UnBreak This Heart

The past

I’m exhausted after being in classes all day. Why did I want to be a lawyer again? The commute is ridiculous, driving to and from Calgary every stupid day. And I want to do this for another three years? I’m out of my mind. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, I was thinking I needed to do something with my life, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t expect it to be hard, just not as hard as it has been.

I pull up to the house that Mason and I share, and notice he isn’t home yet. It’s not unusual, but I was hoping he’d be home to rub my back. Mason and I have been together since I was fourteen and he was sixteen. Some people didn’t like that, but whatever. Eden and Jasper who were fourteen and nineteen when they got together, yet with those two, not one person batted an eye about their ages.

Shifting into park, I grab my bag from the backseat, mentally cursing my professors for their assignments. I have so much stupid homework that I just wanna curl up in a ball and cry. Walking along the hedges that line the walkway, I can’t wait to get inside, kick my shoes off, and grab a bite to eat. I get in the house and lock up out of habit, then head into the kitchen and set my shit on the table. I make my way to the bedroom and change into something more comfortable, realizing I should probably hop in the shower, too, but I’m too damn tired and hungry to care right now.

The house we share is modest, nothing fancy, but it’s not a shithole either. I’m pretty sure Mason got the house through the club, but I learned quickly when it comes to shit with the club to keep my mouth shut. The house stays fairly clean, considering the two of us mostly just sleep here. I’m mostly away for school, and he’s off doing whatever it is he does. He is good about keeping me happy, though. You wouldn’t think a brute like my man would ever do laundry, but he doesn’t mind pitching in when needed. When we first decided to move in together, he was a total pain in the ass. He didn’t want me picking out, as he called it, frou frou girly shit when it came to the furniture and decorations. Needless to say, I eventually won in the end. I picked out modern things we could both appreciate. He sure as hell wasn’t complaining when his black leather recliner was delivered. It even has a compartment to keep extra beer for him. Eden tried to get me to buy an ugly ass powder blue recliner that had stains on it from a second-hand store and trick him, but I didn’t want to push it. That girl is always pulling shit and trying to get one over.

A good girlfriend would be cooking dinner right now, but I’m not like most girlfriends. I’m working my ass off to get through my classes, so I cheat and heat up some of that microwaveable bacon for a sandwich, and then I get to work.

I’ve been staring at this damn screen for an hour doing research. I decide to check my email; I keep getting a notification on my phone from it. Shit, I forgot to pay our power bill! Thankfully, it is just a warning.

The front door lock clicks and opens as I’m at the table, staring at my computer and figuring out the bills instead of doing my homework. “Babe,” I hear Mason call to me.

“Yeah? I’m in the kitchen,” I shout back, not taking my eyes off the computer screen. Schooling’s costing me too damn much. Daddy helps pay for some of it, but I’m left with the rest—the loans. Mason says I can just use the money in our account so there’s no added debt, but that’s money he earned from his work. I don’t feel comfortable letting him pay my way.

“Babe, I need the bleach. Where do we keep it?” he asks from behind me.

I turn around and look at him. “Oh my God,” I breathe out as I blink and look at him again, thinking I must be seeing shit due to exhaustion. He’s covered in dried blood. “What happened?” I ask with wide eyes. “Are you hurt?”

He shakes his head. “Club business, babe,” he says with his head hanging low.

“Mason…” I start, but decide against it when he looks at me with cold dark eyes.

“You wanna know? You wanna know how I went into a home and murdered a family, and cleaned up any evidence that could point to me? That what you wanna know?” he growls out.

My face pales, and my stomach turns. “No,” I breathe out. How could he do something like that? I feel weak in the stomach. I shakily return my fingers to the keyboard to close out what I was going over.

“Don’t ask for answers for shit you don’t wanna know,” he tells me. “Now, where’s the fuckin’ bleach?”

I point to the laundry room. “In the cupboard over the washer,” I say quietly. He’s changed over the last few months, ever since he joined Satan’s Law. He’s always had a slight temper and been stubborn but not like this. I don’t know why being in this club is so important to him, but it is, so I support him in what he wants to do. That’s what you do when you love someone. I look down at my engagement ring and smile. I’m marrying him, not the club. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. I love this man. I do. What I don’t love is what the club is doing to him.