While they waited forSaint to arrive, Sinn donned another apron that said:I Bake Cookies and Say Fuck a Lot.He whipped up a batch of scones and put them in the oven.Once they were done, he transferred them to a plate and placed the butter and jam jar beside them.The coffee had just finished brewing when Saint walked through the front door.He studied her and then swung his gaze to his brother.
“You said it was urgent.”
“Kira wants to talk to us,” Sinn explained.He held up the plate.“Scone?”
Saint ignored him and turned back to her.“What do you want?”
She took a deep breath.“Can we, um, sit down?”
The two men nodded.After Sinn poured two cups of coffee for them and a hot tea for himself, he sat down.
Was she ready for this?Ready to dive back into her past?She’d been floundering for so long, she had no idea if she was going to sink or swim after her story.All the memories she’d kept locked away, all the terror and heartache.She dragged them back to surface.
“Let me start at the beginning.Years ago, I was out with friends one night, and somehow, we ended up at this sketchy dive bar.That’s where I met him.”Even now, all these years later, it made her soul ache.“We started dating, but my parents didn’t like him.Didn’t trust him.They tried to talk me out of being with him.After months of arguing and contention, they finally gave me an ultimatum.I either break up with him, or I move out.So, I moved out.”
She glanced at Saint and Sinn, unable to read their expressions.
“Like I said before, he wanted to prospect for the Bone Breakers.That’s when his true colors came out.”Her voice was a bit shaky, but she pushed past the shame.“By then, we’d been together for a while.The nights he wasn’t drunk, out with friends, or coked up, he’d tell me what it was like at the club.How he had this freedom with them that he didn’t have with me.I suspected he was cheating and confronted him, only to have him slap me.After that, his favorite pastime was putting me in my place.”
“Does that mean what I think it means?”Sinn demanded.
Saint’s fists clenched.
“A slap here and there.That escalated to hitting with the back of his hand.Which escalated to punches in my stomach or kicking me if I fell.”She took a deep breath.“I’m sure you get the gist of it.After all, I was just another stupid woman staying in an abusive relationship.”
Sinn took hold of her hand.“You’re not, nor were you, stupid.Men like your ex manipulate on any issue you have.Abusers feed on the insecurities of their victims.”
“I’m still helpless.”
“No, darlin’.I don’t know too many people who would swing a bat at a man with such vengeful fury.”
“You saw that video, too?”
“Of course.Saint and I share just about everything.”
She blinked, unsure if she just heard a double entendre or not.
“This went on for a long time.Longer than it should’ve.”She wiped her cheeks from tears.“One night, he called me to come pick him up from another club party because he was completely wasted.I thought it was odd because he had no problem sleeping there at the club, but like an idiot, I went.I didn’t want him angry because that’s when it hurt the worst.”
For a moment, the memories almost overwhelmed her psyche.She didn’t want to talk about what was next, but she knew she had to get it out.It was time to leech the pus from the wound.
“When I got to the Bone Breakers clubhouse, I found him and a few of his friends in a back room playing a game.He told me I had to play it too, before I could go home, and handed me one dice.I rolled it, thinking this was how I was going to get him out of there.I rolled a three.”
Saint shifted forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“That number was ...it was ...um, how many men would r-rape me.”
An almost inhuman growl came from Saint and he surged to his feet.Despite his ferocity, however, he didn’t scare her.Not anymore.She’d seen behind his mask to the gentle man, not the fierce leader of the Sons of Sin.
“They laughed,” she whispered, trying hard not to fall back into the dark vortex she’d lingered in.“My ex held me down.Told me that was how he could be a Bone Breaker.I was his sacrifice to prove his devotion to the club.I honestly think more men would’ve had their turn, had Lucifer not discovered us.He started yelling, but as soon as I was free, I ran.”
She wiped away more tears.
“I hate crying,” she muttered, and sniffed.“I couldn’t stay there, obviously.My parents had been right all along, but they’d died and I couldn’t tell them how sorry I was.I didn’t have a lot of money, so the farthest I could go was Cheyenne.That’s how I ended up at the diner.Joe gave me a free plate of food.Got me talking.I didn’t tell him a lot but he’d heard enough.Took me to the clinic to make sure I hadn’t caught anything.Gave me a job.Started teaching me to box.I don’t think I would’ve made it, if it hadn’t been for him.”
She stood to grab a paper towel, using it to blow her nose despite it being a little too harsh for her skin.
“If you give me a name, he’ll be dead by tomorrow,” Saint promised.
