Well, I’m pretty sure, my mother, Linita, Ivy’s egg donor, Bernita, and some of the Triple Spirits had a hand in hurting her. Isabelle had multiple stab wounds in her stomach. She’d been injected with heroin and choked. She hasn’t talked to anyone about it, but I’m afraid something else might have happened. I just don’t know what.
“I need to get home,” Isabelle says, drawing my focus back to the now and not on what she’s been through. “Smoky will be missing me.”
Angel and Hellhound had brought her here after she was finally released from the hospital, and we’ve been camped out on the couches and in front of the TV watching Christmas movies all afternoon.
“You’re staying here with us,” Ivy declares, placing her hand on her stomach. “Smoky is fine. He’s actually in Angel’s room.”
“I can’t stay here. I don’t want to be a bother.” Isabelle fidgets with her hands on the table. Her breathing seems to grow frantic and has me worried
I love my friend and seeing her withdraw into herself and becoming anxious is unusual. Sure, she’s the quiet one of our group, but she’s one of us, and we look out for each other.
“Isabelle, you’re not a bother,” I say, spotting the guys stepping into the main room of the clubhouse, along with Kash, Kidd, and a few others. My mind is still reeling about the fact I have a dad and a brother. I’m not sure really what to think of them, but Kash’s making a point in getting to know me.
“Baby, I didn’t know about you. If I did, I’d have taken you with me. I should’ve stuck around to find out if Linita was lying to me. But I guess I was also relieved to think I wasn’t glued to that bitch anymore. I didn’t see her true colors until after she was in my bed a few times,” Kash said after he and I were sitting down at the hospital while waiting on news about my friend. I’d already been checked out. My wrist had to be placed in a cast, and I had a few cuts stitched up. .
Tombstone had kept me close to him the entire time.
Shoot, he still does. Unless he’s handling club business, I’m in his sights at all times.
“You know what I mean,” Isabelle whispers, meeting my gaze. “I don’t want them coming here, and you know they will when they find out. They’ll be blitzed out of their minds—demanding money. I need to get home, get back to work, and keep them as far away as I can. I’ve already missed too much time . . .”
“Woman, you ain’t goin’ anywhere?” Hellhound snarls from behind Isabelle. “You’re keeping your ass right here at the clubhouse whether you like it or not.”
How the hell did he do that? I didn’t see him pop up behind her.
“But . . .” Isabelle starts, but Angel steps up next to Hellhound.
“I agree,” Angel says, glancing between Hellhound and Isabelle. I can’t help but stare at the three of them.
Is there something I’m missing here?
“I can’t,” Isabelle states, shaking her head.
Hellhound leans down, getting eye to eye with Isabelle. “You are. You’re done with those fuckin’ parents of yours, and that’s final.”
Isabelle doesn’t get another word in edgewise. In the next moment, Hellhound reaches out and scoops her up into his arms, lifting her in the air, and starts for the hallway leading to the club members’ rooms. Angel's hot on their heels.
Well, okay then.
Glancing between Ivy, Stella, Everleigh, Juniper, and Josephine, I quirk a brow.
“I, so, did not see that one coming,” Juniper states, seeming flabbergasted.
Stella, on the other hand, has a look I can’t quite decipher. I guess only time will tell to see how everything plays out.
For the time being, I’m going to enjoy the beginning of my forever with Tombstone.