“No, I’m Tania.Onlyhecalls me Shell.”Tania looked at the man.He was about her dad’s age so probably mid-fifties, with gray hair pulled back into a ponytail and a leather vest like what Smokey wore.
“All right, Tania it is then.Let me take a look at you and see what we can do to make you feel a little better.”
The click of the door made her look around, that’s when Tania realized that Taylynn had slipped out, closing the door behind her.
“You’re all right.I won’t let anything happen to you.”Smokey twisted around and set Carter on the bed beside them.He might scoot around a little but he wasn’t quite crawling yet so she wasn’t too worried about him.“Is this the worst of it?”He gently cupped her neck.
Tania shook her head, turned so her back was to him then pulled up the back of her shirt, using her forearms to make sure the front remained covering her breasts.She was only peripherally aware of the older man moving around behind her to see what she was showing Smokey.
“Shit, babe.He kicked you.”
“More than once.”She kept one hand holding her shirt wadded at the back of her neck and used the other to slide the hem of the shirt out of the way, exposing another deep purple bruise high on her thigh.He’d kicked her more than twice, but these were the darkest of the bruises.
“I’m going to touch you.I’ll do my best to be gentle, but I need to check on your ribs.Are you good with it?”Freud asked.
“Go ahead.”She took a deep breath and held it bracing for the pain but knowing that Smokey wouldn’t let him hurt her or take advantage of her.She might not trust a lot of people, but she did trust Smokey.She should have gone to him when she’d found out she was pregnant.She hadn’t known who Carter belonged to but she’d known there was a chance it wasn’t Rod’s.
The hand on her back was gentle, yet firm.He pressed and probed and she clenched her teeth trying to keep from making any noise.The last thing she wanted to do was to upset Carter.Sure he was young, but he knew when something wasn’t right with her, she could tell.
“What would you have done if you were him, Smokey?”She asked, trying to distract herself from the stabbing pain every time Freud pressed into her skin.
“If I were who?That fucker you married?”
“Yes.If I had done to you what I did to him.Married you, told you I was pregnant and had a baby that obviously wasn’t yours.What would you have done?”She suddenly had to know.
“Not this.”Another hand touched her back.She could tell by the way he caressed down her side, and cupped her waist that it was Smokey.“Why?”He paused.“Why didn’t you come to me and tell me?”
Tania took a deep breath and knew it was time to admit what she’d kept secret for so long.“I didn’t know.When I came to you that night, I hadn’t even met Rod yet.”She fell quiet.“I take that back.I’d met him but only in passing.Just an interaction at some function for Daddy.It wasn’t until after that we started seeing each other.Things moved fast between us.Really fast.Dad was happy so I didn’t think much of it.Until I was late.Then I tested and it was positive.But how could I know who?”She shook her head and ignored the heat in her face.At least she wasn’t having to look him in the face as she confessed.“By the time I knew I was pregnant, we were already engaged.He wanted to get married quickly.That worked for me.I didn’t tell anyone.No one.Not Momma or even Elle.”Elle was her best friend, well, after Smokey.Elle had been her maid of honor and had helped her get everything done right.She’d been a lifesaver planning a wedding so quickly.
She hadn’t seen Elle in so long.That was another thing Rod had taken from her.He’d isolated her from her friends.Not her parents, though because they supported him.His father employed him, and had given him a huge promotion as soon as she and Rod had returned from their honeymoon.Later, when this thing with the medical guy she’d ask Smokey if she could call Elle.She would have to borrow a phone, but the idea of talking to Elle again lifted her spirts some.
Chapter Five
Smokey’s chest achedat what Tania had been through.He wished she had said something.He wished he could have kept her from dealing with this.He wished he had been there for her pregnancy, to see her belly swell with his son.He would have been there when Carter was born if he’d known.
But worrying about what-ifs and could-have-beens wouldn’t help anyone, and it couldn’t roll back time so they could change things, so he might as well focus on what to do moving forward.He let Freud look Tania over, and he declared her mostly sound, if a little battered.The club medic gave her some instructions, telling her a hot shower would help muscle soreness and a bath would be better if they could find a tub.
