Page 43 of Deadly Secrets

“You have no idea what I’ve done for that woman in there,” I grit through my teeth.

Killing a man who was going to murder her in cold blood turns a scared kid being thrown into six different prisons, into a stone-cold man who’d gouge his own heart out if it meant saving her all over again. Finding out that we made a son who is part her and part me makes it a thousand times more terrifying what I’d do for them.

“I know what you’re dealing with down south. I was there to help rescue Sutton and some of those women on the farm, remember? Y’all have stepped into a massive fire ant pile with the cartel and it’ll only bring a bigger war to the club. I’m trying to spare her from that,” he argues.

“Are you saying we can’t take care of our own?” I throw out at him. “Wasn’t that long ago our chapter stepped in and helped with shit from across the border for you, so don’t lecture me on wars.”

“I’m just trying to help,” he says.

“She doesn’t need your help anymore,” I grit. “I can take it from here.”

“So be it.” He shakes his head then turns around and continues across his lawn. I stand in the driveway and watch until he’s in the house.

I take in the fresh air and fill my lungs with it. A lot has happened in the last few days and my mind is having a hard time processing it all. For years, all I had was time to kill and think about things that happened in the concrete box they threw me in. I read in a prison library book once that when something traumatic happens, your body and mind go through five stages to help deal with it. I definitely went through four of them.

Shock and denial hit me hard and I’m not sure how long I was in those stages. My sixteen-year-old brain couldn’t understand the fact that I was going to jail… no prison, for the rest of my life. Or the fact that I’d shot and killed a man. The images of me and a grown man struggling with a gun played in my nightmares for years. Sometimes he won and killed me and I watched like a spectator as he threw open the closet door and killed Remi because I wasn’t strong enough.

Depression settled in my bones next. The fact that no one stood up for me, a kid who was only there because if my parents had better jobs and more money and weren’t alcoholics, they would’ve saved me. There were a lot of nights I thought about picking a fight with the worst inmate in the yard so that they’d end my life. Many times, the correction officers had to drag me up out of my bed and force me to eat because I just laid there and stared at one spot on the wall.

Then came anger. Once the fog lifted, my wrath was something not to be messed with. I’d already been moved to three different prisons when it kicked in. All it took was one motherfucker to try to mess with me, and I tore up the entire place. I was numb to any feelings and didn’t give a flying fuck what happened to me. I was angry at the world and everyone who lived in it. I hated Remi and swore that if I ever saw her, I’d do the same to her as I did to her father.

It wasn’t until right before I was transferred to Arizona, and then eventually released, that I’d accepted my circumstances. I was still angry as hell but the reality was I wasn’t getting out and I needed to make the best of the situation until I got the chance to prove I was worth being outside of those four walls. I realized that being angry wasn’t going to fix my current situation and that I needed to do something with my time, other than fighting and hating everyone else.

Now after hearing everything Remi went through to save our son and all the hardships and sacrifices she’s made to survive over the years, I have apparently moved into guilt.

Don’t get me wrong, I made sure Remi’s uncle suffered once I was free. I’d just patched in with the club and Stone asked me if I was granted one wish of revenge on someone who would it be and why. So, I told them all about what the prick did to me and how I was set up and lost twelve years of my life because of him. One month later, my wish had been fulfilled, showing me that you don’t have to share blood to be family.

Slowly I make my way back into the house. I hadn’t asked Remi if I could stay but our earlier couch session told me she was still just as hot for me as I was for her. I can hear the shower from her room and decide to let her have some time to herself. Bulldog was right about me wanting her to move down to Texas and I won’t apologize for it. There’s no way after these last few days up here that I’d patch over here to Montana and be under him as my Prez. How Stone tolerates him and calls him a friend is beyond me.

In the kitchen, I grab two bottles of water from the fridge and head towards her room. Steam comes from under the bathroom door when I walk in. The water turns off and I prop my ass against the counter, watching Remi squeeze the water from her hair. The glass enclosure is foggy and hides her body from me but I can make out just enough for my cock to take notice. She turns and opens her eyes and they lock with mine.

“Rhett! What are you doing in here?” she screeches, trying to cover her naked body.

I can’t help the smirk kicking up on the corner of my lip.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before, pretty girl.” My voice comes out a little huskier than I intended. I hold up one of the water bottles. “Thought you might need some hydration.”

I take three steps and I’m right in front of her. I watch the droplets of water sliding down the glass and get a better picture of her bare glistening skin. The room is heated but she shivers under my ogling. My free hand reaches over and snags the towel hanging on a hook as I open the glass door. Her eyes never leave mine but mine, they roam south and take in the beauty of her body.

Remi doesn’t say a word as I appraise every inch of her delectable frame. The years have been good to my girl. She shifts from one foot to the other as I bring my scrutinizing gaze back up to her hazel eyes.

“Can I have it?” she holds out her hand but I maintain my stare.

Her body shifts and I see the old Remi starting to surface as annoyance settles in. She still has her feisty side and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until now.

Extending my arm, I hold it out for her to take but when she grasps the cloth, I yank her forward and she falls into my chest.

“Rhett!”

Water soaks the front of my shirt and joggers as I hold her there. She’s still just as small as she was all those years ago when I held her after we’d make love, back when life was easy and not so complicated.

“Need some help drying off?” I ask just as my phone buzzes, breaking up our moment.

Remi shakes her head, as if clearing the spell we’re both consumed in.

“I can manage,” she takes a step back and swipes the towel from me. I wait a few seconds before retreating backwards.

“I’ll wait out there for you,” I tell her and then give her some time alone.