I just wanted to disappear.
“Babe, we know shit happened when you went to Italy. We’re not stupid, but this. This is something you should have told us. We can’t protect you properly if we don’t have all the information.”
“It is my shame. Mine to bear.”
“You’re wrong, Catarina. You belong to my brother. He claimed you. You are the mother to his son, my nephew. He has the right to know.”
Gasping, I looked at Dwayne and shook my head. “Please, Dwayne. No. I can’t tell him. It’s too much. He will hate me. I didn’t fight them. I couldn’t. They were too strong. I just let it happen. I gave them what they wanted. I had no other choice.”
“I know, sweetheart,” Dwayne said, wiping my tears. “But what you don’t understand is there is a man in this photo the club has been looking for.”
“I don’t know who they are. I swear. Bianchi just said they were his friends. He gave me to them. They did things. Bad things,” I sobbed.
“Sweetheart, we will talk about what happened later. I am more concerned about you in this picture. What is upsetting me is I can clearly see that you are pregnant. Where is the baby?”
Shaking my head, I refused to say.
I wouldn’t.
He couldn’t make me.
No one could. I would never say.
“Ari, can you please come take Hailey,” I heard Ghost say and gasped.
“No! Please. Let me hold her. She needs me. I’ll tell you everything. I promise I will.”
“Cat, give the baby to Ari,” Ghost ordered as the pretty woman walked over, saying nothing. I tried to hide the little girl to keep her protected in my arms, but when Dwayne reached for her, I couldn’t stop him from taking her from me. The second she was no longer in my arms, I screamed, “She’s mine!” before Healer walked over to me and stuck a needle in my arm.
Twelve
Player
“Sit the fuck down, Player!” Reaper shouted as he walked into church and headed for his chair. Looking about the room, I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but they did, and none of my fucking brothers were saying shit. My woman was in the main room with Ghost, and I wanted to know why.
“I won’t tell you again. Sit. The. Fuck. Down. Hammer, you better go get Lorenzo. He will need to hear this too.”
Hammer nodded and left.
“SIT!” Reaper shouted, slamming his gun down on the table when he saw that I was still standing.
Doing as he ordered, I sat. I noticed that several of my brothers came to stand behind me. Whatever was going on was bad. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. I knew it was about Catarina, but I had no clue. When I heard her scream a few seconds ago, it took all my brothers to hold me back. But when Reaper walked into the room, I stopped fighting. I needed someone to tell me what the fuck was going on and fast.
“Where is Catarina?” I asked.
“In the infirmary. Healer sedated her. She will be out for a few hours. Which will give you time to get your head straight and your shit together.”
“Why?”
“Because of this,” Reaper said, sliding a photo over to me. Picking it up, I turned it over and tried to comprehend what I was seeing. I saw four men. One man I recognized. In between them on a large bed was Catarina. They were raping her. My fist balled up as I saw the pain and torment on her face. Slamming my fist on the table, I handed the picture back to Reaper. I couldn’t look at it anymore.
“What did you see, Player?” Reaper asked.
“My woman being raped. What the fuck do you think I saw?”
“Look again,” Reaper said, sliding the picture back to me.
“I can’t. If I look at it again, I will lose my shit, man. Don’t make me do it. I am barely holding on by a thread as it is.”