Page 57 of Blade

Chapter 23

Luna

I watch as people go past Leo’s room, all looking inside with curiosity while a man who looks just like Leo watches me like a hawk, and I get it. They think I’m going to run or worse, try to kill myself, my admissions most likely scaring him but I’m not going to.

I think my emotion overload has numbed me.

Years I’ve kept everything deep inside of me, years I’ve dealt with my pain, and now that it’s all out, I kind of feel, maybe peace, I guess. I mean, it shocked me at first. I felt sick that I told everyone the horrors that my brother allowed to happen, but peace or acceptance, I guess, surrounded me once it was all out. There was one person still kicking and breathing, one person I knew I needed to confront for that peace and acceptance to take hold before I drown again.

Brock.

I just don’t know how to get past my guard dog, though I really shouldn’t call him that, considering he’s not only Leo’s dad but a former president who has earned respect. Well, apart from being a dog and cheating on his woman but respect none the less within the community and his clan.

I eye the leather cut over my body and my heart skips.

“I love you…”

His words swim in my head, and I just, I can’t believe them.

I told him I was dirty, used, that I couldn’t have kids, or well, screamed it, so how can he love me?

How can he claim me?

That is what this is, his cut on my body; it is him claiming me before his club because no president would leave his patch with a woman, heck no brother would.

“Let me through, prospect!” a woman snaps, and Leo’s dad sighs, shaking his head and muttering, “Fucking woman.”

I wince, recognizing the voice – Leo’s mama.

I watch as Leo’s dad’s jaw ticks while Leo’s mama continues to demand to be let through. I sigh, not wanting to witness an argument that is bound to happen if she continues trying to demand entrance.

“Did you know I met your daughter?” I rasp, clutching Leo’s cut, and his dad looks my way, our eyes meeting.

It’s striking how much he and his son look alike, right down to the dark blue eyes, just like Skylar's.

“You did?” he asks quietly, and I swallow hard.

I admit, “She stopped Brock one evening,” and he stands up straight, his eyes wide. I murmur, “I lied to Leo about how I knew her, told him I saw her around school,” I swallow hard, “She heard me screaming and didn’t think about her safety. She hit Brock over the head with a brick and he threatened her,” he growls, “She decided to do one better and held a gun to his head,scaring him off,” I feel myself go vacant, “She just didn’t realize that he was going to make me pay ten times worse that evening which he did by breaking a rib.”

“Son of a…,” he curses, then looks at me and promises, “You’re safe now, Luna.”

My eyes tear, and I admit, “I’m not, though, am I?” He furrows his brows in confusion and replies, “Blade is about to get rid of your nightmares, sweetheart. You are safe.”

“But he’s still in my head,” I say, and his body deflates with realization, and I whisper, “His marks are still on my body,” Leo’s dad shakes his head, and I finish, “He’ll still be haunting my dreams, and I’ll still be looking over my shoulder every day.”

“He’s not Blade’s kill, is he?” he confirms, and I gently shake my head and he summarizes, “He’s yours.”

“My plan was to kill him then me,” I admit, and he flinches, but I don’t stop, and I explain, “I spent years fearing the dark because he always showed. Whether it was on club property or if it was at the diner or at school, he was there lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce, and every day, I envisioned stabbing my knife into his throat. I didn’t survive this long, years of abuse, years of being called a liar, a suicide attempt, and an abortion to watch a man I have fallen madly in love with, something I didn’t even think I was capable of feeling, to have that rapist’s blood on his hands. It should be on mine.”

“My son would kill a thousand men for you, sweetheart,” he rasps, and my tears fall as I croak, “But it isn’t his fight, and I can’t have any more guilt clouding me.”

The man looks down, struggling to decide his next move, but he tenses when Anna’s voice rings out. She says, “Cole, you need to listen to her.”

“What have I told you about calling me my legal name, woman?” the man snaps, but Anna isn’t deterred. She reminds him, “I no longer have my cut, meaning I am not club, so whywould I call you Brick?” She comes into view, “Heck, I don't even think I'm your wife anymore, haven't been since you fathered someone else's child.”

Brick scowls at her, and she raises a brow and comments, “You believe I'm sort of patch caser that sleeps around behind your back, so I have no idea why you even want me here anymore,” she swallows and even from here I can see her pain, “If you still believe I got with you for your cut then do us both a favor and divorce me so I can move on with my life because I refuse to live in limbo any longer.”

Brick tenses and anger radiates from him that even I can feel, and I flinch.

---