by Shayla Black
Honestly, it’s been nothing short of a nightmare for her. She’s fragile and she’ll need you.”
“We’re ready. Just lead us to her.” Hammer wanted to barge past Beck.
“Please. We can’t do anything for her out here.” Liam sounded at the end of his patience.
“As soon as she’s done with the questioning, I’ll have Heavenly escort you back. But during this interview, no one is allowed to be with Raine except her attorney. We just have to wait until the interrogation is over.”
Hammer knew that. Some distant part of his mind accepted that fact. The man in him railed. The Dom in him roared. Why the fuck was it taking them so long to let him and Liam see their woman? How fucking crazy would he go before they could?
Beck returned to Raine’s side. Macen took up pacing again. Liam couldn’t seem to decide whether to stand or sit. The club members milling around talked. The man with the magazine said nothing.
After what seemed like an eternity, Heavenly appeared again with a smile. “You can see Raine now.”
Neither one of them could move fast enough. He and Liam bounded through the door and followed her down a hall.
A few paces away, Macen ran into his attorney, a fifty-something grandfather who wielded the law like a shark. They shook hands.
“I’ll call you later so you can fill me in,” he said, dashing for Raine’s room.
“Give me a ring.” The man in the pristine suit waved. “But she did great. She’s a tough cookie. You shouldn’t have any worries legally.”
Absorbing that relief, Hammer jogged back to Liam’s side, then rounded the corner. There, they found Raine cradled in Beck’s arms. The doctor stroked her hair as her shoulders shook in silent sobs. The sight ripped out Hammer’s soul. The look on Liam’s face told Macen he felt the same.
“I’ve been asking for Liam and Hammer,” Raine cried. “I’ve done everything the police and the doctors needed. Why can’t I see them?”
“We’re here, love.” Liam rushed into the room.
Macen followed, dying to hold her in his arms now—and until the end of time. “We came to see you as soon as we were allowed, precious.”
Beck eased back and turned to them. Finally, Hammer and Liam got a good look at their girl.
Hammer’s chest tightened. Though she was no longer covered in blood, the brutality Bill had inflicted on Raine enraged him and broke his heart. But under the stitches and bruises lay a strong, resilient woman. Their woman. And she’d never looked more beautiful.
“Liam…Hammer.” Raine opened her arms to them, despite the IV and a few assorted bandages. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Beck stepped back as Hammer rushed toward her. Liam did the same, flanking the other side of her bed. Hammer bent and nuzzled his face into her neck, inhaling her familiar scent deep with weak-kneed gratitude. He brushed gentle kisses over her cheek. Tears stung the backs of his eyes as he drank her in. Slowly, he lifted his head. She took his hand.
Liam had her other hand tucked in his as he leaned in and brushed a reverent kiss on her forehead, closing his eyes to savor the sweet moment.
Heavenly hurried in, carrying a white blanket over her arm—and stopped short at the sight of them both giving Raine affection. The pretty nurse blushed furiously and darted Beck a curious stare before dropping her gaze again. The doctor tensed and stared a hole into the girl. Couldn’t the damn sadist step out of his fucking door without attracting subs like a damn magnet?
“I have a warmer blanket for you, Ms. Kendall.”
“Please don’t call me that,” Raine snapped at the other woman, then frowned. “I-I’m sorry. Just call me Raine, okay?”
“Of course.” Heavenly quickly tucked the blanket around Raine before scurrying out of the room.
Beck’s eyes narrowed on the sway of the woman’s ass as she walked away.
Raine tried to smile but winced as the stitches in her lip pulled. “Honestly, Beck. You’ve been mentally undressing that poor nurse since we got here. You can’t be serious. She’s like Little Red Riding Hood to your Big, Bad Wolf. The instant you finish sucking the flesh off her bones, you’ll be picking your teeth with them.”
Hammer was relieved to hear the sassy Raine he knew, but she clearly forced the levity.
Beck frowned. “I’m not going to hurt her.”
“Said the sadist,” Hammer grumbled under his breath.
The frown creasing Beck’s face became a scowl.
“What are you waiting for?” Liam asked him. “She’s getting away, mate.”
“I can take a hint.” Beck grinned. “I’ll give you all some privacy. Back in a few.”
“Try to leave her in one piece,” Hammer called after him.
After shooting him a dirty glare, the doctor hustled out the door, taking the levity of the moment with him. The guilt and pain that had wracked Hammer the instant he’d discovered Raine missing returned.
Finally alone with the two people he loved most, Hammer wrapped his arms around Raine, thankful that Liam was on the same page, embracing her as if she was his everything. “Let it out, precious. Give your pain to us.”
Their reassurance seemed to break the dam holding in Raine’s emotions. She sobbed for endless moments. Neither he nor Liam let go. Instead, they whispered how glad they were that she was safe, that she’d found a way to survive, that they loved her.
Long minutes later, Hammer kissed the tears from her cheeks, then Liam placed a tissue beneath her nose. She stared up at his partner with those beautiful blue eyes.
“Blow, Raine,” Liam instructed.
She didn’t protest or argue that she could do it herself. She simply let Liam pamper her—no questions asked—because they both needed it. Hammer sent her an approving smile.
“How are you feeling, love? Is there anything we can get you?” Liam asked in that tender voice that always made Raine glow.
“I’m fine.”
She put on a brave face, but Hammer saw through it.
“Tell him the truth,” he pressed.
Raine laced her fingers through his. “Right. Honesty. Communication.” She blew out a breath. “I’m sore everywhere. But the pain tells me I’m alive. And I’m so thankful to be out of that horrible place and away from that monster forever.”
Hammer clenched his teeth as he inhaled a deep breath. “So are we.”
“God, yes,” Liam seconded. “Would you like to talk to us about it, love? Or is it too soon?”
“We’ll help you through this no matter what,” Hammer assured. “Lean on us. I swear to god we won’t let you down again.”
“Neither of you let me down. I went running out of the club instead of waking you up. I didn’t think anything so terrible would…” Raine’s chin quivered.
“Shh.” Hammer leaned in and gingerly touched his lips to hers, careful not to disrupt her stitches. “It’s all right. Tell us how to help you.”
Raine blinked as if unsure what she needed, then swallowed. “I don’t know where to start. Every minute seemed more and more horrific. I was so scared.” Her voice cracked but she continued. “H-he told me he’d been raping my older sister for years, and she let him to protect me.”
Hammer silently thanked the woman for her tragic sacrifice. But he couldn’t say he was at all surprised to find out that Raine’s sister had suffered under Bill’s hand.
“Oh, love,” Liam moaned. “It must have been awful.”
“Then, instead of taking her to the airport to leave for college, he k-killed her. He just took a knife and…” Raine sobbed out in a gut-wrenching wail. “He couldn’t wait to tell me that he’d killed my m-m-mom, too.”
Shoving down his wrath and wishing he could kill the dead man all over again, Hammer perched on the bed beside her. Liam did the same. Together, they wrapped their arms around her and held her until she slowly regained enough composure to carry on.
“I don’t even know where their bodies are.” She sniffed. “The only one who tru
ly escaped was my brother, but I don’t know where River is or what’s happened to him.” Then what little self-possession she’d managed dissolved. “I thought once you two found me that all the bad stuff was over, but god, the EMTs came and…”
Raine pushed against them as if suffocating. He and Liam both eased back, exchanging a worried glance. Hammer suddenly realized Raine didn’t need their physical comfort as much as she needed to vent the torment bottled up inside her.
“They bagged my hands. I couldn’t touch anything until the police came. They took the bags off but scraped under my fingernails to ‘preserve evidence.’ Then they examined all my bruises and bite marks with so much pity in their eyes I wanted to scream. They took pictures of every single inch of my body, poking at me and making me pose for them as if I were some kind of freak. When they finished scrutinizing every crack and crevice, I felt as if all the loving marks you two had left on me were tainted and disgusting. I couldn’t even say one word in our defense to make them understand.”
Hammer took her hand as the words spilled off her lips. He had to clench his jaw so he didn’t lash out in rage. Liam’s expression bled self-reproach and anger as he skimmed his fingers up and down her arm. Neither of them knew what to do, except listen and offer comfort.
“But I remembered what Beck said at the…” Her breath shuddered. “What I had to do. So I told the female detective and your attorney that Bill did everything to me. God, the questions she asked… They never seemed to stop. The police wouldn’t let Beck stay with me while she interrogated me. That woman kept asking if I was afraid or being abused because I live in a sex club. I tried to explain that Shadows wasn’t simply a club for folks who wanted to randomly get it on, but she didn’t acknowledge anything I said, just kept asking questions.”
More tears spilled down her cheeks. Hammer couldn’t fucking stand that he was unable to erase the injustice she’d had to endure after the atrocities at the warehouse.
“I had to tell a total stranger everything about my family, starting as far back as I could remember. But she didn’t stop there. She also wanted to know all the hateful, degrading, vile things my father had said to me my whole life. I wanted so badly to tell her that when I stuck that knife into Bill and watched him die, I didn’t feel a damn thing except relief because he fucking deserved it.”
Raine hung her head and burst into tears. Low, long sobs filled the room and tore at his heart. Hammer and Liam surrounded her once again, holding her, encouraging her to release her grief and anger, repeating that they loved her, assuring her everything would be all right.
Macen had no way of knowing whether he could keep that last promise because he no longer had to wonder if the day’s events would haunt her for the rest of her life. He knew they would. Instead, he had to help her find a way to move forward.
Something he’d never been particularly good at himself.
“We’re proud of you for being so brave, love,” Liam cooed.
“You’re alive, Raine. You have so many tomorrows to look forward to,” Hammer murmured. “If you’d like, we’ll move into the new house before Christmas. Just the three of us…together.”
“That’s right,” Liam added. “There’s no stopping us now, love. It’s you, Hammer, and me from now on. You’ll have your hands full making that house into our home. Start your new life with us. We’ll fill it with so much love you won’t be able to drink it all in.”
Raine sucked in a quivering breath before she raised her chin and wiped her eyes. There she was, their Raine—bold and beautiful and determined to fight back the darkness, at least for this one priceless moment.
“I’m beyond ready,” she vowed.
Hammer couldn’t help the tears of pride that filled his eyes. If he and Liam nurtured and coaxed this brave girl, she could conquer the world.
Suddenly, Seth and Beck entered the room. Seth sent a gentle smile her way. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Heavenly scurried in with a fresh cup of ice chips.
“Well, hello again.” Seth smiled at the sweet-faced blonde.
She couldn’t quite meet his gaze. “Hi.”
Both Beck and Seth homed in, watching the woman’s every move as she set the plastic cup on the hospital tray near Raine’s bed, then hurried toward the door with a nervous smile at the pair.
Beck stopped her with a hand on her arm, and Hammer didn’t think he’d ever seen the doctor touch any submissive so tenderly. “Thank you for your help.”
“My pleasure. I enjoy helping others.”
No doubt, the innocent girl had no idea how much her words fired up Beck’s Dominant loins. Instead, she darted out of the room. When Beck realized Seth stared at the sway of her hips as she walked away, he growled in warning.
“What?” Seth asked, arching a brow.
Hammer smirked as the beginnings of a plan hatched in his head. He and Liam had endured a shitload of ballbusting from these two. Finally, the opportunity for some payback looked promising.
“Not you, too?” Raine shot Seth a suspicious look.
“I didn’t do a thing,” he insisted way too innocently.
“Make sure you keep it that way.” Beck sounded more than annoyed.
Seth rolled his eyes, then sidled up to the bed next to Liam and gently caressed Raine’s inky hair. “You doing okay, little one?”
“Yeah.” She did her best to send him a smile. “Thanks.”
Before they could say more, the ER doctor strolled into the room, glaring at the sudden crowd.
Beck gave Seth a shove and nodded toward the door. “Let’s give them some privacy, Captain America.” He waved at Raine. “We’ll be back shortly.”
“Thank you, guys. For everything.”
After they’d gone, the doctor introduced himself to Liam and Hammer, then turned all his attention on Raine.
“We’re going to keep you overnight so we can keep an eye on you and give you some IV antibiotics for the bite marks, just in case. I don’t think you’ll need to stay longer than that.”
Raine sighed. “Can’t I just go home?”
“If he wants you to stay, you’ll stay,” Hammer ordered.
“But don’t worry, love. We’ll be with you, too,” Liam assured.
“How are you feeling now?” the doctor inquired, pen and chart in hand.
“Much better now.” The look she sent him and Liam told Hammer how relieved and grateful she was to have them at her side.
Macen’s heart opened even wider to her. How had he ever denied a moment of her love?
“Good.” The balding, thirty-something doctor smiled. “I’ve got your test results back. Would you like to go over them privately?”
“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to the three of us.” She reached out and clasped both their hands.
“Okay.” He took their unusual relationship in stride, like a medical professional who’d seen and done it all. Then he glanced again at her chart. “Most everything came out normal. I’ve just got a few questions. Are you having any tingling or numbness in your feet or hands?”
“No, they feel fine,” she replied as she held up her hands and wiggled her toes.
The ligature marks around her wrists from Bill’s ropes were red and chapped. Hammer couldn’t wait for the day they disappeared—as well as the wounds on her face—so he’d never have to be visually reminded of Bill Kendall or his brutality again.
“Good.” The doctor nodded. “Any floaters or sparks of light in your eyes?”
Raine shook her head.
“Do you have any discomfort in your jaw when you talk?”
“A little, but it’s going away,” she assured.
“Are you having other pain? Anything hurting more than a Tylenol can relieve?” The doctor darted a glance at the bite marks on her neck but didn’t mention them.
“My shoulders are stiff from being tied… In fact, I’m getting a little sore all over.”
The doctor nodded. “Then I’ll get yo
u a couple of acetaminophen. I see your last period started November
