“Seems to be. I don’t know how that works. Grandmother didn’t say anything,” I replied and took a seat that Kelly held out to me.
“Clio, you got two more sisters and a brother? Have you thought of getting a PI?” Bear asked as Chance reached across the counter to sneak a piece of cucumber, and a resounding smack echoed through the cabin. Chance shook his hand and glared at Clio, who put the spatula she’d whacked Chance with back down.
“Thought we’d give it a go first. If we fail, then we’d look at a PI,” I replied.
“Hawthorne?” Bear asked, turning his head to Chance.
“Already put a call in, he’s got Max on it,” Chance replied, and my back bristled.
“Excuse me?” I said.
“Put a call in to a friend. He runs Hawthorne’s Investigations; he’s putting a man on it,” Chance explained.
“How dare you?” I exclaimed. “This is my search for my siblings!”
“And that woman is my wife. The moment you discovered Clio, you found us. Which means Clio has a right to seek her other siblings out. This isn’t just about you now. Naturally, Clio wouldn’t approach without you, but she has the same right to seek them out,” Chance stated, hands on his hips. My temper flared; screw the fact we were guests in his home.
“That is beside the point; you should have consulted me, not taken over like you’re God!” I nearly yelled. A dark look settled over Chance’s face, and I knew I’d poked the bull. But I wasn’t backing down. Clio might have to suffer his rules and attitude; I most certainly didn’t.
“If it concerns Clio, then I’ll always act in her best interests. It took you two months of searching to find Clio, woman. What if one of your other siblings is in serious shit? Think about that? They may need help, right now, right this very fuckin’ second. And because you’re a prideful rich bitch, you’re refusing help? Fuck you, lady. If something happens to Clio’s siblings and I stood by and didn’t set Hawthorne on the trail, Clio will blame me,” Chance thundered, and I swallowed hard.
“You had no right to act without consulting me. I’m the one who’s sweated and worried. Not you or Clio; you’d both still be oblivious. You should have spoken to me before setting your hounds on my siblings. Without me, Clio wouldn’t have a freaking clue!” I hissed, fury overwhelming me.
“You’re out of line,” Clio said suddenly, and Chance shut his mouth on whatever he’d been about to say. I smirked at Chance. Finally, Clio was taking my side, seeing her husband for what he was. A bullying gangbanger!
“How dare you enter our home and be so rude? What right do you have to claim the search for our siblings and not involve me? Chance is right, one of them may be in dire trouble and desperate for help, and you’re here holding onto your pride and being stubborn. Are you truly prepared to wait at least two months to find each sibling? Possibly more? I’m not. And I’m damn glad Hawthorne is on their trail because Dylan will find them in weeks, not fucking months!” Clio said quietly but firmly. I put my glass of wine down and stared at her.
“Don’t you think I should have been consulted?” I asked. Clio shook her head.
“No, I don’t. You’re rich enough to have employed a PI months ago, and I would have been found quicker, and so would our siblings. But you desired complete power and control over when and which of your siblings was found. You claim a sense of urgency to find us and yet didn’t use the quickest methods. That says a lot about you. Chance and I have money, and we’ve hired the best PI firm in South Dakota. Our siblings will be found within weeks. I’m not waiting for amateur hour and for you to get the praise and kicks out of finding them,” Clio said, still calmly. I flinched away from Clio’s words. Was that what Clio honestly thought, or Chance putting ideas in her head?
“And if I found you earlier, you wouldn’t have Stockholm syndrome,” I spat, and Kelly groaned.
“Thalia, enough!” Kelly snapped.
“No, Clio’s clearly indoctrinated by him and his gang,” I said, waving an arm. Clio stepped up, and Chance put an arm out. Hanging over it, Clio narrowed her eyes at me, and intense dislike flared in them.
“Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever stop me loving Chance. Do you want to know why? Six months ago, I worked my ass off for less than minimum wage. And a robbing diner owner forced me and my stepmom and others of my staff into slave labour. Benny kept our tips and everything. He fired me for being three minutes late and withheld my wages,” Clio said.
“Sorry to hear that,” I said stiffly. Clio’s eyes flared.
“Shut up! Chance caught me crying and stormed into Benny’s and forced Benny to hand my wages over. Chance then discovered that Benny had been keeping half of our tips, and Chance went mental. He made Benny pay the tips he’d stolen from me and my stepmom and the other waitresses. It amounted to thousands of dollars that Benny had stolen. Chance didn’t stand for that. I was going to make Chance brownies as a thank you for getting my money back when my drugged up next-door neighbour broke into my apartment and kidnapped me.” Clio broke off and swallowed hard, and Chance moved swiftly to hold her. I didn’t like the sense of where Clio’s tale was heading.
“Randy Ron stripped me naked and was planning to rape me. Even worse, two other guys in the block came in with a camera. They performed sexual acts on me, but luckily, I wasn’t raped. But they filmed it live on the black web, and people began bidding on raping and murdering me. I was held hostage for two days, naked, scared, my body shown to hundreds of perverts, and lord knows who else. Leslie, my stepmom, went to Chance knowing something was wrong.
Chance discovered and saved me. In doing so, he beat the shit out of Ron and Tommy. And nearly got arrested doing so. Chance took me under his immediate protection, bought me new clothes, and set me up in the tearoom. Chance made it so that I could hire the other waitresses I worked with, giving them more wages and a better life. He made a repayment scheme which I now know he’d no intention of letting happen. Because Chance planned to marry me and sign the tearooms over as gifts to Leslie and me. But Chance fooled me for a while,” Clio said, her voice softening as she gazed at her hulking, surly husband.
“Clio, but…” I began.
“No fucking buts. People came up to me in the street, offering me money to fuck them. Hellfire took my back. Chance called in Hawthorne and the Juno group to track those who’d downloaded my abuse video and had them arrested. But Sam had escaped. He kidnapped me from under police protection and had a three-hour chase across South Dakota with me.
Sam planned to finish the wishes of his bidders, and he planned to make me scream. No sooner had I been kidnapped, six MC’s were out looking for me, covering this part of the state. The police and Hawthorne’s, the Juno Group all alerted, began looking for me. If not for Chance’s connections, the Unwanted Bastards wouldn’t have found me in time. Inglorious pulled me from a moving car.
The fear I suffered when Inglorious did that was nothing compared to the fear that if Sam got me alone, he’d carve me up. We ended up in a bar owned by another friend of Chance’s, Magic, and Magic got shot saving me. Inglorious ended up with a broken arm when Sam ran him over in a car. But none of them stopped coming for me. Chance rode behind me with cops escorting him because he’s a good guy, and they wouldn’t let him stand alone.
I don’t give a shit what you say or think about Chance or me. Whether or not you realise it, you mean shit to me. You’re not my family; you haven’t risked life or limb to save me. Where were you when I was screaming behind a gag as Tommy tried shoving a vibrator up me? Where were you when Sam shoved his dick near my mouth, trying to force me to give him a blow job? And where the fuck was you when Sam was shooting at me in the back of a car and Inglorious was trying to rescue me? Fuck you and fuck your judgement!” Clio yelled the last at me.
I stared horrified at her, my brain trying to soak in what Clio had just told me. Kelly looked ashamed of me, and I hated that. Kelly had been my constant through life, and now the man I idolised was ashamed of me. The expression Kelly didn’t bother hiding said, I told you so. I stared at Chance, who was standing protectively behind Clio, his big body arched and ready to move her out of harm’s way. Bear stood close, he too ready to protect Clio, and his hand rested on her shoulder. Clio’s hand had risen and was clinging to Bear’s tightly.
“I may have been wrong,” I muttered, attempting to pacify Clio. Clio’s eyes narrowed.
“May have?” she spat. “When you decide if you have or haven’t, let me know. For now, get the fuck out of our home.” Kelly rose to his feet.
“I’m sorry for this scene, I’ll take Thalia now, and when we calm down, and cooler heads prevail, we can meet again?” Kelly said.
“Get your bitch in line. No fucker upsets my woman,” Chance growled, and I looked at him numbly. Had I misunderstood what was between him and my sister? The joyous reunion where Clio was grateful to me for saving her from this life wasn’t happening. I turned without a word and strode away from the horrific scene of my sister’s ignorance. Yeah, I had a ton of thinking to do. Starting with, did I need a rescue expert to pull Clio from this situation and to whether she was suffering Stockholm. Shit, this was a mess.