by Eve R. Hart
Panic started to rise and I forced myself to sit up and open my eyes. I feared that I had gotten myself out of one situation and right into another. How many enemies did I have? Or the Steel Paragons have, rather?
“Hey,” he said softly. Well, as softly as his accent would allow him, I imagined. “Hey, calm down. I won’t hurt you.”
“Let me out. Help!” I screamed.
“Yeah, I’m here. She’s freaking out… Okay, I’ll take her there now.” He dropped his phone and with careful hands, held me down. “Your man has been looking for you. We will take you to the biker compound. Okay?”
I nodded and slightly relaxed but only because I could hear the truth in his voice. I didn’t even try to correct him that I didn’t have a man.
They had been looking for me?
Maybe I wasn’t as alone as I thought.
Still, I couldn’t forget everything I had been through. Everything that had been said.
I almost dreaded seeing them. Not only was I just a complete mess, even more than I had ever been, but I was going to have to tell them everything that had happened to me and all the things that man had said. I had to warn them about the danger that someone was after the club.
I was living in a nightmare. I didn’t think I would get out of it anytime soon. Even if I was away from that man, he was still there in the back of my mind. It wasn’t like I could rid myself of the things I went through no matter how much I wished I could.
My head was dizzy and I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and go to sleep. I feared that he had slammed my head too hard and that I might have a concussion. I knew the smart thing would have been to try my best to keep myself awake.
No, the smart thing would have been to have these people drive me to the hospital.
I looked up and noticed that there was a woman driving. Her dark hair was wild. As her eyes glanced up in the rearview mirror, I could see the pity and concern for me there. I ducked my head because I couldn’t take it another second longer.
Then I cried.
I wasn’t strong.
I was fragile and broken.
No matter how I tried to stand up on my own I was still that pathetic rich girl. The one that couldn’t do anything for herself. The one that gave up without any kind of fight. That was exactly what I had done back in that room. With a crazy man sitting on top of me, I had silently said my goodbyes.
Maybe that was the thing that hurt me the most. To know that I would never be anything more than what my parents had made me into.
I wasn’t cut out for this world but it was too late to go back even if I wanted to.
As we drove down the bumpy, dirt road that led to the club’s building, I closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready to face any of them but now I didn’t have a choice.
I made a silent plan to stay just long enough to tell them what I needed to. Then I would find my way to the hospital and walk away from it all.
CHAPTER TWENTY
B-ry
Another day went by. By this point I was pissed. Mostly at myself, still.
When I got Laurel back, I wasn’t ever going to let her go.
That was for damn sure.
I didn’t give a damn if she hated me. I had decided that I wasn’t going to let her.
“B-ry,” Mouse yelled my name and I sprung to my feet. “B!”
I darted out my door and down the stairs, heading in the direction of his voice.
“They found her. One of the Russians has her now. They’re on their way,” he said as I met him halfway across the back lot.
We took off for the front together.
Even as my feet carried me, I still couldn’t believe what I’d heard him say.
Iron and a few of the other brothers were already waiting out front.
It wasn’t long before a black sedan came barreling down the dirt road, kicking up a wall of dust behind it.
I was frozen in place. She was here and I almost couldn’t let myself believe it. I had no fucking clue what had happened to her or what kind of shape she was in. And as I stood there waiting, I feared the worst.
My jaw clenched tight as the car stopped. Everything that I had imagined while she was gone flashed through my mind. All the things I tried so hard not to think about. It was like I couldn’t help it, my mind spun out of control with sick and twisted things that could have been done to her.
I flung the back door open not giving a shit about anything but getting to Laurel.
There she was, shaking and crying. Her body was wrapped in a blanket but I could see the bruising on her face. It was clear it was recent and I hated to think what else I’d find. I didn’t even think as I scooped her up and held her close. I didn’t trust myself to speak, I was damn near breaking down.
“Get her to the med room,” Iron said in my ear. “Charming is waiting up there.”
She was stiff in my arms, but I couldn’t process what that might have meant right now.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered as I took off for the med room.
Once there, I gently placed her on the table.
“Charm is going to look over you, okay? Need you to tell us what happened,” I said trying to capture her eyes. But they were blank and distant.
I flicked my gaze to Charming. His lips turned down for a split second.
“Hey, Laurel,” he said as he stepped up beside her.
The blanket slid off her body and it was all I could do not to gasp in horror.
Rage filled my veins.
Because she was naked.
And her skin was pale and dirty.
I thought she was losing weight before but now her frame was nothing but skin and bones.
“He didn’t…” she said, speaking for the first time. “He didn’t… touch me like that.” She wouldn’t look at either one of us.
“Who?” I asked moving closer to her. I reached for her hand, but she moved away from me. Yeah, my heart broke right then.
“I’m a whore. He took me because I am your whore and he wanted to hurt you.” Her eyes were still glazed over and I feared she might be on the verge of some sort of breakdown.
At hearing her words I felt the bile rise in my throat. I saw fucking red. I was going to kill whoever this fuck was. There was no doubt in my mind. If it was the last thing I did, I was going to make him suffer for what he did to her.
“Out,” Charming said in a tone that left no room for argument.
I looked down at Laurel and saw that I was doing more harm than good for her right now. So with my fists balled up tight and my body vibrating with a new kind of rage, I stormed out of the room.
I refused to go far, choosing to pace like a caged lion in front of the med room.
Cami came rushing past me and busted into the room. She had been so frantic she didn’t close the door back behind her. I watched from afar as she rushed to her sister’s side and wrapped her up in a hug. By the way Cami’s body was shaking, I could tell she was crying. But what got me was the look on Laurel’s face. Or the lack of, rather. She seemed blank.
Brand slipped in behind Cami but didn’t close the door either. I think he got it, that I wasn’t in there for a reason but I still needed to know what was going on.
“She’s probably in shock,” Iron said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Did she say anything?”
“This is all my fault,” I said with regret and hurt in my tone. It was, and I had felt that for a while. That said, it didn’t make things any easier.
“No-”
“Yes,” I barked lowly so she wouldn’t hear. “Don’t try to feed me some bullshit on how this isn’t my fault and there was nothing I could have done. She flat out said that she’d been taken because of me. Me! This guy… who the fuck knows, took her to hurt me. Fuck!”
“That’s what she said?” he asked in a dark and serious tone.
“Yeah.” I nodded and let out a sigh. “This is all on me.”
There was a long stretch of silence. I wa
tched as Cami took a step back and let Charming look Laurel over. Cami held her sister’s hand but it didn’t seem to bring Laurel back at all.
“Vladik said he was at his… woman friend’s house,” Iron said and I cut my eyes over at him with a brow raised. “His words. Anyway. I’ll spare you the unnecessary details, but he saw Laurel trying to escape from the window. He rushed out as quickly as he could and managed to get to Laurel as she fell out of the window. He got her to his car, where his… woman friend… was waiting to drive. He got a glimpse of the guy in the house but figured it was best to get Laurel away as fast as possible.”
“So you’re telling me that where she was held, there were people around? Other houses?” I asked in shock.
“Yeah. A neighborhood about fifteen minutes away. I sent a few prospects out there to watch the place until I can get some more people over there. I want to know a little more before we go rushing in there. I have a feeling whoever it is probably took off the moment she escaped. Blade left the shop and when he gets here, I’m sending him along with Mouse and Dade to check the place out. Maybe Tripp, too. I bet he’s long gone but the more hands we have there to check the place out, the quicker shit will get done.”
There was something there in the back of my mind trying to cut through all the chaos. Something that I had overheard at the gym one day. I remember the guys giving Vladik shit about some woman. A conversation that wasn’t meant for me but wasn’t something I necessarily shouldn’t have been hearing. I vaguely remembered Valdik saying something about the woman he’d been seeing complaining about the guy next door. Said she was telling him that the guy was weird or creeped her out or something.
Had it really been right under my nose all along?
How long had this guy been around? Been watching? Been planning this?
Maybe it was just a crazy coincidence.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t.
I couldn’t shake how everything circled back around. This had something to do with me or the club and Laurel had just gotten caught up in it.
“He said he’d never seen the guy before. Oh, and she was holding this when she escaped.”
Iron held up a cell phone. It wasn’t anything special but I knew it wasn’t hers.
“I’m thinking it might be the fucker’s phone. I’m gonna run this to Cable to see if he can get anything out of it. When I come back, I’m going to see if she feels like talking.”
I could tell he regretted that he had to question her. But I knew it was better to do it now than wait and have the details fade. We needed to know everything we could, as fast as possible.
I wasn’t happy about it. Laurel needed some time and some rest. Only I knew better than to stand in his way.
I nodded and he took off with long strides to Cable’s room.
I watched on like an outsider, hating every fucking minute of it. Charming’s eyes looked up and met with mine. I pleaded for him to give me something good here.
He said something to Cami and she nodded and turned on her heels hesitantly. Brand was right behind her as they walked out of the room. By the direction they headed in, I had a good idea that Charming had sent them to get clothes for her.
Then Charming was stepping outside the room and sending me a chin lift, calling me closer.
“She’s banged up a little. Looks like she took a couple of hits to the head. I’d say she has a concussion so we need to watch out for that for the next day or two. I don’t know how hard she hit her head, so I’m honestly not sure how bad it is.” He watched me closely to make sure I wasn’t about to lose it.
I took a calming breath. It didn’t do much to settle me but still, I held it together.
“She is dehydrated and weak from lack of food. I have a buddy running over some things so I can get an IV going and get some nutrients and fluids into her. I figured it would be best to maybe get her set up in that room you and Cami have her stuff in. Something sort of familiar might bring her back a little.”
“Be honest with me, Charm,” I said taking my eyes off of Laurel to stare him down. “Is she in shock or is it something worse?”
“I think she’s been through a lot. I would say she’s in shock right now, but I can’t tell you how bad or how long it will last. The best thing…” He paused like he was trying to think of what was best for this situation. “She needs rest. But maybe talking about it, getting it all out, might help her too. Right now, she’s holding it all in and trying to process it. I also don’t think she should be alone.”
“Alright,” I said moving my eyes back to Laurel. “I’ll make sure someone is with her. Iron wants to talk to her in a minute.”
“Okay, but don’t push. If she looks like she’s getting upset then it needs to end.”
“Got it.”
“I’m sorry, man,” he said and gave my shoulder a firm squeeze before going back into the med room.
Cami came back and managed to get a shirt and pair of sweatpants on Laurel. She shooed all the men out of the room and closed the door while she did this. I understood why, but I hated not having eyes on Laurel.
When Iron came back, I refused to be left out any longer. As much as I knew it was going to kill me to hear what happened to her, I needed to. Iron only eyed me for a long moment before giving me the okay nod.
“Cami,” Iron said it a soft tone.
“Oh, you’re doing this now?” she asked like she knew what was going on. “Okay. Just, please don’t upset her. I’ll be… elsewhere. But call me if she needs me.”
“I will, darlin’. Thank you.” Iron gave her a tiny smile.
Cami had an idea about club business but she wasn’t ever one to push. I think she was more in the mindset of ‘I don’t want to know’ and tried to stay out of it as much as possible.
“Fill me in,” Brand said. “I don’t want to leave Cami alone. And it’s probably best that there aren’t too many of us here.”
Iron nodded and I couldn’t have agreed more.
Charming stayed, just to make sure that nothing happened.
“Laurel?” Iron said as he walked into her line of vision, making sure to keep a safe distance so not to freak her out. “I need to ask you some questions. Would that be okay?”
“Sure, okay.” She blinked rapidly and there was a hint of the Laurel that I knew shining through.
Iron seemed to notice too.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve… I’ve been better, Iron.”
He flashed her a sad smile.
There was my girl, finding strength in the situation yet again. I would have felt so proud if I could have seen past my rage and hurt.
She took in a deep breath and sat up straight. With a tiny wince, she shifted around trying to get comfortable. But she continued to hold her head high.
“You need to know what happened?” It was a question but by her tone, she already knew the answer to it.
“If it’s not too much for you to talk about it right now.”
“No,” she said looking him in the eyes. “I need to tell you. That’s why I wanted to come here.”
Iron actually looked shocked for a second. Honestly, I was too, but I did my best not to say anything. With the way things were going, I figured it would have been best for me to just blend into the background, even if it killed me.
“I don’t know his name,” she said shaking her head. “He never said. And for the longest time, I didn’t even know why I was there. I thought I was just an easy target, you know? I kind of was…”
She took in a shaky breath then continued.
“I was, um, walking home from the bar. I think it was like three weeks ago.”
That was when her eyes hesitantly slid over to mine. The look in them fucking broke me and it was all I could do not to crumble to my knees. I swallowed hard. I had never been so ashamed of one action before in my entire life.
I went to open my mouth. To give some lame, half-attempt at an apology. I knew words
wouldn’t make this right. And by the broken look in her eyes, I wondered if anything would.
“Anyway, I was walking home. I didn’t get far when this car passed me and pulled over. I felt it, that something wasn’t right. So I tried to run. Only I didn’t get far. Someone grabbed me and then there was a cloth over my mouth. I couldn’t breathe and it seemed like the more air I tried to suck in, the dizzier I got. Then everything went black. I woke up in a room. In a cage, actually.”
Every word she spoke was like a bullet to my heart.
“I was naked,” she said and her breath hitched. “The cage was so small, I couldn’t even fully stand up. And the bed was hard and I had to curl up to sleep. There was a bucket… I had to use the bucket… in front of him.”
“But you said he didn’t touch you, right?” I could no longer hold back.
She bit her lip, looked down, and shook her head.
“No. Not like that. H-he tried, but he couldn’t… it didn’t work.”
“What happened? What did he do? What did he say to you?” Iron asked carefully.
“There was this other guy. He had an accent but don’t ask me what it was because I have no clue. He sounded like he was the boss or something. I don’t really know. The guy got mad when he came around. I heard them talking one time and the guy with the accent said something about the other one having a vendetta with some bikers. So that was when it started to click. But right before I escaped he told me things…”
Her body swayed though she was sitting down. I didn’t give a fuck about keeping my distance anymore. I swung my leg over the bed and settled behind her. My arms slid around her waist and I wanted to sigh with relief when she actually sagged back into my chest. I had a feeling it wouldn’t last long, but I vowed to be there to hold her up as long as she let me.
“You’re safe. I’m sorry I didn’t get to you. But I will never let anything happen to you again,” I whispered in her ear.
I didn’t care that my brothers were right there, witnessing this tender moment. I didn’t give one fuck, because she was more important than trying to thump my manly chest.
