.”

He sighed loudly and brought me around so he could brush his lips over mine. “I understand, but I don’t have to like how they talk. I’m proud of you for telling them, but . . . ” He cupped my face. “I’m going to be selfish and say I’m damn happy you ran and hid and survived.”

I hugged him tight and buried my face into his neck and let myself go, tears falling. It was all out there now.

THE POLICE AND LAWYERS ACTED quickly with all the information I had given them. They couldn’t postpone some of the trials, but the extra information changed my testimony enough that I didn’t need to stay on stand as long.

To look across a room at the men I had feared for years, and see them walked in with cuffs on, and listen to others testify was scary, but I had Mason’s family supporting me. Due to being in hospital I had missed one of the trials, but with the new information I’d given them and more they’d found, the man would have his short sentence turned into a long one.

The man I now stared at was one I would never forget. He was the reason I’d spent weeks in hospital. He was the only member of The Devil’s Queens to have caught me. Others had come close, but none had ever done the damage he’d done. He wasn’t the monster I remembered from my dreams. He seemed smaller and not as big. His eyes, though, were what would continue to give me nightmares.

Stiffening my spine, I trained my gaze on the love of my life. The man that made me feel safe. Mason. “Yes.”

“Yes, Jesse Dickson assaulted you?”

“Objection. Leading the witness.” I didn’t look at the defense lawyer.

I wasn’t going to let this guy get away. “Jesse Dickson chased me down, grabbed me, punched and kicked me. I ran because I saw him and his friend Devon Rickers dragging Stacy. I knew an—”

“Objection. The witness was asked a yes or no question.”

The lawyer was pissing me off. I glared at him and growled, “You were the one who made me extend my answer. If it wasn’t for the Silvermans, and my fiancé—"

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