“The club? I was born into the club life the same as Forge. I could never do your kind of normal. This is what I know. The guys complain about Forge bringing in a civilian. You judge what you don’t understand. But he can’t help who he falls in love with—that I can understand.”
She wanted to say she’d grown to love club life, but now her world had soured. She didn’t know what to believe or what to think. Part of her wanted to talk to Forge, the man she’d grown to love, hoping he’d talk to her and explain away everything. But she was terrified he’d be the same man who’d attacked her today.
“You’re right. Maybe I don’t belong.”
She laughed. “Try telling that to Forge. He’ll never let you leave.”
Beth didn’t want to leave, but she also wanted the Forge who told her all those sweet lies, not the man she’d run from today.
“What’s your name?” asked Beth.
“Sable.”
“Thanks for being nice to me. It’s lonely being me.” She’d spend her entire life watching the world from behind protective glass.
“It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” Sable slipped off the table and swung her dark hair behind her. “Forge will be in a great mood after tonight.”
After he killed her father.
She shouldn’t care, but death was something you didn’t come back from. It scared and fascinated her. But it still made her sad that her own father had sold her. He’d never wanted her. For once, she wanted to be number one in someone’s life. In Forge’s life.
After Sable left the kitchen, leaving her alone, she looked down at herself. Beth laid a gentle hand over the natural roundness of her stomach. Could she be pregnant already? Was life beginning to form in her body? It was too soon to know anything, but it was possible.
Would Forge love his own child or would be heartless like her father? She’d never let her child live the same miserable existence she’d been forced to endure. No, it would know unconditional love. If that meant running from the club to protect her child from Forge, she’d do it, even if it cost her everything.
She heard a bike coming home. It hadn’t been long since they all left. Could it be Forge?
Chapter Eleven
Beth was going to make a sandwich when Hound rushed through the door. He looked panicked and for the first time she’d ever seen, afraid.
“You’ve got to come,” he said, stopping and staring at her.
“What?”
“I need you to follow me. It’s Forge. He’s in trouble and he needs you.”
She stared at the man, not really sure what she should do or if she should even trust him. He wasn’t a friend to her—far from it.
After what Forge did to her, she didn’t want to go running back to him regardless of if he was in trouble.
But if he’s in serious trouble, you wouldn’t want anything to happen to him. You still love him even if you don’t like him right now.
She sounded weak even to her own ears and she hated sounding like that.
Beth reluctantly got up. “What kind of trouble?”
“Just come with me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to fucking understand, you stupid bitch. You’ve got to learn to follow instructions. That’s all you’ve got to do. It’s nothing complicated. Why does everything with you women have to be an essay? Can’t you just do?”
She gritted her teeth even as her eyes filled with tears. She shouldn’t be sad or upset. He clearly wasn’t used to dealing with women and besides, his insults reminded her of her father. He always told her how she was useless or that she only had no good qualities. It was nothing new. She was used to being insulted.
“I’ll put this away then we can go.”
Hound marched over to her, grabbed the plate in her hand, and threw it to the ground, the fractured pieces scattering in every direction. “I said now.” He took her wrist and dragged her out of the kitchen.