Curse's Claim

“Okay.”

He headed toward Jerry’s house. The other man’s car was parked, and he parked his bike up, walking up the steps to knock on the door.

Mia answered his knock. She looked relieved to see him. “Thank God. I was so worried that I wouldn’t see you again.”

“Where’s Ashley?” Curse asked.

“I’m here.” The other woman stood behind Mia.

“Do you want a ride to the clubhouse?” Curse looked at the other woman, wondering what was going on in her mind. She looked scared of him. He didn’t blame her. She’d seen the damage he’d done to Dale.

“No, I’m going to stay here with Jerry. He’ll give me a lift back to the clubhouse when it’s needed.”

Handing Mia a helmet, Curse climbed on his bike and waited for her. He watched as she hugged her friend then got on the back of his bike.

“Thank you for waiting for me,” she said, whispering against his ear.

Not responding, he pulled out of the house and headed for the open road. No one was staying at the house out on the beaten track. Curse wanted to have a few hours to call his own before their problems caught up to them.

****

When Jerry entered the house and started drinking, Ashley had looked concerned. Leaving Ashley behind, Mia hoped to feel secure, but the way Curse was acting left her feeling scared. Mia stared at Curse and knew something bad was about to happen to all of them. Dale Worthington had started all this. His touch had repulsed her, and yet they were all about to be a in a lot of trouble for Dale’s death.

“He was a wanted man. Some guy called Frederick was waiting for the right opportunity to come and claim him. Mafia shit or something like one of those movies,” Curse said.

“I used to watch gangster movies. Is everything they say on them true?” She took a seat, lowering herself into the chair.

“Yes, and it can be worse.” He ran fingers through his hair. She caught sight of the cuts on his knuckles. “On Friday we’re to go and meet him at the clubhouse. He’s going to want to know why we killed him and what we got out of it.”

“Okay.” What more could she say? This sounded serious, even dangerous to her.

“There’s more.”

He turned away from her to look outside the window. She gazed at the length of his back. The tension inside him caught at her heart. Mia had caused this because of her stupid f**king pride. If only she’d accepted the money from him, she wouldn’t have continued working for Dale and causing problems.

“To the club, you’re now my old lady.”

“What does that mean?” She’d heard Ashley refer to some of the women as old ladies. The respect in Ashley’s voice was hard to ignore when she heard about them.

“It means you’re my woman, and when we get the time, we’re going to get married.”

As far as proposals went, this one sucked.

She locked her fingers together and stared at him, waiting for whatever else he had to say.

“If I didn’t agree to have you as my woman then you’d be taken care of. The club would have to get rid of you as you were a liability.”

“And we can’t have me being a liability, right?” she asked, tears filling her eyes.

Mia didn’t know why she was hurt by being ordered to get married. It wasn’t like there was a man waiting to wine and dine her. No, the only prospect she had was Curse.

You’re in love with him.

The pain hurt too much thinking of him being forced into marrying her when he really didn’t want to.

Biting her lip, she gazed down at the table feeling sorry for herself.

“Mia, I didn’t have a choice.” He took hold of her hand, kneeling in front of her.

“It’s not that.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I don’t know. Nothing makes sense to me anymore.”

He kissed her knuckles. Curse stroked her cheek and she winced at the pain.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I would take the pain away from you if I could.”

“We all know you can’t play God, Curse. This pain is what I deserve.” Looking away from the sincerity in his face, she stared down at her hands. “You once asked what happened with Ashley.”

“Mia, you don’t have to do this,” he said.

“Yes, if we’re going to get married then I’m not going to let you do this without knowing the truth. I’m not some weak-willed girl you have to take care of, Curse.”

Pushing hair out of her face, she turned in her seat to look at him in the face. “Ashley’s mother died when she was born. It was only her and her father for the longest time. He was a nice man for the most part. I liked him. He was more than happy to have me around for her.” The memories were bitter, the truth harder for her to realize.

“Anyway, Ashley was a cheerleader in high school while I was a book nerd. I was always into the books, and I didn’t want to do anything else. I was more than happy to be confined to the library rather than go out and do other things.”

For so long she’d kept this story to herself.

“She changed. Not overnight but it took months. She became withdrawn, and she started wanting boys to notice her. I remember the clothes getting shorter, and she’d snap at her father. Ashley stopped letting me sleep over at her home, and she always came to my place.”

A lump filled in her throat.

“Shit, Mia.”

“No, you’re going to listen. You wanted to know the truth. This is me giving you the complete truth. I’ve never told anyone else this. On prom night Ashley was late. I was meeting her at the school, and we were going together.” Licking her lips, she tightened her grip in his hands. “I took a cab to her home. The lights were on in her bedroom. I opened the door like I had all the time growing up. The moment I entered the house I heard Ashley begging and pleading for him to stop.”

The memories crashed over her, but she forced them out.

“I went upstairs. Her prom dress was torn. The dress she took hours picking. I hated seeing that torn dress, but then I saw what was happening. Her father was raping her. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know how long I stood there, but it couldn’t have been long. He might have stopped, I don’t know.”

Tears filled her eyes and spilled over.

“Baby, stop.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not going to stop. He told her to be a good little girl like she’d always been.” Wiping at her nose, she gasped around the pain squeezing her chest. “I heard the fight go out of her. My best friend in the whole world had been attacked by her father years ago and I didn’t even know. In the corner I spotted the metal lightshade. She loved the lightshade. I think it was her mother’s before it was hers. Without thinking, I grabbed it and smashed it over his head. I didn’t stop. He was inside her, and I just kept hitting him. The blood was everywhere, but I didn’t care. Ashley screamed for me to stop. She shoved him away from her, and I kept hitting him. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. She ended up grabbing my arms to stop me from hurting him.”