I push myself off the floor and stumble towards the mirror. My reflection is wrecked. Mascara trails down my cheeks like war paint, and my hair, perfectly styled to tell him our news, now sticks to my damp skin, matted and wild, a true reflection of how I feel inside.
One moment. That’s all it took. One moment, and everything is destroyed.
I swipe beneath my eyes, trying to erase the panda smudges, and take a steadying breath.
This may be the only life I’ve ever known, but I won’t let it be the only one I accept.
I straighten my shoulders and smooth down my dress.
“You’ve got this, Rochelle,” I whisper to my reflection.
I don’t know where I’ll go, but I’ll be damned if I stay here another second. Not in this room. Not in that bed. Not in the place where our child was conceived out of what I thought was love.
I turn to stare at the makeup still scattered across the bed and I realise I’ve never been more clear on anything in my life.
I scoop the makeup back into the bag, then I pull out a duffle bag from under the bed and go to the wardrobe. I smile to myself, remembering the excitement just an hour ago as I got changed with the girls. I shake my head to clear it then begin tugging clothes from their hangers and shoving them into the bag.
Once I have everything I need, I turn slowly, looking around the room that I’ve shared with Drifter for so long. A tear rolls down my cheek, and I swipe it away. The memories play out like a movie, all our happier times right here, just the two of us, and the way we’d somehow always end up tangled in the bedsheets with his hand placed over my heart.
“You’ll always be mine, Hell. Now and forever. You were meant for me.”
The memory fades away as I stand in the doorway.It’s a shame you didn’t think about that an hour ago, Drifter.
I hang my head, my eyes cloudy from tears.
Just go, Rochelle. Just leave.
I force myself to turn and walk away.
DRIFTER
“What the fuck are you all looking at?” I grit out as I shove through the crowd gathered outside.
The ol’ ladies stare at me like I’m something they scraped off their shoes. Red stands with her hands planted on her hips, her mouth parting like she’s about to tear into me.
“Don’t even fucking bother,” I growl, pushing through the clubhouse doors. I need to get to her. I need to explain.
A hand clamps around my arm.
I glance down at Clay’s grip on my kutte, then I slowly look back up at him. “What the fuck?” I spit.Since when does anyone here question my authority?“Get the fuck off me.”
I wrench my arm free, but he shoves me back against the wall, his forearm braced across my chest, blocking my path like a damn barrier.
“Not a fucking chance,” Clay growls. “You need to calm the fuck down before you go up there.”
“She’s my fucking wife,” I roar, straining against him.
“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you did what you did,” he snaps, nostrils flaring.
“Clay, seriously . . . move.”
“Pres,” he says, his jaw ticking as he reins himself in, “you fucked up.”
I see it in his eyes.Disappointment. Anger.
Clay hates cheating. Always has. He destroyed his own brother by sleeping with his woman, so he knows exactly what this kind of betrayal does.
Seeing the hollow, lifeless look in Hell’s eyes when she found us sobered me up instantly. And when I saw Siren standing there too, I knew I’d destroyed everything.
