“Fine. I couldn’t stay there, ok? I couldn’t face those men every day and not tell them who did this to me.”
“Why the hell would you not tell them? They need to know babe; they need to make the fuckers pay for this.” She waves her hand up and down indicating the state of my body. I drop my head. Do I tell her, do I be honest with her? I know if I do, she’ll want me to tell the others. Hell, she might even tell them for me.
“Riss. Talk to me.” She places a hand on my leg, and I hide my face in my hands.
“He is one of them. The person who took me, the one he did the most damage, is one of their brothers.”
“What?” she asks, stunned by my admission.
I look at her, tears streaming down my face.
“If I tell them and they believe me, then I’m destroying their club, their family. And if they don’t believe me, then they’ll hate me and accuse me of lying. The best thing to do was to just leave…”
“You can’t be serious, babe. You have to tell them. They need to know who they have patched into their club; they need to deal with the piece of shit. And I don’t believe for one minute that they won’t believe you. I heard how many of them refused to leave that hospital while you were there; you’ve made a dent in their cold little heart’s girl. Please think about telling them.”
“Telling who, what exactly?”
I jump as I see Griff standing by the door, Juggler right behind him.
“We came up to see how you were doing. We wanted to check in and caught the back end of the conversation.” He steps forward and takes a seat on the bed beside me as Juggler comes and kneels in front of me. I look at him as he grabs hold of one of my hands. “Flex. Please tell us who did this. You don’t need to tell anyone else, but I need you to tell us. We need to know.”
I shake my head as a sob escapes. “I can’t, please just leave it.”
“Never gonna happen, babe.” Juggler grabs my face to look at him. “The London boys are giving you a chance to heal, but they’ll be riding up here in a week or so to talk to you. They want to know who did this. They will make them pay; they have to, and you know it.”
I can’t speak. The tears roll down my face as Griff pulls me into him and then slides further up the bed, pulling me with him until he’s resting against the headboard and I’m lying into his side. I feel the bed shift behind me, and I stiffen, but Juggler places a hand on my shoulder. “Get some sleep babe, you’re ok.” I relax slightly, feeling a little safer. Not as safe as I did when I was with Wrath. God, I miss him, but I can’t ruin things for him. That’s exactly what he thought I would do by being in his life. I won’t let it be true. The tears continue until I wear myself out, and I fall asleep tucked between the guys and Steph, sitting on the bottom of my bed.
Chapter
Fifty-Three
When I arrived at the clubhouse, and the guys told me that Griff and Juggler were at my girl’s, I almost lost my shit. I’d stormed out of there like my arse was on fire, ready to race over there, but their security guy Hack grabbed me before I had a chance. He told me to calm the fuck down before I went over there like that. He made me ride over here in the van, he said that Juggler and Griff had requested I stay at the clubhouse until they spoke to her. But when Hack had messaged them, they had told him to get me to leave my bike; they said she had finally fallen asleep, and they didn’t want the sound of bikes waking her. I was fucking furious when I realised they were there with her while she was sleeping, but I calmed down a little when I called Nitro, and he told me to get my jealousy in check. I hadn’t realised I was jealous until he pointed it out. I’d just thought my rage was because they were being insensitive to what she’s been through.
I lean against the wall, folding my arms over my chest in the hallway outside of her kitchen and listen to them talk. She doesn’t know that I’m here; at least, I don’t think she does. Juggler and Griff, though, they do. Hack messaged them when we got here, and they told him to have me wait outside.
“Flex, why won’t you tell us who did this to you?” I hear Juggler ask her. There’s a short beat of silence before I hear another woman speak.
“She seems to think that if she admits who it is that the London boys will either think she’s lying and hate her for it, or it will destroy their club.”
“Steph,” I hear the fear in my girl’s voice; she really doesn’t want this to get out, and I don’t understand why.
“Hey,” I hear Juggler speak, and the chairs move. I stand straighter, wondering if she’s going to come out the door and catch me, but then I hear him speak again.
“I was there when you were found, Flex. There is no scenario in which those boys would hate you.”
“But what if I admit who did this and I ruin everything? What if I’m honest, and it tears them apart?” her voice breaks, and it guts me that I’m not in there with her. I go to move but Hack grabs my arm, shaking his head. I go to say something, but I hear Juggler speak again.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because that’s what he told me. When he…” she breaks off, and I can’t take it anymore; I burst through the door, scaring her so much she inhales a shocked breath, and her body stiffens. But as she looks as me, her features soften.
“Wrath?” She sobs, and I race toward her, pulling her from the chair and into my arms. She doesn’t hesitate for a second, wrapping her arms around me and holding onto me tightly as she sobs into my chest. I hold onto the back of her head and lean down, placing a kiss on the top of her head and telling her, “I’ve got you, baby, you’re safe. And I’m never letting you go.” I feel her shake her head, but I pull her back so I can look into her eyes.
“I fucking love you, Firecracker. You’re mine. I will spend the rest of my life making sure you know how sorry I am, but Iassure you, I will be spending the rest of my life with you.” I see her eyes flick around the room, taking everyone in before they settle back on me. She looks down, but I grab her face and lift it, not giving her a chance to look away, not giving her a chance to shut down. I rest my forehead on hers, and I whisper, “Trust me. Please.” I don’t know if it’s the begging tone in my voice or if she sees something in my eyes, but she swallows and gives me a nod before leaning back into me and wrapping her arms around my waist.
I look over my shoulder at her father and give him a chin lift. He smiles, giving one in return as I pick her up and carry her into the front room, I passed on my way in. As I take a seat on the sofa, I pull her onto my lap and hold her tight. I take advantage of the fact the others stay in the kitchen and sit with her on my lap, neither of us speaking. I don’t know about her, but I need this. I need to feel her, to be near her.
Nearly an hour later, the door opens, and her father, the prospect and the girl, Steph, I think her name is, walk through the door. They take a seat, and Marissa tries to get up as we hear the rumble of bikes approach.
