Freedom to Ride (Ravens MC) (11 page)

Deanna smiled nervously, trying to get her emotions under control before she had to admit some of the worst experiences of her life.

“I . . . I met Lee Walker when I was working in a bar in Leeds about two years ago. He was charming, slim with short blonde hair and blue eyes, three years older than me. He became a regular and started asking me out. I said no at first but he persisted so I agreed. The first few dates were awkward as I was uneasy with him, keeping him at arms’ length. One night I let my guard down after he bought me drinks telling me to relax for once. I’m not a big drinker so he offered to take me home. My memory of that night is hazy but I woke the next morning my whole body sore, bruises on my wrists and waist. I was so scared that I let myself get into that situation that I told him I needed space. He was mad at first but eventually left me alone, but still rang me regularly. However, a few weeks later I couldn’t stop throwing up so decided to go to the doctor’s, thinking it was food poisoning. I couldn’t believe it when they said I was pregnant. I wasn’t on birth control but I do remember using protection. I was petrified and didn’t know what to do. There was no one I was close to and I had no family, no-one I could turn to.”

Deanna had to stop as tears clogged her throat. Nate wrapped an arm around her shoulder, his other hand gripping hers tightly. Deanna breathed in, his presence helping her continue.

“I eventually contacted Lee to tell him about the baby and he was so happy. He asked me to move in with him as he wanted to take care of me and the baby. I said no but he kept begging and nagging so I eventually gave in. I had been alone for a long time and for the first time someone cared about me. Things were okay for a while. He was distant and whenever I asked about his personal life he would only tell me he worked for his father, who owned a successful real estate company. He never talked about himself and things started to change quickly.”

Deanna paused, trying to catch her breath. She looked to Nate who nodded his head for her to continue, already knowing the story, his eyes bright with tension as he twirled her hair around his fingers.

“He asked me to switch jobs as he didn’t like me working in a bar pregnant. I agreed and got a part-time job in a restaurant. That’s where I met Megan.” Deanna smiled to her herself, thinking fondly of her best friend.

“
Lee started to take my wage, pointing out that as I was living in his house my money was his. He bought what he wanted and the food he liked to eat. Then as I grew bigger with Holly the insults started . . , ” Deanna trailed off, recalling Lee’s offensive words.

She felt Nate
’s hand tighten reassuringly and she continued. “It was just names at first . . . I . . . he called me things like ugly and fat. He was really nasty about my hair, he hated it. As I got closer to my due date he hardly looked at me. When my waters broke I was alone at home so had to call an ambulance to take me to hospital. I rang Lee at work and he said he would be there. The difficult labour went on for hours. I went through it with no one by my side. Everything inside me changed though when I saw my beautiful baby girl for the first time. I thanked God she was so like me. When Lee finally arrived he glanced at the baby and the expression that crossed his face truly scared me. He turned to me saying I had let him down, his exact words were that ‘the little shit looked nothing like him’. He walked out and I didn’t see him again until after being released from hospital. I hardly saw him after that, he only came back for clothes. His insults grew worse and he’d completely ignore Holly, disappearing again for days. This went on for weeks. It was just me and Holly and I was happy with it just being the two of us. Megan came round a lot and I eventually confided in her about our difficult home life. She mentioned her brother had asked her to come and live with him in Scotland, but nothing had been arranged. I admitted that I was unhappy and scared living with Lee and didn’t want to stay with him much longer. We agreed that I should gradually move some of our things over to Megan’s. But then when Holly was nearly nine months old Lee’s behaviour changed. He started spending more time at home and drinking heavily. Then . . . the thing I feared most happened,” Deanna paused, swallowing to clear her dry throat.

“
One evening I was struggling to get Holly to sleep. She was crying and I could hear Lee stomping around. His anger increasing as he’d had too much drink. She was finally settling when I heard him enter her room. He just grabbed me by the back of my hair and dragged me to the floor. I was so shocked that before I could even scream he laid into me. All I could do was curl in a ball and listen to Holly screaming from her cot. When he eventually tired he turned and shouted directly into her face. She stopped crying immediately, whimpering in fear that tore at my heart. Then he left and stumbled downstairs and passed out. I crawled to Holly and held her in my arms. I was in so much pain and bleeding as I rocked her. It was in that moment I knew I needed to do something. I was so scared, more for Holly than myself,” she stopped for a moment, feeling drained.

“
When he left for work the next day I contacted Megan. She came round and begged me to run and take Holly with her to go stay with her brother. I immediately agreed, knowing it would only get worse. She had to contact her brother to get things sorted. We planned to leave in a few days’ time. I just had to keep Holly and myself out of his way until then. However, just a couple of days before we were due to leave it became vital that we got out of there fast. I accidentally burned Lee’s dinner and he flew into another rage. He beat me again but much worse this time. That was the night we ran and came here.” Deanna looked at Nate and smiled gratefully. She noticed his eyes glowing as he struggled to contain his raging emotions.

“
I did check for missed calls after arriving but there was nothing, so I destroyed my old phone. Megan also contacted the manager of the restaurant where we’d worked and he said that someone had been in looking for me once. That’s everything.”

Deanna felt exhausted, not realising tears were flowing down her face. Nate placed his hand under her chin pulling her to face him as he kissed her wet cheeks.

“I’m so proud of you. Getting yourself and Holly away from that bastard,” Nate said vehemently.

Deanna smiled and looked to Ethan and saw the angry expression on his face after hearing what she had experienced. Cameron coughed to clear his throat, feeling sympathy for what Deana and Holly had endured.

“Thanks for that Deanna. I know it must have been hard repeating it. I’ll get this recorded and keep the case open just as a precaution. But I’ve spoken to Ethan and he agrees that he should take over and will get some of his best operatives to watch Lee’s movements from now on. It’s what they do but we will be working together on this. We’ll keep you updated. Good night,” Cameron said as he got up to leave.

Ethan approached Deanna and pulled her into a hug.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you Deanna. My brother will take good care of both you and Holly. Plus you’ve got our family and the club behind you. That prick won't dare come near with all of us around. You’re not alone anymore,” he said fondly to the woman he and his family had all come to love and admire.

“
Thank you Ethan, that means so much to me. Thanks Cameron,” Deanna said.

“
I’ll talk to you later,” Ethan said as he pulled Nate into a quick hug before leaving with Cameron.

Deanna sat back down with Nate and she couldn
’t help a sigh of release. Tonight had been hard for her thinking back to the terrible things that had happened to her and Holly.

“
Are you okay?” she turned and asked him softly, he had been so quiet throughout and she could still feel that he was on edge.

“
No. I want to kill that fucker.”

“
Nate, we’re fine now. We both have you,” she snuggled into his side as Nate hummed in response, unable to reply as he was still struggling with rage.

A thought that had been bothering him for some time had him asking.
“Did he rape you, Deanna?”

“
No, thankfully we rarely had sex. His touch always left me cold and he acted like he hated having to come near me. I lost the baby weight and did all I could to feel attractive. I . . . er . . . it was the reason I was so nervous being intimate with you. I didn’t believe I was good enough for you. Especially when I first saw Vanessa and how slim she was. I’ve never been skinny and after having Holly my body became curvier. I thought you wouldn’t find me attractive.”

Nate scoffed.
“Baby. You’re gorgeous, sweet, loving, feisty in bed - which I love by the way,” he whispered, making her blush, “and you have a delicious body. If that numpty didn’t appreciate you, it shows he’s completely fucked up,” he winked and smiled saucily at her.

She laughed and relaxed into him as they sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

“I can’t believe what that stupid bitch Vanessa did. Hopefully the beatin’ she got taught her a lesson,” Nate said, still angry at the silly cow and also at himself for wasting so much time on her.

“
Hmm, I think it probably did. Anyway, how do you know Cameron? You looked like you knew each other well,” she said, trying to change the subject.

“
With the security business we have lots of contacts in the police force. But I knew him when I was younger. We used to play on the same team.”

“
Football?”

He sniggered.
“No. Ice Hockey.”

“
Ice Hockey, really?”

“
What? It’s a great contact sport. Helped me get rid of some of my pent up teen hormones. Some of the fights I got into were wicked.”

Deanna laughed at his smirk,
“You sound like you miss it. Why did you give it up?”

“
I had to when my dad became ill and I was needed at the club. I did miss it. Maybe I can take you to a game? The season’s over now but maybe in a few months? You’d enjoy it and I haven’t been in ages.”

“
I’d like that,” she answered immediately, excited at the prospect but also glad to hear Nate talking about plans that would mean them still being together in the future.

“
I bet you looked so sexy in your kit,” she said naughtily, his returning smile could only be described as wolfish. He grabbed her round the waist and hauled her over his shoulder, making her shriek as he walked them towards the bedroom.

Holly’s first birthday had finally arrived. Deanna and Nate got up early before Holly woke, leaving Alice to look after her as they met up with some of the lads and Megan to decorate the clubhouse.

All the members were invited and were bringing their relatives. For the first time in a long time all the families would be together, the clubhouse filled with kids and
‘old ladies’.

Deanna dreaded to think how she could have been spending this day if she hadn
’t run away with Holly.

As Deanna put the finishing touches to the room, some of the men grumbling when hanging pink crowns from the bar making Deanna chuckle, Nate wrapped his arms around her as he moved her hair to kiss her neck.

“Babe, you’ve done a great job. It’s scary how much older she behaves than a one year old. You’ve only been here a few weeks but already she’s grown so much. Thank you for sharing her with me.” Nate’s words left her breathless and she turned to him wide-eyed and speechless.

“
What’s wrong?” he asked.

“
Nothing. It’s just that I’m the one who’s grateful. Without you, your family and the club I don’t know what would have happened to us. You’re a fantastic daddy to her and I hope you will always want to be,” she replied gently.

Her response caused an ache in his chest as he grabbed her tightly and kissed her with all the emotion churning inside him. Breathing heavily they eventually pulled away when they heard the guests start to arrive for the party.

“Party time. I’ll go get Holly,” she said excitedly to Nate.

“
Alright babe. Holly is gonna love this,” he called as she walked out of the clubhouse, not being able to stop himself staring at her gorgeous backside as she left.

As he turned to look at everything they
’d done, the bar overflowing with food, he was suddenly conflicted with his feelings of happiness for his wee Holly and annoyance at seeing his clubhouse looking so girly. He caught Logan’s eye across the room as they shared the same thought, making both of them laugh.

Hours later Deanna was lying across Nate’s damp chest recovering their breathing, Holly fast asleep in her cot in the next room, exhausted after her party.

Deanna thought back over the day as Holly had been passed around the clubhouse, kissed and cuddled by strange faces but she
’d enjoyed every minute of it.

Deanna had been introduced to the rest of the
‘old ladies’ and was welcomed into the group as they planned future girl’s nights. The bonds between the members and their families were strong and she was thankful to be included, loving the feeling of belonging.

The only problem they
’d had was when two women began fighting over one of the newer younger members. Nate quickly dealt with it, not happy that it could spoil Holly’s party. He was such a protective daddy bear. Deanna had found it hilarious that bikers could still find something to fight about at a child’s birthday party.