“It’s okay,” she whispers before leaving the room without another word.
“What the fuck?” I ask in confusion.
“Chains, you’re a fuckin’ dickhead,” Raven mutters, shaking her head as she starts moving around the kitchen. “Of all the people in here, you know Vi loves to cook but doesn’t do it for reasons we all know.” Slamming the pots and pans around, the woman continues to rant.
“What’s so wrong with her lovin’ to cook? What am I missin’ here? I know I’m constantly havin’ to get her to eat or remind her to eat when she’s not craving something,” I state to which I’m met by silence.
Chains is the one to finally speak.
“Victoria, I’m sure you’ve noticed and can come up with the conclusion yourself, suffers from an eating disorder. All brought on by the fuckers who raised her. They starved her and only allowed her to eat salads. I think she was allowed some sort of meat once a week or so. On the rare occasions she was able to spend the night with Raven growing up, if she ate, she’d puke it up almost immediately. Other times, she’d refuse to eat altogether. Whenever she cooks, she’ll rock the fucker but won’t eat it,” he says and it all clicks. Every little bit of what I’ve noticed makes perfect sense now.
“Have you all tried talkin’ to her about it?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’ve told her that until she starts eating what she fixes, she’s not allowed to cook here. Shitty, I know, but I won’t watch my sister starve herself to death or puke her guts out,” Chains mutters.
Nodding, I glance around the room taking in Chains sulking for upsetting his sister, Raven cooking quietly and my brother watching the woman as if she were the only one in the room.
Without grabbing my coffee I’d come in here for, I leave the kitchen in search of my woman. I check her room first only to find it empty.
“If you're looking for your ol’ lady, she’s out back,” Tyres says as I step into the main room of their clubhouse.
“Thanks, man,” I say, heading for the door.
Outside, I make my way around the building taking in the old looking bricks that seem worn from years of weather and beatings it's gone through. Behind the clubhouse I scan the area finding my woman sitting on a swing hanging from a large tree.
Victoria meets my gaze and my chest tightens at seeing the hurt as tears stream down her face.
“Sweetness?” I murmur her name as I kneel in front of her.
“I can’t help who I am. I want to be a better person and good mother, but how do I do that when I don’t even know how. I mean I’ve put our child at risk by coming here. By leaving you to fight for your life while I planned vengeance. I hardly eat because if I do I’ll gain more weight and be heavier than I already am. I’m not as beautiful as the other women who surround you all. I’m nothing more than failure.” Pressing my fingers to her mouth, I stop her from saying anything else negative about herself.
“Vi, I don’t know what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours, but I can tell you this. One, you will be an amazing mother to our son and any other children we have. Two, don’t ever say you aren’t beautiful because in my eyes, no one compares to you. When you dance on a stage, Sweetness, it’s like magic vibrates off you and puts a spell on anyone watching. And the last thing, when you do something, you do it wholeheartedly, even with your emotions shut down,” I say softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
She doesn’t respond as she stares at me.
“Now, how about we get breakfast, have Alverez check my bandages, then we can go over what you’ve gotten so far and end this shit in order to go home,” I suggest as I stand, pulling her with me. “Oh, by the way, Sweetness, when we get home, I want you to put those cooking skills to work,” I chuckle, smacking her ass as she walks past.
Giving me a smile that doesn’t quite meet her eyes, I’ll take that as a small win. Once I get this shit handled, I can get Victoria home, where I’ll show her just how much she’s not a failure in any way.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Victoria
Talk about infuriating. Due to my rescuing Luna, not only did my mother go into hiding, they all did. We spent two weeks at my brother’s clubhouse as the guys worked together to find them, but they’ve all gone off the grid.
Tracker and the rest of the guys from the Devil’s Riot needed to get back due to club business and I didn’t want to be away from Tracker. Not that he’d let me out of his sight anyway.
Luna decided to come with us for a fresh start. She’d just graduated college at twenty and wanted to open her own business but not in Louisiana or in her home state, Florida.
Since we came home, when the club wasn’t handling club business, Tracker and Nerd were working to find the bastards and cunt. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a trace of them.
“I’ll find them, Sweetness,” Tracker said the day we’d left to come home for a little while at least.
Chains had promised to keep an eye out and let me know the moment he has something for me. I merely hope we find Parker before he does. I know without a doubt my brother will take him out himself and put his plans on the backburner. He may have been working for the asshole transporting and whatnot, but he was only building up a trust to get what he really wants.
An ‘in’ to the man he really wants to take out himself. Only no one can get to him without ending up dead.
Since being home, I’ve yet to go back to work at Dolly’s Playhouse, preferring to spend my time either with Tracker or Momma B and Rachel. After a horrific event that happened at the clubhouse, they’ve both healed up, the only one who is still trying to heal is Tiny.
Out of all the girls who worked at DP, she was the sweetest and always had a smile on her face when speaking to customers. But not anymore.
I don’t think I’ve seen her smile since everything. No, she’s hardly left the clubhouse after being released from the hospital. Even then the only time she comes out of her room is to go in the playroom with the kids.
It hurts seeing her flinch anytime someone comes near her beside Rachel, Momma B, or myself. I honestly think being away from here would do her justice. In fact, I know what I’d like to do but I don’t know if the guys or even Chains would go for it.
If she were to go to Inferno’s Clutch MC it would be not only a fresh start for her, but Raven’s mother could help Tiny heal in a way that we can’t. She’s what we all call a healer.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Tracker asks, wrapping his arms arounds my waist landing on my rounded stomach. I still have difficulty with seeing myself grow large and since we came home it’s as if my stomach expanded overnight.
Sighing, I drop the shirt I’d been folding on the pile of clothes and lean into his chest careful of not hurting him. His wound has healed, but it’s still tender at times. “I was just thinking about Tiny. She could really use some help,” I say.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, Tiny is scared of her own shadow, James. I think we should see if she’ll go to Chains’ club.”
“And you think she won’t be traumatized there? Sweetness, I love you but Tiny can barely be in the same room with any of us, she freaks being there and those bitches would eat her alive,” Tracker states.