Stripping Callum (Last Hangman MC Book 6)(50)

“You don’t have to leave. The guys and I will get to the bottom of this,” I say truthfully. I know they’ll help me, even for a personal matter.

“Why?”

“Because I want to help you.”

“The way you look at me since you figured out I have a kid changed. It’s a mixture of hatred and sadness,” she says, sounding hurt.

“I’ve been through my share of f*cked up shit too, and some of this has brought back memories I didn’t want to remember.” I shrug and down half of my beer.

“Are you ever going to tell me?”

“I don’t know. Not right now at least.”

“Why not?”

“Too soon,” I simply say, and she nods. “What’s your real name?”

“Why do you want to know? Want to look into me and see if I’ve been telling you the truth?” She raises her eyebrow at me.

“I’ve looked into Annabella Williams, and she doesn’t exist prior to when you moved here. There are absolutely no records of you besides a couple of things.”

“I can’t believe you looked into me. You could have just asked me!” she exclaims.

“I know, so?”

“Annabella James is my real name. Williams was my mother’s maiden name.”

“Why did you change your name? Did you have anyone after you?” I ask, concerned. Even if I’m f*cking mad, I still f*cking love her.

“No, not that I know of anyway. I changed my name when I came here because I couldn’t run anymore. I needed a fresh start, and with a fresh start comes a new name.”

“There’s one thing that baffles me, though.”

“What’s that?” she sounds perplexed.

“Why the f*ck did you start stripping when you have a kid?” I can’t help the disgust from my tone. I get that some women don’t have the choice, but she has a roof over her head and an adoptive family that would help her at the drop of her hat.

“That’s none of your f*cking business why I did. And who the f*ck are you to tell me such a thing? I’ve never heard you complain about it anyway!” she yells, clearly mad at me for my comment.

“I get that it’s easy money, but you have another job. I’m sure Suzie and Ga-”

“I’m going to stop you right there. Yes, it’s easy money, and I know Suzie and Gail would lend me money if I needed some, but it’s not about that. It’s about being able to take care of Elijah properly and not have to scrape every month. I want to be able to get him nice things and for him to have enough food and keep that roof above his head. Do you have any f*cking idea of how much it costs to take care of a kid?”

“I do, trust me I do,” I say, my voice close to breaking again.

“What?” she sounds shocked.

“I don’t want to talk about it. This is not the time.” I sober up and rub my face.

“Why not? I just told you my life story yet you can’t tell me one part of yours?”

“I told you no, end of.”

“You’re such a f*cking hypocrite. Everybody has to f*cking bow down to the all mighty Callum and do as he pleases, but when someone actually cares and wants to know more about you, you just shut them down.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that. You don’t know anything about me,” I bellow and she flinches but gets up in my face quickly.

“No, I don’t know anything about you, Callum,” she spits my name as if it’s leaving a sour taste in her mouth. “And I’m not sure I want to know more about the man that you are. Tonight alone has shown me that you only care about yourself. This is all about you, but newsflash—the world doesn’t revolve around you. Your brothers from the MC might think so but I don’t. I thought we had something good, but clearly I was wrong,” she screams and slaps me before leaving, and I let her. I let her slap me, I let her words cut me deep, and worst, I let her go.

She’s better off without me. I’m sure whatever happened tonight is because of me. I knew that getting close to her would only bring trouble in her life, but I was too selfish to stay away from her and now she can’t even go back to her place.

Going to the window, I see her sitting on the curb, calling someone. Maybe a taxi, maybe Gail, I don’t go out to see. I want to, but I can’t. It’s too soon.

What happened tonight really f*cked with my head. I promised myself I would never hurt her, and I just did that by not opening up to her. I wanted to, but how can I tell her about Billy and Alina? I’ve been repressing those feelings for far too long, and they came back to the surface, kicking me back down like when it first happened.

Watching her get in the taxi and closing the door is like she’s closing the door on this part of our lives. It feels like a part of my life is leaving, and I hate watching her go, but it’s the best thing to do for her. Maybe one day we’ll be together again ,but neither of us is ready at this point in our lives.





Annabella

One Week Later

In the back of my mind, I knew it was going to end like this between Callum and me. I knew we wouldn’t survive that night, but I still went. I’m not mad at Suzie and Gail for the offering. It would have come out sooner or later. I just hate the double standards that he can do whatever he wants and keep whatever he pleases from me, but I have to tell him everything. That’s f*cking bullshit.