Blind Devotion (3 page)

“Let him in, Curse. He’s got a right to be here.”

Looking over his friend’s shoulder, he saw Mia. She
looked a mess. Her raven hair showed she hadn’t even bothered to brush the long
locks. Her pale face looked drawn, and he saw the signs of the weight loss
she’d suffered through lack of eating in the last month.

“Come in,” Curse said.

Brushing past his friend Pussy went straight to Mia
and tugged her in his arms for a hug. She sobbed. Her body shook as he held her
tightly. “I’m so sorry. I miss her so much,” he said.

Tears filled his eyes as he thought about Ashley’s
charming smile. Her life had ended way too suddenly.

“I know, Pussy. She wouldn’t want you to be feeling
sorry. You didn’t do this.”

“I shouldn’t have let her go.”

“None of us should. We can’t blame each other.” Pussy
couldn’t stop the guilt. He knew deep down there was nothing he or the club
could have done. Ashley had been determined to go, and in turn, it had gotten
her killed.

Pussy knew where the blame was. Staring past her
shoulder, he watched Curse walk into the kitchen. Any other time Curse would
have kicked his ass for touching his woman. This was not sexual, and both of
them were mourning a woman they’d both lost.

Mia released him, walking into the sitting room. “I
know I look a mess.”

Running fingers through his hair, Pussy took a seat.

“Please, forgive me,” he said.

“What? Why?”

“I should have fought for her.”

“Ashley wasn’t your old lady. She was always so
stubborn and thought she could do whatever she liked without getting hurt.”
Tears fell from Mia’s eyes. “Someone finally caught her.”

He wasn’t leaving until he helped out his brother.
Curse deserved to have his woman back, and if Pussy could help, he’d be more
than happy about it.

****

Sasha let out a sigh as she listened to her mother
apologize for embarrassing her stepfather. Kenneth Carmichael was a monster of
the worst kind. He made others around him feel small and incompetent. Sasha hated
him and would love to see the smile get wiped off his face.

You’ll never see any smile getting wiped off any face.

She started to frown. Reaching out, she felt along the
wall counting the steps until she had to turn a corner. Her life was confined to
the house and wherever Kenneth wanted to leave her. He controlled every element
of her life.

Get out.

Taking three more steps, she leaned down feeling the
bed. Running her hand across the bed, she took a seat and let out a sigh. She
recalled the trauma she’d suffered at Kenneth hands. Sasha had been arguing
with Kenneth over her privacy being invaded. He had just stormed into her room
as if he had a right to be there. Their fighting had turned aggressive. She
recalled him slapping her, and he slammed her against the wall, then thrown her
down the stairs.

She’d banged her head on the way down, breaking her
arm and leg in the process. When she woke up in the hospital she’d not been
able to see. That was over four years ago. Waking up and not being able to see
she had expected something to be done to Kenneth after the attack. By the time
he showed up in her room, she knew something had happened.

With her being passed out, unconscious, he’d fed them
a story of how she’d been fighting with him before she stumbled and fell
downstairs. Not once did he tell the truth, and worse, her mother believed him.
She didn’t fight for her or even question Sasha’s side of things. Instead,
because of her mother’s love for Kenneth, they were still living with the man
who blinded her. Kenneth was a respected member of Piston County, handsome, and
a smooth talker. He got away with it. No one would hear anything bad said about
him even if it was the truth. She was trapped with no way of getting out. Not
only would no one believe her, but she couldn’t walk out of the house. Her life
was totally dependent on him. Twenty years old and she was dependent on a man
she despised. Her mother begged her for trust, and because she loved her
mother, she gave him a chance. Her mother didn’t know the truth of what
happened. Now, there was no way of Sasha’s ever getting out.

She thought about Pussy, Shane, whatever his name was.
She pressed a hand to her lips. The kiss had awoken something inside her. Her
nights were filled with hot sexual dreams. She couldn’t see what he was doing,
but she certainly could feel it.

Her mother knocked on the door before entering.
Kenneth would have just barged into the room with no consideration for her
privacy. She knew her stepfather hated her.

“Hey, honey. I’ve brought you some food.”

Counting the steps, she heard how unsteady her mother
was on her feet. She must have hit the gin hard this time. In answer to the verbal
abuse Kenneth threw at her, her mother had turned to drink and prescription
drugs. Even with the addictions, her mother was a beautiful woman, a stunner.
What a fun way for them to live.

The tray of food was placed on the counter that her
mother then pushed in front of her.

“Lift your hands up, honey.”

She did as her mother asked. Seconds later her mother
touched her with shaking hands as she brought her palms down either side of the
tray.

“Here is your fork and knife.”

Closing her eyes, Sasha gritted her teeth at how
useless her situation was.

This is your life.

The doctors, in the beginning, were not sure if the
blindness was permanent or not. Four years down the line, Sasha had long given
up hope of her sight returning, and the doctors had also said that the damage
was by now irreversible.

“Now, I don’t want you to worry about your father’s
and my little spat.”

“He’s not my father.” No, her father had died in the
Marines when she was ten, leaving behind a wife and daughter. Kenneth had come
into their lives by the time she was eleven with his fake promises and fake
lives.

“Don’t say stuff like that. He’s been wonderful to
us.”

“You’re an addict, Mom, and I’m blind. He’s torn us
apart.”

She heard her mother sob. In the past whenever her
mother was hurt, she’d press a hand to her lips, gasping. Feeling like a total
bitch, she apologized. Her mother was completely oblivious to the problems
Kenneth caused. If Sasha didn’t love her mother and remember all the times they
were together with fondness, she’s have been long gone by now. The drink and
drugs had turned the woman she knew into something unrecognizable.
 

“I’m sorry, Mom. I hate having to go through this.”
She reached up to touch her face.

“Oh, honey. It’s no trouble. I love being able to take
care of you when other mothers are fretting about what their kids are getting
up to.”

The bed dipped, and Sasha’s senses were flooded by the
extreme scent of perfume, another of Kenneth’s demands from her mother.

“Why was he shouting?” she asked, trying to distract
her mother.

“I was stupid and put too much pepper in the mashed potatoes.
It was a simple mistake. I messed up.”

Seriously,
Mom,
over-peppered mashed potatoes.
Don’t you see what’s wrong with that? Please, see how bad he is and realize
it’s only going to get worse.

Sasha had no choice in her situation. The people
believed she was clumsy and had fallen down the stairs, banging her head. Her
mother, however, could change all that if only she had the courage to do so.

“Try them. Please let me know what you think.”

Her mother was an amazing cook. Before Kenneth turned
up, Sasha would sit in the kitchen for hours at a time trying food she
concocted. Her mother had a knack in the kitchen, and it was where her mother
got the most comfort. The only food she was allowed to cook now was of the gourmet
kind, and Sasha hated it.

Tasting the potatoes, she tried not to wince at the
blandness of them. They were heavily peppered and salted.

“They’re nice, Mom.”

“You’re an awful liar.”

Chuckling, Sasha ate her food relishing every second
her mother sat with her. Most of the time, her mother was trying to please
Kenneth and staying far away from her, only spending rare moments with her.
When she got chance to talk with her mother, she did try to get her to go to
the cops or someone who’d listen. After four years, Sasha still hadn’t given up
hope that the mother she used to know was still in there.

Sasha was twenty years old and yet felt more like a
child than ever before.

There was so much she couldn’t do. Whenever she
started to get confident with moving around, Kenneth would order the maid to
make changes, causing her to bang into stuff.

“Mom, what do you know about the Chaos Bleeds crew? You
know,
the biker group in town.”

Her mother tensed at her side. She was sitting close
enough for Sasha to feel the sudden change within her. Eating some of her food,
Sasha took each bite carefully so as not to make a mess of herself. She’d
learned early not to be greedy or she’d be wearing her food rather than
enjoying it.

“They’re ruffians, all of them. Don’t let your father
hear you talk about them.”

He’s not my father.

“I won’t. I just overheard some people in the library
giggling about them. I just wondered who they were. I’ve never seen them
before.”

She wasn’t lying. The rumors were rife about the biker
group in town. She’d been reading Braille while women had been giggling over
the men who were part of the club. A couple of times she’d heard Pussy’s name
mentioned, and now that she knew it was Shane, she found herself listening more
and more.

“You really shouldn’t concern yourself with them,
honey, for your own sake. They’re a curse to the world and one I hope to see
gone from our lovely town.”

The next moment her mother stopped talking, and the
silence unnerved Sasha. Seconds later, she heard the reason why.

“What’s going on in here?” Kenneth asked.

“I’m just talking with Sasha while she eats.”

“You served her those shit mashed potatoes?
Really?
I thought you said you could cook.” The way his
voice dropped Sasha knew he was sneering, and it angered her more than
anything.

“I like them,” Sasha said.

“Yeah, only because you’re not seeing the shit you’re
eating. Take the food away, now. Go and have a fucking drink. It’s all you’re
good for.” The fork was tugged out of her grip. Her mother’s hand shook. Sasha
felt it from the small contact she had with her. She wanted to reach out and
shake her mother, to wake her up to the monster he was. The door to her room
was closed. She wasn’t an idiot. Kenneth was still in the room waiting to have
his say.

“What?” she asked, resting her hands in her lap to try
to calm her
nerves.
Since the first attack, Kenneth
only ever hurt by gripping her too tightly or giving her a slap from time to
time. He’d not lashed out as much. She figured it was down to fear as he’d
given off the persona of being the concerned stepfather. Anything happened to
her now and things would look suspicious.

“Be careful how you talk to me, girl.”

She tensed up, sinking her nails into her skin.

“We’ve got to go out tomorrow. I’ll be dropping you
off at the library.”

“I could stay home.”

“I don’t want you to stay home. We need to be seen.
After tonight your mother will be useless. She’ll be swigging from the bottle
as we speak.”

Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out his words. She
hated him. The anger at what he’d done to her mother was still raw. He’d turned
her into some kind of suburban housewife for him to toy with whenever he felt
like it. Sasha despised him and hoped he died a long, slow death.

“You’ll do tomorrow. The town will see how well you’re
doing, and then I can get to my meeting.”

“Who are you meeting?” she asked.

“None of your
business.
Play your part, and I won’t let anything bad happen
to your mother or you.”

Pausing, Sasha turned her head in the direction of his
voice, opening her eyes even though she couldn’t see.

“What?”

“You heard me. I’ve got ways of making people disappear.
Think about that the next time one of the Chaos Bleeds scum comes near you.”

The door to her room closed behind her. Who the fuck
was Kenneth Carmichael, and how could he get rid of her mother? She didn’t have
the time to think about it. For now she’d do exactly as he said without causing
any waves. Sasha wouldn’t let anything happen to her mother, if she could help
it.

Chapter Two

The night spent with Mia and Curse hadn’t been a total
waste. Pussy rode behind them as they all headed toward the clubhouse. Mia had
taken a bath, brushed her hair, and changed her clothes. She’d not smelled that
bad, but it hadn’t been pretty, or at least it hadn’t been to him.