Cole was protective over everyone in the clubs, and lately, he had been super overprotective of me. This news would kill him. It was the whole reason I wouldn’t tell him who raped me in the first place.
The ATL wanted a war though, and they had been wanting one for months. Since they couldn’t get their hands on Heather, they took me, their next best option. Since they had seen how protective Cole was of me, I was an even better option than Heather since Cole held a lot of ground in the clubs. The news was going to give the ATL exactly what they wanted.
“I’ll tell him,” I ground out, my heart hammering in my chest. “Fucking leave, and I’ll tell him.”
The man stepped away from me and smirked. He rubbed my bottom lip, and I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to block out the painful memories. “Until next time, sweet thing,” he murmured.
He and his men rode out. I didn’t turn to look at Cole until they left the lot. When I finally turned to look at Cole, I almost wished that I hadn’t. He was watching me with guarded eyes, and his expression said it all. He thought that I was a traitor.
“Spill it, Amelia, or it’s just going to be worse for you,” he warned me.
I hadn’t even thought of how bad this would have looked to him. As the VP, he automatically thought the worst, which was me being a traitor.
Oh, how fucking wrong he was.
“Let’s go inside to mine or your room. It’ll be easier,” I sighed, my energy already depleting.
He followed me silently to his room. When we stepped in, he slammed the door closed behind him. I flinched a little at the sound and the lethality of his anger. Tears filled my eyes as I roughly ran my fingers through my hair.
This was the last thing I ever wanted to tell Cole. I would rather be a traitor than tell him this. But these clubs were built on trust, and I wouldn’t break that now. It was time for me to come clean.
I stared at the Bloody Royals emblem over Cole’s bed and squeezed my eyes closed. “Cole, I know what this looks like, but you’re terribly wrong,” I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear me.
“Then fucking tell me,” he ground out, grabbing my hand and swinging me around to face him. My eyes flashed open to meet his cold ones. “Don’t fucking beat around the bush, Amelia.”
My hands were shaking. A tear slid down my cheek as I dropped my eyes to the floor. “He wants me to tell you that I taste as good as I look,” I whispered.
Cole’s body went rigid, his hand tightening around my own. I slowly raised my head to look at him. After a moment, he shook his head slowly. “Amelia, don’t tell me that he’s . . . Fuck, please tell me that you fucked him willingly.”
The fact that Colewantedme to fuck him of my own accord instead of being raped . . . it just about fucking broke me.
I slowly shook my head no, a couple more tears slipping down my cheeks. “H-He raped me,” I choked out, my voice breaking. “He fucking raped me.”
Cole wrapped his arm around me tightly. “Fuck, Amelia, I’ll handle this; I promise. He won’t get away with hurting you, and he won’t ever do it again.”
I stepped away from him, shaking my head. “I can’t allow you to do that, Cole. He wants a war. You can’t give him what he wants. You have to promise me you won’t do anything and that you won’t tell the clubs.”
“Are you fucking insane?!” he roared, throwing his arms up in the air. “He’s not getting away with this, Amelia!”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Cole, please,” I begged, my eyes pleading with him not to do what he wanted. “This will send everyone on a rampage. You can’t do this to the clubs.”
He stepped toward me and gripped my chin in his hand, but his touch was gentle even though he was seething with anger. “I’m the mother fucking VP, Amelia. I play a part in calling the shots. Iwillbe telling the clubs about what happened to you. I don’t give a fuck what you have to say about it or how you feel about it. I’m not going to fucking let this go unpunished.”
I yanked my chin out of his grasp and glared at him. “Fine, but when the clubs get fucked up because of this, just remember I fucking told you so,” I spat at him.
I stormed out of his room, slamming his door shut behind me.
* * *
Cole
I sipped my beer,waiting for my dad to finish counting the money he had gotten from the run. He slid me my share, and his eyes met mine. “Cole, tell me what’s wrong,” he ordered.
I set my beer down and glared down at it. “Is it that obvious?” I muttered.
“Yeah. Now, what’s on your mind?” he demanded again.
I ran a hand through my hair and leaned back in my chair. “Round up the boys. I’ll be back in a minute.”