“I didn’t give you a…”
“Anyway, come over here and sit down. You can have a glass of the wine if you’d like, Mom.”
Both of my parents came to sit on the couch. I hadn’t had a chance to prepare what I was going to say to them, but I was pretty excited about the idea I’d come up with.
“Mom. Dad. I have a business proposition I’d like to run by you.”
From the looks on their faces I wondered if maybe I should wait. But, I really didn’t want to.
The idea was still fresh in my mind, and unless I wanted to sit there and be on the receiving end of my mother’s judgment all night long, I should get them thinking of something else. Let her judge the business idea instead of my personal life.
“Before we get started, can I ask you a question?” my mother asked.
“Sure.”
“What’s that bruise on your neck? It looks like a handprint.”
My hand instinctively flew up to my neck and I raced to the bathroom. Sure enough, looking back at me through the cloudy mirror was a handprint. From that asshole in the parking lot. I had a mark on my neck from where he had his disgusting hands on me.
The panic and fear that I’d been holding back came rushing out. That experience had been traumatic enough. What if Bailey and Lily were being held captive and raped right now?
I started to hyperventilate and cry.
“Paige? Are you okay?” My dad came into the bathroom. “What’s the matter honey?” I didn’t want to tell them what had happened to me, because it would just add credibility to their feeling that I wasn’t safe living here and couldn’t handle myself.
On the other hand, I was standing in my bathroom with a big purple handprint on my neck hyperventilating and crying.
I grabbed some toilet paper and blew my nose. How was I going to get out of this?
Finally I decided that it was time to stop lying to them about stuff. No more covering for Bailey. No more shielding them from the truth about me and my life. I was a grown woman and I didn’t have to be worried that my mommy and daddy would be mad at me.
“Come on in here, Dad.”
He followed me to where Mom was sitting. “What I am about to say actually relates to the business idea I had, I just didn’t realize that I was going to have such personal experience with it.”
My mom looked worried, but sat there quietly.
“I was attacked in the parking lot of the grocery store tonight.”
“What?” my dad looked horrified. “What happened?”
I was about to tell them the story when my mom’s face went pale and she said, “Oh no. Not you, too.”
Thirty-One
Ryder
I’d had enough of driving this car and really wanted to be on my bike. Now that Paige was safely home, my mind was focused on finding Lily and Bailey. I had to force the terrible thoughts from my mind about what could be happening to them. Best case scenario was that the girls had gone off to meet up with Scorpion and they were having some relatively harmless fun.
Worst case scenario was…well…worse.
As much as I wanted to drop off the car and get my bike, I needed to have a vehicle that could also fit Bailey if I found them. Lily was used to being on the back of the bike.
So, instead of going home, I went to the Blue Dog. I wanted to talk to Hawk and see what he knew about the explosion and see if he’d heard anything about the girls.
When I pulled up to the parking lot of the Blue Dog, I was shocked at the number of bikes there. Pretty much everyone from Outlaw Souls seemed to be here. It was well after last call, so I wondered what was going on.
I locked the car and went in. The place was filled with smoke and the only folks here were Outlaw Souls and Connie the bartender. She was off-duty and drinking from a bottle of Jack.
