Wrapped in Chains - Nicola Jane Page 0,40

Vinn.

“Fuck,” I hiss, moving to Vinn. “Put that away. There’s kids around here,” I snap. At the same time, Blu is up off his chair with his own gun pointed at Vinn. “Jesus,” I groan.

“She ain’t gotta go with you, and who the fuck do you think you are comin’ into our club and pulling a gun?” yells Blu. It’s the most I’ve heard him speak since he arrived.

Cree and Riggs rush into the room. They must have seen the chaos unfold from the office. “Put your guns down,” orders Riggs, but neither of the men listen. Diesel picks up on the tension and begins to bark, putting himself between me and Vinn.

“You’d better get your monkeys under control, Riggs,” snaps Vinn.

Blu moves forwards, yelling about not being anyone’s monkey, and Vinn sweeps his arm to move me from in front of him. I trip over Diesel and lose my balance, tumbling towards the ground and hitting my head on a table as I fall. “Shit, Leia,” screams Gia, but as she rushes towards me, she goes fuzzy and then everything goes black.

My head hurts. I groan and the voices around me stop. “Leia,” whispers Gia.

“Did anyone get shot?” I croak.

“I’m not entirely sure. Riggs kicked them out. He’s really mad,” she whispers. “I need to warn you that—”

“Is she awake?” yells Riggs.

“Too late,” adds Gia.

I push myself to sit up on the couch. Diesel is by my feet, and as Riggs approaches, he snarls. “Do something with that fuckin’ dog. He’s growling at me in my own damn club!” he yells.

“Stop yelling and he won’t growl,” I huff, patting Diesel and reassuring him that everything is fine.

“Pregnant!” snaps Riggs, his eyes wide.

“Sorry, I blurted it out when you fell,” mutters Gia and I groan again.

“Get talking,” snaps Riggs, pacing.

“I had sex. I got pregnant,” I say and he glares at me.

“You think this is funny, Leia? All the money I’ve put into your education to get you where you want to be. For what? So you can sit here and make stupid statements like that!”

“What do you want me to say, Riggs? Shit happens. It happened to Anna.”

“Anna planned that, we both know it,” he snaps bitterly and I hear a gasp from across the room. Riggs closes his eyes for the briefest of seconds and then turns to Anna. “Sorry. I’m mad. I didn’t mean that.” Anna stomps out of the room without another word, slamming the door as she leaves. “Fuckin’ great,” he hisses.

Mum rushes in, dropping her shopping bags on the ground and making her way to me. “Are you okay?”

“It’s a little bump,” I say as she examines the throbbing lump on my head. “Riggs knows,” I add.

“You already knew!” yells Riggs and Mum rolls her eyes.

“I guessed. Why are you yelling?”

“Jeez, I don’t know, Mum. Maybe I’m pissed that everyone seems to know that Leia’s screwed her life up except me.”

I stand, gripping my mum’s shoulder for a second because of the dizziness. “Not everyone resents kids like you, Riggs. Some of us are grown up enough to see it as a blessing. And for the record,” I snap. “We are not in the eighteen hundreds. Women have babies and they work. They don’t need assholes to pay their way. I will still be an amazing nurse and a fantastic mother.” I head for my bedroom before he can reply.

CHAINS

There’s no sign of Cobra anywhere. No one’s seen him. No one's heard of him. As I head home, I try to call Riggs but get no answer. Every fucker is ignoring my calls today. As I pull my house keys out, I look up and notice the front door is slightly open. Frowning, I pull out my gun to be on the safe side and carefully push the door open wide enough for me to get through.

Inside, the place is a mess. Things are strewn all over the living room. My heavy boots crunch on broken glass as I carefully step over objects and make my way to the kitchen. I flick the light on and the sight before me takes my breath away. Raven is on the floor with her back to me. Her long hair is stained a deeper red with blood. It’s splayed out around her head in a sticky matter. I stare at her lifeless body for a second before my brain kicks into gear and I rush over, dropping to my knees and carefully rolling her onto her back.