Was he talking about the abuse he’d endured from his biological father?
It went quiet for a moment. Bobby paused for only a few seconds before he continued working. I lost count of how many stitches he had done so far on my side.
“You knew who she was,” Bram said, his voice a little calmer.
“Yeah,” Reid replied.
“Why didn’t you come to me and tell me what was happening to her?” Bram asked.
“We only found out a week ago and I tried to get her to tell you herself. She refused,” Reid said. I didn’t have to hear his tone to know he was annoyed.
“Of course she wouldn’t tell me,” Bram snapped. “I’m the president of the Haven’s Rebels. You know our history. Youknow what people say about us. She probably assumed I was as much of a piece of shit as her mother.”
“I think you proved that you weren’t when she took a crowbar to your bike,” Wyatt said.
It went quiet again.
“That’s what she meant when she said she wanted to see if I’d hit her,” Bram said. “When she said that, I thought…”
Bobby cleared his throat when Bram didn’t say more. “What the hell was used to cut up this poor girl? I’ve done about thirty stitches on her side alone and I haven’t even gotten to her arm yet.”
I tried to hold them back, but the memories resurfaced—Clay pinning me face down on the floor by the back of my head and straddling my butt. He had picked up a large shard of broken lamp. I was wearing the crop top and shorts Mac had lent me. Clay made comments about it. Saying I looked like trash from the wrong side of the bridge while cutting my side repeatedly. I managed to turn my head so I wasn’t being smothered. My eyes found Mother. I screamed and screamed. She watched it all with sick delight glinting in her eyes while continuing to sip on her drink.
“There were broken pieces of glass everywhere. There was one larger piece that was covered in blood on the floor next to where I found her,” Reid told them.
“Was it just her mother who did this?” Wyatt asked.
“Do you think her mother’s boyfriend helped?” Roe questioned.
“He was there,” Reid answered. “I overheard them arguing. Mommy Dearest was mad he hit her face because it’d make her less perfect for someone named Sharon Carmichael.”
“That’s Brandon’s mother,” Roe said.
“Her mother’s boyfriend? And who are Sharon and Brandon Carmichael?” Bram questioned, trying to follow along.
It was odd just lying there listening to them talk about me and all the things I’d worked so hard to keep secret. Part of me felt like I should be freaking out. Another, stronger part was too fucking broken to care. The cat was out of the bag. I supposed them knowing all the fucked-up details didn’t matter.
“Her mother’s boyfriend—I think his name is Clay—has also hurt Lottie in the past,” Roe answered.
“Last week, he tried to—” Wyatt started to say, but abruptly stopped.
“He tried to rape her last weekend,” Reid bluntly finished for him. “She called Mac for help after getting away from him.”
Wyatt added, “I drove her to where Lottie asked her to meet up. When we got there, Lottie’s dress was ripped and she didn’t have any shoes. He roughed her up pretty bad then, too.”
“What?” Bram sounded taken aback. “What do you mean she was almost raped?”
Bobby cleared his throat. “You probably could have delivered that information a bit more delicately.”
“There isn’t any point in sugarcoating it. She’s already laid out on this table, beat to hell,” Reid snapped.
“Still, it’s not easy for a father to hear that,” Bobby said.
Roe’s hand tightened a little around mine. “Nothing about any of this is easy.”
“You need to know what she has been going through, Bram. You need to learn it all so you can get your head wrapped around it quickly, because her mother isn’t going to wait,” Reid said.
“I understand how serious this is, Reid,” Bram assured him.
