Page 45 of Falcon

“Hi. Myka’s room is set up; it’s next to Jayes’. The others are still unpacking everything, so I left them to it. Oakley was throwing down and using pregnancy hormones to argue with Mina. Hi, I’m Penny.”

“And Mina’s bitching because her hormones are all over the place as she’s breastfeeding?” Rosie guessed, and Penny grinned.

“Christ, pregnant bitches,” Rosie complained. Falcon paused as he approached, and his eyes went wide.

“Hell no!” he announced, pointing at Rosie, who burst into laughter and shook her head. “Prez was more hormonal than you with each of yours,” Falcon declared, and both women laughed loudly.

“That is so true. Poor Calam got the cravings and everything,” Rosie told me. “I’m fine, Falcon, no more kids here. But Calam needs to stop trying to add to the fur babies.”

“Good luck. Why do you think you both have the biggest yard?” Falcon placed three glasses down, and I realised that he’d brought Penny a drink without her even asking. Dawson would never have been so considerate. I couldn’t remember him ever fetching me anything, not even when pregnant.

“You have a lot of pets?” I asked.

“They own a freaking zoo,” Penny teased.

“I’d like to get Jayes a puppy.”

“You weren’t allowed one?”

Bitterly, I laughed. “Dawson hated feeding us, let alone a dog. He’d have turned it nasty, and no pup deserves that. No.” I shook my head. “When we finally get settled wherever we go, it’s on my list of things to buy.”

“Staying here isn’t an option?” Rosie pried.

“God no. Dawson’s entire family is local. If I stay, they’ll never let me leave Dawson or move on. They’ll take Jayes from me and force me to abide by their rules.”

“They’re that bad?” Penny asked.

“Worse.”

“Can I ask, how did you end up with him? Myka, you seem pretty level-headed,” Penny stated.

I laughed. “Dawson’s five years older than me. My family life wasn’t great. My dad was an alcoholic and my mom’s long gone. I’ve no idea where she is. I was nineteen and at college when I met Dawson. Everyone was aware of his family’s reputation, but Dawson held down a full-time job, and his name was rarely mentioned associated with trouble. Dawson showed me the good. One night I went to a party and got drunk, but things seemed blurred, out of control, and I called Dawson to pick me up.

“The next day I woke up naked in his bed and with blood between my legs. I didn’t remember anything. Dawson was mortified; he said I’d come on to him and insisted we have sex. I’d been a virgin, so losing memory of my first time really sucked.”

Penny looked uncomfortable. “Were you drugged?”

“Yeah. Dawson admitted it about four years ago. But back then, he was still putting on a front. Dad threw me out, and Dawson married me. That’s when everything changed. He beat me on our wedding night and told me I was his property and that I had to obey him. It took months before he broke me. Dawson hit me so hard he caused early labour. Jayes was born eight weeks early. It was touch and go, but Jayes pulled through,” I replied.

“Christ,” Penny muttered, looking appalled.

“I tried to escape several times, but Dawson always dragged me back. Then one day he beat me so badly that I ended up in hospital. Scared out of my mind, I gave the sheriff a statement before being released. A few days later I was readmitted due to constant beatings, and I’d learned a lesson. Nobody would help me. The sheriff had backed Dawson and his scumbag family. Six months ago, I heard of a group that helped women like me disappear. I made contact, and we began making plans to get me out.

“Dawson always had impeccable timing. I had a week left before they collected me and took me to a safe house. Bloody typical of Dawson to mess everything up. And now Elianna says I’ve gotta trust her. But how can I? The Sheriff’s office has let me down once already. The only person I can rely on is myself,” I stated.

“Falcon won’t fail you,” Penny replied.

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would Falcon be bothered with someone like me?”

“Our men, they see a woman and know she’s their old lady. It’s almost instinctive. They’ll go all out to claim her,” Rosie explained.

“What’s that got to do with me?” I demanded. I didn’t want to consider whatever crazy idea they were thinking. For now, my plate was overloaded. My top priorities were healing and Jayes. Everything else could wait; it wasn’t important.

“Nothing!” Penny said quickly. She seemed to realise I was overwhelmed.

“Hey, they’re dishing up lunch. Are you hungry?” Rosie asked, standing.

“Yes, but what about the children?”