Once again, her mother caused her troubles. She didn’teven know why she was so surprised.
Lord took a step toward her, but there was no way in hell she was going to stay on his land to be insulted. Her mother wasn’t the measure of her genes. Bell was her own person, always had been.
She turned on her heel and ran for the exit, wanting not to be near them. Tank was nothing like them. He listened. He understood. Or maybe he’d believe them again.
“Bell!”
Tank yelled her name, and as she got to the gate, she made sure she was off Lord’s property before she would even dream of turning and looking at Tank.
Lord, Brick, Stump, and a couple of others, had followed her to see that she got her ass off their property.
“Go back to your mother, she’s probably fucked her way to the top of Skull Nation by now. Hurry and you can catch up.”
Bell hated how close to tears she was. She felt like garbage, unwanted, when all she wanted was to feel accepted.
“Bell, baby, what the hell is going on?” Tank rushed after her.
“I don’t know. You ask them because they seem to think I’ve done something wrong because of my mother. You know my name, Tank. Bell Castle. You know me, but for some reason, they seem to think that because I share the same last name with my mother, it makes me like her.” She took a step back.
“Bell, don’t,” Tank said. “It’s a misunderstanding.”
She shook her head. “I’m not a drunk like her. I’m not a whore. I’m not going to be anywhere that I’m not welcome.” She looked past his shoulder to his club. “I’m not welcome here, and there is no way I’m going to make you choose. This is your family. It’s not mine.”
“Bell…”
Tank went to reach for her, but she jerked away from himand started to run back toward her apartment. It was a long run, but she was too upset to care.
With each step she took, pain sliced through her body. She knew it would be a huge mistake leaving Tank. Her happiness was so entwined with his presence. But how could it ever work when he was a patched member of the Straight to Hell MC?
Her mother was a piece of work. Always had been. Growing up hadn’t been easy. Karen Castle was forever looking for a good time or for a rich man to help her keep the good times rolling. She hated having a daughter. Bell lost count of the number of times her mother complained to her for even existing. She would berate her for taking away her figure, for ruining her life. Apparently, her mother could get three more cases of beer a week if she didn’t have to feed her.
Bell had always taken it. The abuse. The sadness. She never told anyone what happened. How angry her mother would get when another boyfriend would find out about the daughter, and then just leave, not wanting a complication.
No one wanted to take responsibility for having a child, least of all her mother.
The rich boyfriends would disappear, and then Bell, depending on her mother’s mood, would get kicked out of the house for a while.
She was never too far from home.
The neighbors knew who she was. Some would give her food. Others would allow her to stay on their sofas for a night or two. She never belonged anywhere.
It was no surprise to her that Karen had something to do with a rival club. After all these years of having men use her and toss her aside, a club had plenty of men to keep her entertained and would probably not get bored of her.
She had tried to not hate her mother. Always attemptingto rise above. To be the better person, but this time, she couldn’t. There was a hatred for the woman who should have loved her above all else, but instead, was costing her the only person she had ever loved.
Tank.
He was a rebel, dirty, hot, sexy, and amazing, and she loved him. She loved him with all her heart, but after what her mother had done, her chance at a happily ever after was gone.
There was no way she was going to let him choose between the club and her.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she tried to fight off the tears. Crying wasn’t going to change what happened. Nothing was going to stop it.
Bell stared straight ahead, but in her head, she saw the way they all looked at her. She was never going to get that image out of her head. Sure, she’d spent her whole life surrounded by people who couldn’t stand her because of her mother. This was no different. No, that was wrong. Thiswasdifferent. Way different, because this cost her Tank.
Bell stopped and stared straight ahead. The long road promised loneliness. Everything was blurry.
She hated crying, and she didn’t want the tears to fall, but there was no stopping them. She sniffled. “Don’t cry, Bell. Damn it. Don’t cry.”