“Once we open this door, Becca, there’s no shutting it. You have to be sure.”
“I’m sure.” No hesitation. Becca was destined to be an ol’ lady the minute she became Bulldog’s kin.
I believed that. She loved the MC life, and it sure as fuck wasn’t for everyone. Becca loved the brotherhood among the members and the respect they had for their ol’ ladies. She understood how shit was run and didn’t try to push against it. She rode her own bike like the fucking goddess she was, and fuck if I didn’t want to claim her right now.
Underneath me. Riding me and saying the words I wanted to hear from her. This woman owned my ass, and I loved it.
“You weren’t born to Bulldog through his DNA, but baby girl, he loved you from the moment he first held you. Not a single day went by that he didn’t brag about you, put you first, or ride into danger if it meant you were kept safe. You feel me?”
“I do,” she choked, emotion visible on her delicate features. “He loved me. I know, Hades.”
“So when I say he went to war for you, you gotta know, he fought to keep those motherfuckers from ever taking you back.”
She blinked, trying to understand what Hades meant.
I looked to Diesel, and he shook his head. Void dropped his gaze to the floor. They knew something. More than me, that was for sure. Maybe not everything that happened, but enough to understand that Becca was in danger and needed extra protection. I tried not to get pissed because I wasn’t an officer like Diesel, and I didn’t live in her household as the only male kin like Void.
“Who?” Becca finally asked.
“Traffickers. Fuck, I hate telling you this shit. It’s fucking tearing me up.”
Becca gentled her tone. “I need to know, Hades.”
He didn’t agree but pressed on. “I sent Bulldog on a run. It was supposed to be an easy security job. He rode with a few other brothers, and they made sure no one fucked with the truck as it left its destination and drove five hundred miles to a little town in Wisconsin.”
He cleared his throat, needing a moment, and we waited.
“Bulldog told me he didn’t know there were women inside or that they were aiding traffickers as they moved those women across the U.S. to a facility where they would be broken, trained, and readied for sale.”
“Those motherfuckers!” I shouted.
Diesel shot me a look, and I cracked my knuckles, pissed off about shit that happened in the past, and I couldn’t change. I hated it when women were abused, regardless of the type, because it was all wrong.
“How did he find out?” Diesel asked.
I guess he never heard that part of the story before now.
“A scream,” Hades growled. “Two of the traffickers rode inside to keep the women quiet. They spent the entire trip raping them one by one.”
Void looked pissed. Diesel’s disgusted expression probably matched mine. But Becca? She looked shocked. Sickened.
Her pale face turned to me.
I rested my hand over my heart like I’d done earlier, letting her know I was here, in whatever capacity she needed.
Her eyes shimmered with tears.
“There was one young girl, maybe sixteen. She had a . . . baby with her.” Hades kept choking on his words, barely able to get them out. “Prettiest little thing Bulldog ever saw. Big dark blue eyes and rosy cheeks. He said he knew he had to rescue you.”
Damn. I wasn’t one for believing in things like fate, but it sure seemed like this was meant to be.
“What happened to the young girl?”
“I’m gettin’ to that, honey,” he sighed. “She saw the bikers when the swing doors opened on that truck and knew she had one chance to protect you from the life she’d been sold into by her own uncle. She screamed for help, rushing toward Bulldog. Don’t know why she chose him, and he never knew either. Just told me that she ran to him, jumped from the truck, and cradled you against her chest.”
Becca sniffled. “They killed her.”
“Yeah, baby girl. They shot her in the back as she ran, reaching Bulldog with her last breath. As soon as you left her arms, they shot her in the head. Bulldog ordered the club members with him to open fire. They killed every man there, including the ones sent to rendezvous with the truck. He didn’t want any loose ends.”
