by KJ Dahlen
“When did all this happen?” Judge demanded.
Sage turned her bewildered gaze back to him then took a moment to search his face. Taking a deep breath, she regretted it almost immediately. Shaking her head to clear the fog in her brain, she spoke, “Ummm, Sunday morning? I think?”
“Were you unconscious the whole time?” Raine asked as he watched her eyes focus on him.
“Well... I’ve been in and out since the attack, so I really don’t know.” She grimaced and lifted her hand toward the back of her head.
Judge grabbed it before she could touch her wound. “We need to get you to the hospital and have a doctor clean you up. You’re bleeding.”
Sage began shaking her head then hissed in pain. She took a moment before she could speak again, “No, I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“You’re hurt and need to see a doctor,” Judge calmly told her.
“No, I just need to get cleaned up a bit that’s all. I’ll be alright.” Closing her eyes she whispered, “I have to clean up the mess too. I can’t let Mike find the place a mess, he’ll kick me out and I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
“You can’t stay here tonight. This Mike person can just fucking deal with it,” Judge informed her. “Your front door is kicked in and all your windows are busted out. Anyone could come in here and hurt you. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
Sage scoffed then groaned as her ribs exploded in pain. “I’m pretty sure whatever there was to steal is already gone or busted up then huh?”
Raine knelt beside his brother. “Sweetie, your cart is in pieces in the front yard too.”
Sage closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I imagine it is.”
“Okay, we’re going to get you out of here and take you somewhere safe until we can get this under control,” Judge assured her.
Sage turned to stare at him with sad eyes. “You can’t fix this or get it under control. This isn’t your thing to deal with, it’s mine.”
“Wrong again, sweetheart,” Judge told her with a glare. “It became my thing when someone hurt you. We Moore men don’t like it when an innocent gets hurt.”
She looked up and saw all of them nod. Looking back at Judge, she felt another tear roll down her cheek. “Why? I mean why me?”
He leaned in closer and whispered for her ears only, “You’ve been flirting with me for a while now and don’t think I didn’t notice. I also won’t allow you to just stay here alone. You need help and you’re going to get it.”
~*~
Sage was startled for a moment. She hadn’t known he’d even noticed her. She’d been admiring him from a distance for a while now and she may have dreamed of him late into the night but she never hoped to get him to notice her. And this wasn’t the way she would have chosen. All busted up and bleeding.
All the guys had been nice to her, even the ones she grew up with but Judge, he was someone she’d really wanted to know better. She thought maybe she had a chance to find out but after this, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Luke told her, her time in this town was running out. Either she left or he would run her out, or make her disappear forever. She shivered again at the threat but didn’t let her fear show. She was good at that. She might be afraid but the world she lived in never knew it. That was one thing she had learned to hide over the years.
His statement just now made her think it was possible, but not likely. Luke would never allow her to be happy and he’d made that very clear over the years since he’d found out her secret. It hadn’t been her fault but he was making her pay the price.
She took a deep breath and her ribs protested, wincing she groaned in pain again.
Immediately, Judge was right there for her. He sat down and gathered her into his arms.
She curled into the contour of his body and felt safe at least.
“Come on let’s get you out of here and somewhere safe.”
Gambler disappeared then came back with a blanket from her bed and carefully wrapped it around her as Judge lifted her easily off the couch. Curling up with her head on his shoulder, she breathed in his scent as deeply as she could without hurting her ribs.
Then she raised her head with a worried look in her eyes. Biting her bottom lip, she looked up at Judge.
“What is it?” he grumbled.
“Well, if they didn’t find it already, I have a backpack in my bedroom. I’d like to get that before I go anywhere. It has everything I own inside it.”
“Where is it?” Gambler asked.
“It’s tucked in behind the mirror on my dresser. If it’s there at all.”
Gambler disappeared again and returned a few minutes later with the familiar black bag in his hands. He smiled as he handed it to her.
Sage smiled back and Judge growled a bit.
Gambler stepped back.
Sage glanced up at him in surprise.
Judge didn’t say anything, instead he carried her out the broken door and over to his brothers’ truck. He opened the door carefully and placed her tenderly inside the vehicle. He turned to Raine and threw his keys at the other man.
Raine caught them and raised his eyebrow at his brother’s move but didn’t say anything. Instead, he reached inside his pocket, dug out his own keys and handed them over.
Judge turned back to Sage then carefully pulled the seatbelt across her body and made sure it locked in place before he stepped back and closed the door.
“Where are you taking her?” Raine asked quietly. “She really needs to be seen by a doctor. She might have broken ribs. She’s probably got a concussion too.”
“You can take care of her. She doesn’t want to go to the hospital and quite frankly, I don’t blame her. They wouldn’t do anything for broken ribs anyway. You can tell me what she needs and I’ll see that she gets it. Meet me at my house and you can take care of her there.”
Raine shook his head. “Mom is gonna have a fit, you realize that don’t you?”
Judge scoffed. “She’ll get over it soon enough.” He glanced up at his brother and grinned. “I’m more concerned about how Runt is going to adjust to a woman in the house.”
Raine closed his eyes and shook his head. Runt was Judge’s dog. When he found him along the highway, the pup had been abandoned. He was a Tibetan mastiff pup but somehow the owner of the puppies must have thought he was a runt and threw him out. Judge picked him up in Maine and of course, brought him along to New York. He grew to be one of the largest dogs any of them had ever seen
Now Runt ruled the roost at Judge’s house and the dog just did not like change. Having Sage in the house would be a change. He was also very protective of Judge and his family but mostly Judge.
No one was allowed in Judge’s house without Runt being very aware of it and he’d proven in the past that he would protect Judge. Not that Judge needed protecting but Runt had his back. It would be interesting to see what Runt did with Sage in the house.
The Moore brothers all looked at each other for a minute when Judge pulled out and headed down the street like a man on a mission.
Gambler chuckled.
“What’s so funny?’ Hound asked.
Raine shook his head. “Maybe one day, Hound, you will get the humor in this. When it happens to you, I hope I’m there to watch.”
Chapter Two
When Judge pulled into the compound and made his way to the house he and his brothers built for him, he felt a sense of pride. His house wasn’t the most elaborate in the compound but it wasn’t just four walls and a roof either.
He’d had the perfect house for him in the back of his head since he was twenty and now he owned it. Glancing at the medium size two-story place he called home, his eyes filled with pride in the simple designed exterior. The front door was set back in the wrap around porch. It was double wide with a set of windows that highlighted the carved mastery of the wooded portal. A huge buck on one door with its mate on the other, the deer looked as if they were running through the woods. The di
fferent layers of wood used in the construction of the door gave it depth.
Just inside the door was a foyer that was big enough to turn around in and for him that said a lot. Judge was a big man. Standing 6’4 and close to three hundred pounds of pure muscle, he was fit and very strong. He’d built up his body by working with timber and steel rather than in a gym lifting weights. He always worked hard and played harder.
He enjoyed women but for the past two years or so he’d felt detached. He felt something was missing from his life and began pulling back from the hunt. He could still get laid anytime he wanted but now, he was looking for something special and until recently, he never thought he would find that special woman. He knew it might be Sage but he never knew if she was attached to someone or what. He turned his head and looked at his passenger. His tense body suddenly relaxed as he gazed at her.
Judge had been watching her for months now and he’d liked what he saw in her. When she began looking back, he thought about making his move but the timing had never been right before now. Looking at her now, he took note of how small she really was. He’d only seen her from a distance before now, but at this moment, he took note of just how petite she really was.
Her long dark hair was gone now, chopped off with what looked like a knife and the shaggy, misshapen lengths were breaking his heart.
Sage slowly opened her eyes and her silver gray orbs stared into his green eyes with a question in them. Turing her head, she looked around and didn’t seem to recognize where she was. She turned back to where he sat there staring at her. “What is this place?” she whispered.
“We’re in the Sin’s Bastard’s compound and this is my home. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe here, as safe as your mother’s arms.”
Sage raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “And you brought me here for...?”
Judge shrugged. “Well, you wouldn’t go to the hospital so I’m having my brother check you out here.”
Sage frowned. “Your brother is a doctor?”
Judge stared at her. “Well no, but he was a medic and he keeps us all in good health.”
Sage slowly shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I don’t think any bones are broken this time and I have a headache but it will go away.”
Judge frowned and glared at her. “This time? This has happened before?” His voice sounded calm, low and even.
~*~
Sage stared at his fierce expression and it gave her the idea that he wasn’t nearly as calm as he sounded.
She knew she had to move carefully right now, so she reached over and touched his hand. She motioned at herself. “My bruises will fade and the pain will go away. No matter what, time doesn’t stop for anyone or anything, not even death.” Shrugging she smiled slowly. “I’m not dead yet, so this too shall pass. This isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to me and it isn’t the first time but you know what? I’m a survivor, life has taught me that much. Every day when I open my eyes and see the new day, I know I can and will survive.”
He reached out and brushed a tuft of hair out of her face and smiled. “But life shouldn’t be that hard, don’t you think?”
“Life is never easy is it?” she asked. “And you get out of it whatever you put in. I’ve learned that the hard way. If you always take the easy way out, you’ll always be disappointed in what’s happening in your life. You’ll always wonder what could have been, should have been. Me? I knew no one was going to hold me back, that I could go just as far as I wanted with hard work and never giving up or giving in.” She looked down at her fingers gripping the edge of the blanket around her. “People look at me and see nothing but a piece of trailer trash. I look in the mirror and see a woman that has never given up. I see a woman that could make a difference if I want it bad enough. I am more than a piece of trash, I have something my mother never had. I have pride and that’s something no one will ever take away from me.”
“There’s more to life than pride, girl.” Judge scowled at her. “There could be joy and good times. You sound as if you’ve never known that. And that is just so wrong.
Sage smiled and reached out her hand to cup his bearded cheek. “I know that. But for now it’s all I got. Pride and survival.”
Judge exhaled loudly. He noticed Raine coming up behind him and Judge sighed and opened his door. Coming around to the passenger side of the truck, he opened the door and unclasped her seat belt. Scooping Sage up in his arms, he carried her to the front door and opened it.
Something big and hairy came bounding around the corner and stopped right in front of Judge. Dark eyes stared at him.
Sage met those eyes without any fear. “You have a dog?” she murmured. “Or is that it a small pony?” Without hesitation, she gently lowered her hand for the animal to sniff.
The dog slowly took a step forward and sniffed her hand, then to Judge’s shock—his tail began to wag. He stepped to one side and allowed Judge to bring her inside.
Judge carried her all the way to his room.
Sage looked around the room and liked what she saw. The walls were painted a gray slate color and the carpet was a darker gray color. The furniture was neither dark or light in but a shade in between. The windows had shades but they also had drapes in a rich burgundy color. The huge bed was decked out in more shades of burgundy and a stark white.
The room looked peaceful and masculine and before he could get more than one step into the room, she looked up at him. “If this is your room I can’t stay here,” she told him gently.
Judge looked down at her and smiled easily. “I want you in here but I don’t have the share it with you. I can sleep in the guest room, but I want you in here.”
She stared at him for a moment and asked, “Why?”
“Because here in my bed is where you belong,” Judge said simply as he carried her over to the bad and sat down with her in his lap.
Sage again felt shocked at his words but found she didn’t mind being this close to a man as much as she thought. For the first time in forever, she felt safe and protected. Then she happened to find herself looking back at her own reflection in the mirror.
She was appalled at her own appearance. Her face was covered in bruises and dry blood and her hair... she finally noticed her long hair was gone. She hadn’t even noticed her hair had been cut off. Tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her checks. She couldn’t even speak.
“Don’t you worry about your hair, it’ll grow back and he’ll never do this to you again.” He growled in her ear.
Sage quickly looked up to his eyes and the reflection in the mirror told her what she needed to know. It told her that to her shame, he knew everything. She swallowed hard and realized how dry her throat was.
Just then, Raine came to the bedroom doorway and glanced at them both. He cleared his throat and motioned behind him. “Ma’s here. She thought Sage could use a shower and wanted to make sure she was all right.”
Just then, Molly Moore pushed her younger son out of the way and barged her way into the room.
Sage stared at her wondering why she looked so determined and then the older woman looked straight at her. Sage had seen her a few times at the building site but had never met her formally.
Molly gasped as she took one look at Sage. “Oh, you poor dear...” Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and motioned for her to get up. “Come along young lady, this isn’t going to get done unless we do it, so let’s find out how bad it really is.”
Sage groaned as she got up off Judge’s lap and on her feet, shuffling over to the ensuite bathroom.
Molly closed the door behind them and began peeling the blanket from her shoulders.
Sage stared at her face in the mirror and shuddered at the bruises she saw. She had a bruise on her jaw that was already turning black and another on her cheek. There was a trickle of dried blood coming from her ear and another from a cut on her neck.
She also had finger marks on either side of her throat, almost as if someone had tried t
o strangle her. Then she remembered the look in Luke’s eyes as he held her pushed up against the wall in her living room. There was nothing in his eyes but pure hate as he squeezed her throat until she almost passed out from lack of oxygen. I thought I was dead this time. I knew I was going to die.
~*~
Molly winced as she saw the back of the poor girl’s shirt. She noticed a well-defined boot print on the lighter material of her shirt. Almost like someone with a big boot stomped on her back. Molly shook her head at the sight and she prayed her boys would set this injustice right. She didn’t know this girl but unless she was mistaken, her oldest son would not allow this to happen again. And if he did, she would do some damn stomping of her own.
Molly went over and started the shower to warm up the water and watched as Sage shed her clothes. With every garment that came off, she noticed more bruises and Molly had to bite her tongue and steady herself. This was a pitiful sight indeed.
~*~
When Sage slid into the shower, she let the water rush over her and closing her eyes she groaned. The warm water felt great as she stood there letting it ease her tight muscles. It also began warming her from the inside out. Until now, she didn’t realize just how cold she’d gotten in the past two days lying on the floor, unable to even get herself up and onto the couch.
Ducking under the spray, Sage hissed silently as the warm water washed the dried blood away from her wounds. Knowing Molly was just outside the stall, she didn’t dare make any noise. Relying on her past, she knew she couldn’t be loud or the game would be lost.
When she pulled clumps of her hair out of her head, she felt the tears falling and mixing with the shower spray. Which one of the four men that broke down my door and pushed me around had chopped off my hair? She wondered bitterly.
She almost felt sorry for them if Judge did what he promised. But she couldn’t ask that of him or anyone else. One of the first lessons she’d learned as a kid, was to fight her own battles because no one else would. Or should. What was between Luke and her was just that—between the two of them.
