Red-hot anger ignites in my chest. “Mean what? To spill something so intimate to Ryder out ofanger?”I seethe.
“I…”
“No! You’re done talking.” I sneer bitterly. “Get my gown and get me out of here!” I scream. My emotions are a fucking whirlwind, and these two dipshits are so selfish and arrogant they can’t get along long enough to get me out of here before we’re all trapped and miserable.
Hayden scrambles to find my gown that Rocky tossed off somewhere. These alarms went off just in the nick of time. I only wish the boys had gotten here a little sooner to prevent the first bit. I shiver thinking about it.
“You okay?” Hayden asks. I look up to find him staring at me, concerned. How long had I been lost in thought? It didn’t feel like that long.
“You sure?” He asks again, this time raising a single brow.
“Positive.”
He found the gown and helped me into it. He tied me up in the back really well to prevent anyone from being mooned. I’d prefer if nobody else got to see my ass in this place. I hate to even think of what was done to me while unconscious and put in this scratchy gown. I steady myself as I stand up, holding onto Hayden’s forearm. He’s allmuscle, making his flesh feel like stone. Peering down at his arm, heat pools between my thighs as I think about them being wrapped around my waist and his massive hands gripping my hips. A hot flush creeps up my neck to my cheeks.
Clearing my throat, I gesture towards the door. “Ready when you are.”
We step out into the humid hall. The air is stale and reeks of defecation and bodily fluids. I don’t remember the smell earlier, but I was also too focused on where Graves was leading me. I drag in a deep breath as I take in my surroundings once more, except I’m more thorough this time. My heart lurches as I gaze upon cell after cell of severely gaunt women, their eyes are hollow and void of emotion. Their bodies are so frail, and their gowns threadbare. Some have welts along every inch of their body, presumably from a whip or a belt.
“I don’t understand their purpose behind this,” Ryder says in disbelief. I begin to wonder the same, but then something Rocky said flashes back to me.
“Lilith uses them to make money,” I admit.
Ryder and Hayden look at me like I’ve grown ten heads. I know what they’re thinking.How could women in this condition make her any money?
I roll my eyes at them and walk ahead, leaving them trailing behind me. “Some people are disgusting and will pay insane amounts of money to sexually abuse these women.” I lower my voice a notch, “Rocky basicallyrentedme.” I drop my gaze to my feet, ashamed of admitting that.A gentle hand wraps around my arm, and I instinctively flinch away with a small gasp. Their hand retreats, and I turn to find Ryder directly behind me, his hand dropped to his side.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” He says quietly. “I’m sorry you were ever put in this position. I tried to protect you from it.”
My nostrils flare, “Yeah, well, you did a great job at that.” I say sarcastically.
“It’s not like anyone made it easy for me to do that.”
“Strange, because I vividly recall asking all of y’all what the fuck was going on multiple times. Care to explain yet?” I say, raising an eyebrow with my hip popped out and crossing my arms over my chest. I tap my foot for extra dramatics.
“I promise I—we—will explain once we get you out of here. It’s gonna take a while.” Ryder says, taking a long, deep breath. “Let’s keep moving, my guys are upstairs waiting for you.”
Ryder gently pushes me forward with his hand pressed to my lower back. It’s almost as if he’s afraid that if he isn’t watching me or touching me, I’ll vanish again. I guess he does care a little about me, and that makes my heart beat a little faster.
“We got the two bozos loaded up and restrained, Boss man.” One of the heavily armed guys in full tac gear says to Ryder once we enter the main floor.
“Have a little fun with ‘em?” Ryder asks as one side of his lips tilts up into a knowing smirk.
“Hell yeah. The doctor’s missing a finger…Accidentallyshut it in the door and ripped it off.”
Both men and Hayden all bust out laughing, and I fight my vomit back down. That is so gruesome, but the old man deserves it.
“What about Stub?” I ask.
All three sets of eyes land on me. “Who?” they ask in unison.
“The man working with Lilith. Did you not see him on security footage?”
They all look at each other, then Ryder’s talking into his earpiece. “Yo T, got any footage on a Mr. Stub?”
Ryder shakes his head, and now I wonder if I hallucinated him. He felt too real to be a figment of my imagination, though. That can’t be right.
“Hayden, you and Liam escort Kelsey to the Escalade,” Ryder commands.
