“Promise?”
“I promise you. He will pay.”
Chapter
Fifty-Six
It’s been three weeks since we found out it was one of our own who beat and raped my girl. We haven’t seen Snake since we got back, according to Candy, one of the club girls, he took off not long after Nitro had announced to the club, I was bringing Marissa home.
I moved her out of her flat, paying off her landlord and moved her in here with me—with us. I’ve barely left her side, leaving the hunt to my brothers, but they’ve had no luck. We have no idea where the fuck he is or what he’s planning.
We changed access to the entire compound, changed locks and security codes, reinforced windows and doors. There’s no way he can get back in here. It only took a few days for her to finally feel safe enough to leave my room—our room.
I watch her chat with Georgia-Rae, she’s formed a bond with her and Maria, and I’m grateful for that.
“Hey brother.” I turn to see Data standing behind me and I smile when I see the bags in his hands.
“Thanks man.”
He nods as I take them from him and head over to my girl.
“Hey Georgia, can I have a minute with my girl, please?”
“Of course. I’ll catch you in a bit, Riss.” She gets up and heads off in the direction of the kitchen.
“What have you got there?” She asks as I take a seat and grin at her.
I sit sideways, and she turns a little to face me, a curious look on her face.
“I saw the state of your laptop and camera in your flat after you were taken.”
A look of sadness flashes across her face, but she quickly recovers.
“Yeah. It is what it is,” she tells me, making out like it doesn’t bother her, but I know it does. I know how much they meant to her. I hand her the bags, and she reluctantly takes them from me before taking a quick glance inside.
“Wrath, these are expensive.”
“I wanted you to have the best, baby.”
“You have to tell me how much I owe you?—”
“Nothing, baby, they are a gift. Photography is your life, Firecracker, you love taking pictures and you can’t edit without a laptop. Just when you’re ready, baby.”
She grabs my hand and gives a squeeze as she pulls out the camera, turning the box over in her hands to check it out. She looks at me and smiles and then kisses me.
“Thank you.”
I’m surprised by the kiss; this is the first time she’s shown any sort of real affection since she kissed me when I first brought her back. Sure, we’ve slept in the same bed, I use the term slept loosely. She doesn’t sleep for more than forty minutes at a time, the longer she’s out, the more nightmares she has.
The guilt over her screaming in the middle of the night is what keeps her awake now. Everyone has told her they understand and that they can’t really hear her, but she’s worried it wakes them, so she forces herself to nap rather than sleep.
She’s let me hold her through her nightmares, but she doesn’t have much more physical contact than that. She flinches if anyone gets too close, and loud noises have her jumping out of her skin. So, the fact that she just kissed me gives me a small sliver of hope. Which only increases when she curls into me as she takes her camera out of the box and starts looking through it.
“Thank you,” she tells me again just above a whisper.
Taking a risk, I lean down and place a soft kiss on her forehead. My heart swells realising that she didn’t flinch.
“You’re welcome baby. I hope you like it.”
