“I’ll always take care of you.”
****
Three months later
Finally, without any crutches, Abriana walked out of the hospital feeling … alone. No one had come with her to her appointment. She ended up getting a cab to finally have the cast on both her wrist and ankle removed.
Her joints and muscles were weak from the prolonged binding she had to undergo. The first cast hadn’t been set properly, so she had to go in for extended treatment.
Folding her arms across her chest, she stood at the curb waiting for the cab to arrive. She’d called him from inside the hospital. All she wanted to do was go home and go to bed. In the past three months since she’d been taken and her baby had been beaten from her, all she’d wanted to do was go to bed.
Ugly Beast, Raven, and several men from the club including Smokey, wouldn’t let her. They’d forced her to participate at Thanksgiving, Christmas, the New Year, and with Valentine’s Day fast approaching, even Raven was getting into the swing of things, decorating the club for a dance they were holding. Raven had told her the women were going to be stripping, competing in wet t-shirt contests, followed by sex games where they all had to win at something.
Abriana didn’t want to know.
She knew her time with Ugly Beast was limited.
With their connection to the mafia over with, her place in their world was no longer needed.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she still felt the dull ache in her joints. The pain had subsided quite a bit, but she would never get full function back. The doctor had insisted she would be able to carry another baby, and they’d carefully monitor her, but she didn’t know if she was ever going to have another baby.
Ugly Beast was her husband, and he’d not even looked in her direction since before the attack. After three months, she imagined he was already getting something from the club. Glancing at the time, she saw it was getting closer to five, and she’d been waiting for nearly thirty-five minutes.
She didn’t have a cell phone, and just as she was about to head inside, a car pulled up beside her. Ugly Beast climbed out. “I missed it, didn’t I?”
Abriana tucked some hair behind her ear, nodding. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. I was trying to … I want to show you something.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had every intention of coming with you today.” He rounded the car and opened the door, being the perfect gentleman. She climbed in without a second thought. He closed the door before moving to his own side and climbing in.
“What did the doctor say?” he asked.
“It’s all healed. I’m going to need to do some exercises and possible therapy to help regain more movement, but other than that, it’s all good.”
“I’m glad.” He took her hand, placing a kiss to her flesh. “I hated seeing you in pain.”
“I’m fine now.”
She pulled her hand away, and Ugly Beast drove them away from the hospital, toward the club. “I’d really like to go home.”
“It’s not happening.”
“Then can we talk about our impending divorce?”
“That’s not happening either.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to divorce you, Abriana.”
“But you don’t need me.”
“I’ve never needed you. I was always planning to kill Garofalo. I’ve not needed you for anything.”
“Oh.” Pain struck her head, and she stared down at her lap.
Ugly Beast sighed and pulled into the parking lot of the clubhouse. “I’m not good with words. I never have been. I … I didn’t want to marry you. I did what I had to for the club and the club alone.”
“I know.”
“But I want to stay married to you. I enjoy having you around, and I don’t want to … let you go.”
He took her hand, pressing a kiss to her wrist before his hand moved to her stomach. She tensed up but saw the pain in his eyes.
“I’m the one sorry for not getting to you in time. You’re my wife. I should have been there to protect you.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not your fault either.”
“You were … happy I was pregnant?”
“For a few blissful moments, yeah, I really was because I would get to be a dad but also, I’d have an excuse to keep you.”
“Ugly Beast?”
“I’m not good. I’m not a good guy. In fact, I’d pretty much say I’m an evil fucking bastard. With you, you make me feel everything. Not a day goes by I don’t think about you.” He lifted the hand from her stomach to cup her cheek.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Forgive me. Give me another chance to prove to you I can do this.”
“You could have any woman.”
“I know my face is scarred to shit. You’re the only woman I want.”
“I’m ugly.”
“To me, you’re beautiful. To me, Abriana, you’re everything.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she bit her lip. “I don’t want to make you cry.”