Forgiving Nancy (Last Hangman MC, #5)(20)
“Will do.” She kisses him quickly before pulling me up the stairs.
“This is slightly awkward,” I say following her.
“Why?” She turns around to look at me.
“I feel li…it’s a long story.” I want to open up, but I can’t. What if they work with my previous captors, would they hand me back to them? Can I trust these people?
“Hey,” she stops abruptly and turns around to place her hands on my shoulders, “I don’t know what you’ve been through but we’re here to help you. I’m sure it must be hard for you to open up to total strangers, hell I had trouble talking to my best friends when I came back. We’re all here to help you if and when you need. We won’t let you go back to whatever life you had before and if you even think of going back we’ll first kick your ass then try to brain wash you into staying with us. I promise we’re friendly really, we’re also just a little bit crazy.” She grins as she sees my face fall when ass kicking is mentioned. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay, it’s just hard to trust people. I was taken by an MC, it’s weird to be on a different MC’s territory, especially because I don’t know if you have any affiliation with them or what type of people you are.”
“Were you willingly with them?” She asks looking at me with a serious expression.
“No.”
“I see. You know, we’ve all been through some tough shit because of one MC or another. We’re here to help, but we won’t keep you here if you want to leave, but I warn you. We’re pretty f*cking awesome.” Viv calls out as she walks into a random bedroom. I walk past her and hear her gasp which makes me instantly turn around. “What the hell happened to you?”
“What do you mean?” I ask feeling confused as to why she’s looking at me like I’ve grown an extra head.
“The back of your legs.” She looks at me in horror. I look in a mirror and see dried trails of blood covering my legs.
“Long story.” I look down, feeling incredibly ashamed but not remembering why the blood is there in the first place.
“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.” She hugs me and sets both of our bottles on a chest of drawers by the door. “How about we get you cleaned up and into some proper clothes?” She half asks, half tells me as she opens the wardrobe and rummages through it.
“Sounds good to me.” I rub my face, wanting to get my memory to work and remember what the hell happened tonight.
“Here you go.” She hands me a pair of sweat pants and a shirt. “The bathroom is right behind you. I’ll wait for you here.” She points to a door on the wall adjacent to the bed before falling onto the bed with her eyes glued to her phone.
“Thank you.”
“No, need for that. This is almost an everyday occurrence here.” She assures at me and starts typing on her phone.
I disappear in the bathroom, making sure I lock the door behind me and give myself a minute before moving. Viv seems friendly but she’s still a stranger, a stranger who’s married to a biker that I’m still not one hundred percent sure I can trust. I set the clothes she handed me on the counter by the sink and turn towards the mirror. I look at the reflection and see someone I don’t recognize. My make-up is all over the place and I have bruises on my neck, my arms, my legs. As I take in the state of myself I break down. Why would people pay to do this to someone? Why me? What did I ever do that would warrant this?
I pull off the piece of fabric that covers my body and turn on the shower. I wait for it to warm up before stepping in. I sigh with relief as I let the warm water wash my tears and any physical trace of what happened tonight. If only I could remember what happened, a part of me wants to but the other one doesn’t. For the sake of my sanity though, I really wish I could remember.
I don’t think I’m ready to remember just yet. Instead of letting my mind go there, I start to think about Bennett and why he was so angry that he left instead of coming here with me. He looked like he wanted me on the back of his bike again, but then he just left. Maybe the shock had left him and he realized what I had become and was disgusted by it all. Seeing him again has made me feel happy for the first time in five years. I never thought I’d see him again and there I was, running down Bourbon Street trying to escape hell and I literally run into him. What were the odds? Should I take it as a sign that we have a second chance or is fate playing a dirty trick on us?
I slide down the wall and wince when my ass touches the floor of the tub. I hug my knees to my chest, letting the water wash the blood away. I rest my head on my knees, closing my eyes to the sight of my blood mixing with the water.
I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting there try to Jedi the memories back to mind when I suddenly I hear someone pounding on the door.
“Are you okay in there?” Viv’s worried voice calls through the door.
“Yeah, sorry I think I fell asleep.” I rub my eyes and reach up to the shower turn off.
“No worries, I was just making sure you didn’t slip and fall.” She shouts through the door
“I’m alright,” I say without much conviction. I step out of the shower and dry my body. Without any trace of makeup, blood or dirt, the bruises are even more apparent. I quickly pull on the clothes Viv gave me to hide them from my sight. I wrap my long hair in a towel and walk out of the bathroom to see four women sitting on the bed, thing I was not expecting.