Page 3 of Lore
“Not now,” I snap before quickly getting ready and storming out to my bike. The twins are leaning against their Harleys, and instantly go on alert when they see me.
“What’s going on?” Skull asks.
“Don’t know what I’m walking into. Might need the truck.”
Bones nods, sharing a quick look with his brother. “We’ll follow you.”
They rush to the truck while I get on my bike and start the engine.
Butterfly, I’m coming for you.
ATIANA
Sitting on my bed, I stare at my reflection in the large sliding mirrors. My phone is still in my hand, my fingers tightly clasping it.
Hunter is the last person I ever thought I’d be calling to help me. But desperate women do desperate things sometimes, especially when you have children to think of.
If it were just me, my pride would have let me die before asking an ex-boyfriend for help. But I have two little humans to protect, and pride has no place in that.
My black eye is still visible, even with the makeup I tried to cover it with. My lip is cut, and my jaw is swollen. I still can’t believe that he hit me. We’ve been married for three years, together for five, and not once has Trent ever raised a hand to me. The man who changed the second we said “I do” had done many things to me, but physically hurting me wasn’t one.
And the worst part?
He did it in front of my children.
My two babies, my son and daughter, saw their father hitting me.
And my son, Rider, screamed and tried to stop him.
If that isn’t a wakeup call, I don’t know what is.
The moment he left for work, I packed a few bags with our belongings and made the call.
When Trent finds me gone, he’s going to be pissed. He won’t let us go easily, and I know that.
And it scares me.
It terrifies me enough to call the man who broke my fucking heart.
Hunter Ashford.
It’s been seven years since I last saw him.
“Mama?” Rider calls out, stepping into my room. His chin-length dark hair is tucked behind his ears, and he looks so much like his father that it’s like seeing double. None of my genes stood a chance. He’s got his little carry suitcase dragging behind him. “I’m ready to go on our vacation.”
Yeah, what else do you tell two little kids when you have to run away at the last minute? Might not have been my finest moment, but while I was panicking, I didn’t want either of them to.
“Me too. Where’s Dove?” I ask, standing up and smiling down at him. Falling apart while trying to keep it together for your children is one of the hardest things for a mother, and I know that firsthand now.
I have to pretend that everything is okay and be strong for them.
Because they didn’t ask for this.
“She’s putting her shoes on.” He takes my hand, and we walk out into the living room, where Dove is sitting on the carpet watching cartoons. She looks just like me—dark hair, my honey-brown almond-shaped eyes framed in thick, dark lashes, and heart-shaped lips with a little Cupid’s bow. She even has my dark arched eyebrows.
At four years old, she’s already a little princess, and her brother absolutely dotes on her. No one can even think a bad thought about Dove in front of Rider. He’s the best big brother in the world, so I must have done something right.
Looking at my beautiful kids, I know I don’t have any regrets. I can’t, not when I have them. But that doesn’t change the fact that I have fucked up. They say that when you grow up with an angry man in your house, you’ll always have an angry man in your house.
