“Please, let her go. She’s just a baby,” I beg.

“She’s coming with us,” he says firmly, running his hand over her hair almost affectionately, causing bile to burn the back of my throat.

“Please don’t do this,” I choke out. “Whatever you have planned, please don’t do this. We can work something out.”

He starts to move around me, and I reach out trying to grab Hope, who’s now screaming and kicking, but he turns his body so that she’s farther away from me, and then looks at the man who is standing in the doorway of the room. “Take her down to the car. We’ll be there in a moment.”

“No, please don’t!” I scream, trying to get Hope from him, only to be grabbed around my waist and chest and pulled back into a solid torso so hard that the air is pushed out of me. “Please don’t hurt her,” I beg the man holding Hope as he leaves the room with her screaming and kicking in his arms and the puppies barking at his feet.

“No one will hurt her. She will live a life free from the sins you have shown her,” he says near my ear as I feel his arousal press into my back.

“No,” I breathe, feeling tears fill my eyes when I hear what sounds like one of the puppies cry out and a loud bang as if it hit the wall. “Please don’t do this,” I whimper, trying to get away from him, but he’s strong, way too strong for me, even with the moves Jax taught me I can’t get free.

“You’re mine, Ellie. I own you.”

“No.”

“Yes,” he snarls, biting my neck so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if he broke the skin.”

“Please don’t,” I whisper as my legs give out underneath me and his hands wrap around my breasts, squeezing painfully tight.

“Your virginity was supposed to be mine, but you gave it away,” he growls, moving his hands from my breasts to my neck, squeezing so hard the oxygen in my lungs gets trapped as stars and tears blind me.

Trying once more to free myself, I only manage to claw skin off his arm with my nails, but it does nothing. His grip never lessens, and I feel myself become weaker as I attempt to breathe. “I may not be able to take your virginity, but your womb is mine. You’ll give me a baby before I’m done with you.”

“No!” I shake my head in denial as darkness clouds my vision.

“Who are you? Where’s Jax?” I hear a woman’s voice ask, but it sounds like I’m under water, and then I’m released, falling to the floor and gasping for air. Feeling a sharp pain across the side of my face, it takes a moment to realize he’s smacked me.

“You’ll do as I say or you’ll die,” he threatens, pulling out a gun and pressing it to my forehead. Nodding, I agree as he yanks me roughly up to stand then drags me stumbling behind him out of the room, still trying to catch my breath.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, a woman I have never seen before is standing in the doorway with her chest heaving as she blocks the man with Hope in his arms from going outside.

“Where is Jax?” she yells then her eyes fly to me as I dizzily stumble down the last step and hit the wall with my shoulder.

“Get into the house now, or I’ll put a bullet in her,” the man next to me says, roughly pulling me against his chest and placing the barrel of the gun against my temple. Watching her step into the house, tears fill my eyes and drop silently down my cheeks.

“Put her down and go check to see if we have drawn attention to ourselves,” the one holding the gun to my head says, and the man holding Hope nods, setting her on the ground then walking back towards the kitchen as she runs to me.

“It’s okay,” I tell her, picking her up and tucking her against my chest as she sobs into the crook of my neck.

“You guys can go. We won’t say anything,” the woman offers, coming toward Hope and me. “I won’t let them say anything; just please leave and we’ll put this all behind us,” she pleads.

“Shut the fuck up before I shoot you,” he says, and Hope whimpers, tucking her small body tighter against me.

“No one’s outside. We can go,” the guy who left moments ago says, coming back into the hallway near the front door.

“She’s coming,” he says, pointing to the unknown woman.

“Let her and Hope stay. I’ll do whatever you want,” I whisper, trying to get Hope to let me go so I can hand her to the woman.

“She’s coming!” he roars, and the front door swings open.

“Jax,” I whisper, seeing his eyes pull down in confusion, as he takes in the scene then fly to the woman in the room.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Jules?” he asks, and my mind registers Jules is his mom, the one he went to see.

“No!” Jules shrieks, running toward Jax when the man near the door pulls out his gun. Swinging Hope in the direction of the kitchen, a loud bang fills the room.

“Run,” I tell her, unwrapping her from me and putting her on the ground, pushing her toward the kitchen. “Now!” I scream, watching her look at me with tears soaking her face before running off.

Looking around frantically for anything I can use as a weapon, I run to the stand near the front door and rip out one of the drawers, causing papers to flutter down around me as I bring it up over my head and down hard, hitting one of the men over the head. Jax wrestles with the other one, trying to get his gun away from him. Hitting the guy on the floor again and again, a shot goes off and my body jerks from the sound, and then another goes off and wetness splatters across my face. My eyes start to go to the man at my feet, but Jax’s hand tilts up my chin.