Filthy Bastard (Grim Bastards MC) by Emily Minton, Shelley Springfield

argument, though. Not considering I would do it again, all of it again, if I could. I wouldn’t take back a minute of the time I spent with Brew, not one damn minute. I would go through all the pain, fear, and anger for one more minute with him. Although there is no future for us, I would love to pretend again. I would love to feel normal again, and only Brew can make me feel that way. I’ve been missing that normal in my life. After that short break, now, all I’m back to being is nothing but my brother-in-law’s whore.
    “I can’t believe that you left me here. You promised to help me during this pregnancy, and you just ran off without a word. You have no idea how bad things have been with Blake. Without you, I had no one, not one single person to talk to,” she tells me as her tears stream down her face.
    It tears me up to see her like this, to see her falling apart. “I’m sorry, Alex. I didn’t think anything about how bad things would be for you. It was only a week, and I thought for sure that you would be okay for that long.”
    She lifts her head, wiping the tears from her face before saying, “I don’t know why Blake was so bad. As soon as he heard you left town, he turned into a monster.”
    My stomach rolls thinking of what he could have done to her while I was gone. “Did he hurt you?”
    Instead of answering me, she shrugs. “I couldn’t wait for him to leave for work every day, just so that I could get a break from his tantrums. He was acting like a two-year-old that had his favorite toy get stolen.”
    “I’m sorry.” I repeat my apology, as I do my best to keep from shuddering.
    I am a toy, Blake’s toy. He owns me and will, until Alex finally leaves him. I knew the first time I didn’t meet him, he would take it out on Alex. She should always be my first priority, not Brew, a man that I can’t ever have.
    Shaking my head, trying to ward off my thoughts, I grin at her. “Well, I’m back now. The baby will be here soon, and then you can have your surgery. After that, you’ll never have to worry about his ass again. We’ll be living the good life.”
    She smiles back at me. “You’re right.”
    “You’ll be free to leave. We’ll raise the baby together, just like we’ve been planning. Blake nor Mom will have any control over either of us,” I say, knowing that my words aren’t true. Now that my sister is carrying the dickhead’s baby, he will always be a part of our lives.
    “You can’t leave me again, Addy. I need you,” she says, going back to chastising me.
    Looking over to my sister, I flinch every time a tear rolls down her cheek. “Please, don’t cry, Alex. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
    “You just left. You didn’t call, leave a note or anything,” she cries as she pushes herself from the chair, smoothing her shirt over her heavily pregnant belly. “Why in the world did you think it would be okay to run off to Alabama with Trix and not even call me?”
    Taking in a deep breath, I repeat my lie. “I already told you. We were only planning on going away for the weekend. Trix didn’t even take her phone, and I dropped and broke mine. My new one was delivered to my dorm room, and I didn’t get it until I got back. We would’ve came back after the phone disaster, but it was so peaceful we decided to stay and enjoy a couple more days of it. I know I shouldn’t have done it. I should’ve thought about you being stuck here with Blake, but I didn’t. I’m sorry. I will make it up to you, I promise.”
    “You could’ve used a pay phone,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me.
    I let out a forced laugh. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but payphones are few and far between nowadays.”
    Another tear glides down her cheek as she places her hands on her hips. “You could’ve found a phone. Don’t try to pull that crap on me.”
    Alex has yet to stop screaming at me. She has called me ungrateful, selfish, and childish. She even told me that