“My woman?”
He shakes his head once. “We’ll find her, just haven’t yet. You know you’re the priority,” he informs me on a whisper.
Dipping my chin, I look down at the lock and wait for him to open it. He grunts, pulling his phone out of his pocket and I watch as he touches his screen before sliding it back in his front pocket of his jeans.
“Got the guys coming in with some bolt cutters,” he says. There’s a quiet moment, and then he speaks. “Do I want to know what that fucker did down here in his sex room?”
“Why, wanting ideas?” I snort.
He shakes his head as he looks around. “Not really, but I think I’ll sanitize most of this equipment and take it home.”
“Have the fuck at it.”
“Seriously, you guys okay?”
“No,” I admit. “But nothing too bad happened. We’re all alive.”
He dips his chin. “All?”
“There’s another girl here.”
I don’t miss the way his eyes light up at the thought of another woman, possibly a damaged one that he could bring into his little fold. Works for me, because there is no fucking way that girl will ever be able to go back to regular life after this, after her goddamn brother handed her over to a short life of sexual slavery.
Honestly, Taylee would be better off with the Skulls anyway. They at least have experience with this kind of thing. I don’t know how to help that poor fucking kid. She is that too, a goddamn kid, probably not even over the age of twenty.
“We’ll get them to safety. You want them here when you end the fuck?”
“You got him?” I ask.
Bones’ lips curve up into an evil fucking grin. “Fuck yeah we do, him and his little buddies.”
“Nice.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
AVAH
Just when I think that the men have left, I hear heavy boot stomps again. They stop directly in front of the door. I let out a loud gasp as the door swings open. I expect to see a monster standing in front of me, but that’s not what I see.
“Dragon,” I breathe.
“Fuck,” he hisses as his gaze shifts from me to Taylee, then back to me. “Goddamn woman, get the fuck outta that fucking closet.”
I can’t hide the smile on my face at hearing his rough voice. Crawling out of the closet, Taylee at my back, I slowly rise to my feet. I realize that with all of the adrenaline pumping through my system, with the fear and anxiety, I forgot to panic at being in the closet.
“Is he okay?” I ask.
Dragon’s brows rise and his lips curve into a grin. “Fuck me, yeah, he’s okay. They’re cutting him out of that cage right now. Got a truck waiting out back for you two, ready to take you back to the clubhouse.”
“No,” I blurt.
Taylee gasps at my shout, I’m sure she’s scared that Dragon is going to do something to me for shouting at him, and maybe he would if the situation were different. He crosses his arms over his massive chest and tips his dark bearded chin down at me, his eyes finding mine and he waits.
“I want to see them die,” I say, attempting to find my bravado.
“You want to see them die?” he asks, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.
“Me too,” Taylee says, her voice shakier and weaker than mine, but no less firm.
Dragon shakes his head once, then twice. “Babe, can’t do that. No way in fuck. That’ll fuck you girls up more than you realize.”
“We need it,” I state, reaching behind me and holding my hand out for her.
Taylee slips her palm in mine and I squeeze her hand as I gently tug her forward so that she’s standing next to me. She tilts her head back, jutting her chin out stubbornly and it makes me wonder what she was like before the senator started chipping away at her piece by piece.
“We need it,” Taylee says. “I need it. I need to see not only him, but my brother bleed for what they took from me.”
“Your brother?” both Dragon and I say simultaneously.
There’s a moment of silence and we’re both staring at her. My lips are parted in surprise and I’m sure that Dragon looks just as dumbstruck as I feel. Then I hear a voice, one that I haven’t heard properly in days, weeks maybe, I don’t even know how long, but it doesn’t matter, either.
“Her brother.”
My hand falls from Taylee’s and my breath hitches right before I take off. I don’t just walk quickly, I run. I’m weak and tired, my body has been through hell both inside and out, but nothing could slow me down right now.
Hawk spreads his arms wide, widening his stance as he braces for impact right before I jump up into his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as I pinch my eyes closed and press my cheek against his, my lips at his ear.
“Orson,” I breathe.
He grunts, his hands cupping my ass as he holds me against him. “Avah, honey.”
We stay like that for longer than we probably should, just holding one another. He squeezes my ass and I know that he wants me to climb off of him, but I just can’t do that. Lifting my head, I look into his eyes and I give him a smile.
“You’re just going to have to carry me around, I’m not letting go,” I inform him.
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes and I know that he’s forever changed. He may be a badass, he may have done and seen shit that I could never imagine, but having his control stripped from him, it did something and
