Page 38 of Jackass

Jack’s head snapped up.

Fury burned in his eyes, and he walked toward me.

“What the fuck did you just say?” He snarled, low and deadly.

I swallowed slowly. This was the hard part.

“When I told Derek I was pregnant, he got angry. Angrier than I had ever seen him. I didn’t understand why. We had talked about children. About building a family.”

“Jack, stand down, brother.” King stood behind me, his hand on my back. King might have been angry with me, but he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me.

Just as Jack looked at King, Tank came to stand on my other side. His breathing was heavy, but I wasn’t afraid. Not of Jack.

I would never be afraid of Jack.

“Go on, Sam,” Blade encouraged.

I steeled myself and looked Jack directly in the eye.

“Derek never wanted children. He also never told me that when he turned eighteen, he’d had a vasectomy. It didn’t matter how much we tried, he never would have gotten me pregnant. He knew I had cheated on him.”

Tears poured down my cheeks as I relived the day I almost lost my little girl.

“He beat me that day. He had never hit me before, only screamed at me, or thrown things across the room. He focused on my stomach. He broke three of my ribs. I had a fractured cheekbone and a broken wrist.”

I reached up and placed my hand on Jack’s cheek. I needed him to know I trusted him. He leaned into my hand.

“I thought for sure I would lose her. When Derek left, I called Carrie. She came immediately and took me to the hospital. I was there for a week. When I left the hospital, Charlie was exactly where she should be. Your daughter’s a fighter, Jack.”

“Like her mother,” he murmured as he gripped my neck, bringing my forehead to rest against his.

My hands went to his hips, and I quietly told him the rest.

“Derek never came looking for me. Carrie took me home with her. I lived with her until Charlie was born. That was when the notes started.”

Jack lifted his head. “What notes?”

“Derek wanted me back. He had found out Charlie survived and knew I was living with Carrie. He left me notes, telling me to come home. Saying we could put Charlie up for adoption and forget everything. I ignored him. Then they got worse.”

“The notes threatened me and Charlie. So we left Arkansas. We moved to another state. We were there for a few months and the notes started up again. We moved again. After a few months, I started to receive more notes. Every time we moved, he found us. Until we came to Nebraska. Then I saw you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?” Jack asked.

“I was scared, Jack. I was afraid of Derek finding me again. I was afraid of how you would react. Despite feeling a connection to you, I was afraid you would react the way Derek did. It was Carrie that convinced me to stay here. I wanted to run again. She said that with you here, if Derek showed up again, we could ask you and the club for help.”

Jack wrapped me up in his arms. It was the first time I had felt safe in years. I had been running and hiding for four years. I was tired. I just wanted to live a normal life with my daughter.

“I guess I owe Carrie an apology,” Jack said sheepishly.

“She’s been an amazing friend to me and a wonderful aunt for Charlie. She gets a little possessive, but she loves us both, Jack.”

“Jack.”

I looked over at King. He and Jack spoke to each other without saying a word. Jack nodded and then looked down at me.

“Go back up to my room and get dressed. I need to talk with King.”

“I need to get Charlie,” I pointed out.