Page 129 of Their Property
“Was it hard to pick the lock?”
Not really. I was already decent at it from sneaking out of my room while my mother was away. They had left me outside in the cage overnight, I think in their sacrificial area becauseeverythingwas stained in dry blood.
My stomach roiled at the thought. “Where did you end up next?”
Homeless and living on scraps for a couple of years. I just kept running, because I thought they were after me. Then prison when I was about 15.
“Prison?” I repeated. “For what?”
Probably stealing food, I don’t remember. But it was okay. I was fed, clothed, and housed, and surrounded by men, for once. Quite the opposite scenario of the cult. Met a deaf guy, got to practice my signing a little more. But it always reminded me of Charlie and the fact that it was the reason my mom died so horribly. It was still raw back then, so I preferred to communicate by writing.
“It wasn’t you signing that got your mom killed,” I said. “I’m sorry for what happened to her, but she was in the wrong in so many ways.”
She was a victim too, both of the cult and the guy she ran from. I was hurt and angry for so long, but I don’t blame her anymore. She was trying to fight the brainwashing they put her through.
I shifted my position, snuggling deeper into his chest, and let out a sigh of contentment at the feel of his arm tightening around my shoulders. “I’m glad you had Charlie. Wherever she is, I hope she’s okay.”
“Mm-hm.” Grudge hummed softly in agreement while planting a kiss on my head.
“Okay, prison.” I traced the winged helmet of the valkyrie on his arm. “What happened after that?”
Stayed there for about six years. Got a lot of tattoos, lifted a lot of weights. A prison buddy hooked me up with a job at a garage when we got out. I stayed in the back, just fixing up cars and bikes and didn’t interact with people much. Got lonely again, but I kept busy, so it was okay.
I kissed his neck while he wrote, earning a smile and a delighted hum. It was easy to see now why Dyno and T-Bone were so devoted to him. They never held back in their affection and made sure to include him in every conversation. He deserved nothing less.
Did that for about 8 years. Then a bunch of loud bikers rolled through for some maintenance, and this really annoying fucker named Travis caught sight of me and wouldn’t leave me alone.
Grudge chuckled as he wrote, and I cackled the moment I saw T-Bone’s given name on the page.
“Was it love at first sight?” I asked, giggling as I sank deeper into the blankets and pillows.
Lust for him, maybe. I don’t know what he saw in me, but he was fucking persistent. But I…Grudge paused, spinning the pen in his fingers before continuing.I still had trouble trusting people. Even after I ran from the cult, people figured out that I couldn’t talk and tried to manipulate me. Like I was stupid.
“I’m sorry.” I kissed his chest. “People are terrible.”
Yeah. I thought T was trying to do the same shit at first. But he kept coming around to see me and…I liked it. I felt seen and wanted and not just because I was different.
“He’s good at making you feel that way,” I agreed. “Romantic in a dirty-minded sort of way.”
“Mm-hm.” Grudge chuckled and continued writing.We started hooking up and…you know how he is. I never knew anyone could be so selfless. He pleased me while taking nothing for himself. He couldn’t sign, but he talked to me like a normal person and was cool with me writing out my responses. Then he started bringing me lunch at work.
“Awww!” My grin stretched from ear-to-ear, and Grudge laughed, blushing as he went on.
After a little while, he introduced me to D, who was all grounded and calming in contrast to T being an overexcited puppy. So that’s how the three of us got started.
“Did you join the Sons after that?”
Yes. I prospected under Bash’s presidency after T got me fired and I had nowhere else to go.
“He got you fired?!”
A shop customer called me a retard, and T beat the shit out of him. Would have killed him if a bunch of guys hadn’t intervened.
“That sounds like something T-Bone would do.” I sat up, gently taking his pen and notepad and putting them off to the side. “And after all that, you really thought my opinion of you would change?”
Grudge wore a vulnerable expression. His eyes told me clearly that he'd hoped it did not. Now that I knew, his hesitancy to trust was understandable. More than that, it had been essential to his survival.
Emboldened, I pressed down on his chest and threw a leg over him to straddle his waist. His eyes darkened, hands falling to rest on my knees.
