on my life before coming here. There are a few parts of the story where I choke up and have to take a minute to compose myself. I never once give up on sharing my story with them until I’m done speaking. The second I’m done I sink to the ground and bury my head in my knees and arms. I don’t want to look at anyone or see the pity on their faces. Honestly, I need a few minutes to myself so I can get my tears stopped and not think about the past. It’s time to push these demons which haunt me to the back of my mind and shut them the fuck once and for all.
When I finally look up, each and every woman is standing in front of me. I’m helped up by Kim and pulled into her arms. She doesn’t let me go as each woman surrounds us and wraps their own arms around our little group. Sam is right behind me while Kim is in front of me. I know Sam is the one behind me because I smell her perfume and her chin is resting on my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” Kim says, pulling her head back from me to look me in the eyes. “If I had known about you, I’d have gotten you out of there. I wish I could take this pain from you and carry it on my shoulders. Make it so you never had to go through an ounce of what’s been done to you. Gwen, you’re the strongest woman I know and you’re only going to continue to grow and gain strength as you realize those assholes have no power over you anymore.”
“We’ve all been through our own shit and shit as ol’ ladies of the club. Gwen, we have nothing on you. Kim’s right, you’re definitely the strongest one out of all of us and I can’t wait to see you when you start realizing how strong you really are and the badass you’ll be when you finally finish growing and doing what you want to do. Our men are going to find these fuckfaces after you and you’ll have your day of justice against them,” Shy tells me, pulling me into her for a hug.
I’m passed from one woman to the next as they each give me a word of encouragement or praise and hug me. Not a single one of them look at me with disgust or pity in their eyes. Instead I see nothing but love, understanding, and strength coming from them. As I look toward the clubhouse, Killer and the rest of our men are standing there. They remind me of sentinels making sure no one gets close to us. I nod my head at Killer, and he strides toward me. I wipe the last of my tears away as he scoops me up in his arms.
“Are you okay?” he questions me, placing a gentle kiss against my forehead.
“Yeah. I feel the best I ever have since coming here. the only ones who don’t know everything are the guys. I don’t want to share with them. You can if you need to,” I answer him, tucking my face into the side of his neck and inhaling his smell. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life in fear of them coming after me. The only thing I want to do is build a life with you and make sure we’re both getting what we want out of it.”
“I’ll be there every step of the way Sparrow,” he states, and I know he means every single word of it.
Slim stops us just before entering. After watching me for several minutes, he nods his head and announces we’re going to order in food. All of us women are drained and don’t want to do much of anything after that talk. Killer carries me in our room and climbs into bed with me still firmly in his arms. He pulls the blanket from the end of the bed up over us and lets me fall asleep in his arms. Sleep is the best thing for me to have right now so I can begin to finish healing the last part of me that’s been broken.
Chapter Eighteen
Killer
I’VE BEEN WORKING at the garage all day long. Gwen’s been at the tattoo shop working so I haven’t had to worry about her as I normally do. Stryker and the rest of the guys are back, and he’s