Holly looked up at Jax when he kissed her head.
"Is it time to go already?"
"It's 4. You don't have to go with us, babe."
"It's fine. I wanna go. It'll be nice to get out of Charming for a while. A chance to get away."
"Jessica's here to watch the boys."
"I'll shower quickly and get dressed."
"Want something to eat?"
She nodded, yawning deeply as she got up, stretching before grabbing some clothes and going into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got dressed, going to get Valentina up, only to find that she wasn't there. She went downstairs to see that Jessica was giving the baby girl a bottle as Jax made Holly some eggs.
"Morning, Jess. thanks for coming so early."
"It's ok. I've been up all night anyway."
"Is everything ok?"
"Yeah. Trevor and I are going through some shit right now. I'll be fine."
"Well, you're welcome to crash here. It should be a few hours before the boys wake up."
"Thanks."
She nodded, taking Valentina from her, going to get her dressed.
Holly sighed happily when they reached Arizona, glad to see that Valentina had made it almost all the way through the drive without incident. But the stops they made to gas up, get food, use the bathroom or take a smoke break made all the difference. She got out and stretched deeply before getting in the backseat so she could breastfeed the baby, keeping an eye out as she fed her, making sure nobody came over. She burped Valentina before kissing her head, adjusting her bra and shirt before getting out, carrying the baby over to Jax and the guys, stretching her legs. She smiled softly as Jax pulled her in and kiss her head as the guys commented on how cute Valentina was, congratulating Jax and Holly. When everyone parted, she looked at Jax.
"Wanna rent a hotel room? I don't wanna stay at a clubhouse."
"Why not?"
"I don't know anyone and we have a newborn with us. Besides….I don't wanna share you tonight."
She smirked at him playfully.
"Aren't you still healing?"
"Yeah. Doesn't mean I can't play with you."
Holly woke up in bed alone, knowing that Jax had gone to the bike show. She smiled when she saw the note he'd left her.
'Mornin', darlin'. Sorry I'm not there to see you wake up. You or my little girl. I had to leave earlier than we'd planned, but feel free to call when you wake up or whenever. If I don't answer, don't flip. I'll get back to you, I promise. One of the SAMTAZ prospects is at the clubhouse and is at your disposal. I put the number in your phone. Give him a call when you wake up and he'll get you. Ti amo così tanto, Holly. (I had to look that up on google translate. I hope it's right.) I love you, babe. I'll see you later. - Jax'
She laughed softly, grabbing her phone and dialing Jax's number, smiling to herself as she checked in on Valentina, who was asleep in her carseat.
"You're up. Did you sleep ok?"
"I did. You did get it right."
"What? The Italian?"
"Yeah. Thank you for that. That put a smile on my face."
"I'm glad. How's the baby?"
"Still asleep. I'm assuming I have a few minutes before she wakes up and needs attention. So what are you up to right now?"
"Waiting for Romeo and dealing with some shit."
"I'm sorry, babe."
"It's alright. We'll get it done."
She went to say something when Valentina woke up, making her smile.
"She gave me less time than I thought she would."
"Go ahead. I'll talk to you later."
"Ok. I'll see you at the clubhouse."
"Love you, darlin'."
"Love you too, baby."
Holly hung up, getting Valentina and feeding her, turning on some music on her phone. She changed the baby before putting her back in her carseat and going to take her shower, singing to herself as she washed herself. She had just finished getting dressed before calling the prospect.
"Holly, right?"
"That's right."
"You ready for me to come get you, chica?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"I'll be there in about 20 minutes."
"Gracias."
Holly was in one of the back rooms of the SAMTAZ clubhouse, feeding the baby when the prospect, Ricardo, came in. She scrambled to cover herself up when he came in.
"Sorry, chica. I came to check on you."
"I'm fine. Just feeding my kid. I'm not necessarily a shy person, but I don't like feeding her around people. You mind leaving the room?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"It's alright."
She watched him leave, getting a creepy feeling from him. She kept an eye on the door as she finished, making sure her phone was within reach as she changed the baby, putting her in her carseat so she could sleep, sitting back against the headboard, playing on her phone. After a while, she started dozing off, keeping an ear out for Valentina or the guys coming back. She came to not too long after falling asleep, hearing a strange sound coming from somewhere in the room. She looked around before her eyes fell on Ricardo. Who had his dick out and was playing with himself as he watched her sleep. She freaked out and stood up, standing in front of Valentina.
"What the hell, asshole! Get out of here before I call your president!"
"You don't have his number."
"You wanna test me? Get out!"
He moved as if he were gonna, turning at the last minute and lunged for her, chasing after her as she ran out of the room, phone in hand. She heard him curse out loud as she ran off. She hadn't wanted to leave Valentina alone, but she wanted Ricardo away from her. She found the kitchen, making a detour to grab a knife, grabbing one just as he caught up with her, brandishing it in front of her.
"Stay away from me, you son of a bitch!"
"Oh come on, chica. I just wanna talk."
"No you don't. You want something you're never going to get. Get the fuck away from me!"
He lunged for her again, grabbing the knife out of her hands and tossing it across the kitchen before grabbing for her phone, only to have her kick in the balls with her knee before running back to the bedroom. She thought she had enough time to grab Valentina and ran. But she was wrong. She made it as far as the end of the hallway before she watched him block her path angrily. She put Valentina down in the doorway of the room on her right, looking around for something to defend herself with. But there wasn't anything around. She looked back at him, panting in fear. She knew what was gonna happen as he backed her into the room she'd been in before. She watched him as he took his pants off all the way before punching her hard in the face, making her drop her phone and pushing her on the bed. She begged and pleaded with him, still looking around for nothing. There was still nothing and she had given up hope. At least her daughter wouldn't have to watch it happen. She looked away from him, crying as she heard him come closer to her. She would never fully understand how she managed it after losing hope that she'd be saved, but she managed to gather the courage to grab the lamp from the bedside table, ripping it out of the wall as he started to pull her leggings and panties down, cracking him over the head with it, getting him off of her before getting up, grabbing her phone as she ran out of the room, pulling up her pants, running out to get Valentina, who was now awake and crying. Her only problem now was that she had no way to get herself and the baby away from the clubhouse. She cursed under her breath before going back inside, going to the kitchen to grab the knife again, not hearing Ricardo for a minute. Until she heard him running towards her. She only had a split second to think as he rounded the corner, barrelling toward her. And directly into the sharp she held in front of her. She gasped as her eyes went wide, feeling his blood come over her hand as she stared him in the face. She let of of the handle, watching him fall to the ground. She felt frozen, only able to stand and watch as his blood pooled under him, spreading out across the floor, Valentina's cries falling on deaf ears. Holly started panting as the realization washed over her that, not only did she just kill someone, she killed a club member. She'd almost been raped, again, possibly killed and God only knows what would've happened to Valentina, and all she could do was stand and watch this guy die. It took a few minutes to shake herself out of it, calling Jax immediately, sitting down at the bar.
"Hol, I gotta call you back."
"Jax? I need you."
"Holly? Are you crying? What happened?"
She took a shaky breath, tears streaming down her face as the baby screamed and cried in the background.
"What the hell is going on over there?"
"Please just come to the clubhouse? I don't know what to do."
"What happened, babe?"
She could hear voices in the background and couldn't bring herself to say it out loud, hanging up on him, breaking down. By the time the guys got back, Holly was on her hands and knees, vomiting onto the floor, Jax rushing over to her as Chibs went to get Valentina calmed down, everyone wondering why Ricardo was dead. She immediately turned around and held onto Jax when she finished puking, crying into his shirt.
"Babe, you gotta tell me what happened. What happened to the prospect?"
She took a deep and shaky breath before she looked at him.
"He….tried to r-rape me. I didn't mean to k-kill him. I just had the knife out to protect myself and the baby but he…..he didn't stop coming at me…."
She watched him look at her face, examining the bruise forming on her face, his face growing angry as the guys listened to her, holding her close. She cried into his chest, holding onto him tightly, needing the comfort right then. She felt him pick her up, burying her face in his neck.
"Get that fucker out of my sight and set his ass on fire. Chibs?"
"I got the little lass, Jackie Boy. Just take care of Holly."
Holly sat in a booth at a diner next to Jax, Valentina sleeping in her carseat. The guys had all stopped for lunch. Holly wasn't on autopilot, but she was unusually quiet since last night. And it worried Jax, although he understood why. She'd done and seen a lot, but she'd never killed someone before. He'd hoped that she would never know what that felt like, but at least she was safe.
"You need to eat something, babe. Even something small. Like toast."
"I'm not hungry."
"At least drink something?"
She nodded, taking a drink of the water that had been put down in front of her. She felt Jax kiss her head as Chibs watched them for a second. The bruise around her eye spread over almost half of her face was so ugly, but there was nothing that could be done for it. She took a deep breath, glancing over at the baby when she started fussing, rocking her carseat gently, getting her back to sleep.
"Are you gonna be ok, lass?"
"I killed someone, Chibs. You guys might be used to it, but I'm not. No matter what the circumstances, I didn't want to kill him."