“How did they find you?”
“When Lexi was two years old, I filled out a piece of paper to get financial aid for daycare. It flagged something and within a week, my dad and Alexander’s dad were there to take me away.” Sierra swiped the tears from her cheeks and continued. “They had taken Lexi from Mary and had her locked in the car with the driver. They told me that they would take her away, and if I didn’t go with them they would have Mary and her whole family deported. I knew they meant it, so I got in the car and left.”
“Shit,” I grumbled. “Fucking assholes.”
“They let me be with Lexi on the plane home and then when we got to the house, they made her sleep in her own room down the hall from me. She had a nanny around the clock - day and night. I was plotting how to get away and they knew that, so they never left me alone with her.” Sierra finished her wine and tilted her glass toward Reagan for a refill. She smiled when he filled it almost to the brim and she had to be careful not to spill it as she put it to her mouth for another sip. “Alexander’s brother was a few years older than us. He was not right, I guess you could say. He got kicked out of every school they put him in, so he ended up at home with tutors. Alexander told me he went through those like Kleenex, most of them running from the house like they were on fire. Anyway, my parents and Alexander’s parents got together and decided that I should marry Jackson and raise Lexi as his.”
“That’s just fucked up.”
“They took Lexi away from the house while my dad’s guards held me in a chair. They told me that they would bring her back as soon as I was married and then we’d just forget all this had ever happened.”
“Fucking animals,” Marcus growled. Reagan nodded agreement and reached over to top off Marcus’s wine, too. “Motherfucking animals treating you and that little girl like cattle or something.”
“They got us a house and true to their word, the day after the wedding they brought Lexi back to me like we had just been on a little sabbatical or something.”
“So how fucked up is this Jackson guy?” I asked her.
“Things were calm at first. We had separate bedrooms and rarely ever talked. But then he got drunk one night and that all changed. He raped me and told me if I said anything to anyone, he’d drown Lexi in the pool. I believed him,” Sierra said with a shudder. “That went on for a year or so and I thought that was as bad as it could get, but then Lexi got sick. She had a horrible ear infection and cried almost all day. That evening when he came home, I tried to keep her calm, but even with the medicine the doctor had given her she was restless and loud. Jackson yelled at me to shut her up and I was taking her to the garage so we could go out to the guesthouse when her eardrum ruptured. She screamed bloody murder. He was on us in a flash and yanked Lexi away from me and threw her across the garage. She slammed into the shelves and broke her arm in the fall. She needed stitches on her head where she hit the metal shelving.”
“Oh, my God.”
“He locked us in the bedroom and refused to let us go to the emergency room to get her treated. I had been preparing for a time when I needed help and so I’d had a phone installed in my room while he was away on a business trip. I waited until he was sleeping, then I plugged the phone in and called 911. I told them I was being held prisoner and what he had done to my daughter and what he’d done to me before that. The cops busted into the house to rescue me and they took him to jail.” Sierra sighed. “He was out on bail before Lexi and I were released from the emergency room.”
“Connections,” Marcus nodded his head. “Family in government?”
“Lexi’s grandpa was a senator.”
“Was?”
“Yes.” Sierra smiled sadly and then shook her head. “Thankfully he’s dead now. Boating accident while he was out at sea with his mistress.”
Reagan chuckled and it sounded very dark and wicked.
“But the mom has all the money and her Jackson can do no wrong. Every time he finds us, I report him. He’s arrested and then he gets right back out. Some day, he’s going to do something that she can’t cover up and we’ll be able to breathe finally. I just hope that he doesn’t kill me or hurt Lexi for that to happen.”
“We’ll make sure you’re safe,” I told her. She might not understand it quite yet, but that was a promise I would keep. “He’s not going to hurt either of you again.”
“Damn right, he’s not.” Marcus reached over for his phone and started typing out a text. “You ever met my brother?”
“No, sir.” Sierra shook her head.
“His name is Lout. He is a member of the Texas Kings - the other motorcycle club you’ve seen around town.”
“Okay?”
“He’s a force to be reckoned with and so are the rest of the men in his club. With your permission, I’d like to share this information along with the name
