THIRTY
Try
Lucky
“You sure you want to do this?” Seven had spent the rest of the afternoon drinking copious amounts of alcohol to the point where I thought she was going to make herself sick. I had to make sure she was really okay.
“Yep.”
“You’re not too drunk?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, let’s do this shit.”
“I really hope I’m not making a mistake,” she said over her shoulder as we walked up to her mother’s home. It didn’t look like much, but for someone who was living alone in the post-flare world, it wasn’t bad either.
Out of some strange need that seemed unlike me, I found myself fixing my hair and adjusting my shirt. Seven shot me a strange look. Despite the fact that her mother had been absent for most of her life, that didn’t mean I didn’t want to make a good impression. As the door opened, I removed my shades.
Immediately, I could tell where Seven got her eyes from. Seven’s mother had the same cerulean eyes that gleamed like open water. “Isla,” she breathed as she saw us before her. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you.”
“Can we come in?”
“Sure. Of course!” For a brief moment, I saw the moment of hesitation in her mother’s eyes as I stepped through the door. Seven had filled me in on her opinion of Glory MC; she wasn’t a fan. But there was no way in hell I was going to let Seven speak to her without me around to offer support.
Seven introduced me even though it was clear she knew who I was already. “I’m Helen,” she said.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Helen,” I said, extending a hand. Though she took it, I could tell she wanted to dump her hand in acid after by her expression.
I hid my amused smile and turned to take in the furniture. Though none of it looked particularly new or expensive, it seemed that she’d been settled for a while. “Please,” Helen said. “Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure. Anything you have is fine. We’re just here to ask a few questions.” Seven settled at the table, pulling me down beside her. Even at rest, her body was taut as a trip wire.
When I reached out to comfort her, a nervous half smile curled her lips. “Anytime you want to leave,” I whispered softly. “You just let me know.” Her fingers squeezed mine in a silent thank-you.
Helen returned carrying a tray of tall glasses. As she served them, I couldn’t help but observe the way she moved. She stayed mostly out of my way, never veering too close as if she knew one wrong move of hers would make us bolt. But despite everything, she seemed genuinely pleased to have us around, even if that meant she had to endure my suspicious looks out of the corner of her eye.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” She sat in a chair beside her daughter. “What did you want to ask me?”
Seven cleared her throat, not bothering with playing it safe. “Why did you abandon us that day?”
“Okay, well.” Helen was obviously not used to Seven’s directness, but if she knew her daughter at all, she would’ve known that Seven didn’t beat around the bush for long. “I was scared,” she began. “I was only thinking of getting you away from your father that day.”
“Why?”
“I’d discovered something shocking that changed my entire world. Your father hadn’t been a bad man at first.” She paused, looking up at Seven. “Do you remember him?”
She shook her head.
“It’s better that way,” she said with a nod. “I don’t know how to tell you this but he had a strange obsession with you. At first, I thought it was just fatherly love. But that wasn’t it at all.” Her face morphed into something dark and angry, and I braced myself. “I had just put Ainsley down to bed and found myself frozen by the door, watching as your father self-stimulated himself while he watched you sleep.”
No. Don’t tell me that she was harmed that way. My hand found Seven’s, clutching it for support. But the whole time, Seven remained silent and cold, unresponsive to my touch. My own fears made breathing difficult. How much worse was Seven feeling right now?
“It threw me into a panic,” Helen continued. “After seeing that, the decision was simple. I had to get you away from him.”
“I don’t remember that,” Seven whispered.
Tears welled in Helen’s eyes. “I hoped you never would.” She reached out to touch Seven’s shoulder gently. “You have to understand that I did it for you two. I confronted him about it and when he threatened to kill me if I ever told a soul, I took you two and ran. We didn’t survive very long alone. I couldn’t find a job. It was hard trying to keep a low profile. When I realized I wouldn’t be able to take care of you myself, I—”
As Helen broke off, Seven glanced in my direction, breathing out as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Do you want to go?” I asked softly. Staying here was making me feel sick.
“No.”
“Did he ever touch her?” For some reason, I needed to know.
“I don’t know,” Helen answered. “But after that night, I wasn’t going to chance it again. I got them out. And while I regret leaving them like that, I still think it was better than the alternative.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
Helen turned to me, eyes glistening with fresh tears. But it was Seven who answered. “She couldn’t,” she said. “My father was a cop.”
I felt the bottom of the stomach drop, sickened by it all. Helen was trapped, left in a situation with limited options. As a man of authority, Seven’s father would have the means to locate them if he wanted to.
“So what happened to him?” The look Helen shot us conveyed the words that she couldn’t say. “You killed him?”
Helen’s eyes glowed with anger. “I lost my children because of him. I didn’t want him preying on other children either.” She turned to Seven, begging. “I’m sorry. For everything. I wanted you to have a good life. Even if that meant that I wasn’t going to be there to witness it.”
Seven began to laugh then. A strange, almost hysterical laugh. As Helen shot me a confused look, I remained silent. “All this time I blamed you, thinking that if it weren’t for you, I could have saved myself from years of whoring myself,” Seven said. “But fate fucked things up for me earlier on. I just hadn’t realized it yet.”
“What are you talking about?” Even though Helen claimed to have watched over her, it was clear she didn’t have a clue about the Martins and what they’d made her do. I waited to see if Seven would tell her.
Seven
Bits and pieces were slowly coming to the surface of my mind. My father had been a pedophile. My mother had tried to stop him. She’d also stopped Trey from breaking into my house. Had everything I thought about my mother been wrong? Had she been looking out for me all this time?
As much as I wanted someone to blame for what happened with the Martins, it wasn’t fair. Sometimes shit happened and trying to find someone to blame only made enemies instead of peace. And peace was the only thing I wanted.
“A family called the Martins took us home that day,” I began. “Since no one reported us missing, they decided to keep us. We were kind of like lost puppies, I guess.” Instead of smiling as I’d hoped she would, Helen’s bottom lip trembled. “They treated us well. But once we turned legal, we were forced to pay them back.”
She glanced between Lucky and me, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “What am I missing here?”
“They forced your daughters to become prostitutes,” Lucky said bluntly.
Helen blanched, immediately looking to me for confirmation. When I nodded, tears fell from her eyes. “Oh God, I thought I could save you from it.”
“It’s fine. I survived it.” Ainsley hadn’t, but I didn’t think she would want us to dwell on her death when we could try to fix our relationship. If Ainsley were alive, she would’ve wanted to make an effort at trying to get to know our mother. Maybe that was what my dream was trying to tell me.
“I loved being a mother to you.” Helen turned towards me, squeezing my hand. “If I knew that would happen to you, I would never have left you. You have to believe me.”
Despite everything that happened, I did. While my mother had made a shit decision that day, she’d made the best of what she had, something I’d done for all my life just to survive. Sometimes it was strange. Sometimes it was unethical. But if it meant getting to live another day, sometimes it had to be done. “I know it’s been a very long time, but I’m determined to get my daughter back so we can be a family again.”
A family. The one thing I’d always wanted. I never once thought that dream could be in reach, but here it was, sitting right beside me. I just hadn’t decided if I wanted to take it or not.
“I don’t think you get to decide that,” Lucky cut in. “If you claim to want the best for your daughter, maybe you should try asking what she wants before deciding anything.”
“Of course.” Helen nodded with understanding. “You’re right.”
“Seven, what do you think?” I had to smile at Lucky’s protectiveness. As much as I had wished for a family, Lucky just proved that I already had one, one ready and willing to look out for me.
“I want to make this work,” I said. “But it will take some time. We’ve lost years and we can’t gain them back just like that. But I promise you, if what you’re saying is true and you want to be a family again, then I will do my part to try as well.”
Helen’s smile was immediate. “I would love that.”