Chapter Twenty Six
Lincoln
“...I’m not worth it.” I don’t know what else she’d said, as those are the only words that managed to break through my focus as I ducked one of Brady’s swings and caught him with an uppercut.
Backing away, I hold my hands up in an *I surrender* motion and turn my attention toward Raleigh, taking in the sight of her with her face flushed red and tears streaming down her cheeks.
I make my way over to her and cup her face with both of my hands, my thumbs brushing away the falling tears as she looks at me with eyes full of pain and confusion. “Baby, you are more than worth it.” I tell her gently, hoping that she believes me knowing that she doesn’t give herself nearly enough credit. “Especially if this punk thinks he has some sort of claim on you.”
“But I’m no one,” she says shaking her head, trying to break free of my hold on her. Letting my hands drop to my sides, it takes everything in me to not pull her into me, wrap my arms around her and tell her how she is so much more than no one.
“Baby, that’s not true,” I grind out, my jaws clenched in anger and frustration. Shaking my head, I grind out, “You are fucking *everything*.” Unfortunately, judging from the look in her eyes, I can tell that she doesn’t believe me.
And I desperately want to convince her otherwise, but this isn’t the time or the place. Not while we have an audience.
Instead, I decide to let it go because she has questions that she needs the answer to. Questions that I want answers to just as badly. I turn back to where Brady is still standing, surprised that he let us have this moment and didn’t try to jump me from behind while I wasn’t paying attention.
“Why do you think that you have some kind of claim on Raleigh?” I ask gruffly, reaching down, I find her hand and twine our fingers together, giving it a brief squeeze to let her know that I’ve got her and that I’m not going anywhere.
“That’s between her and me,” Brady says, his attention going to Raleigh briefly before coming back to me.
“Then explain it to me,” Raleigh says, her voice thick and gravelly as her emotions get the best of her. Clearing her throat, she continues, “Because I would like to know why the hell you think I belong to you.”
“It’s simple,” he says, flashing her what I assume is supposed to be a charming smile. To me, it just looks pathetic, like he’s trying too hard. Raleigh shudders at the attention as he continues, “Because you do.”
“Care to elaborate?” I ask, fighting the intense desire to pull Raleigh closer.
“What do you remember of your dad?” Brady asks his attention now fully on my girl.
Raleigh gasps next to me, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as her entire body begins to shake. This time, I don’t hold myself back from comforting her as I reach out and pull her into my embrace. Burying my hand in her hair, I pull her flush against my chest, my other hand running along the length of her back as I murmur *everything is going to be okay*, against the crown of her head. But instead of calming as I had hoped, her cries get louder, her shudders more violent as she relives memories of her lost parents.
Placing a chaste kiss against the side of her head, I lower my mouth to her ear, speaking so that only she can hear as I say, “You don’t have to do this. This guy has nothing on you and he doesn’t own you. You’re not some kind of possession that he can stake his claim on.”
“Your dad had a gambling problem,” Brady cuts in, clearly having grown tired of waiting for Raleigh to speak. “Long story short, he got in too deep with some bad people. My parents lent him the money to pay off his debts and when he couldn’t come up with the money to pay them back, they came to an agreement.”
He leaves the statement hanging in the air for a moment, trying to build the suspense, and my gut clenches because I fear that I know where this is headed and I don’t like it one bit. My fears are confirmed when he begins speaking once more, “Instead of paying back the money that he owed, he sold *you* to my parents. You are to be mine. A contract was written up and everything.”
“No,” Raleigh mutters against my chest, shaking her head and sobbing as she continues. “They wouldn’t do that.”
I didn’t know her parents to know if they truly would sell their daughter off to pay off a debt or not, but I truly can’t imagine a parent doing something like that, if I’m honest, regardless of the reason why.
I’ve heard stories about the Stevens' though. Heard that they are basically loan sharks and that nothing is off of the table when it comes to paying off debts that are owed. A shutter runs through me at the mere thought of some of the lengths people would go to.
“They can’t do that!” I shout, letting Raleigh go to close the distance between me and Brady once more.
“It’s already done.” He states matter of factly.
“It’s fucking illegal,” I growl, barely restraining myself from punching this mother fucker in his smug face. Regardless of the lengths that some people will go to relieve a debt, I do know the law.
“Doesn’t matter,” Brady shrugs smugly. “The contract between Raleigh’s parents and mine is legally binding and since they are no longer around to pay off the debt that was owed…” he shrugs as if that’s that and there isn’t anything more to say. But then he continues on anyway, unable to help himself as he turns his attention to Raleigh and says. “There’s no getting out of this. You’re mine. I own you.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
